Bober Tea & Coffee + Mochi Dough Carmel — Restaurant in Carmel

This place is absolutely beautiful on the inside, definitely a social media user's dream. There really isn't an area you can't take a cute pic of. We ordered a sandwich - I believe the spicy pork slider. We noticed the wait was pretty long, but figured it took a while to make the food. When a table that ordered their food after us got their food, I went to the front to check on our order. By this point we'd been waiting probably 20 minutes. It took a minute for me to be acknowledged at the front. When I asked about my order, the cashier was trying to see what was going on. The person preparing the food insisted she had already called my name and implied it was my fault. Then she insisted she gave the cashier four sandwiches (one being mine) and implied he gave it to the other people. She was so loud that the table she said had our sandwich all stopped and looked at us as if they were the issue. She tried to get the cashier to go to their table to get the sandwich. He let her know he didn't give our sandwich away, but again, she insisted he did and tried to get him to go to their table again. He looked embarrassed. I spoke up and asked them to please just make me new sandwich as I wouldn't want one that was given to a different table anyways. I can confirm the cashier only had three sandwiches for the table, so he was correct. The cashier called our name just a minute or two later and let us know he found our sandwich. It was made, just somehow hidden, confirming our name was not called and not given away as the person preparing the food had said. I would like to say the cashier apologized and tried to handle the situation appropriately, but the person preparing the food did not at all. She accused both the cashier and myself of being at fault. It made the experience awkward and disappointing. I didn't even ask for a fresh remake as I just wanted to get out. I don't know that I can fairly review the food as it was apparently sitting a while before eating. It didn't taste good, but it could have been it just wasn't a flavor I enjoyed, or it could have been just getting cold, but I will say the packaging was adorable, and it made for a cute...

I have been to Bober one other time, but this is my first time since under new ownership. As portrayed via their social media, this shop is similar to Crumbl cookies in the way that their flavors change each week. I saw some yummy flavors for this week, so decided to make the 20 minute drive to Carmel to get me and my 3 year old a donut that I told her she was getting the night before. When I arrived, I noticed the owners sitting in the corner being served drinks and saw a sign directly to order from a screen. I didn’t see the type of drink I wanted and noticed you couldn’t choose your own flavors of donuts, so I went to the counter. I asked the cashier if I could order from the counter since I needed different flavors and he confusingly asked “well what kind of donuts were you wanting because I only have two flavors,” which were a pink sprinkle and a some other type, maybe churro or glazed. Either way, that wasn’t what I came for so I declined, as it was going to be a bit for what I wanted and I had to be at work in 30 mins back home. I asked for an iced strawberry matcha instead, which he said he couldn’t do, so I opted for the chizu matcha (I felt I needed to get something since it’s a 40 min drive total). My drink was sealed, like a boba would be, so I could access the chizu topping (which is the whole point) and I wasn’t asked my sweetness level (so it was a plain, non-flavored matcha) and the cost was $7.95 after tax. Safe to say, I will not be making the drive back, especially considering there was not even an apology for not having the food they advertise ready. The owners also acknowledged the only other person in the place, but not me, which truly isn’t a big deal at all, but I do think if there’s only two people inside your business, one ordering everything fine and one having issues with nothing being available, the person having the negative experience should be acknowledged as well. Could have led to a possible returning customer. All in all, call before you go to ensure they have the flavors they are...

So sad about the way this “reopened.” Prior to closing we were regulars and absolutely loved everything about it. The previous owner(s) ran it magnificently. Our favorite was the plain mochi donuts with {sprinkled} powdered sugar as our kids are dye free and eat minimal sugar.

Went today and the whole vibe felt off. Ordered our usual but the cashier didn’t know what we were talking about, had to double check the menu as it was still on there. Previous to the closing we saw the staff was mostly made up of young adults/teens who were on top of it and ran everything so smooth. They were obviously very well trained, surprised that the now grown adult staff weren’t doing so great.

The plain that use to be sprinkled in powdered sugar are now completely covered. Of course, this is mostly preference but it is nice to have something not completely covered in sugar. The dough was over fried, I’m taking solid donuts compared to how soft they use to be. They also tasted old? Probably because of how hard the dough was. We didn’t get drinks this time but the group ahead of us did. Their order seemed messed up and we saw them throw it out as the left after taking a drink😬

Unfortunately, we probably won’t be coming back. Sad that our favorite little family treat stop is now not as great but there are better places...