Hello Jasmine-Lincoln Park — Restaurant in Chicago

I've absolutely seen worse places but of all I've visited, this is definitely at the bottom of the ladder of boba spots. I paid 8 dollars for a panda milk tea with tapioca and it took about 25 minutes from when I entered to when I left with the drink in hand.

The main things that did this place in for me was 1: the wait. As mentioned I waited about 20 minutes after ordering. This is by far the longest I've ever had to wait for a tea. They had employees standing around who were clearly waiting for food orders while one guy was doing a sluggish job at making the bubble tea (which majority had came in for) People had pick up orders and we're still waiting, a delivery driver was even subjected to a wait which is a big indicator something's wrong with the service.

2: The atmosphere. Place looks nice, sure, but it is rather cramped. Only a few places to sit and wait and only a few places to sit and eat. If I had ordered food to eat inside, I would have been out of luck on seating. I don't think it's wise to make changes based on covid at this point, but if this was during the height of the pandemic I would absolutely be concerned about the distancing in place. Very cramped.

3: The drink itself. I'm not gonna hate, it was a good drink. Was it an 8 dollar drink? I wouldn't say so. I have had better bubble tea and for cheaper. A big bonus is they were very generous with the boba but they also put in weird jelly boba things that I did not order and I found a little gross. I can see why people come back, if you've got the money then the drinks are undeniably satisfying.

So the end decision of all my reviews in my head is, would I come back? To put it bluntly, not at this price point. This was not an 8...

I did not like my online ordering experience.

There were 2 reasons why I did not like ordering through the website. There was no section to add notes. I did not want sauce on the rice, but, I did want it on the side, and there was nowhere to request this.

There also was nowhere to request a specific time to pick up your order. My confirmation stated that my order would be ready for pickup 10 minutes after I placed my order. However, it would take me 30 minutes to get there, I called the restaurant to specify a pickup time. Having to make a phone call negated the reason for placing an order online.

When I entered the restaurant, there was no greeting of any kind.

I was there for 10 minutes until someone asked me if I wanted to place an order. When I told the employee I was there to pick up an order, they had a hard time finding my order. There were 4 employees behind the counter and my order was actually sitting on top.

I ending up ordering 2 of the Special Braided Pork Over Rice Bentos. We really liked these. The meal is very well balanced and filling. Everything in the Bento was delicious. The Pork was very tasty, the Bok Choy was cooked perfectly , the pickled mustard greens were crispy, the Braised Tofu and the Stewed Soy Sauce Egg were delicious.

My rating is 4 stars, 3 stars for the online ordering and customer service and 5 stars...

As a Taiwanese,I was genuinely excited when this restaurant opened in my neighborhood. I went out of my way to support them and introduced it to many people throughout the years, despite having closer boba tea shops near me. Sadly, the quality has gone drastically downhill, and after my last two visits, I won’t be back.

A few months ago, I ordered popcorn chicken. Instead of the juicy, flavorful, piping-hot chicken with fried basil that defines Taiwanese popcorn chicken, I was handed a cold, dry batch that was clearly made earlier — with no basil at all. They offered to remake it after I complained, but it should never have been served in the first place. I turned it down because the disappointment killed my appetite, though I still hoped they’d improve.

A few weeks ago, I gave them another chance. Big mistake. I ordered a non-spicy braised pork bento for me and my son. When we opened it at home, it was covered in chili powder — making it inedible for my son. The pork itself was extremely dry and salty. I couldn’t eat it either; I ended up finishing only the side vegetables.

At this point, it feels careless and disrespectful to both the food and the customers. If you want to call yourself a Taiwanese restaurant, then do justice to Taiwanese cuisine. Right now, this place...