boba addiction

★★★★

I have high expectations for Lollicup, aka one of the biggest chains of boba shops in SoCal. 

I am never disappointed, either. I've been multiple times to various locations, and the service is always friendly and fast. The drinks are also not too sweet, which is an accomplishment for the milk teas (there is usually too much sugar). The boba is soaked in honey to make them sweeter, which add a pleasant punch to the drinks. There's always a very wide selection of drinks available. 

The reason I only give this chain 4 stars is because, well, Lollicup is a chain. And I'm skeptical of boba chains. They do a solid job making bubble teas, but taste of high quality is missing. 

So many locations

Phone #s vary by location

★★

Oh, Ten Ren. 

My first problem with this place was that all the signs say TEN REN TEA TIME so I can't decide if it's called Ten Ren's or Ten Ren. Nevertheless, I drove into this rundown shopping center looking for some good bubble tea. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. 

Looking at the menu, I quickly realized that almost half of the drinks had crazy names like "Perfect" and "Max." I had no clue what was in them, though, because there were no descriptions of the drinks. I ended up asking the server for descriptions of at least 10 drinks before making a decision, and he ran away after the first question to "make a drink" until I stood in line at the cashier and asked him for the rest of the descriptions. 

Furthermore, they didn't announce my drink when they put it on the counter. It was as if they were putting out free boba, up for grabs for anyone. When I asked if this was THE rose milk tea and THE max tea (strawberry lychee, if anyone was wondering) I ordered, the server looked at me like I was stupid and nodded his head. 

The teas themselves were just OK. They weren't too sweet, which was good, but the rose tea didn't even have a flowery taste, and the strawberry lychee flavor wasn't strong enough in the tea either. The boba was surprisingly warm and soft. I liked the warm taste but hated how soft the boba was. Thank goodness there were booths and some games to hang out with. 

If you're craving boba, there are better places to go than Ten Ren. 

Too many locations in California idk how tbh

Too many phone #s

★★★★

Tebo Tebo Tea Lounge / Tebo Tebo Express - I'm not really sure what's the difference, but I specifically went to the tea lounge. Personally, companies with virtually the same names but *SLIGHTLY* different names annoy me. 

Anyways, this boba shop is famous for serving boba in a bottle! The clear plastic bottle is a curvy shape for maximum grip-hold on-the-go. The boba itself is a nice texture, and the drinks come with crushed ice, and I like crushed ice. Also, the menu has a wide selection of drinks and really cool names for their teas, which are slightly on the sweeter side but only if you let all the ice melt--the drinks are best when sipped immediately. The teas themselves are exotic in flavor, too! In addition to boba, the shop serves shaved ice and other street foods. There are a lot of booths and chairs for seating which are full of people sipping boba. The service was very nice and pretty fast a well. 

Overall, I had a good experience at Tebo Tebo. I would definitely go back for some chrysanthemum tea :) 

15556 Brookhurst Street Westminister, CA 92683

714.839.0030