Tapioca Express

Good place to go once so you can taste the original. Everyone who works here is super nice and amazing. The tapioca or boba is very fresh and has a nice chew to it. The milk tea is VERY milky and sweat so be prepares for that.

Update 01/11/2026 - this is the second time this month that my family and I show up 20 to 30 minutes before closing time and they are closed early. We can clearly see a worker in there but they will not open the door for us. Closing time is stated as 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays and they've been closing at around 7:30pm. I hate that they dont update the closing time if they are now closing earlier please update your hours of operation. This is my go to place for a delicious Strawberry frosti milk. I order it with mini Boba. I dont know of any other place that offers mini Boba. The staff is always super attentive and nice. We go put of our way to come here. It Never disappoints.

Excellent drinks and a good place for a delicious snack. Try their new tofu donuts... pretty good.

My boyfriend’s favorite boba place! Staff here is always nice and gave us extra toppings at the end of the night!

Great service and their drinks are amazing. Their popcorn chicken is super awesome. I been coming here for sometime now and highly recommend it.

Love this place!! Always tastes fresh, healthy and very flavorful! I always order the spicy crispy chicken meal with a green tea! Pot stickers are amazing and also the calamari! The drinks are all very well made too..

We went here last Sunday and saw that they had combos. Where when you buy a bowl, you get a free drink. It was a good deal. So we bought one noodles and one pork chop bowl. The Pork Chop Bowl rocks, they cut the bones out. But the noodles were cold, I did not like it at all. thats why its a 4 star not 5 stars.

I ordered 1 drink and 3 snacks but I got my order after 3 guys who ordered 1 meal and drink for each person. What went wrong? You should finished my order first, not only I ordered first, but my orders were snacks, not the full meal.

Came here since lollicup had last call for food and happy they were still taking ordered even 15 min before close! Last call here is actually at close :) This tapioca express is located right next to lollicup and similarly has affordable drinks and food. Seats are limited so this is more of a to-go spot. I ordered spicy popcorn chicken, calamari rings and squid balls for $20. My fave out of the three is the spicy popcorn. It has that fried basil flavor I love and the spicy here is actually pretty spicy! I recommend getting medium here if you don't want to go overboard on the spice. Chicken was very tender and slightly crispy. The calamari rings tasted a bit too stale for my liking and the squid balls were fried cut in half so they were a a bit dry and shriveled. Overall, you can't go wrong with an OG spot like tapioca express for cheap eats and drinks

This was the OG boba shop in SGV! They still offer affordable prices at $4 or lower for the boba drinks. This is great since most boba shops are charging $6 or more per drink. Their bobas are not that bad, but some of their drinks are better than others. Their milk teas are better than their snow bubble drinks. There's a Lollicup right next to it so there's always competition. We usually go to Lollicup, but decided to give Tapioca Express a try. It's very empty whenever we stop by, perhaps it's the time or everyone prefers the other boba shops. There's parking on the streets or in the parking structure in the back.

I'm so guilty of always finishing my drinks before I can even sit down and post it. As much as I love this place, why is so dang hot inside??? There are 3 seats. And I think maybe 7 people can fit ok n the front area! Don't bring the whole family! Order: Strawberry Yogurt Frost Strawberry Yogurt Frost with popping boba Watermelon Slush with popping boba The drinks always hits the spot. It took a while for the drinks to come out but most of the time it's one person making drink and one in the Kitchen. This time the was two people in the front! This is one if my favorite drink places. Imo they're so underrated.

Posted hours online were incorrect. States it opens at 11am but place was closed. Not sure when they are actually open

I came tonight at 7pm, and hour before their posted closing time of 8pm and found the doors to be closed and locked. The boy worker inside saw me and motioned they were closed. I was so upset! Why have signs posted for 8pm if you're going to close an hour earlier?? So disappointed in the customer service of tapioca express over the years. I'll never come here again.

Tapioca Express is a solid place for budget milk tea and crispy chicken. Milk teas are about $4 and crispy chicken was roughly $6. Jasmine milk tea - at 50% sugar, while you get a hint of jasmine it generally taste pretty diluted and not a ton of flavor. Easy to drink though. Okinawa - 50% sugar. Great taste - a bit sweeter than you expect but makes sense given the additions this drink has. Mini boba is solid. Crispy chicken was tender and had good crisp and flavor. Got it extra spicy and it comes with a heat that builds a bit.

