3CAT Handcrafted Beverage — Restaurant in San Diego

The drinks are okay. Jimmy however was so unnecessarily rude with a scary attitude.

First I made a drink modification on the order kiosk that I'd requested before, he called me over and told me they can't do it that way. That's fine and I understand when that's the case. I asked again if he was sure because last time a diff employee told me it was fine, and I could pay extra - literally give the shop more money - and he turned away to ask another employee but I saw him do a gesture of "wtf" with his back to me, as if I wasn't standing right there looking straight at him. A different employee told me they could just do a diff modification and it would be similar, which was totally fine.

Later I asked to confirm whether a drink had dairy that my friend is allergic to, because the taste was similar even though we paid for the nondairy substitute. Unfortunately for us, Jimmy made the drink. He could have just confirmed he did use the substitute. Instead he said he used it, while bugging his eyes out at me and rolling them, and shrugging his shoulders like I insulted him deeply by asking. Bear in mind I was asking to confirm that my friend was safe to drink it, it was not about not liking the taste or to complain. Drinks can and have been made wrong before. I think as a customer I have a right to ask, and not be made to feel like I can't check that my order was made correctly for health reasons.

I'll be warning my friends and family to avoid, if Jimmy's behind the counter. Literally everyone else I talked to was normal and nice. As for me, we won’t be back. 3CAT doesn’t offer anything that you can’t find at the 16284629638 other boba shops in San Diego.

PS. YELP has a popup under this shop’s page saying that they were caught offering compensation for positive reviews, which is not allowed on Yelp and generally a sign of a business trying to silence reviews they don’t like. :)

Update: All the 1 star Yelp reviews for this business have mysteriously disappeared, mine as well. Seems like the business is...

5/6/2025 UPDATE BELOW.

JIMMY IS A PROBLEM. ALLERGY ISSUE. Drinks are good if you can put up with the terrible attitude of the staff.

I ordered a tea latte and selected oat milk because I have a dairy allergy that presents itself in hives on my face and jaw. After tasting it, it had a texture and flavor of real milk. Worried, my friend got up to ask about it and Jimmy shrugged and rolled his eyes in annoyance saying that he definitely made it with oat milk (after admitting he made it wrong the first two times). He made such a big deal just from us inquiring to make sure it wasn’t made with dairy. ALLERGIES ARE SERIOUS. Because of his attitude, I couldn’t trust what he was saying and didn’t drink it. I also caught him just staring hard at me several times randomly while we were inside the cafe. Not sure if he was looking to see if I drank it and got an allergic reaction?

Thankfully, there are other great cafes in convoy that offer drinks and a study/hang out area, without this type of behavior from staff.

EDIT 5/6/2025:

So my friend’s post about this interaction on Yelp was taken down because it “described individuals or situations with objectionable terms that go beyond simply reviewing a customer experience with a business”. She described the same experience along with a description of Jimmy. It looks like the owner of the business is reporting one-star Yelp reviews because a lot of them mysteriously disappeared. The business also had a notice on yelp saying that they were caught paying for good reviews. If this was a problem with a drink preference, I would probably chalk up the bad service to the staff being overwhelmed with the drink orders. But not taking a customers order seriously when it’s concerning an allergy can be very dangerous. I will take my business elsewhere. Keep Coffee/Aree is right next door and has wonderful staff, drinks, and seating area (no, I’m not affiliated with them...

Obviously I went here on a bad night, it was packed line out the door but that’s pretty normal for anywhere in convoy anyways with absolutely no parking. They have those kiosks where you take your own order, which I don’t care about but the software they used make it super janky and the menu confusing to navigate. From what I hear this place being busy is pretty normal, so don’t expect that you can wait inside for your drink. You might get lucky and find a table, but everyone at those tables will be there for a while since they all have been waiting 30+ minutes. Luckily I had a friend next door in another boba place waiting for their drink so we can in there, but everyone one mostly went and sat in their cars. The decor is definitely cute. I waited about 35 minutes to receive this drink, and it was pretty good! I’d said worth the wait, but I wouldn’t wait again. It was one of their matcha drinks, it had a good blended consistency with a very smooth matcha flavor. My only complaint is I like the milk cap, but it was a lot and I didn’t have the option to get like “easy” on the milk cap. There were times I just drinking straight thick milk cap with no matcha and it’s definitely not pleasant…. other than that this place is very popular right now, so go at a good time where you think it won’t be busy or just prepare for a...