Gong Cha — Restaurant in Santa Clara

I want to start off by saying that I do not think this is the fault of the 2 women working who helped me out. They were very kind and sympathetic, however, I was really disappointed with my most recent purchase at this location.

Due to covid, I placed my order over Uber Eats, as is requested on signs located on the doors and walls of this location. I waited the appropriate time and went to pick up my order, only to be told that they never received it. I showed the two women that the order was active on my app, and that I have a receipt detailing: the price I paid, the date and time I placed the order (10 ish minutes prior), the details of the drinks I ordered, and that I had indeed placed the order at the correct location. Both women came over to me and looked at my phone/navigated the app trying to figure out why they hadn’t received the order on their side.

I was told that because they never received the order they could not make my drinks, but if I wanted to I could cancel the order (still shown as active on my side of the app) and place the order through them in person.

When I went to cancel the order as the workers instructed, Uber informed me that since my drinks were “in the middle of being prepared” I would be charged the full amount. The women there assured me that I wouldn’t be charged and that since the price was only marked as “pending” on my bank account I would be offered the refund. This turned out not to be the case. I had to call Uber directly to void the charge on my card. Bit of a hassle but no big deal.

Everything up until this point was unfortunate, but entirely not the fault of Gong cha or the employees present. I completely understood that this was just a weird freak incident.

So 20-30 minutes after placing my order, talking to them, canceling my order, contacting uBer eats and so on, I went up to order the drinks (I didn’t want to place the order on Uber again only to have to go through the same fiasco). When I pulled out my card to pay, I was then asked to read my credit card number out loud. I’m sorry. What??? There are people standing within earshot waiting on drinks and I’m more than six feet away from the counter so there is no way to quietly tell the cashier or show them the card directly. I understand the need to have a system in place that protects and minimizes the chance exposure of the workers to covid. But I am incredibly irritated that when the mobile order option fails, there isn’t a better system in place to accommodate and protect the customer’s information. There are plenty of other businesses that utilize contactless payment so I’m frustrated and don’t know why there isn’t a better system in place here especially since it’s been months since covid began!! Honestly, this was enough of a hassle to make me think twice about coming back which is such a shame because they make great drinks and the staff is...

SEPT 19, 2021: 3:17pm

GongCha drinks are good. No problems with my order. Service however was very rude, rushed and inconsistent. Their store is closed for covid and there's only single parties, they don't ring up the next person until after they finish the first order. While watching though, a family before me was getting terrible service. This heavier girl with a lisp was giving them attitude and was impatient, she didn't even try to hide it. The mom was just asking if the toppings from an advertised drink was included or extra, which is a valid question in my opinion. The mom asked her kid which drinks she wanted and described them in fruits for her but the cashier was tapping her finger and visibly irritated. I was the only other customer so it's not like they were busy.

When I got inside, it took them the entire time they needed to make the order from the family before I was even helped. Not even a greeting or a hello or a "I'll be right with you". The cashier returned to just stare at me and waited for me to just order. She treated me a bit better than the family but still impatient for...

Let me get this out of the way: the parking lot is horrible and despite how large it is, there is not enough spots to the horrible masses of people who come. I circled for a long time, and sometimes you're just stuck because it's gridlocked by all the other cars looking for parking.

Ok now to Gong Cha:

Drinks are not consistent with other Gong Chas. While my Strawberry Milk Tea was right in taste, my friend's Jasmine Milk Tea was very light almost no flavor. The pearls however were cooked well and brought sweetness to the Jasmine Milk Tea, but you could not ignore the lack of jasmine flavor.

Service was great! Friendly staff who enjoyed talking about reusable cups.

Interior is really small. Not a sit down and drink Gong Cha. However they have a cute IG wall I recommend.

Overall, once they get their drinks down, it'll be a...