Boba Ave Express

First off, they wouldn’t let my three friends & I pay separately. Then they all had attitudes & slammed my change down! I had ordered taro milk blended. It’s fresh taro so it’s very gritty. I wasn’t expecting that & did not like it. I politely asked if I can switch my drink & explained why. The lady who I am assuming is the manager gave me an attitude & told me that that is what I ordered & then after seeing me not give in, finally asked what I want. I searched the board for other blended drinks asking where they’re placed on the menu — no one answered. I finally ordered a caramel milk blended. They did not bring my drink out to me like they did the first time around. I tasted it & realized it was not blended. When I pointed it out, she said it was blended «a little.» What the hell does tht mean?! I had to mention that I paid for a blended drink. The manager lady said I didn’t specify blended. So I said «cool, can you refund me the difference then?» She acted as if she didn’t understand me then slammed down 50¢. I took it & went back to sit outside. About 2 minutes passed & the manager lady came out & said she wasn’t supposed to have given me that much change & she’s only refunded me this one time & continued with «so next time…» My friend responded «there won’t be a next time,» & without another word, she aggressively walked away.
If you have three or more people & dine in you get a free order of fries, which were good.
I thought when someone doesn’t like something you’re supposed to be fairly sympathetic, ensuring customer service. They had attitudes from the jump.

Worst I mean, WORST PLACE. I called in an order, as a pick up!!! Which ok shouldn’t take that long? I waited 40 MINS!!! She kept telling me 5 mins
Every 20 mins! And to TOP IT ALL, when I got home they gave me the wrong order. And the food is pretty disgusting! NEVER EVER AGAIN!

Pros: I liked the whole drive thru (express) idea of this place. They have a tv in the drive thru so if it was busy, the drivers get to watch tv as they wait. Pretty awesome.
Cons: Nothing really special about this place when it comes to their drinks. I LOVE Thai tea and I was very excited for my drink. When I got it, it was disappointing. I got a Thai Tea with boba, grass jelly and egg pudding. The drink was very blah, egg pudding had no taste, the «honey» boba was very bland and the Thai tea was watery. Service was not the greatest.
I could care less to come here again.

Boba is okay… The egg pudding is trash though… & they messed up our order. Fix your ish QUICK

My first thought is «who wouldn’t want a drive thru boba especially one that opens that late?» That’s the number one thing that drew me to this place because that means I could get boba at 11pm in my PJ’s & enjoy the boba in the comfort of my car ride back home, but that doesn’t happen here… the drive thru CLOSES after 8:30pm. The drive thru area turns into a hangout place with several tables, two big screen TVs, and people are just chilling or playing cards.
The parking is located in the back of the facility and if you DO go after 8:30pm, there’s going to be two seating areas — in the front or in the «drive thru» area. They do have heat lamps for those chilly nights, and the inside is pretty hipster decorative.
The overall quality of the boba was alright. They have a lot of different flavors (look at menu pictures attached), but it wasn’t something memorable. The boba itself was half hard half chewy. I got the strawberry banana smoothie and it did taste a bit like the powder type instead of actual fruit. The overall experience was just a-​ok. I think the thing that stands out about this place is the drive-​thru, but like I said, after 8:30pm, the drive-​thru is no more.

The first drive-​thru boba joint I’ve ever been to.
The drinks are good but nothing to gloat about to all your friends. I usually get the Honey Green Milk Tea with boba. Drink prices are up there but they do offer a 50% discount off refills if you dine-​in. They shut down the drive-​thru at night and set up tables for people who want to sit and chill. Sometimes, I do get annoyed by this because I just want to drive through and get my drinks quickly.
They also serve food and snacks here. I didn’t like their popcorn chicken but I do enjoy their Takoyaki balls. Their popcorn chicken was salty as… salt rocks. Even with less seasoning, my husband and I couldn’t bare it. Lollicup makes popcorn chicken way better with better flavor seasoning. The Takoyaki balls were slightly crispy on the outside which we loved! Flavor wise, I’d give it a B+. definitely a great snack to enjoy with your drink.
Wait time can take awhile. I’ve waited almost 10 minutes for 2 drinks once and 6 minutes another time with no other orders before mine. One awesome thing at night is, they bring your order out to your car. Front parking is limited FYI.

Try the mango smoothie! Delicious!
I still don’t understand why this place is a 3 star…

I have to drop a star for another one of their nonsensical undisclosed policies that I discovered today: if you don’t want ice with your drink (because, like me, it gets in the way of drinking your toppings of pudding or boba or aloe), they will charge you an extra $ 0.30 without telling you and it’s not anywhere on their menus. Never have I been at a boba place where they charge you for no ice and/​or not have it in fine print somewhere in the store. 》=[
Dropping them lower on my list of SGV boba places to frequent. =/

I came here on a Saturday afternoon, and we were the only customers at the store (someone else came in while we were there, though). I ordered a large lavender milk tea without boba, which in my opinion was still too sweet. I would recommend getting 75% sweetness without boba, and maybe 50% sweetness with boba. There isn’t much I can say about Boba Ave because I’ve only been here once, but my boyfriend loved their popcorn chicken.
Also, they have an extensive menu in terms of the drinks that they provide. The food menu isn’t on the wall, but they have paper menus at the front counter.
I’ll definitely be coming back to try more items on their menu, and I recommend that you try this place at least once.
Side note: I saw a sign once that said there were discounts for dine in after 8pm, but I’m not sure if they have this deal every time.

