The Alley Irvine — Restaurant in Irvine

This is on the Alley app delivery service.. AVOID AVOID it at all cost!!!! The Alley used DoorDash.. well they certainly dashed with my drinks. The drinks are good IF you can pick up there.. but each time I ordered via their app site to deliver (as I worked in the mall too, so I can't just leave the place unattended, just temp shifts extra $$$$ for the holiday season November-December '21, yeah long overdue but might as well warn others) first time they forgot boba straw. Sooooo imagine getting boba cup lined plastic and what do you do? Tear it off & gulp it down and scoop boba with your hands . Eww no! 😂 Second time ordered 2 @ $27 with fees -$7 comp. they give for first time users which didn't go into effect supposed to comp my last order. Soooo it was hot day and I was hungry and usually the boba drinks will fill me until late lunch.. The delivery girl was like 100 ft from me and she kept going around and around FOR 2 HOURS!!!!!! Never got my drinks. Then the texts the girl sent after 2.5 hours saying ooo "sorry it's melted so I can't deliver to you. I'll have them remake and deliver to you." Oooo really? you meant you drank and ate my Boba drink is that why???? Well no on re-deliver. Called Alley they shirked responsibility for it because they said it was that delivery's comp's responsibility. Called said that delivery company and they shirked responsibility to get back my money. So I had go spend 45 minutes with my card company to get money back.. I had to send documents of the girl's text to their place in Texas fraud dept. to get my money. Yeah AVOID the delivery service they used.. It showed as cheaper than all orher options too, over Ubereats and other options so thought ok will go with that.. but you know why it's cheaper too right? I'll leave you to determine or ask them what they use. Also I've spent like over $60 there but do I get points comp too? Nope! It's just the manager should be replaced or owner should take more care in their business or there's better Boba company out there they...

#1 brown sugar deerioca creme brûlée milk (less ice):

Ahh the boba here is pretty good! Perfectly chewy and not too small. It's honestly up there with tancha and onezo for me. Maybe it could be slightly bigger but the taste and texture is perfect. The drink itself is pretty good. The brown sugar is like brown sugar and not raisin sugar. The creme brûlée is clearly homemade and is more like a creamy eggy custard than a pudding which I liked. I think I'd like this drink more if it had tea so I'll try that next time.

#3 snow strawberry lulu w boba:

Ooo so I love the fresh strawberry bits in here but the strawberry purée itself is kind of tart and artificial tasting. The cream on the top is yummy but I think the strawberry could be better. Boba is good.

Came back again

Snow velvet peach oolong w boba:

Ahh the snow velvet is similar to cheese foam except not as cheesy and more salted buttery? The peach oolong drink itself is pretty tasty at regular sugar but after a couple sips it gets a little bit too sweet so I'd recommend going 50%. (I completely forgot to do this as I normally get 50% sweet). The boba is pretty good; it's nice and chewy with a little bit of squish, perfect sweetness, although, it could be a little bigger. Pretty good.

Snow velvet hojicha peach oolong latte 1/2 sweet: Snow velvet is glorified cheese foam. Pass. I was a bit worried peach wouldn't work w hojicha but I can't taste it at all. I love the hojicha flavor though. Boba was pretty good today.

Matcha brown sugar deerioca oat milk: I like the matcha but it's very sweet. The boba tasted like raisins. Maybe id try it again at 1/2 sugar.

Coconut mango lulu: This comes w crystal jelly but there wasn't much. The mango is alright and the coconut milk has a slightly oily flavor. This drink was alright. Also there's snow velvet on the top so if you don't like cheese foam remember to ask...

I love the drinks here; they can make them really delicious. I particularly enjoy the passion fruit green tea. Just be prepared for them to be very sweet. And also you can try Orange peach oolong with cheese 50% sweetness. There’s often a lot of syrup at the bottom of the cup or the liquid itself is just very sweet. I recommend asking them to reduce the sweetness by at least 30%. The flavor will still be good and rich, but it won't feel like you're drinking a concentrate.

Below you can see their menu:

Yogurt Series Original Purple Rice Yogurt - $7.95 (860 cal) Yogurt Grape Smoothie - $7.95 (575 cal) Lychee Yogurt Smoothie - $7.95 (504 cal)

The Alley Specialty Passionfruit Green Tea - $7.25 (442 cal) Strawberry Green Tea with Jelly - $7.25 (220 cal) Lychee Green Tea - $6.95 Orange Peach Oolong - $7.25 (240 cal) Snow Strawberry Smoothie - $7.50 (833 cal)

Original Brew Tea Series (Snow Velvet option +$0.80) Assam Black Tea - $4.95 (86 cal) Jasmine Green Tea - $4.95 (86 cal) Royal No.9 Black Tea - $5.50 (86 cal) Peach Oolong Tea - $5.50 (77 cal)

Brown Sugar Deerioca (Tealess) (Choice of organic milk, soy milk, or oat milk) Brown Sugar Deerioca Crème Brulee Milk - $7.25 (1071 cal) Cocoa Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk - $6.95 (987 cal) Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk - $6.95 (581 cal) Matcha Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk - $6.95 (800 cal) Ube Taro Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk - $6.95 (695 cal) Ube Brown Sugar Deerioca Crème Brulee Milk - $7.50 (1117 cal)

Milk Tea Series The Alley Assam Milk Tea - $5.95 (311 cal) Jasmine Green Milk Tea - $5.95 (310 cal) Peach Oolong Milk Tea - $6.25 Royal No.9 Milk Tea - $5.95 (311 cal) Thai Milk Tea - $6.25

Toppings ($0.80 unless noted): Regular Boba, Brown Sugar Boba (extra sweet), Crystal Boba, Rainbow Jelly (konjac), Lychee Jelly, Coconut Jelly, Green Tea Jelly, Aloe Vera, Taro, Sweet Cream, Snow Velvet, Creme...