The Alley — Restaurant in Walnut

I came on a pretty busy Saturday evening for a quick boba fix to complement my to-go meal. Parking is quite a challenge at this plaza on a busy evening. When it's pretty full, your best bet is to park underground or towards the rear. For some reason, the outside signage was not lit up. However, the ambiance was very cozy yet vibrant. This location is smaller compared to the one in Fountain Valley. I'm truly fond of The Alley's wall on the right side, in front of the register.

This time, I ordered a large Matcha Brown Sugar Deerioca with Oat Milk. Little did I know that boba was already included in the order. I got my order within 5 minutes. As I waited for my drink, "Roller Coaster" by ChungHa was playing on their playlist. I vibed well with it and decided to lip sync it while seated and waiting for my order. Hahaha. In terms of aesthetics, it was Instagram worthy before shaking and until you take your first sip. (Make sure to take pics of your drink before sipping or shaking it.)

Honestly, I tasted more matcha flavor than brown sugar. I was expecting a balance between the matcha and brown sugar flavors but it wasn't as sweet as I expected. But thankfully, the drink didn't make me feel bloated or overwhelmed with its sweetness level. I shook and mixed it, but it was quite lacking some sweetness. I'm not that disappointed, but I'll probably order a different deerioca drink or another flavor on my next visit. Don't worry, I'll...

I got two bobas. The original one I wanted came with boba and when I asked them to leave it out as I couldn’t digest tapioca pearls well, they said no. Which was fine on its own but the cashier looked me up and down when I asked and sneered, answering while looking at me as if I was dumb. Since I couldn’t get what I wanted, I asked for a regular milk tea. She proceeded to stare at me and ask which flavor so I just chose any random one I saw. After everything I said she just kept saying is that all? Is that all? As if she didn’t want to get my order at all. I finally got my milk tea and my sister got some strawberry yogurt drink. The milk tea just tasted like watered down milk with ice. There was no tea flavor or sweetness at all. Just bland all the way. The strawberry yogurt shake drink was just strawberry syrup and ice. Not even mixed together and did not taste like yogurt at all. Overall such a bad experience. Won’t ever be...

Ok...so, I've been here a few times and I can't say that this is my favorite location. I ordered the Ube Creme Brulee and I was SUPER disappointed. First, nowhere on the menu did it say that it has boba in the drink and the person who took my order did not ask if I wanted boba...which I did not. I had assumed that since there wasn't any boba at The Alley locations that this would be the same. When I asked if the drink came with boba, the person said, "We cannot remove them for you." I didn't ask if he could, but at least a gesture to remake the drink would have been nice. Secondly, the "brulee" in the drink had the consistency and flavor of mung bean and not the creamy brulee that other The Alley locations have. Overall, customer service was not great and drink was quite disappointing. I won't be going to this...