This is my favorite place for boba drinks, fries and popcorn chicken. Great costumer service!

I've been going to Tapioca Express since I was a kid, and honestly, this place never fails to impress me. The drinks were absolutely delicious, with a wide variety of flavors to choose from. My personal favorites are the Avocado snow bubble and Taro latte (Taro milk tea). The boba was perfectly chewy and tasted absolutely delicious; they honestly got me into boba and changed my mind because before having theirs I wasn't the biggest fan of it. In comparison to the drinks, the food was just as tasty, fresh, flavorful, and satisfying. My personal favorites being the crispy chicken, potstickers, and chi-chi fries. Lastly, what really stood out was the customer service. The staff was incredibly friendly, attentive, and made sure we had a great experience from start to finish. If you're looking for a spot with great boba, tasty food, and excellent service, this is the place to go!

I can't believe I'm leaving a 5-star review for Tapioca Express. Competition is super fierce with all the new/newer tea shops around. Updating my review cuz customer service is really good. Whoever hired the two young men (currently working there) did a good job. Story goes: so, I haven't been going to TapEx for quite some time. Went back the last few months and notice the two barista & cashier young guys are good at their job + good service & attitude. One in particular is excellent and other is pretty good too. He's very patient in answering questions and/or explaining products (sometimes they are out of something and what not). Apologetic when mistake is made and make it right. Good manners and own up to one's mistake. (I wish my co-workers can do the same. Same goes for other businesses & services where the employee needs to own their own mistake, make it right & not blame others or make excuses). Shows good manners, competence & handles situations well. Just really good service. Gave little tester for sweetness level & open the door cuz both of my hands were full. Kudos to the young man. As for drinks & food. I have a few favorites: Avocado Snow Bubble, Watermelon Milk, Honeydew Milk, Strawberry Milk Tea + mini boba, Tapioca Milk Tea (coz price is good at $3.99). Nowadays, drinks are $6-$7-cup. Definitely like the affordability of TapEx. Especially appreciate it during times of high inflation. Highly recommend the Special Combo. I call it "Value Bowl". Crispy Chicken Bowl is good for the price $6.50 & comes with choice of Iced Black Tea or Iced Green Tea. Their fried snacks also make a good choice for a quick bite. Note: Good for take out since their haven't reopen their dining room since covid.

It's our favorite go to place - reasonably priced and best popcorn chicken (and combo) to boot. I remember it being the first to open and has been open ever since. They have great drink specials if you want to try to order through their kiosk. They are closed on Mondays and they are short staffed so you might not get an answer if you call so just stop by on days they are open. They still don't have indoor option to dine in so all is to go. But price and taste are worth it.

Kyle and his handsome brother did a great job helping me with all my services thanks you. I really love coming here to see my favorite workers.

One of the OG spot in SG. Love this place since they got all the Taiwanese snack dishes! My favorite popcorn chicken and milk tea with coconut jelly! Best combo ever!

This location is a solid 3.5 stars b/c their drinks and food are reliably consistent. They used to have a manager's special which is a snack and milk tea combo, but that's no longer available at this particular location. Still, I come here from time to time because I enjoy their popcorn chicken. This location cuts their popcorn chicken into perfect bite-size pieces and their mild spice is just perfect for me. When it's fresh, the outer shell is nice and crispy. And I've noticed that the chicken I'm given don't have too many fatty pieces, which is something I appreciate. Not all boba shops take as much care in trimming off the fat. The crispy chicken is $4.50 before tax. This time around, I also decided to try the fried fish cake. Flavor-wise, I have to say this is quite good, especially if you're on a diet...and I will explain what I mean. It is a deep-fried flat square of fish cake that is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. As a matter of fact, it's so chewy that your jaws will likely get tired before you can finish the whole bag. The more you chew, the more flavor you'll get, too! So, if you, like me, are on a semi-diet (lol), this might actually be a good choice. Fried fish cake is $4.60. Lastly, I got their lychee green tea. I enjoyed the drink as it cuts through the spiciness of the food. It's pretty standard. There is free parking in the back and plenty of street parking. Pro Tip: there is another Tapioca Express located on Las Tunas, across the street from 168 market that have a happy hour special between 2pm-5pm. They offer a snack and boba milk tea combo for $5 with an upgrade charge if you choose a large boba milk tea. This location is owned by a different owner and the people there are really nice as well. With that said, I do favor this Valley location slightly more than the other.