To my dismay, I was treated very poorly at this establishment today. In addition my drink was only ¾ filled with no taste and it costed me $ 5 (please see photo for reference).
The people who work there are extremely lazy, rude and disrespectful. I ordered a lychee green ice tea large half sweet. The girl working there was extremely rude and condescending and didn’t trust that I ordered a large, she wanted to give me the regular one after I had paid in the first window
As I mentioned I paid close to $ 5 for this drink.
Not worth it!

Great selection of drinks and the fried tofu is awesome! If you like seasoned fries you will also like the fries here too!
If you are on a low sodium diet, don’t get the food here… Just settle for drinks! Lots of restaurants in area use the same seasoning here on fries as on seafood, so if you like Lawrys style seasons great! If not ask them for no or light seasoning.
The place has a drive through but unless you know exactly what you want, better to park and walk.

(Review based on 3.75 stars)
Located across the street from Coco’s Bakery & Restaurant, with a small parking lot out in the back. This Boba Ave Express place is an interesting concept in which you have the option to order via drive through. But my husband and I decided to park in the back and order inside after we saw some people sitting out front in their outdoor seating area (which I did not know they had and according to my brother, this is new. When this place first opened, there was no outdoor seating).
Anyways, when we walked inside (we also had our little dog with us), an employee came over and asked if we were dining in or will be just ordering to go. After we said we were going to stay here, she brought us some menus (after we said we were going to sit outside… there is one small table inside). After looking over the menu, we ended up getting:
Large Size Lavender Milk Tea ($ 4.39 prior to tax) — Drinks automatically come iced/​cold unless you ask. My husband ordered this drink and said it didn’t have much of a lavender taste (I didn’t have any). But he still finished it and liked it.
Regular Size Almond Milk Tea ($ 3.89 prior to tax) — I asked for this to be made with 25% of the sugar they normally make it with. I was a little disappointed that this milk tea tasted a little on the watery side. It wasn’t because of the reduced amount of sugar, but that perhaps there was too much ice in this and that it had already melted a little before they brought it out to us. But I still finished this drink none the less.
Regular Size Taro Milk Tea ($ 3.89 prior to tax) — My brother joined us a little later and ordered this. He completely forgot to ask for a reduce amount of sugar and so he thought it was a little on the sweet side. He got his milk tea with boba (my husband and I did not) but did wished they had the option of adding pudding to his milk tea (but they don’t have pudding).
Side Order of Non Spicy Fries– For their current promotion, if you have a minimum of 3 items ordered with 3 or more people, you get a free side order of fries. You can choose spicy or non spicy. The order was actually pretty big and the seasoning on the fries was pretty good. It had some kind of curry type of spice on it.
— — — — — — — — — — —
(Total= $ 13.27 after tax, prior to tip)
The server who waited on us was nice. When we had first arrived, it was just my husband and I with our little dog. I had asked her what the promotion was when I saw a banner hanging on the wall over the drive through part of this little place. She told me about the promotion. Then later on, my brother came by (probably 20 minutes later) and went inside to order a drink. I went in and told the employees to just add his drink to our bill then went back outside. Shortly after, our server came out and told us that we can get the promotion and asked which type of fries we wanted. Then eventually came back and brought our order. That was so nice of her because I had completely forgotten about the promotion.
This place has free WiFi (their phone number is the password) and it was pretty fast upon our visit (last Sunday from 6– 7 pm). The restroom (unisex) was not the cleanest but it served it purpose. I liked that we were able to come here with one of our dogs and so we will probably be back. By the way, there are small circular black seat cushions to sit on the bench by the way. It is in a small wooden container (that looks like a trash can) in case you need one.

The only drive through boba shop that I can think of. If you are in the area and in to mood for a quick fix for your boba crave and don’t want to get out the car, stop on by.
They have a full menu of different drinks from, milk teas, teas, yokult drinks plus more. Be sure to arrive before 8pm if you want the drive through. Any time after that, they turn that area into a patio seating area.
If you dine in during this time, they offer 50% refills.

I was in the area for a late night reunion dinner with some college friends and we decided we wanted boba. Having finished dinner around 10:30 on a Thursday night most of the well known boba places were closed. So, we decided to try this place.
What we got:
Passion fruit green tea boba
Thai tea boba
The good:
The place is so cute! The decorations the whole setting of it I love it. They have like a boba wall. It’s pretty cool. The Thai tea boba was amazing. It had the right amount of sweetness to it and the boba was fresh.
The bad:
Honestly, the customer service there sucks! The workers looked so pissed off working there lol. Weren’t friendly at all and if you ask them questions they give you an attitude. Their passion fruit green tea was mehhh. There was no flavor at all and it wasn’t sweet enough. Basically, just tasted like water with boba in it.
In all, I wouldn’t come back here.

