Cool Tea Bar — Restaurant in San Francisco

I've come here 3 times in the past 2 weeks, but the last experience I had here will be my absolute last. Arrived at 11:50am on a Monday to place a simple order of milk with grass jelly and didn't leave until 12:30pm, unbelievable.

There were a few people ahead of me that were waiting just as long, if not longer, only 1 person working behind the counter, only kiosk ordering available (which I don't mind at all because kiosk ordering is faster and easier - though it seems like not all the menu options are on the kiosk).

On a scale of 0-10 in terms of work efficiency and hustle, I give the worker a 2. The guy was flicking hair out of his face every 10 seconds, extremely slow and appeared to not even know how to make the drinks, maybe he was a trainee and it was his first week? Let's say that's the case, then where was the person that was training him?? I was confused as hell, I could've gone to the store to get milk and grass jelly myself if I knew I'd have to wait 40min for a plastic cup of liquid.

A group came in after me and placed an order of 4 drinks, one of their friends came in a few moments later already with his drink in hand from another store. Smart guy.

Please put an efficient worker during lunch hours, people want to be in and out in a timely manner, this was an insane wait time for such a basic single order. Your drinks are good, but not...

I really love bubble tea, and I love Cool Tea Bar. I remember they used to have a location on Columbus, but it went out of business, so I was glad to see that one was here on the street I live on whenever I moved to Chinatown! I recommend the Jasmine Milk Tea or Roasted Milk Tea, 0% sweetness with the egg pudding and grass jelly. I find that the egg pudding gives enough sweetness if you don't like ultra sweet tea. 100% sweetness would be enough to stop my kidneys. If you've never been fortunate to have bubble tea, now is a perfect time to try it! It's basically iced herbal tea with milk, sugar, and various types of fillings such as grass jelly, tapioca balls, aloe vera, etc. It's very unusual to someone who has no exposure to it, but for lack of a better word, it's a very cute drink that tastes refreshing yet satisfies a sweet tooth after a meal without being heavy. The service is also very friendly, always with a smile. Thank you so much, Cool Tea. You guys are pretty cool to me! From their cup, "Cheerful heart brings better future." So go cheer your heart up with...

Updated on May 27, 2024. Despite a slow day with only 2 customers, it took this person more than 15 minutes to make my roasted milk tea, 30% sweet, less ice, NO toppings. Previously it took 30 minutes during New Year Festival when then place was overwhelmed with customers yet understaffed (they should not accept orders both via the kiosk and cashier when they were not delivering the orders in a remotely similar pace. Hence dropping the review to 3 stars, but specifically the service to 1 star.

Original: A little pricey but for a large milk tea thr volume is pretty impressive. Didn't get to try their oolong milk tea, but roasted milk tea isn't bad. Will come back...