I ordered the milk foam cap matcha latte, and it came out to 4.50+, and apparently I can't use my credit card for purchases under $5, so now I have to get an additional order that I don't want. I ordered the Formosa sausage, and it was such a waste of money spending almost $12 for both crappy items. The Formosa sausage was so dry and tasted like plastic, as if it was recooked a few times. It looked really shiny and just hard. It also took a lot longer than other orders for some reason. The matcha latte tasted horrible; pretty sure I've had matcha latte here without milk tea, and just the matcha and milk, but not being a fan of milk tea, this drink was a dump. This entire experience was horrible, and if I had never been to another TapEx location, I would never return.

Came for the lunch special as we were craving popcorn chicken and a drink. Great specials! For $15 we got 2 combo popcorn chicken meals with a large unsweetened green tea and 50% boba milk tea. Glad they are still open for takeout during this time, good option for a quick and delicious meal.

I have been a fan of Tapioca Express since I was 12, I used to go to the location in san gabriel, however over time this location shut down. This became my go to for quick and easy snacks and boba. I really like the mango green tea, it is a bit on the sweeter side so perfect for someone with a sweet tooth! they also offer a wide variety of other drinks going from fruit teas, milk teas and slushes. Their food is also a lot better than you would think. My favorite thing is the popcorn chicken and the seasonings they put on it. Special shoutout to the two guys who man the bar, they also deliver me delicious and refreshing drinks.

worst tapex location!!! never answers the phone and cancels every uber eats order no matter the time. i have tried ordering from this place 4 times and it cancels everytime. this place stinks! go elsewhere.

I first had Tapioca Express when I lived in San Diego. All the ABG's came here lol. I love that you can order a meal here and receive a free tea. It's super affordable too. My husband and I get crispy chicken with rice + veggies and a black tea. I'll usually add in a milk tea with boba. Great memories with TE, always brings back the nostalgia. Before the boba hype blew up, there was Tapioca Express: the OG.

In the neighborhood for some boba fix and usually frequent Tapoica Express more than the newer boba shops. Order the go to Jasmine Milk Tea with mini boba. Not too sweet, smooth flavor: nice and cold with just the right amount of ice. Something new caught my eye: Chi Chi Fries lol Cheese Chiken and fries doesn't look like the advertise item with shredded cheese on top due to it being piping hot right out of the kitchen. First bite, just the fries with shaker type seasoning like a sweet spicy bbq. Then the popcorn chicken with added depth of melted cheese on top. Altogether now, not bad. Can't eat too much of it but worth a try to share.

I used to have a Tapioca Express in Mira Mesa but I'm glad there's one here. I think that the company did a great job of delivering service in my town and will definitely support this location for now on. The drinks are amazingly crafted and good. I like the quality of the teas and coffee offered and the new POS system is appreciated. Exceptionally crafted drinks and food. =).

This crispy chicken is sooooo goooood!!! The chicken was perfectly cooked, with a crispy exterior and juicy, tender meat inside. ：）

*3.5 We all know this isn't the best place to get drinks, but if you want something cheap, it does the trick. Came here last weekend because I had an assignment to do for work and I knew it would take me all day to get maybe 1/5 done, if I'm lucky. Knowing that I would be there all day, I bought their happy hour combo that comes in a lunch tray and a drink (green or black tea). The lunch tray comes with rice, ground meat with mushroom, brown egg, edamame, popcorn chicken, and vegetables with a black tea. The lunch tray was about ~$7- $8, which was reasonable. I was able to split the tray into two servings. The popcorn chicken wasn't the best, but it was decent to me. It was a little crispy and had some flavor. The vegetables were probably those frozen bagged ones, but I still ate it. I felt like the brown egg could have sat and soaked in it's broth more, but you can always mix it with the ground meat, which I enjoyed. The black tea tasted pretty good to me, but I do admit it was on the sweet side. The sugar level is adjustable though. Overall, it's not bad, but not great. I would just come here if I needed some place cheap to sit and work.

