Tapioca Express

I don’t come here too often anymore and now I remember why. They really never have what I want every time I come around. Also unable to make an avocado snow bubble, so I usually go with my next choice of a honey dew snow bubble. It’s just real unfortunate how they are never in stock with certain things. They used to always be on point, from the drinks they served to their staff. As of now I’ll leave it as a 3 star rating for the time being. Maybe later on I’ll change my mind, but it won’t be anytime soon.

Tonight, they had one of the many high schoolers in the store steal my drink. Thinking maybe there was a mix-​up or I had seen something wrong, I waited for another drink to be made or a call to attention.
Did anybody make another drink?
No.
Did anyone call me up, apologize, and say it would take another moment or so to make a replacement?
No.
Nothing. Happened. They were busy closing and talking amongst each other.
Eventually I grew tired of the wait and informed them of what happened. The cashier then looked away as she said they were «working on it,» while continuing on with her closing duties.
Wow.
I have friends who work at the Convoy and Chula Vista locations. I KNOW what closing looks like at their stores! They were busy washing blenders, wiping down bar surfaces, and making conversation with one another before I even asked about my drink.
After finally making my drink, the employee gave a quick «sorry» (unnecessary if you were actually «working on it» and didn’t make a mistake), but didn’t even bother to look me in the face or sound sympathetic! At least fake the sincerity! This is a customer service job!
Honestly, you’re better off making the 20– minute drive to Convoy than taking the service of this location.
Or down the street — to Lollicup.
In the end, my drink didn’t even taste close to decent. Seriously, guys??? I should have gotten a refund.
Better service would have easily fixed the problem…

I’ve been to this location twice. The first time was a little over a year ago and the second time was last night. The parking can be a little tricky in the complex depending on what time you go. Ordering was pretty simple except last night they were requesting either exact change or credit (my assumption is they were low on change). It wasn’t a huge inconvenience for me since I happened to have some cash on me, but I normally don’t carry cash so I lucked out. I didn’t really care for the seating arrangement/​store layout. The register is in front of this long bench but its a tight squeeze if they’re busy and there’s a line and people waiting on the bench. The store is pretty narrow which I don’t think works for the booth type seating they have in the front and towards the back of the store.
As for the food! I ordered a honeydew snow bubble drink with boba and crispy chicken snack and my friend had a taro snow bubble drink with boba and an order of chichi fries and wings and fries. The chichi fries were pretty tasty. I tried their regular fries and for the most part I liked the seasoning, but there was something that tasted like cinnamon on them and I’m not too sure how I felt about that. I really enjoyed the crispy chicken snack. The chicken is heavily breaded and crunchy but there were also small bits of crisps in my bag which just tasted like extra breading that got deep fried with the chicken and I wasn’t too fond of that either. I do like that they offer dipping sauces (buffalo, ranch, sweet and sour) and that the prices are pretty low. I would recommend if you want a quick snack and are strapped on cash.

Only came here because of their sisig fries!
I think they only make a certain amount of sisig fries a day because when we showed up and asked they said they only have enough to make 2. And its only 11AM! We ended up getting their sisig combo with black tea for ($ 9) with no spice.
The sisig fries is a filipino fusion mixed with fries and topped with sisig, jalapeños, and cheese. Their portion size has changed. They used to give a lot more fries than they do now. I wish the sisig was a bit more crispier. But the sisig was flavorful, salty and vinegary.
Overall, I only come here to get their sisig fries. Drinks are OK. The pricing of the drinks do cost more than the convoy one. Service is alright. Parking is just as bad as convoy or worst.

I went here for the first time… it’s not the same as other tapX. I have ordered honey milk tea… and it tasted like chocolate or something else. It does not taste like honey milk tea. Wth!

I never get any new flavors here. I only get taro and honeydew… sometimes strawberry. I just got tropical fruit and its… aight lol tasted more like lychee haha. But I really like those flavors and its always good. And its open til midnight so that’s convenient.

