Teazona Dumpling & Noodle Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Phoenix

Right off the bat, this place was much smaller than we anticipated. There were maybe six or seven places to sit in this joint, and at least two other families were there when we arrived 6 on a Wednesday evening. This being said, the fact that they give you your food in to-go containers was greatly appreciated. We were worried we’d have to find another place to take our food and eat. Fortunately, we were able to slide a chair over from another table (there were three of us btw).

There sure are a lot of reviews mentioning how wonderful the staff are, like a shocking amount actually. We had to wait a bit for someone to acknowledge us, which was okay for us since it was our first time and we were still deciding what to order. I asked what the difference between the regular smoothies and their stormy drinks, and my interaction with the cashier woman was nothing to write home about. She was nice, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to praise her in a review. I’m mentioning this BECAUSE of all the ravin reviews about the workers.

Anyway, once I found out what the stormy drinks were, I opted to go for a regular mango smoothie (with boba) and an order of the chicken & veggie bao buns. One of my friends got an order of taro bao buns, noodle soup, and a classic milk tea (with boba), and my other friend got an order of pork belly bao and milk tea (with boba).

We all enjoyed our food. It was our first time trying not only bao buns, but taro bao as well. We thought everything was tasty and the bao dough was truly out of this world. The chicken and veggie filling in my bao was minimal, but it still had a nice flavor. The taro buns were super cute; the muted purple color was really cool to see. My only gripe about those bao was that I wish there was more filling. It was such a thin layer (same with my chicken & veggie bao) that I felt like I was eating mostly dough. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for soft, fluffy dough that borders on undercooked, but I don’t want to pay $8 for some balls of dough; give me the filling!

While my friends liked their drinks, I did not like mine. I ordered the mango smoothie with boba (of course) and I loved the boba. It was soft and perfectly chewy, but the drink tasted like a bunch of stomped on, underripe cantaloupe (literally, as if mob of people with dirty feet trampled over some underripe cantaloupe). It certainly didn’t taste like other mango smoothies I’ve had, and it saddened me. I couldn’t even finish half of it, it was so unpleasant. I wish I had gotten a strawberry smoothie because strawberry is almost always the safest flavor if you’re trying a new place.

Another thing I want to note before I conclude - it took quite a while for both the food and the drinks to be served. There were two workers out front making the drinks and I have no idea how many in the back (if there even was anyone in the back), but I felt like we were sitting for a while before the first of the food items came out. I know there were obvious online orders as people were coming and going with food they had ordered online, but the service wasn’t as quick as other places.

I’d give this place a solid 3.5/5 because it was a good first bao experience, but I just wish my smoothie didn’t taste like feet and underripe cantaloupe (when I ordered a MANGO smoothie). It sucks that most of their reviews are praising their drinks when that was my least favorite thing about this place. Oh well, if I make the trek over there again, I’ll be sure to try a...

Ordered food for takeout through Chowbus, their preferred online merchant.

Pros Singapore noodles were nicely cooked and had a good flavor. Takoyaki had good texture but could use some bonito flakes.

Cons Thought I ordered boba milk tea according to the photo, turns out it was classic milk tea, with no boba. Ordered Szechuan spicy chicken, it was closer to American Chinese chicken with brown sauce with a bit of chili, as seen in photo. An authentic szuechuan spicy chicken should not contain cabbage, bell peppers or broccoli. Also, I selected white rice but they did not include it in the bag. I was not greeted when I walked in. The server did not know if I had already paid or not, which I did when I ordered online. She had to ask another server. The tip section defaults to 18% of the total at checkout. What's tricky is that if you change the tip amount, leave the checkout page, and come back, the tip defaults to 18% again. In my hurry to order I did not notice and ended up tipping more than I...

Spent about $70 in food. We didn’t try any tea/drinks but we got the orange chicken, wonton soup, beef and broccoli, eggrolls, crab ragoons, chicken fried rice and a side of chowmein noodles.

I was really looking forward to trying this place after reading so many mixed — but mostly positive — reviews. The menu offers a wide variety of options, which was exciting at first. Unfortunately, the actual food didn’t live up to the expectations. The dishes we tried were noticeably bland and lacked seasoning, which made it hard to enjoy or even finish our meals.

Service is kiosk-based, which some might not mind, but it didn’t add to the overall experience. On a positive note, the interior is thoughtfully designed and aesthetically pleasing.

I don’t write negative reviews lightly, but based on our visit, the food quality just isn’t there yet — especially if you’re looking for something authentic and flavorful. I hope they’re able to improve with time, but as of now, it’s not a place...