Tiffany C.
Yelp
I've had Twisteas on my radar for awhile, ever since I saw the photos of their potato twists on Yelp. I finally got a chance to give them a try and was quite sad that I didn't visit Twisteas earlier.
Twisteas is located in a part of Monterey Park that doesn't have too many boba shops (although if you drive five or so minutes, you'll probably hit several). It's located right off the 10 freeway on New Avenue and Hellman in a pretty tiny plaza with a very packed parking lot. Good luck finding a spot, especially as the Vietnamese restaurant seems to be quite packed. Hellman is also a pretty busy street, so be prepared for a short walk.
The storefront is pretty small - most of the kitchen area takes over the space. There is a small bench area at the front of the store for people waiting for drinks or wanting to take pictures of their drinks. The layout and drink menu really reminds me of Tastea, another popular drink café located in the Orange County area. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the majority of Twistea's drinks have pre-concocted ingredients, flavors, etc.
There are the classic drinks, mojiteas, their own specialized concoctions, as well as hot drinks, etc. They also have some snacks available. Workers were really friendly and eager to answer any questions that I had. I wanted to try a popular drink, but I was also craving something more tangy.
I ended up choosing the Mango Tango - $3.95 with mango black tea, basil seeds, lychee bits, and mango jelly. I added boba for an additional fifty cents. I thought the drink was super refreshing and quite tasty. Price was actually on the cheaper side for the size of the drink (all drinks are one-sized). I love the fact that the drinks have various ingredients already advertised. I think you can always change it up, but adding ingredients might cost more money. Mango black tea was refreshing and definitely what I was looking for - the basil seeds and the jelly were a nice addition. I did think the boba didn't have the additional "honey" flavor that most other stores had, but the boba was cooked well and had a good consistency.
My friend came by and ordered 4 drinks off their menu as well and said that her family enjoyed all the drinks that she ordered.
tl;dr - Workers are really friendly. Drinks come out quickly - there's a flavor for everybody. I really liked Mango Tango, but I'm excited to return to try some of the other flavors. Don't forget the stamp card and the Yelp check-in offer!