First time here. Very small place, take out and delivery only. The girl gave super good service as i ordered popcorn chicken combo and the fish cake tempura snack. Service 5 star Fish cake 2 star fried it too long Popcorn chicken 4 stars, rice is terrible they need to cook it w less water sides are ok. Very good for the price. Came w a free tea as well.

This is an amazing Tapioca spot. They are all about their community and work to create relationships with their customers. They found out it was my birthday and catered free drinks for my party. Amazing people, amazing location, overall 10 stars.

Unfortunately my Thai iced tea snow bubble wasnt good. The drink is just chunks or ice that weren't blended properly.

CRISPY CHICKEN PLATE! so worth it!! Even after COVID and inflation made the price of food skyrocket, the combos still remain reasonable. It's a whole plate of popcorn chicken with rice and some lovely veggies AND a free drink! (Green tea or Black tea) definitely one of my lunch time go to's

Very kind and helpful staff. I enjoyed their genuine, nice customer service. The place is quiet, very lit up brightly, it is small and cozy, as well as organized and clean. *Note: please only enter through the front door. There is a (I believe it's called) a 5 star membership app on their tablet before you order and you can just put your phone number in to add points and redeem discounts or free items. I got to redeem half off my drink today. I got a hot coffee with condensed milk. It tasted really good. I think for next time I will request a bit more cream and sweetner, because the roast is more bitter than I typically tend to enjoy, however I do tend to have a sweet tooth and it was still prepared very well. The food also came out nice and hot to order. I ordered the fish plate. I never ordered this dish, but im plesantly surpised and extremely happy with the price as well as quality of the food. Based off taste and experience of other cafe food, I believe it came with: a crispy fried fish, beautifully garnished with a delicious slice lf cliantro, on a bed of rice, with a tastey layer of ground beef in between, a tea egg, mapo tofu, and string beans. The string beans were cooked perfectly and a vibrant, healthy, lime green. It tasted as delicious and appetizing as it looked. Greens are meant to be enjoyed at it's best like so; seasoned perfectly, fresh, crunchy, and delicious. The rice is nice and fluffy. The ground beef added subtle and nice texture. What I believed was mapo tofu was a perfect amount of mild spicy maybe about a 3 out of 10? (Level of spice.) It was a little too salty for my taste, possibly more soy sauce than I am used to, however combining with everything else, it was balanced out, and still tasted very great! The fish was light and crispy. Everything tasted very fresh and amazing. I definitely would love to enjoy this dish again, as well as support the wonderful staff that work here. Thank you for an amazing experience of delicious food, drinks and service all around!

Nobody gives enough credit to TAP EX anymore lol. Back when I lived in the bay, I use to work for Tapex, and it was one of the first boba places that were around. So, this franchise is super OG. Now that I'm in 626, theres so many diff boba spots. Lowkey, I cant keep away from tap. LOL. Im in love with there peach jade green tea. & the boyfriend always orders his Almond Milk Tea. We do try diff drinks but we always come back to those. ALSO, theyre like the only place I know that still has small boba lol. A lot of places say they have it but dont. I would give 5 stars, but sometimes the drinks are inconsistent. Last time I got my peach jade gt and it was lowkey bland. But service is great, theyre friendly and helpful! Especially when helping me choose what drinks to experiment with. OH, and their popcorn chicken is the best!!

I ordered the Avocado Snow Bubble in low sugar. Very tasty And the customer service is great! Would definitely come again!

My honey has been raving about this place's popcorn chicken for a while now. I just reply with oh that's nice. Lol I didn't believe him. Yesterday he surprised me with Thai iced tea boba, popcorn chicken and fried spicy gyoza. The food filled our home with such a spicy curry basil smell that was omg mouth watering. The chicken did cool off since his long ride back but it was delicious. Everything was delicious. I would drive out here for it. Recommend!

This is my go to place for a delicious Strawberry frosti milk. I order it with mini Boba. I dont know of any other place that offers mini Boba. The staff is always super attentive and nice. We go put of our way to come here. It Never disappoints.

