Lauren N.
Yelp
My friend and I were enjoying a great night in Koreatown and decided to end it with some yummy drinks. We noticed Boba Bear and were excited to try it since I'd heard good things about the place. Unfortunately, our experience was far from pleasant.
Finding the establishment was confusing due to a lack of clear signage. We had to walk down a hallway to locate the ordering kiosk. We placed our drink order at 9:30 PM and then explored seating options. There was an Arcane-themed event happening, which required a fee to sit inside. That part seemed fun, and I was happy to pay! A helpful customer explained the event details to us since the staff provided no guidance.
Once seated, a server informed us we could order from either the Arcane menu or the regular Boba Bear menu. However, service was super slow, and when I asked if we could bring in the drinks we had already ordered at the kiosk, the server responded bluntly that they were not allowed to bring our drinks inside. We were required to order at least two items from the Arcane menu to stay seated and couldn't bring our drinks because it was "off theme", but this was never explained to us upfront. When I tried to clarify, both staff members we interacted with were rude and dismissive, making the experience even more confusing.
It took until almost 10:00 PM to receive the drinks we ordered at the kiosk, even though the space wasn't particularly busy (only 8-9 tables, many unoccupied). While the staff were friendly and accommodating to other customers, they were noticeably cold and unwelcoming toward us. Although we were eventually allowed to have our drinks inside, I wanted to cancel the Arcane drink due to the repeated negative interactions, but the staff insisted it was already ready--yet it still took another 10-15 minutes to arrive. When I tried to apologize for the misunderstanding, our server straight up laughed at me.
Overall, the poor service, lack of communication, and condescending attitudes made this an awful experience. I won't be returning to this location and hope other branches provide better service and professionalism.