Tastea Alhambra — Restaurant in Alhambra

As a former loyal customer of Tastea Alhambra, it saddens me to have to write this review, especially during the difficult times of COVID-19 when restaurants need the support of local patrons. However, my customer service experience today was so horrible that I feel compelled to let management know this is NOT OKAY. Tastea as a chain has lost a loyal customer today, as I will be taking my business elsewhere from now on.

On May 3, 2020 at 5:10pm, I made several attempts to place an online order on the Tastea website to try and support one of my favorite local tea spots. I kept getting an error message that the website was unable to accept online orders due to high volume. I decided to walk the 15 minutes over from my house to try to order in person. When I arrived, there were two other people outside the store waiting for their order. The store had placed red tape on the ground to facilitate physical distancing, however, it was not clear AT ALL where the line started or ended. I approached the table to place my order. At the same time, the supervisor on duty brought one of the waiting customers her order. The supervisor then very rudely barked at me to stand behind the red line. There were six different red lines - again not clear at all where to stand. This Tastea never really impressed me with their customer service even pre-COVID, but I let it go because I enjoy their drinks.

After the other customer grabbed her order, I approached the table again and explained to the supervisor that I could not place my order online. She said that I had to keep refreshing the page every 5 minutes until it goes through because the store cannot accept cash or credit. I explained that I've been trying for the last 20 minutes from the time I left my house. She just shrugged and said "Sorry, there's nothing I can do" in the most blase/indifferent tone possible. I understand this is probably a mandate from corporate, which is not necessarily her fault, but...

First of all, restaurants should not be making it HARDER for customers to support them. If you're going to require that customers order online in advance and not give stores the ability to take orders over the phone or in person, then you need to have a better back up plan when the website is down than asking customers to refresh every 5 minutes as they are standing in front of your store. There are dozens of other boba shops in Alhambra alone; no one is going to do that. There is plenty of technology out there for contactless payment; get with the times!

Second, even if corporate is not setting up the store for success, the store employees (especially one with "SUPERVISOR" written on her name tag) need to be better trained to not speak to customers in such a rude way. I understand they are working in a stressful environment, but it doesn't give them license to be hostile to customers. We are still paying customers (some of us going OUT OF OUR WAY to support local businesses like yours) and should be treated with basic kindness and respect.

When I was a manager in hospitality a long time ago, at times our servers would go down too. Instead of throwing our hands in the air and disappointing our customers, we would give out "Please come again" vouchers for 10% off their next visit as a way of showing our appreciation for their patronage. Even without the discount, at the very least, a sincere apology is in order.

Final note to management and corporate: get on grip on your customer service if you want to stay...

Surprisingly hadn't tried this place out so decided to UberEATS a few drinks to try out.

The drinks were all alright. Not the best I've had, but definitely not the worst still.

ITEM'S ORDERED:

House Special Coffee (medium sweet)

Black Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Flavored Iced Tea (green tea w/ passion fruit juice, light sweetness)

TASTE:

House Special Coffee kind of sounded like 7 Leaves house coffee & it kind of tastes like that but not as good. The coffee flavor is too dormant & it gets overly milky the more you drink it. I could not even taste the hazelnut flavor so I wonder if it was forgotten. Not a bad flavor overall, just too unbalanced & does not come together.

Black Vietnamese Iced Coffee is just as described. Nice & cold & very strong. I imagine many people would find this quite strong. It's like an overly strong dark roast Americano.

Not sure if it's just on the UberEATS app or if it's the same in store, but I was unable to order just an iced green tea. The green tea with passion fruit was ok. Even though I got light sweetness I still found it pretty sweet. Green tea flavor is there but it prefer it stronger. Also I do feel if the passion fruit flavor had more tartness to it, the whole drink would come together better.

SERVICE, LOCATION & PARKING:

UberEATS order so no direct comments on service.

I like how all the drinks had a tamper evident sticker securing the cup & lid. But I do think the drinks could have all been a bag. Also, was given all boba straws even though I didn't order any boba. Maybe they ran out of regular straws.

They are located in the 99 Ranch shopping center, across from the LA Fitness. Very easy to access & lots of parking.

I'm not opposed to going back for the black Viet coffee or maybe to try...

One of my go-to locations.

Tastea has never failed me and I love the convenience of ordering my drinks in advance. It's hard to find a good boba place that meets the standards of both of my parents, so when I found the one, I can't turn my back. I'm set for life.

Tastea has a variety of options ranging from coffee, tea, smoothies, etc. They can suit anyone's taste buds. My parents enjoy the Lychee Peachee and claim it to be better than their favorite drink from SunMerry. That's major props from them.

I can't really say what my favorite is and really depends how I'm feeling. Some of my favorites: Peachme Sweetea - It's refreshing and has real fruit, so I don't feel as guilty for all of the added sugar Yummy Gummy (smoothie) - When I need a sugar high. It's super sweet, so the name doesn't lie. Truly yummy Seafoam Jasmine Iced Tea - The classic that got me hooked on Tastea several years ago. Nostalgic and can't be beat Strawberry Sensation - these names need no explaining Ooh La La - My current favorite. I don't really like coconut but this drink is so tropical and delicious, I can't say no.

I almost listed their entire menu excluding their milk teas. In addition to their awesome drinks, I love the convenience of their mobile app. I can order my drinks in advance and pick it up at the window, while also redeeming points. The hermit/introvert in me really...