TOMO Tea House — Restaurant in University Place

So I had the previous location bookmarked and then saw they changed to Tomo Tea House so they were on my bookmarks for quite some time! We arrived on a Saturday later in the afternoon and it was really busy but we were able to find parking as they share parking with several other businesses. We entered and we were welcomed warmly by staff and our dogs were also welcomed and given whipped cream cups. The interior is perfect for photo ops or selfies, we took several pictures of our dogs! There are tables and chairs inside and outside which was nice. I loved how comfortable the seats and couch were. I also saw they had some games that you can play such as Uno, Jenga, and more! There is also a self-order kiosk near the order area which is great for introverts like me but the staff was so friendly that I felt comfortable ordering from them.

As I was staring at their menu on a screen, the cashier kindly let me know that they have a menu at the register as well as a menu to glance at which I appreciate as I didn't bring my glasses. Their menu is pretty extensive but not overwhelming and they had a showcase of their current flavors of mochi donuts on a display. After much careful consideration, I was ready to order and when I brought wanting the pandan milk tea, a different employee mentioned that it is very sweet and that they can't really adjust the sweetness on that and offered to give me a sample to see if I'd like it or not. I appreciated that greatly as I'm not into overly sweet drinks but it was the perfect amount of sweetness. We ended up with the wintermelon milk tea, pandan milk tea, and dirt cup mochi donut. Once we got our drinks, I was very pleased with the ice ratio as other places just add way too much ice and there isn't much to drink. However, the ice was just the right amount and the drink was very refreshing and the sweetness was perfect on both our drinks. We also really enjoyed the dirt cup mochi donut, it felt like we were eating a chewy dirt cup.

We look forward to coming back in the future as we were very pleased with the service, taste, and...

No one greeted us or explained how or where to order, even when the workers made eye contact with me. When I went to smile & wave, the looked away. It was rude & awkward. I didn’t feel it was rude until 2 white patrons came in afterwards & were immediately greeted, asked if they had ordered & if they knew how. They were very pleasant to them, and yet still didn’t even acknowledge my daughter & I . I ordered the strawberry cup & the kataifi was NOT toasted, making it very raw, stale & hard to chew. The cup had chocolate smeared around the inside-barely & the kataifi didn’t have much of the pistachio tahini mixture in it. For a little over $15 you’d expect it to be made correctly, at the very least. It was too hard to eat, literally bc of it being raw & so stale that I ended up throwing it away after two bites. My daughter order the waffle with the same strawberry choc kataifi mix & her kataifi was the same, but also the waffle was gooey because it was not cooked thoroughly. Very disappointing & a waste of $40. I believe it was $37 & some change but it asks you for a tip at the kiosk you order from yourself. So I tipped a couple bucks. DEFINITELY A WASTE OF TIME & MONEY. We drove from South Hill just to be disrespected & disappointed. 0/10 do...

I’ve tried a lot of boba in my life. Let me save time extolling virtues other reviews have already covered. Here’s the top three perks for me:

1. Ambiance. I didn’t know I’d been missing this place until I walked in. It feels like a sweet retreat from life … which, isn’t that what boba’s all about?

2. Perfect Pairing. I see a lot of places do one or the other well, and several try to do both to ill effect. Granted we walked in when it wasn’t particularly busy, close to the end of the day, but there were still funnel cake mochi donuts in the case that were delectable even cold.

3. Service. There is a kiosk for ordering with images to explain what’s what, and if that’s not your style, the bobaristas are super chill and will guide you through their particular approach to boba. Their signature drink is very unique - brown sugar syrup, black milk tea, topped with chizu (or sea salt crema as I know it) and brûléed brown sugar. Warm stir-fried brown sugar boba included, and default 0% sweetness. My partner, who orders the brown sugar shaken oat milk espresso, said it made him feel alive after a stressful evening of shopping...