Finally, a drive thru boba spot! This place is really trendy and modern and they really took the time to make it an actual experience. The entire drive thru is open and decorated and there are even TVs in there showing NBA games so you can watch while you wait. The boba does come out fair quickly, but I suppose if there is a long line, you’d get a good use of the TVs. If you order food, it can take a bit longer so they direct you to a special parking area just for that and bring the food out to your car. The drive thru closes at 8:30pm, but the patio area stays open until midnight and there’s plenty of space to hang out there or in the parking lot.
As for the milk tea, it’s not the best I’ve had, but still pretty decent. The actual boba is really good and has a nice texture and I added pudding to it which had a stronger egg taste than most places, but it still went well with the drink. I also ordered a spicy popcorn chicken which I loved! The batter and seasoning had a really nice kick to it. Everything is a bit pricey, which I guess you are paying for convenience and the experience, but it’s not enough to outweigh it. There are plenty more well known boba places in the area, but this is a cool spot to check out.

Not the best boba you’ll ever have, but it’s not the worst boba you’ll ever have either. The best thing about this place is the drive through. There are other boba places I’d rather visit, but sometimes laziness triumphs and the thought of getting out of the car (especially on a hot summer day) seems like the worst thing you can do. When ordering your boba, you drive up to the first window, pay, then drive up to the second window to pick up your goodies. If you’d rather skip the drive through, you can also walk in to place/​get your order.
Overall, quality was ok. My husband liked the boba, but they were just a tad too hard for my liking. I love the convenience of the drive through, so it’s possible I’d come again. Hopefully other establishments follow suit and more of these drive thru boba places will open up in the area.

Another boba place but the cool thing about it is the drive thru. The menu is on the wall, you place your order, and pay at the first window then pick up your drinks at the second window. Music is playing while you wait for your drinks.
~Note: The window is a little far so you need to reach a little extra to get your drink.
:Drinks:
We got a regular Milk Tea and Almond Milk Tea with boba and lychee jelly. I thought it was a little watered down and not sweet. It’s not the best drink I’ve tasted but it’s not the worst. The boba and lychee jelly tasted fresh. On my second visit, the drink was too sweet. Consistency of the drinks is lacking.
:Customer Service:
Friendly
:Highlight:
The drive thru!
:“MeH” Moment:
The drive thru is not always open.
:Rating:
I’m giving it 3 Stars. I love the drive thru concept especially if your bumming it and feeling lazy. The drinks could be more flavorful but it wasn’t horrible.
:Tips:
~Get the punch card
~Show your student idea and get a discount
:M’s Notes:
~Inside and outside seating
~Parking lot

Yay finally a drive thru boba place. When I was a young girl, I remember thinking to myself that I wish there was a drive thru boba place because I was so lazy and always craving boba. I came on a Friday afternoon, the line wasn’t crowded, there was only one other car in front of me and it was pretty fast. They also have an indoor area too if you want to go there and chill.
I got their boba milk tea which I thought was surprisingly good! It was really sweet, which is how I like it. The boba wasn’t honey boba, but it wasn’t as bland as like quicklys; there was still a hint of sugar in it. A regular size was close to $ 4 (I always round up). A large size is just $.50 extra.
I will come back again to try other stuff because I really like the concept and their drinks are sweet!

I really like to give places a chance despite negative or lukewarm reviews; but I have to say that I agree with the reviews here.
On a hot summer day, I decided to join the bandwagon and tried the whole «boba drive-​thru» experience. Service was fast but it wasn’t that special. I ordered their jasmine green milk tea and it was just too sweet for me. The price wasn’t worth it for me. Honestly, I’ve had better milk teas elsewhere.

3.5 stars.
It’s not the best boba I’ve had, it’s not the worst boba I’ve had, but it’s the only boba I’ve ordered in a drive-​through. Love the convenience! Not sure why there aren’t more of these in the 626, since boba is so popular and parking is so scarce throughout the area.
Took the family here after dinner at nearby Din Tai Fung and there were two cars in front of us. The drive-​through looks like a converted garage (according to LA Weekly it was a dairy in its former life), so you order with a real person, not squawkbox, at one window then drive forward for your drinks at another window. The teas were good (passion fruit and jasmine green), but the boba was on the soft side.
Service was okay. We didn’t receive a stamp card, which would’ve been nice. They forgot to put boba in my wife’s order and we had to wait for them to fix the problem, but they were kind enough to upsize her drink.
Overall, a good experience that has room for improvement. The convenience is worth a stop, though, and I’ll be back. Note to the owners: put a menu facing the street. It’ll speed up the process.