Tea Garden - San Diego

It most deff. has been a whileee...

• location:
• Convoy St., San Diego
  
• price range:
  
• $2.75-$3.50 (teas)
  
• $3.25-$4.25(juice/snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 3 out of 5 <- they gave me older boba =(. [the really squishy and gross kind]
• milk vs. tea:
• more tea/less milky <- their milk tea is kinda Creamy but not really sweet. [reminds me of 85 degrees milk tea, but not as rich flavored]
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- there's one cashier and the cashier is really slow.
• what's so special about this place?
• this place is quite spacey. They also have a lot of games and cards you can play with (even a CHINESE MONOPOLY set). So it's a really nice place to chillax and hangout.
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: you CANT go wrong with their Taro Smoothie made with fresh taro bits to perfection. Also, they have a huge variety of specialty teas that come in pots (perfect for some afternoon tea parties).

85 Degrees - Irvine

~I apologize about how i havent updated in a month, so here goes....

• location:
• Diamond Jamboree Plaza, Irvine
  
• price range:
  
• $2.25-$3.50 (teas)
  
• $3.00-$4.00(juice/snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 <- pretty chewy AND a tad bit sweet
  
• milk vs. tea:
• more tea/less milky <- what distinguishes THIS milk tea from others is that their milk tea is rather Creamy and Rich
  
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- it's so packed here that it takes a while for them to make your drink, but i mean this is more rather a cafe than a boba shop.
• what's so special about this place?
• this cafe/bakery known for its bread. fresh out of the oven. also, the drink covers arent transparent like normal boba shops.
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: I dare you to try the sea-salt coffee (i hear it's famous), i love the jasmine milk tea, and also the BREAD IS AMAZINGGGG!!!!

<3 LiLi

The Sweet Booth - Oakland

• location:
  
• Chinatown, Oakland
  
• price range:
  
• $2.50-$3.75 (teas)
  
• $2.50-$4.25 (juice/snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 <- the boba here was pretty chewy AND a tad bit sweet
  
• milk vs. tea:
  
• more tea/less milky <- you can definitely taste the tea, but the drink itself is still rather sweet
  
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- the name says it all. the store is the size of a medium sized booth/shack. Again, only two workers max; but the quality of the milk tea was quite nice. My only worry would be the cleanliness issue, since it's an indoor shack.
• what's so special about this place?
• you can have boba with almost ANY DRINK (see menu below). i had no idea you could get boba with sodas and OVALTINE!!!!
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: I dare any of you to try a soda-based boba drink or the OVALTINE boba drink. wonder how those would taste?! 0.o

<3 LiLi

SweetHeart Cafe - San Francisco

• location:
  
• Chinatown, San Francisco (on Grant Street)
  
• price range:
  
• $2.75-$3.75 (teas)
  
• $3.50-$4.25 (snows/slushes/specialty drinks)
• boba "chewy-ness" quality:
  
• 4 out of 5 <- the boba here was pretty chewy AND very sweet, in fact it makes the overall drink REALLY sweet
  
• milk vs. tea:
  
• half and half -> you can taste the tea and the milk at an equal amount. However, the sweetness of the boba makes the overall drink taste rather sweeter than bitter
  
• overall service quality:
  
• 3.5 out of 5 <- it's a tiny little place, but there's a LOT of seats on the second floor. They tend to give a greater amount of ice and boba, compared to the drink, which causes an imbalance of milk tea vs. boba, and you'll have lots of left over boba x.X.
• what's so special about this place?
• the milk tea here is ORANGE colored!!! One of few places where the milk tea looks like a Thai Tea haha. Also, Sweetheart Cafe is one of the more famous places to check out for boba in Chinatown.
  
• recommended drinks/specialties: Try their smoothies & popcorn chicken! My favorite drink is their fresh Strawberry Banana Smoothie! =)

<3 LiLi