Tala Coffee & Tea — Restaurant in El Cerrito

THEY DELETED MY REVIEW ON YELP SO CROSSPOSTING HERE AND YELP AGAIN

Witnessed a racist encounter committed by (what I assume) is the boss of Tala and I’m deeply disappointed in his conduct.

I had already ordered my drink and was sitting and working in the corner. A young Black couple came in, trying to decide what to order. After deciding what they wanted, the woman said “oh maybe they only take cash, I’ll walk back to the apartment to grab some since I only have Apple Pay.” The man said okay, and decided to wait for her in the shop and started to charge his phone in the outlet.

After she leaves, the boss comes through the front door asking the cashier aggresively “他定了嗎?” meaning “has he ordered yet?” Gestering to the man but he had only sat down for literally 30 seconds. I knew the boss’ intent and tone, and that he had racist bias that the man wasn’t a paying customer (for context, I am Taiwanese and a fluent Mandarin speaker). After the cashier responded no, the boss started yelling at the man, telling him if he doesn’t order he can’t stay here. The young man responded he was waiting for his girlfriend to come back with cash, and that they were just about to order. The boss doubled down and told him he had to leave if he wasn’t going to order immediately. The girlfriend came back with cash soon after and they obviously decided to take their business elsewhere. Absolutely unbelievable. This would have never happened if the patron was any other race. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I witnessed the whole thing and they were going to be paying customers and you assumed otherwise. If I could give 0 stars I would. It really sucks to see my own community react in such a manner and I will no longer support...

I came here yesterday, really excited to try my local boba spot. I asked for my regular, a brown sugar Thai Tea. The barista, a nice young woman mentioned that it would be really sweet. Most folks say this when I order, so I agreed and gave my card. She made my tea perfectly.

So perfect, in fact, that I came back again today to get another. An older man was at the register this time. I asked for the exact same thing: a brown sugar Thai tea. This time, however, the barista immediately rejected my order, saying they do not serve that. He said I could get a Thai tea or a brown sugar milk tea. I told him I'd ordered and received the requested drink yesterday; he said no (as if to deny the fact it ever was provided).

It's one thing to deny someone their requested drink, it's another to do so in such an abrasive way that even made other patrons look up.

I left my loyalty card and walked out the door. I really wanted this to be my local spot too.

EDIT: I see this is not the first time he has disrespected Black patrons specifically. I question whether Black lives and/or business...

It was not a pleasant experience at all. Me & my wife go on our morning walk. We frequent the local businesses in the area. This particular morning we said let's go to this particular establishment. It's kind of nippy today, so I said let's get a couple of lattes. Mind you, I'm not a avid, daily coffee drinker. Only cold days, but anyways. My wife went in & I kept walking. She has a head injury, so she can wander sometimes which is a typical symptom of head trauma. She said she asked for water, the latte & then went outside because the place was abnormally warm inside. Upon going back inside, she said the lady at the counter overtly & quite loudly said she Had TO PAY NOW!! She wasn't handed anything except a cup of water & why would you act that way in a place of business? Do people usually try to not pay for a $5.00 coffee, either way she walked out, & refused to pay for the coffee solely on that premise of blatant disrespect. We will definitely not be spending any money there again. The servers were very disrespectful to...