First time here at this Tapioca Express location. I usually go to the one in College Grove which is alright… it’s pretty small at that location but, it’s the closest boba place from my house. I went to this location today while being in the area. Before coming here the reviews made me kind of skeptical, but when I came in the place was pretty spacey, the music wasn’t too loud or too quiet, and it had good lighting. It was not crowded. The menu was much bigger than from the college grove or convoy tapex in my opinion. They even had like a special drink menu for example green tea kit kat, tiger milk tea (½ milk tea and ½ thai tea). I have always wanted to try the tiger tea when I saw someone post about it on Twitter a while ago but I was scared to ask because it wasn’t on the menu. This place had it on the menu so I was able to try it! The drink itself tasted more like Thai tea to me nothing special, but it was still good not to sweet. The boba was soooo soft and chewy, wish they were a bit sweet though because they just tasted plain. I wish there were more tables and chairs for the space they have.

I placed my order and i waited for 20 min …
I asked for my order and they didnt even know what i was talking about !

This place is a joke they’re busy and I understand but they forgot my kids drinks after 20 mins? ! That’s freakin bad service !!! I complained and there’s no manager ! Dude seriously? And they want to upgrade it for what? No way Jose because I have ordered large drinks for them ! Yeah no brainier ! This place is a nightmare ! I don’t think I’m coming back here again. And today is hot day ain’t no time for patience just sayin ! Kids are thirsty and I’m pretty upset !!! I think I need an iced cold freakin beer! Yeah right

Cannot believe this is A tapx. Seriously?! Tapx is known for their drinks, and definitely their crispy chicken and calamari. At this location, the drinks were ok nothing to complain or say it’s not tapx quality. But hold on, thecalamari is on a whole different level. I was craving for tapx and was in the neighborhood– if I was to know their Calamaris are like onion rings, burnt, I would’ve just gone to the one off convoy or off college. I can’t believe the other tapx locations allow this location to serve Calamaris like this. This is not tapx quality. The chicken was ok. But the calamari, unacceptable for them to even be called tapx, it was completely burnt, close to black! How can they have thought it was ok to serve this?!
I would not recommend this tapx location to anyone. Please drive the extra miles to convoy or college for the calamari and chicken– you’re guaranteed to get what they’re known for.

Not coming back ever.
Came back because I was craving buffalo fries and I am very grossed out of what my fries tasted like.
It was super oily, some ingredients were missing and there wasn’t a lot in it either. Kinda sad because I liked their buffalo fries but I am def not coming back. Fries were just too oily and soggy and tasted bad.
When we threw our trash away, there was a cockroach just there waiting for food or something. SO GROSS! YOU KNOW IF THERE IS ONE COCKROACH THEN THERE IS MORE!
The line gets really long during summer so be prepared to wait. On top of that trash cans are always filled to the top. Makes sense to why they have cockroaches.
I would just stick to going to the one on Convoy. Hands down the best tapioca express. They give you an abundant amount of everything, and it always tastes fresh and good… AND CLEAN.

I’ve only been here once, and I’ll probably never go again. I tried the taro boba and I’ve never had my taro taste like it does here. Taro is my ultimate favorite and it amazes me how wrong they got it. Too milky, no taro flavor, and the boba wasn’t to my liking. I made the mistake of buying a large and took about 3 sips and just threw it away. Never had any of their other drinks, but just the fact that they got the taro wrong makes me feel offended and never want come back here again. If you’re coming here for taro, don’t do it! Save your time, money, and sanity.

They make the teas here faster than in convoy !
Location is ok but place is smaller
Staff is attentive and mindful of special request

This is the second time I’ve been here. The first time was fine, but this time I ordered a regular jade green milk tea (it’s under the milk tea section and listed as «jade green») and when I got the tea it was the regular jade green tea. I figured maybe she just didn’t hear me say the milk tea part so I asked if I could switch it. She basically started asking if I wanted these other milk teas, and made it seem like I was stupid for wanting that tea. It’s clearly on the board. If you don’t have Jade Green milk tea then take it off the menu.
Then to top it off, the fries I ordered had a nice hair, that my friend even described as looking like a pube, in my fries. Yay.
Also, we were here for about an hour and the tables are all dirty and there’s chicken and napkins all over the floor and seats.

