The Alley Brewery District — Restaurant in Edmonton

I’ve been to this location multiple times and am writing my review after about 5 or 6 visits. Every time I come here the customer service isn’t great, but I wouldn’t have ever described it as bad until I came in the other day. When I walked into the store it was completely silent. Eerily, almost uncomfortably silent. There was one other person in line ahead of me, and one employee making probably 10 drinks at once (I’m assuming for a delivery order). The other employee (who was at the cash register) reluctantly took my order, and didn’t even make eye contact with me as they did it while trying to also prepare some drinks. They didn’t say thank you or give me a receipt with my order number so I tentatively stepped aside (only knowing how the system works because I’ve been here before, if this was my first visit I’d be so confused). The reason I’m giving 2 stars as opposed to lower, is because the employee making the drinks decided to push the person who ordered before me, and myself, in front of the queue and made our drinks first so we could leave while they prepared the drinks for orders. When handing me the drink, this employee smiled at me and said thank you. This was the only positive part of my experience. I’ve talked to a few other friends about their experience when coming here and they all relay the same sentiment - the customer service is ALWAYS poor and it’s worth driving to other boba shops just to get better customer service. Are the drinks here good? Yes. But is it worth awkwardly standing in line after an employee doesn’t even make eye contact with you in a shop that feels more like a hospital due to the ambiance? No. Not...

BEST BUBBLE TEA PLACE IN TOWN!!! August 2022 8th visit Ordered my favourite La France Oolong tea without milk, 0 sugar and less ice. 7th visit Ordered my favourite La France Oolong Milk tea with tapioca, no sugar, 1/3 ice July 2022 6th visit Me and my daughter got our favourite milk tea drinks. 5th visit Ordered the LA France Oolong Milk tea with tapioca. 4th visit Ordered the passion fruit with green tea, comes with tapioca and pineapple jelly. 2nd drink ordered: La France Oolong Milk tea with tapioca September 2021 What I like about this place is its relax environment, nice sitting area, great mellow music background and best of all, the variety of fresh juice, tea selections plus choice of zero sugar in your drink and of course The friendly staff! 3rd visit Ordered the mango green tea with Aloe gel. 2nd visit Ordered the classic milk tea with tapioca August 2021 Newly opened bubble tea place Nice roomy well decorated place, pretty relaxed environment. The best having the option for sugar content or none at all as well as how much or less ice. And best of all, reasonable prices and lots of options...

I stopped by The Alley this afternoon and had the strawberry iced matcha. The café itself is super cute and has a nice vibe, but unfortunately the drink was a big letdown. The matcha they’re using just isn’t it—it doesn’t dissolve properly, and the drink ended up really gritty and powdery. The taste was bitter with a strange aftertaste, and the matcha wasn’t that vibrant green you expect from higher-quality powder. Honestly, it felt like they’re using a very low-grade matcha, definitely not ceremonial. Both my sister and I ended up throwing our drinks out because we just couldn’t get through them.

I’ve had a lot of great matcha lattes around Edmonton, so I don’t think I’m being unreasonable here. I’d love to see them upgrade the quality of their matcha, because the concept and space are great, it just needs to taste as good...