Ding Tea Balboa — Restaurant in San Diego

This place has a huge variety of drink flavors, as well as delicious pandan bubble waffles. The quality of the tea itself can be hit or miss; they're sometimes overbrewed and bitter, but most of their drinks are sweet enough to cover it up (some are TOO sweet, but you can customize your drink's sweetness and ice levels). The golden boba is okay and basically on par with most other boba shops in the area, though they have a great selection of other toppings that are worth trying (for instance, the crystal boba has a firmer texture and is great in their fruity drinks). I recommend their Thai iced tea with 50% ice and golden boba, or their gotcha matcha bubble waffle.

There's usually a line and a short 5-15 minute wait, but nothing too extreme. Don't bother ordering on their website—we've ordered pickup through it probably half a dozen times and the wait always seems longer than just ordering in person or using a third party site like GrubHub. It seems like orders from their website slip through the cracks, which is really disappointing. Still, as one of the only boba shops near the Clairemont area, it's not a bad choice for those...

I've tried other boba places for decades, and I've got to say... I think Ding Tea might be the top for me. I was going to TapEx for the longest time, but Ding Tea has been great.

I always get the Taro Oreo Tornado. I have ventured to the fruit smoothie/slushes and those are also amazing. I don't think I've tried one drink that I did not like.

I also like the rewards program, sometimes I earn a free drink. Service is usually quick too. I don't think I've had to wait for a drink longer than 5 minutes even with a long line.

The atmosphere is ok. some seating but nothing that would make you want to stay longer than needed. Even the nearby shopping areas aren't really "sit here for awhile" vibes.

Parking lot has never been full where I couldn't find a...

The atmosphere with the Christmas tree is very nice. But I didn't enjoy my drink enough for the price tag. It wasn't horrible but just not good enough for the price, I mean it's barely any ingredients I don't get the price of these places, like if I'm not getting some superfood ingredient that came from an island I just don't get it. I watch a lot of street food and they seem to actually care about customers with fresh fruits, and just amazing food and delivery, so I'm kinda picky when it comes to actually places that barely serve anything but charge a hefty price. I literally was done in like 2 minutes after getting my drink because it was so small. Like i said it wasn't horrible just personal opinion and the sizing...