BAMBU

Not all Bambu’s are created equal. This one is the best one in the bay for their desserts (che). The avocado smash is always consistent not too sweet. Other Bambu’s are usually shady with the cup (sometimes only half full and the rest with ice).

Usually Bambu is one of the few boba places I would to in Alameda, was just informed by my boyfriend today that the Park St. Bambu closed. [fyi]
After having dinner in Fremont, I had to head back towards Union City to run errands but was looking to see if there were any decent boba places near by.
Unilocal searched showed that Bambu was nearby and I immediately decided to try it.
Anyways, continuing on, it is located in the nearly renovated shopping area off Alvarado. To be quite honest, I am surprised with all the Asian influence that it’s taken this long for a boba/​dessert spot to open up in any of the nearby shopping areas. It’s right next to Popeye’s Chicken too — convenient for future food runs! *score!
Walking into the shop, it’s simplistic, modern and clean. Looks like WiFi is a available since I saw an employee on her break surfing the net. Menu is along the wall upon entering. Bathroom off to the right corner of the shop. *Key required. Plenty of tables to sit, drink and eat desserts.
I ordered an almond milk tea w/​pearls and my boyfriend ordered an avocado coffee smoothie with red bean (i believe).
My almond milk tea, was alright. Nothing too special, just sweet enough.
My boyfriend’s smoothie was definitely an out of the ordinary drink for him. The avocado and vietnamese coffee was an interesting mix, nothing against it at all. What threw us off was we were expecting the red bean he would get at other places instead of what was on the menu. He admitted he should’ve asked the lady taking our order to explain what it was he was adding to the drink.
It was a decent experience for my first time here. I am sure I’ll be back soon.

This is my first time ever trying out Bambu. I hate to say this, but I was a little disappointed because I had such high anticipation. I heard great things from so many people on how amazing Bambu was and sadly, I just thought it was okay. I ordered the Smashed Avocado. When I mixed the crushed ice to fuse together with the bottom of the drink, it tasted kind of like a regular smoothie. It was good but I think I just prefer having it elsewhere. Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing or came at a wrong time? Who knows. I give this place a solid 3 stars.

I remember going here one night last month and noticed they were closing in a couple of minutes — literally. I didn’t want to be one of «those guys» who comes in right before they close as they are probably wanting to go home right after they close. So I asked the girl behind the register if it was okay to still order something and she said «yeah, of course!» — with a smile on her face. Another girl came out of the back and both of them were happy, patient, and helpful in helping me choose a drink since it was my first time there. One of the girls recommended this avocado dessert drink that had these jellies and whatnot — it was amazing! Reminds me of an avocado dessert my mom used to make me when I was a kid :) Definitely recommend this place for the yummy drink and for the awesome service. Thanks again, ladies!

Don’t go here. If you want milk tea go to the other side of Union City. Their milk tea does not taste good and it’s over priced

I ordered a durian smoothie and my friend ordered the avocado smoothie.
My drink didn’t have that strong of a durian taste, was icy, and way too sweet. I can tell they didn’t put that much durian in it and put way too much sugar to compensate for the lack of durian. The other place I usually get my durian smoothie from (and absolutely love it) is about $ 8. It’s only $ 4 here, so I guess I get what I paid for.
My friend’s avocado smoothie was not sweet and creamy enough. The avocado taste wasn’t there.
I probably will never come back here again.

Would not recommend the milk teas. Was in dire need of some boba and was in the plaza so decided to try out this place. The inside was quaint, a worker quickly came out from the back to help me and was very polite. I didn’t have to wait too long for my drink but I was very disappointed it the taste. The consistency of my drink was thick and powdery and did not taste like taro whatsoever. I’ve never thrown away a full boba until this one ;(
Don’t know how any of their fruit smoothies taste but the selection did look good.

The layout is so modern and cute. Nothing like the majority of Bambu’s in the South Bay. I’m pretty happy they opened one literally a few minutes from my house, because I can enjoy fresh made drinks without having the need to head over to Jamba Juice or to the South Bay to get my fix.
Bambu uses real fruits which makes it tastes even better. They probably add other artificial flavors as well, but hey, if it tastes good, and I drink in moderation, I should be alright, right? Yeah.
The workers in the front are super friendly and attentive. They also recommend drinks to try when I’m not sure what I want to try next.
⁵⁄₅! I RECOMMEND TO EVERYONE. Support Vietnamese businesses! Hahahaha.

Bambu here is one of the nicer ones, uncluttered by people. totally empty before noon. nice décor. has a few tables for sitdown too!
drink: Che 3 Mau (3.95) no tax!
–3 beans, taro, pandan jelly, coconut juice. lots of the formers. little of the latter
–just a few sips and the drink was dry, just slurping up beans, jellies, taro.
where’s the juice? (liquids)
take outs:
–lots of beans, etc. just no juice
–smililey service, cuties fab, needed juice too.

