Happy Lemon Bellevue (140th AVE NE) — Restaurant in Bellevue

Drinks: The drink I got was great! Just like I remember from my life in Taiwan. (Calling the heavy cream "cheese" was weird though. I had the image of slices of cheddar or swiss melting over the top of my tea like a sugary horrifying French Onion Soup with a side of lumpy waffles. It's just heavy cream, and if it forms a lump, it translates to butter, not "cheese".) Anyway, drinks were good, and my friends agreed theirs were too.

Food: We waited about 7 min in an empty shop just for a waffle. (we got the drinks earlier) I thought length of time was comparable to other places..... For making a fresh waffle.... So I was surprised when we got a cold one. But my friend didn't want to rock the boat, so whatever.

Atmosphere: It was 3:30pm on a week day and I thought the place was closed. All the stools were stacked on the front counter top, and they had just received a delivery of product that was blocking part of the bench. It was cold and rainy outside, so we just took turns sitting on the remainder of the bench enjoying the drinks. Other customers came in, waited for their stuff and left. Maybe they had places to be, but maybe they just had no place to sit and visit. Or maybe it's a hold-over from covid, and we should have left too, but no one said anything and we didn't know better.

Service: Aside from the cold waffle, it was okay. I'm still not sure how 5 customers in 20 minutes took up so much time that none of the 4 staff members could move the delivery boxes, but maybe they are supposed to be a customer waiting area deterrent? Or there's no place in the back for supplies to wait before being checked in? Possibly only one person is allowed to check in received product, and none of the other 4 staff members there are allowed to?

Anyway, the atmosphere was not authentic to my memories of life in Asia. Not even similar to other tea places here in Seattle. But everyone has off days, even places. It's worth trying at least...

I went here with my girlfriend here today. She ordered the milk tea with rock salt crema which was really good and I ordered the strawberry black tea with lychee jelly. Her drink was great, but mine was good up until I started eating the strawberry pieces which were really bitter tasting. I only finished half of my drink. I understand I got through a good portion of my drink already but I wasn't able to find myself finishing it. So I went back inside hoping to get my drink remade or maybe a new one if they just had a bad batch of strawberries that day, but I did not. What happened was the staff grabbed their shift supervisor Jessica, and she told me that because I finished half of the drink already that I would need to buy a new one. I did tell her why I didn't want to finish the drink but she still said that there was nothing they could do.

I found this to be really frustrating because I believe that if I'm paying $6 for a drink that the whole thing should taste good. Not just half of it. I've only had to ask for my drink to be remade a couple of times from places like Starbucks or other boba shops and they always make the moment right so I don't walk away dissatisfied. I don't think I will ever come back again because I know I can receive better treatment elsewhere if mistakes like this happen.

My order is #308 which I placed...

Happy Lemon is one of my two favorite places to get my bubble tea fix! I only get to enjoy when I'm on the Eastside, but I love love love their "Rock Salt Crema." There's nothing else exactly like it in this area and it's a must try! I especially love it with black tea and hot in the fall and winter months! It's like the coziest, warmest, ooey gooey tea deliciousness 😊 one thing that I love about Happy Lemon is that there are so many choices so there's bound to be something for everyone from the simplest tea drinker to the most elaborate concoctions. And they do switch up their special offerings based on the season. Once you decide which drink appeals to you, you have further choices to make because this place is very customizable from the amount of sugar you like to the amount of ice, etc. They also have a customer loyalty program where you get a stamp on their iPad every time you frequent. Your 11th drink is always free! I've been to Taipei where they do not mess around with their boba and although this is not a Taiwanese-based company, it's just as good and creative! Happy Lemon originates from Shanghai. If you're looking for fresh bubble tea and kind staff to boot, this is one of the bubble tea places to frequent. Don't blame me if you get...