Elizabeth L.
Yelp
This Sweetheart Cafe location is right outside of the Durant Food Court / Durant Square. This is a very busy and popular late night spot, especially for the locals and students because most of these restaurants/shops stay open late. Parking is pretty hard here, especially on weekends and weeknights - everyone is double parked down the whole street on both sides, which leaves the single middle lane for cars to get through, which more often than not gets backed up. I still do not understand why this is one of the only few boba shops that requires a 'Berkeley Disposable Cup Charge' because most of the shops in the city of Berkeley do not have that fee.
I used to come here at least biweekly, if not every week for those late night boba cravings, especially after a late night gym workout, since they are the only boba spot in the vicinity that opens late night, until 2 AM / 3 AM (depending on the day). The service is so bad here - it gets worse on every one of my visits. Although I feel like the service was always nonexistent, as I would just order ahead of time and quickly pick up my order when it is ready, at least I would not get attitude or bad service - ever since the younger employees started to work here during the late night shifts, I would always have some sort of issue / problem with either my drink or order and I would get an attitude, a scowl, and / or rude comment from one of them.
The last couple of times that I ordered from here, I would either get the Jasmine Green Milk Tea with boba or the Sweetheart Black Milk Tea with boba and they would mess it up by adding too much sugar / sweetness or not forgetting to add any at all or adding too much or too little ice, so my drink is either all ice and turns watery quickly or tastes warm, so the ice and sugar / sweetness levels are not that consistent. If it is too sweet or if there is too much ice, I usually just deal with it, but when there is no sugar at all or not enough sugar or too little ice, I would nicely ask them to fix it, which I feel is pretty considerate, as it is easier to add ice / sugar than to have to remake the drink with less ice / sugar. Anyway, when you try to ask these particular employees (usually the same 2 - 3 younger ones) to fix it, they would always have some sort of annoyed demeanor or attitude towards you and when you get the drink back, the seal is all messily torn like they could care less - half there / half gone, instead of nicely ripped/taken off completely with a dome lid snapped on top. After they fix it by adding more sugar / sweetness or ice and I taste it, it usually tastes like a sugar bomb or way too watered down, but at that point, I usually just take the L and drink it.
During my last visit, I was debating if I wanted to deal with attitude and possibly a messed up drink on that particular night, but I was not in the mood, so I decided to cancel my order - the app said I had to call them to cancel and gave me their number, which I called several calls with no luck. Unfortunately, I had no choice, but to go inside and it was the same trio working - I was told they do not have a phone line, even though they have a number listed on the ordering app, online, Yelp, etc., and that I had to contact Snackpass. I told them it has not even been 2 minutes, since I ordered and I spent those 2 minutes calling them, as Snackpass stated that was the only way to cancel the order. They tried stating that they cannot cancel my order on their end because it does not let them and that they already made my drink, and that I have to contact Snackpass - which I stated yet again that Snackpass said I had to call / contact them and they kept trying to tell me they do not have a phone line. Anyway, after going in circles, one of them in the trio finally *magically* cancelled the order on their screen behind the counter after they kept stating they could not.
After this last encounter with these employees - I had it with their attitude and poor / unprofessional service, especially for drinks that are not consistent and made correctly. I will not be back to this particular location when I can just go to Boba Ninja around the corner for my late night boba fix (they are not open as late, but still fairly late - 1:30 AM / 2:30 AM, depending on the day) and the employees working there at least make you feel welcomed.
