DIY Tea Lab Cafe (Bubble Tea Cafe) — Restaurant in Kirkland

Not sure why the place is called DIY Tea Lab when there is nothing DIY about this bubble tea place. The drinks are preselected. You can adjust sweetness and ice level (not on all drinks) and add a topping.

There is only one person running the show and they do not acknowledge or welcome you in when you step in. There is no music playing and it is weirdly quiet even when there are multiple people in the store at a time You order from a tablet which is similar to just placing your order online. There is no human interaction and it is weirdly robotic. If I knew that before coming here, I would have ordered online on the way so the drink is ready when I arrive.

Since there is only one person making drinks, everything is easy to make by syrup or powder. The drinks do not taste fresh. I ordered a signature fruit tea and strawberry taro smoothie. The taro smoothie was doused in sugar and I could barely taste the taro. The strawberry syrup was too sweet. I wanted to adjust the sweetness of the drink but there was no option to when ordering and I could not enter any special instructions on the tablet due to it not pulling up the keyboard. The person at the counter was in the back so I could not ask any questions. I added crystal boba in my drink and it was not at all like boba and was flavorless. The topping to drink ratio was poor because there was barely any topping in my drink. The signature fruit tea toppings are too hard to get through the straw so you end up drinking the tea and all the toppings are left at the end.

The cups have a cool lid but compared to other tea places I think the serving size is smaller.

Overall, this bubble tea place is mediocre and there are much better places in the area. I don't think I will be...

Updated review since they addressed previous bad experience... Was able to chat with the owner and I went back and they remade the two drinks that spilled without charge and were very apologetic about the issues with the previous order. It looks like they've added some cute merchandise to the store, and she mentioned they will start selling ice cream soon. Can't wait to come back and try it!

Updated review since change in ownership... Placed an online order for 6 drinks, got to the store and they didn't have the order. After some back and forth and showing them the receipt and calling the owner, they rushed to make it and put wrong toppings and didn't properly seal the drinks and two of the drinks completely spilled out and made a mess in the bag before even getting to the car. But since I was late did not have time to go back to fix, it was incredibly disappointing and definitely won't trust their online ordering again.

Really enjoy coming here for my boba fix, especially since they open earlier in the day than many other bubble tea places so that I can enjoy it with lunch! I like how easy it is to place an order online for quick pickup, and the drinks are always consistent! I am addicted to the Taroberry smoothie, but I also really like their fruit teas with chunks of fruit in it. The bubble waffle with chocolate chips is always a...

DO NOT SUPPORT THIS BUSINESS. These owners repulsively take advantage of younger high school students to provide labor for a job where they are overworked and underpaid (under $14 per hour) On top of all that they will verbally abuse their workers, creating stressful conditions. I have friends from High school who can confirm the toxic environment the owners create. From late to unpaid and missing checks, to yelling at the young employees.

Every time I come in, there is a high school student who is working by themselves and they are clearly stressed. One comment below mentions this, and the owner blatantly lied in his reply. They were not ‘short handed’ for that day. This has been happening all the time for the past few months.

These owners will do anything to cut corners and save money. This includes decreasing the quality and freshness of ingredients to make more money. You won’t find any soap in their mop bucket or salt for their chicken for this very reason.

The owners practice very shady business and it’s not something we should support in...