Island Boba & Tea — Restaurant in Indio

I’ve frequented this place for a little over two years. It is family owned, and the family does not do well in the customer service department nor does many of the bobaristas. The drinks are good until they will most likely be beat out by other competitors like Ding Tea and Tea Be Honest, that offer a better atmosphere to be in, quality service, and bigger/less expensive drinks. I recommend this place as a last resort and if you have freetime on your hands. You’ll most likely be waiting 10-15mins for your drink if even one person is in front of you, (who only orders one drink, it has happened to me plenty of times now). In my opinion, even if the drink does the trick, the service and the price of it is a complete downfall. You pay 7 bucks roughly, and wait 20 mins roughly, for a tea powder blended in ice with boba balls. As a barista who works with coffee, I cannot understand why these bobaristas feel the need to go as fast as a turtle when making drinks and don’t comp people who’ve been waiting over 10 minutes no less... And the owners, I’ve seen them shoo away people with their hand who’ve gotten there a moment too early when opening. They aggravatedly point at their new adjusted time schedule, (which isn’t updated on their Google site), and shoo you away with...

I’ve been here once before and it was nice... until last night. Got there at about 8:25 I asked for a coconut boba (not slushed) and a mango slush boba, try to pay and I realized I had forgot my debit card... so here I go rushing home to make it back before closing time. (I was taking my daughter as a reward) I literally barely made it on time 8:58!! And the girl literally brought her wrist (w/watch) up to her face to look at the time... weird but ok, I get it, it’s almost closing time. So I let them know I was just there and want the same order. Well, when I get my order I got a SLUSHED coconut boba and a slushed half filled WATERMELON boba!! I ask the girl “is this mango?” She said “no, it’s watermelon, what you ordered” ummm... that’s not what I ordered, I didn’t even see the watermelon option, so she’s going back and forth with me about this til the guy comes forward with a very annoyed demeanor and says “we’ll just fix it!” So I say it’s fine to avoid further bickering... and they just stared at me til I walked out, no refund option, no apology, no have a good night NOTHING! And I could see them still looking as I drove off!! WORSE CUSTOMER...

I've tried a handful of boba places, some in the valley and some not, but this is my favorite. There's just something hard to describe about the quality (or impression of quality) that I love. I'm sure most of these places use similar powders and what not, but I never notice a powdery taste in their drinks. Also, their boba balls seem fresh, and the perfect level of squishyness (some places make their boba balls too hard or excessively squishy and big, this has the perfect balance). I love that the boba balls aren't mega sized either which just adds to why I love their boba balls over other places. Never tried their sushi though, but this is my personal...