So I came back to Bambu ‘cuz I was feeling like a dessert drink and wanted to give them another shot after a bad previous visit where one of the girls at the counter had told me they had no bags to place the drink holder in (bought 4 drinks) but the lady after me who had 3 drinks got one. Go figure. Because I didn’t have a bag, all the drinks spilled everywhere even as they were sitting on the floor of my car.
This second time around, I went in and placed three orders: one green tea milk tea, one lychee tea and one red bean smoothie in which I specifically mentioned that I wanted red boba and basil seeds mixed in. Drinks were made quickly and I was in my car and on the road in a matter of minutes. About 10 mins into my drive home, I decided to grab my red bean smoothie as I couldn’t wait to taste the red boba and basil seeds. To my chagrin, I noticed that EVERYTHING was blended into the smoothie! I wasn’t able to enjoy the taste of the basil seeds and red boba I had asked them to mix in. Since I had called the store previously, I hit redial on my phone. They answered the phone like it was a house phone, no «Thank you for calling Bambu», but as if it was a friend calling another friend; very unprofessional.
I asked why my drink wasn’t made specifically how I had originally requested. The girl who answered the phone said that everything was mixed in. She explained that she had put in the red boba and seeds and blended the drink. Now, I don’t know about you but the words «mix» and «blend» are not synonymous with each other. I asked to speak with the manager and she went ahead and got a hold of him (he went by the name of Q). While I was waiting for him to get on the phone, I could clearly hear the conversation between he and her; she was stating that she didn’t do anything wrong and that she did what was asked which was to mix in two separate ingredients in the drink and then she blended it all down, all the while making the point to him that it was the lady with the red bean smoothie.
By this time, I was already heated after overhearing this exchange and as you can imagine, I laid into Q when he finally got on the phone. He began to justify the actions of his employee, stating that she probably knew the difference. I advised him to talk to his staff and go over mix and blend and to possibly re-​train them so it wouldn’t happen again to another customer. He went on a nonsensical tirade about giving the store another chance although I could hear the irritated but calm tone in his voice. I cut him off by saying thank you for listening but that I would be posting a negative review on Unilocal.He implored to not do so but I have an obligation to fellow Unilocalers and others to let all know the bad experience I had.
Get your act together, Bambu. I’m sure I will not be the last irritated customer you will have.

Like coming here, but dont like waiting 15min for my drink. Even though, I hear the workers talking in the back. I could of gotten my drink with in 10min.

It’s really not that busy and the drinks are really good and price is good for what you get. Try the waffle.

The desserts are not as sweet as the other chains. I come here because it is walking distance from my house.
Definitely the most esthetic Bambu I have ever been to.
I wished there are images of the dessert on the menu.
My two top favorite desserts from the chain are: #2 & #6
Ask for the stamp card if you come to this location a lot!

My current go to place to get me macaron ice cream sandwich fix. So yummy! also enjoy their milk tea. Wish the macaron ice cream sandwiches were either cheaper or bigger, but oh well.

I got the Avocado Smoothie and mom got the Avocado Coffee Smoothie. Each drink comes with 2 free toppings; if you want a 3^rd it will be an additional $.50.
My drink was delicious; I will definitely be coming back!

Starting off the place itself is pretty spacious. I went in around 6 and it wasnt very busy. My friend and i ordered a coffee and a green tea macaroon. We also ordered a chocolate banana smoothie and all were light and delicious.
The staff was ok. They werent welcoming but they werent unpleasant either. All the transactions are put through an ipad. This location also has a bathroom inside. Clean or dirty that I do not know.
The only negative is that parking is hard to find because of the many other business’ in the area.

Clean, quick, and yummy authentic desserts. I only tried the mashed avocado (Bo Dam) and its seriously my fave. I want to try other ones too but I haven’t been in the «try it out» mood. Instead, I’ve been sticking to comfort foods that I’ve tried and love. Will definitely be back for more!

This is probably the cleanest and most spacious bambu I’ve been to.
Gonna keep this short. I know people come here for the Che but tonight this review is for everything else.
I came right before closing on a Friday night so there wasn’t much if a crowd. I only went because my cousin wanted to get viet coffee at 10pm lol. I told her good luck going to sleep. Anyway it was pretty good and they got that condense milk right. But it wasn’t cold enough on this hot day. And it wasn’t as strong as lee’s. Honestly Lee’s sandwich will always be my #1. Maybe people prefer it not so intense tho.
I got a macaron ice cream sandwich. This trend Is popping up everywhere. Although I looooove macaron and this combination. I think it’s more like a fad. It will go away as soon as those yogurt shops. This one looks factory pre-​made perfect shaped.
These things are too small to fully enjoy. And it’s fun to take pictures but idk if it’s worth it. $ 3.75 for this small one. And I can’t even taste the coffee flavor. I agree these things take a lot of effort but if I can’t taste the flavor and it’s all just for show. It isn’t worth it to me.
Maybe I’ll be back for actual Che tho. I loved their Che from other bambu!

4.5 stars — customer service has always been excellent. The bell is very useful when employees are in the back. I don’t know why others wait 15 – 20 min for their drinks; maybe it was a busy time? My order is usually made right away; I never wait too long.
I ordered Thai tea and as always, perfect. I noticed that they have ice cream macarons now which is one of my favorite desserts! I definitely want to try them next time.

It’s about time a BAMBU opened in Union City!
BAMBU finally opened it’s doors during the first week of March. Once I found this out, I had to contact a couple family members to see who would join me for some dessert. Since no one wanted to come with me, I went and journeyed on my own!
I was familiar with BAMBU already, and been to a location in the past. The #2 is my favorite, which is the Che thap cam (combination). It’s composed of red bean, white bean, green/​mung bean, taro, pandan jelly, pearl, combo jelly. All these ingredients are combined with shaved iced and what seems to be sweetened condensed milk. You mix these all together and get a chunky, creamy, and fruit/​jelly filled dessert! This dessert reminds me of my favorite Filipino dessert, halo halo. For under $ 4, this dessert can be yours!
The shop is pretty petite, but very nicely decorated. The staff was very helpful and quick with the ordering process. This is very impressive since they just recently opened.
A lot of dessert choices are offered here. So I’ll be back for sure to try more items!