I come to tapex often. I love getting a nice refreshing watermelon icy w/​mango stars and a bag of crispy chicken. Like a perfect match. An asian version of chicken and watermelon, totally feeds the stereotype to both of my races. Jokes aside it sucks that they do have a tendency to run out of watermelon icy. Luckily I always have my backup drink a cantaloupe snowbubble w/​mini boba.
Food wise I usually stick to the crispy chicken snack but I have tried other things. Once I got lumpia here. I did not enjoy it at all. I couldn’t even finish it. I also got the fried calamari once. The breading reminded me of something mozzarella sticks are breaded in. I wasn’t a fan.
Service wise. The drinks usually come out in timely matter. But sometimes the place could use a clean up. Ive came here a few times where the trash was filled to the top and the tables where dirty.

TapEx as the locals call it is a great place to find an extensive menu of drinks with the option of adding bobas and jellies. You can drink-​in or take-​out, and if you need to munch and crunch, they have a good snack menu with various fried eats. Our favorites are The Watermelon Icy with boba/​mango stars and Vietnamese Iced Coffee with boba. You can also order mixed boba with a combination of big and small pearls, or also a combo of bobas and jellies. This place is close to my house, and it’s always good. If it’s not right, return it and ask for a redo or return. I’ve never had to, but I have requested redder riper pieces of watermelon before and they were quite accommodating.

I come to the Chula Vista area a few times a year and I swing by this spot sometimes. The interior has changed a lot, it’s very nice inside. It resides a bunch of Filipino teens that look like they make Youtube videos and sing to every song that is playing on the radio. My order came out promptly, then I looked around to see their other items on their menu and they sounded really good, like the green tea kit kat or halo halo something.
I got a taro milk tea with boba. It was not good. The boba was decent, but the milk tea was more of a thick chocolate tasting milk. At least it was purple. The prices are fair, not too cheap not too expensive. They’re open till 1:00am on the weekends so that’s cool.

They changed up the interior with simple designs and their customer service (especially Romel) is the best!
So many things about this place changed, & I’m liking it so far.
My fav drink: peach green tea with no boba

This place is okay, I was a frequent customer at the convoy location. So when this one opened up I was really excited to try it out. It’s closer and convenient for me. The drinks are a hit or miss. Sometimes they’re really good, and sometimes they’re not so good lol. I’m addicted to the iced Vietnamese coffee.
The snacks/​food also taste different. They have different menu items worth trying out. I still like the flavors of tapex on convoy better. But when I need a quick fix I come here to the national city location. Try the chi chi fries! (Chipotle chicken fries).
The customer service is average I guess. They don’t really greet you when you walk in. It’s kinda just like «let me know when you’re ready» or no ones at the counter paying attention to customers standing and waiting to order. They get what you need and you walk out.

Majority of time it can be great, but sometimes it is hit or miss. Depending on what hour you go to TE, boba can either be too over cooked or not cooked enough. It’s rarely happened to me that I get one or the other and I’m usually there within the last two hours of closing.
My favorite boba is the peach snow bubble. My boyfriend ordered the strawberry snow bubble, but it was super sweet and almost tasted like a milkshake. The peach snow bubble tastes straight up like fruit with no dairy, the strawberry one tasted like it had dairy.
I also love green tea snow bubbles, but realize that there is a difference between MATCHA green tea and JASMINE green tea. I’m not a fan of the Jasmine green tea and not every place has matcha green tea.
One complaint I do have is their crispy chicken. I’ve ordered crispy chicken at least 20 times in the last year and every time it comes out a little different. The thing is. my order stays the same??? So what gives? I’m not sure. I always order, crispy chicken, no spicy, with two sweet and sour sauces. Sometimes they come out with a little kick of spice and a couple of times they have come out with absolutely no spice at all. The small kick of spice is actually really great because it adds a lot of flavor, but I’m scared to ask for mild (or whatever is the next step up from no spice) because every time I order no spicy, it always comes out with a little kick.
PSA: If you go too close to closing, they will not allow you to order extra boba. DAFUQ?!? So what if I want extra boba and you didn’t make enough to last you until the end of the night, I’m a paying customer and I’ll pay that extra $ 0.50 to have my extra boba!
Extra boba is $ 0.50 and a large instead of regular is also $ 0.50.