Daboba @ Kearny Mesa — Restaurant in San Diego

Food: 4.5/5 Service and Setting: 4.5/5 Value: 2.5/5

I have seen Daboba here and there on social media and when I was searching around for a boba place, I was happy to see one close by. I will be honest and say that the vibe is very similar to the alley, but this particular store impressed me a lot. While parking in this plaza is always a pain due to a lack of spaces, the inside of the store is wonderfully organized with great seating options. I am too used to boba shops having horrible seating arrangements and being generally uncomfortable, but I really liked the bench and coffee tables that I am sure are from Aki Home. If you have a small group of 3-4, this would be one of the best places to relax and enjoy great boba drinks. The cashier, though she did not know everything about the menu, was very nice and helpful. I would and will probably come back!

Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea: 4.5/5 The brown sugar teas come in a fresh variety as well and you can request oat milk which is a huge plus for me. The girl helping me recommended the normal milk tea (which is lactose free, the fresh milk is not lactose free) because it has a stronger tea taste. The tea itself is layered with brûlée on the top, salty cheese, tea, and boba with plenty of brown sugar. The drink overall is not overly sweet or rich, but very balanced. You can enjoy brown sugar in many forms from the brûlée on top, sugar on the sides, and syrup at the bottom. The tea has a luxurious flavor and is distinct. The boba is perfectly cooked and has a great texture. I will be honest and say that all good milk teas taste pretty similar to me and this one did not stand out in any particular way, but I appreciate that it was well made and I hope...

We were very excited to hear of Daboba coming to San Diego as a new Boba Shop to compete with another very popular brand of a different animal mascot... We had to give Daboba a try for comparison!

PARKING - There is a shared parking lot with other businesses including Tajima, so at peak dining hours it can be quite packed.

SERVICE/ENVIRONMENT - The front half of the store looks very nice and aesthetic, although towards the back the wall mural has a blurry stuck-on photo of a bear. Service was good, we waited around the typical time it takes for specialty boba to be made.

DRINK - Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea (Reg - $5.50): There's a nice brown sugar swirl on the edges of the cup, and the Milk Tea has a nice brown color that compliments the sugar swirl. The boba itself was pretty good, although I have had better at the competing chain. The drink... was a bit of a let down. I barely tasted the tea flavor, and although the brown sugar looked nice, it was also very faint.

Wintermelon Green Tea (Reg - $4.95): This automatically comes with Boba and Coconut Jelly! That was the extent of our positivity as the drink itself seemed VERY watered down. There was barely any sweetness, even with the Boba and Coconut Jelly in the drink! It was also one of the recommended/thumbs-up'ed items on the menu, so we were led astray.

Our friends that got the Fresh Milk drinks said it tasted just like milk in a cup.

OVERALL - Unfortunately this experience has let me believe the other competing boba chain store is better than Daboba. Not sure if they still need to work out their recipes, but our visit was...

Daboba used to easily be my favorite boba spot, a solid 5/5, but then the quality of their milk tea changed. Either the owner or management changed because a few months ago I noticed that their milk tea was very weak, as though they weren't using as many tea leaves to brew their tea anymore in order to save on costs. All I tasted was milk and sugar, there was barely any tea flavor at all. I gave them a second try another time, just in case it was an off day. I even asked for less sugar this time around, but again it just tasted like milk and sugar. You can even tell by the color of the milk tea in old photos versus new photos, the older pictures from customers show that the milk tea is more brown in color. I used to go to daboba almost every weekend, but they have now lost a loyal customer. I do not want to pay for a drink where I can barely taste the tea anymore. If you think the customers can't tell, you are wrong. Shrinkflation = lifetime loss of revenue from customers with good palettes. They still have the softest boba in all of San...