The Alley — Restaurant in Sunset Valley

South Austin finally has The Alley and I couldn't be more excited! This location just soft opened next to Daiso and across from KPot, with the grand opening coming up this weekend. I honestly haven't been this excited about a boba shop opening in a while, not just because of the drinks, but because I really hope this little pocket becomes a hub for Asian spots in South Austin!!

The space is branded as The Alley Café, and it definitely has a more elevated, high-end café vibe compared to other Alley locations I've visited. When we arrived, the whole family was there setting things up, and they were incredibly sweet and welcoming.

Our favorites:

Garden Milk Tea (Oreo-based) -- my favorite! Creamy, not too sweet, and such a fun twist.

Ube Taro Brown Sugar-- another standout with a rich flavor.

The boba was excellent: bouncy, chewy, and just the right texture.

We tried others like pretty much all the brown boba series and the classic Royal No. 9 Milk Tea and passion fruit tea.

One of the things I've always appreciated about The Alley is their commitment to quality--using real fruit instead of just powders. This location really stayed true to that standard (even better than the Cedar Park location I've been to where it didn't taste the same).

We actually came too early during soft opening, so we missed out on their first 100 customers mystery bag. But for anyone planning to stop by this weekend, good luck!

Overall, a fantastic new addition to South Austin, and I'll definitely be back...

Had to wait in line for 15 minutes which isn’t too bad on an opening day but having no AC was pretty rough. When I got to the front I asked for the alternative milk options but was then told that the milk teas was premade with non dairy milk. When I asked what kind of non dairy milk they didn’t specify (I have to have nondairy so I assumed it would be okay. When ordering the person was very rude when I was confused about having to add an additional tea to the taro ube drink. After waiting 40 minutes for a pre made Thai tea and a cream brule taro ube tea the Thai tea tastes like watered down milk and the taro tea was completely curdled. I saw several people be treated rudely but the front person so I know it was not just me. I’m not sure if the drinks were actually made with non dairy milk either because my stomach is churning (could just be me tho) Usually have a lot of patience and understanding especially on an opening day but that was so...

For the first day opening it was not too busy and I saw drinks getting out fairly quick.

I ordered the Brown sugar boba creme brulee milk. To start I waited almost 45 minutes and would see people who showed up after me get their drinks within 10 mins and leave. When I asked they said they were making more brown sugar boba and that is fine but I wish I would have been told there would be a wait so I was not just blindly waiting.

Second when I tried it even after I mixed it all I tasted was milk. Compared to the menu picture that is not what my drink looks like and the ratio was way off. The brown sugar boba was delicious but I was just drinking white milk with boba. For the amount of time they had me waiting I was pretty disappointed since I did not even get to drink it.

The staff was nice and they might have felt a little overwhelmed but more communication...