I used to frequent this place back in the day, before the Tea Stations, Half and Halfs and other big cup boba places. I do go to the TE on Las Tunas because its near my sister's house and I've always liked their milk teas. So I decided to give this one a try. Ok first off there credit card machines were down and it was cash only. Secondly, they were out of grapefruit juice because it was out of season. And lastly they stopped taking stamp cards! But...the popcorn chicken was crispy and yummy, as was the fried tofu. Guy was also very nice, he brought out the food to me while I waited outside. I think he saw that I got a lollicup grapefruit tea....

Rules are rules...they will not break a $100 bill! Quite saddening...since I been a loyal customer. I was disappointed and left to another place to get my drinks... Most staffs are great though...nice! The food and drinks are good. The price is good..better than other places. Often get the green tea, black tea, or Jade peach tea... I don't like the Milk tea here... My nephew likes the waffle here...without the sugar added. Chewy... I don't like their avocado smoothie or their juices anymore. I just couldn't taste the avocado...as for the juice, its not the same like few years ago. Few years ago, even my mom liked their juices (cantaloupe, honeydew etc...) now, its just too icy...doesn't even taste like juice! Also, the price went up...lol before, it was cheaper and tasted better Seating and parking is a hassle sometimes...especially, when the plaza gets real busied. Place is kinda small so not that many tables... Restroom available for customers...shared!

It was surprisingly good. I got strawberry black tea. They didn't have crystal boba. So I got agar jello, definitely not the same. But the tea was decent.

Quality of everything [Tea, food, and CUPS!] are extremely low. 1. I ordered half sugar on my foam tea drink, but it's so sweet that I decided to add my own unsweetened tea onto it. 2. However, when I was putting the lid back on, the very cheap and flimsy cup give way and everything spilled onto my work desk area. Just spent 25 mins wiping my carpet, computer, desk, notes, etc. The spilt tea even got into the food that I bought there and had to throw rest away. Total waste of time and money.

This is one of the first boba places that opened at Alhambra. They have the best tea around the area in my opinion. The biggest issue here is management. Their biggest obstacle is hiring good people and paying them well. You can see they always have a high turnover. With that being said, they even have to close the store so employees can take breaks or close the store when no employees are working. They can't even resume their regular business hours before pandemic. Their operations still seem to be in the pandemic mode. Good thing here, there's a Lollicup next door I can go to. I suggest to franchise this store to someone who will work and care for the store like their neighbor. Otherwise, the brand of tapioca will bring it down.

Delicious boba, they even have mini boba and normal size boba. We tried the grapefruit green tea with mini boba 5/5. The boba was soft and abundant when you use the big straw, very good. They even put grapefruit pulp in the drink to make it even better. Definitely come back again.

It's amazing that they added delivery during this time of the coronavirus, but the way that they package their food is pathetic. I understand that buying plastic containers is pricy and has an additional cost to it, but places like a Why Thirsty and other locations of TapEx are much more willing to please their customers. I ordered off DoorDash and could not believe my eyes when I saw that the hot food that I ordered came in paper boxes. The food was hot and when it comes on a paper box, the box gets soggy and will drip out. That's exactly what happened. I would not recommend coming to this place for their food or getting it delivered.

This is one of my favorite locations! The parking is a bit tough because it's in a popular location (not sure if it can be called a plaza?) The drinks come out really fast and the prices are worth it compared to other overrated chains. My favorite thing to get at this place is the Icy drinks. Don't get it confused with the Snow Bubble. Basically, Icy's are slushies, and Snow Bubbles are smoothies (which I don't like because of the milky-ness). The Icy's are fine enough so if you get the small tapioca with the Icy, you can use the small straws to drink them. I love the Strawberry, Mango, and Passion Fruit flavors. The popcorn chicken is delicious and comes out quickly as well. Best place to go if you're in the area!

