Kuluka Boba + Sweets — Restaurant in Westminster

Cute boba tea and mochi donut shop located conveniently next to Costco - but the drinks and snacks just didn't hit the mark.

Stopped by Kuluka on a hot day looking forward to something refreshing. It's a small storefront with only a few parking spaces out front, but the neighboring Westminster Liquors doesn't seem to mind when customer parking bleeds into their storefront. We had high hopes as we walked in and were greeted by the friendly staff manning the front. Although rather plain on the outside, the store interior feels warm, almost tropical, with plant paraphernalia everywhere.

They have a nice assortment of different drinks, including fruit teas, milk teas, and smoothies, along with special seasonal items that are advertised on the counters. I liked that each drink was clearly designated as dairy-free or caffeine-free, since it's hard to tell what ingredients each shop is using. It was decently busy, but we were still able to get a seat at one of the several square tables that inhabit the seating area while we waited for our drinks. If you're lucky, you can snag a cozy hanging chair to enjoy as well.

The special donut of the day was the Dubai donut - which, even though it was more expensive than their classic flavors, we had to try. Unfortunately, my hopes started sliding downhill as I took my first bite. It didn't have very much pistachio flavor at all, and the texture wasn't the chewy cloud that makes mochi donuts so enjoyable, more like a traditional donut. Drinks-wise, I opted for an Ube Milk Tea, while my boyfriend got a classic Brown Sugar Milk Tea, both light ice and half sugar. Both our drinks still tasted as if they were 90% sweetened, so if I were to go back, I'd probably ask for 0% just to be on the safe side. The ube in particular felt very artificial, without any any of the starchy puree signifying real ube.

Overall, Kuluku has such a shiny exterior, but did not live up to expectations at all. Will be looking to get my boba fix elsewhere unless I'm already...

You know those places where it doesn’t matter how horrible the workers and service are because their product/food/drinks are so good you’d still come back even if the employees cussed you out and threw your food on the ground in front of you?

This is the farthest thing from that type of place!!!!! This places has some of the best Mochi donuts and milk tea drinks I have ever had the pleasure of having. On top of having some of the best Mochi donuts and milk teas, they are also some of the nicest, most personable, kindest employees of any place I’ve been to in the last 3-4 years. Kira, one of the girls that works the register and makes drinks, is amazing. She is so sweet and it’s always lovely to see her when I walk in with my 2.5 year old. My toddler is usually very shy and reserved, doesn’t really like talking to strangers, but Kira has always been so nice and kind to him that now when he walks in and sees her, he says “hello” loudly and with a smile and gives her a high five! She has made him feel so comfortable and it’s so awesome to see him open up like that too.

I recommend Kuluka to everyone I can. On mondays I take my toddler out to lunch while my MIL takes care of my infant and my toddler likes to eat at Starbucks, but I always make sure to stop in to Kuluka to get my crème brûlée milk tea beforehand because I don’t want any of the drinks at Starbucks 😂😂 I always get asked where I get my drink and I always make sure to tell people to RUN, not walk, to Kuluka because of how amazing their sweets...

I was excited to visit and support a Hmong business as I've heard the hype of Kuluka. The donuts weren't bad, a little on the doughy and sweeter side compared to others I've had. But that's not why I am writing the review. I am writing because from the moment my husband and I walked in there was a lot going on behind the counter and it seemed like everyone (7 employees) was busy doing something but everything was coming out real slow. There was a table that looked like they had been waiting for a while for their drinks. There were 2 parties ahead of us that hadn't had their orders taken yet because the person taking the orders was multi-tasking (also making drinks) so they were leaving the customers waiting to place orders unattended. We stood there for 10 mins or longer before we were up. There were 2 shelves in the donut case and 6 flavors. 3 of the donut flavors were 1 or 3 away from being empty so I asked if a certain flavor was going to be restocked. They went into the back to ask how long it would be and came back and told us 5 more mins. That sounds like poor planning. As a fellow Hmong, I would like to see this establishment shine and continue to do well. I'm not sure what your goals are for your business but implementing an organized team/schedule/plan that works efficiently to tackle the volume of customers you receive would be something to concentrate on. I wish the best for your business and hope that it...