UMe | Tea & Snacks — Restaurant in Millbrae

This location needs to train their staff better. Communicate with your customers.

I went to order tea for my wife today. The two staff members were busy and not attending customers, so I scanned the QR code and ordered. It looks like there is a digital screen too, but it was off or out of order.

I placed my order and waited a while. The staff were fulfilling a very large order, which looked a bit stressful, but they did not talk to any of the customers to explain the situation. After waiting about 15 minutes, I asked another couple how long they had been waiting. They said an hour! I asked another group and they said had been waiting longer than I had.

I decided to interrupt the staff and ask for a refund. After looking through a mess of tea looking very confused, they found my order. They told the couple who had been waiting an hour to wait 3 minutes so they could make their order. Funnily enough, I received a text message 3 hours later saying that my order was ready.

They also turned a way a mother and her child saying they are no longer taking orders. This was at 2 pm or so. She walked away unhappy and told me she didn't like the way they said this to her.

I get it that you're busy and stressed, but the best thing to do is to talk to customers and just tell them politely what is going on. Ignoring the growing line of customers is not how you deal with it. Also, turn off online ordering if you are too overwhelmed to...

This small boba tea spot is one of my favorite places to get drinks and popcorn chicken! Their quality selection of cold drinks and quick service keeps me coming back!

When their BOGO deals weren't showing up properly on their ordering kiosk (because you need to order them 'one-by-one' deal at a time) they took care of it later by making extra free drinks afterwards. The young workers behind the counter care enough to make the experience right!

The place is marketed for the 'Instagram crowd' with special cups and cute little stuffed collectable toys, but they have a popular selection of seasonal flavors if you sign up for their rewards ('CASH' app) or email newsletters.

My only minor complaint would be that their small tables could use some more frequent cleaning because of how busy they get but most people order their drinks for take out anyway. I admit they put too much effort in their branded packaging which probably makes it ideal for DoorDashed orders. So some drinks get pricey and not all drinks offer size or full topping customization so there is that if you are very picky.

I've tried almost half of the drinks they offer. I recommend their White Peach Oolong Milk Tea or the Grape Green Tea with Tea Jelly are...

We ordered a pop corn chicken with sour plum powder, Grape Green Tea Slush W/ Non-Alcoholic Beer, and the Grape Green Tea w/ Tea Jelly.

Let me start off with the popcorn chicken, best one I ever had in the Bay Area hands down. The chicken is super tender and juicy. I got it togo and it didn't really get soggy (we ate it almost an hour after we got it). Excellent! 10/10 recommended

However I took off 2 stars because my mom's drink, Grape Green Tea w/ Tea Jelly didn't have any grape flavor at all 4/10. I think they forgot to add the syrup. See color for comparison in my photos. My drink, the Grape Green Tea Slush W/ Non-Alcoholic Beer, it's good but nothing wow about it 6.5/10. I changed the agar boba to the tea jelly. The main reason why I took off 2 stars is because I almost swallowed plastic that was in the drink or jelly (see picture). Or it could be the gelatin sheets for the jelly that has not melted properly, either way, that's really unacceptable. What if the piece was bigger and someone choked on it?

That's said, I'm definitely coming back for more popcorn chicken but I'll skip the drinks on my future visits.

Service 7.5/10 (I know this location is new and they're still...