This used to be THE place to go get bobas and spicy chicken snacks. That was because its really cheap but it tastes really good too. I probably brought so many of my friends to try this place and they all liked it as much as I did. But why so low rating? I have been coming here since like 2-3 years ago when my parents moved to Pasadena from Nor Cal. I was amazed by the prices because I am so used to going to a korean owned boba shops and they are closed to $4-$5 for each boba. This place you can get a milk tea for $2. Thats a steal. However, when I visited today their hygiene grade thingy for LA county restaurants was a C!! I couldnt believe that they gotten a C!! I was hesitant to go in there and I wanted to go to lollicup next door but lollicup was busy with many people and I had to go pick up my waffles that I ordered in Tasty Garden in Monterey Park. They were doing something today and I paid with my debit card because I hardly ever carry cash, and they were doing a batch on the cc machine so I had to wait for a few minutes and I was very impatient. Milk tea and thai tea is what I got and they were both OK. I dont know if its in my psychology but didnt taste as good as last time I had a boba drink here. Plus, I think I grew more on the half & half bobas over this place. Maybe I'll revisit later to see if their grade has changed to an A or a B but its kind of far for me to come all the way to valley when I can go to Half & Half on Huntington Drive in Pasadena.

Good popcorn chicken. Good drinks. Good price. Closed for covid but jow open. Always pretty nice and quick service.

Staff is still friendly. Tables are usually clean. Bathroom is usually clean. Seems like the Ownership/management is trying to penny pinch on tea quality. They changed their Green Tea recipe and it tastes like sugar water now. It barely has any tea flavor. Lately, Their internet connection feels like 56k, barely being able to web browse. It's literally unusable when there's more than 4 people browsing. I hope management rectifie these issues.

Tapioca Express is a franchise, and they have many locations. I'm always drawn to this location due to their consistency with their drinks/food, as well as the great customer service. Food/Drinks- 5/5 The Jasmine Green Tea here is superb. I can't pinpoint why its exactly better, but it tastes a lot more floral than other boba shops. I don't necessarily get the tapioca balls here as I'm very picky about them(they have to be soft/hot), so I always pass. The food here is good as well. Really good price too. Customer Service- 5/5 The customer service here is great. I always study here during the same days/time so I see the same workers. One worker who stands out is Shalynn. She's helpful, always has a smile and helpful attitude. Price- 5/5 It's really cheap here as well. Price is really good. Cleanliness- 3/5 It may not be the cleanest store but I see that the workers do put an effort. Can be better though especially with a small space. Overall- 4.5/5, closer to a 5 Great place, good prices, good food. No complaints here!

Foods good. Drink is not as good as other high end boba place. The 2 stars is for them having a $5 minimum for credit card. I order a combo that is $4.99. I thought, cool, tax will get me over that. Nope. They wouldn't let me use credit card. They said it has to be over $5. I asked "no tax?" She said "it's our promo so there's no tax" Change credit card system to square or something so it wouldn't take as much fee from you guys. Horrible!

This place is also full of college memories (like the Lollicup next door). Just like the place next door, I have used countless hours of wifi from these guys. They actually make pretty good boba here too. My usual go to drink was a milk tea with mango jelly. Writing this review brings back the good old days... Look no further if you want to find a generic boba place without all the bells and whistles. I highly recommend them!

I love drinking boba here at Tapioca because their staff are so nice and sweet. My family and friends would sometimes come here almost every Friday night just to taste their delicious drinks. I would recommend this place if you're a boba person. If you're not a person who likes boba you can order other drinks that doesn't include boba. Come in & try it out.

After trying out so many boba places for so many years with a large sample size, we have come to favor this place. The milk tea's balance is perfect for our taste. The boba consistency is also well balanced just in between chewy and firm, and it lasts and doesn't get mushy. After all these years, I tried their popcorn chicken too, and it's exactly as expected - crunchy, spicy, and served hot. Altogether, their consistency even reminds me of what I had a long time ago in college. More reasons why this is our favorite compared to the others: price is very good if not even lower, wait time is minimal, no noisy crowds in my experience, and good quality stuff.

I have been coming to Tapioca Express for the longest time ever. Why do I like this place? It's because it is local, fast, and tasty! My go-to/basically the only drink I get is the Strawberry Yogurt Frost. Oh my.. best thing ever! It never disappoints! As for food, the popcorn chickens and sausages are good! It's just always seasoned with too much pepper, so I usually ask for less

This location is definitely not as good as the others. They don't give as much food and its also dry. I usually go to the Arcadia Tapioca Express and their quality and quantity is much better.