Snow House Tea Bar

My friend and I ate some All you can eat sushi and we were really full. It was also extremely cold that evening. It’s December in California, I know, but still it’s pretty darn cold. So, what we did was we decided on going here. This place has a lounge. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a tea house have a lounge. The lounge had pool, tables, and some small card games for people to play. It was a completely different experience. We didn’t order any food because we were full at the time, but there was brick toast offered at the time we came. It was open pretty late, past 11:00 PM, so that was also really nice to sip some hot tea.
Now, for the drink, I bought hot tea, some Earl Grey mixture if I remember correctly. When they say hot, obviously it is hot. Warms your soul enough to get you through that cold air outside. We sat there and really enjoyed the ambience, as well as playing some card games for fun. The tea itself is also really sweet, so I recommend it.
Pros:
+ Lounge. Good for young teens, friends, and groups to come hang out and chill. There’s a pool table, too.
+ Warm drinks, very nice and sweet. Inexpensive as well.
+ Nice décor
Cons:
— Parking is underground. That sounds weird as a con, but you have to travel up physically and then cross and when it’s cold, it just sucks, BUT it makes you want a warm drink more, so I guess it balances out?
Recommendation: HOT TEA on cold day. BEST FEELING OF THE NIGHT.

I like the tea here, but don’t come too often. The reason being the wait and the store hours. I have no problem waiting for the drinks, but if I’m in a hurry (which is often) then I’ll go somewhere quicker. They’re not open until later in the day and it seems when I want to get a drink they’re closed.
The earl grey and green milk teas are great. Maybe even the best in SGV in my opinion.

Nice visual stimulation with unique interior decoration, pool table, and they have a random terrarium lol.
I had fast service, but some members in my gang waited +15min after I received my tasty hot tea. I was afraid to ask for seconds. It couldn’t be helped, seeing how there was a packed house and what seemed to be 1 Asian girl tending all the patrons.
I got the 20oz Washington Apple Black Tea (half sugar), which came in a cup and pot set. Freaken delicious! I recommend.
Plentiful parking downstairs.

I came in today and asked for an Apple Oolong. I was telling him how much I loved that tea and I got so distracted that I forgot to tell him to make it hot.
When my drink came, he served it cold. I apologized and asked if I can change it to hot and he did with pleasure.
The owner (who was apparently listening since the beginning) came out with two little tea bags filled with loose Apple Oolong herbs. He told me to try those at home and told me he will be selling loose herbs in the future.
Anyway, they were so friendly and sweet, the tea is bomb, and it’s a chill place to study, play pool or cards.

They recently remodel the interior, and it has become much more study-​friendly, which I really love. Man, where was these leveled couches and tables when I was still a student! haha. But it is still very comfortable for games and hangouts. In fact, it’s so comfortable that it has become our signature «catch-​up» spot everu time my friends visit SoCal, and since the staffs are very friendly and chill about our long stay, and the service and food/​drinks has always been decent.
Although this place is slightly pricier and can take a while if you order legit tea, they actually brew the teas fresh and can adjust the sweetness level (LOVE the Rosetta tea!!) So I don’t mind the wait.
I like their shave snow, popcorn chicken, and sweet potato fries. Oh did I mention I love their Rosetta Tea? Haha.

Uhm, what kind of bogus rule this place has… Minimum $ 2.75, I just want to sit and chill with my friends who are ordering because I’m not feeling tea/​boba… So I mean I guess I’ll just leave. I’m not going to pay for my presence here. Are you guys really that stingy, I mean I understand if it’s one person but I have a whole group. Is it really going to affect your daily profit or what? Definitely never coming back to this place again, see you never!
The vibe at this place already looks like it’s trying too hard anyway.

I’ve frequented here on many a Sundays to study and I really love it. The drinks are a little bit pricier than your average boba/​tea shop and the drinks do take a while to come out (but apparently they make or brew it fresh) so minus one star for that.
They are still doing some construction so it’s a bit confusing, but I usually just go to the front to order a drink and grab a seat.
They don’t bother you about staying for a while and the wifi is great.
I love coming here because the air condition is always on and it feels nice inside.
** they sell sweet potato fries which are delicious btw **

I don’t think their drinks are that good, but their shaved ice is pretty good. I like the atmosphere because they have board games, piano, and a pool table. It is a pretty nice place for a group to hang out.

The staffs are accommodating and helping, which is a plus!
Drinks wise — it could be better. I asked for quarter sugar but it still turned out very sweet :/​
Great place to hangout to play board games for the night owls: D

Waited 25 minutes for 3 milk teas and had to cancel the order because the guy didn’t even start on our order. Place is dirty and still in the middle of construction. Terrible tea spot.

Came here upon recommendation from my friend. Appears to be a family owned tea house. I’ve been here maybe 4 – 5 times now. I must say their teas are amazing– make sure you specify you want hot or cold– I’d recommend the rose green tea and the oolong ones. Oolong may keep you up at night, fair warning. If you go early enough order one of the rose teas; I always end up there too late and they are out! Also it is snow house so don’t forget to try a plate of that sugary goodness. My favorite is mango flavored ice. Strawberry tastes artificial.
There’s a pool table in the center and many games to entertain you. Let’s see. Jenga, uno,… My favorite entertainment here were their selection of songs on the playlist. Reminds me of the 2000s. Loved it!

This is my second Unilocal review… EVER! So you know that I only post when the place is really worth me the trouble. My first review was to complain about a driving school pulling scam and I gave it a 1 star. However this one it is worth my attention and 5 stars.
Right when I walk in, I was greeted and seated by a worker. My first impression was how spacious the place is. Then the decoration on the walls are pretty cool. We were the only ones there. After getting seated, we took our time to go through the menu, and for the first time in a tea bar I was not rushed by the worker. There is $ 2.75 minimum per person rule and I was trying to order something else besides a shave ice so I can meet their rule. However immediately the worker told me that it’s okay. And said it is only for those customers that are very inconsiderate and hang out there for a whole night hogging the pool table without paying. Our shave ice came in about 7 minutes, which was good. And it may not be the best snow I’ve had but it’s in the top 3! Then I realized my phone was at 1% and I asked the worker if they had a wall charger, he went behind the desk and searched for me. He then handed me one, and it was still hot, so I assume he was using it to charge something else and he was willing to lent it to me. During the whole time we stayed, which was about 3 hours, they did not come to us to bother us with the check or ask for the charger back. We played pool, cards for the whole night without trying to beat the clock. Later when we are done, I went up by myself to pay, and had a nice chat with the worker. He told me that sometimes people just walk out without paying.
So after experiencing this place myself. I realized that a lot of times we are blaming the workers for their attitudes when ours are even worse. Tip of the day: Be nice to other people (including employees at a shave ice shop) and they will be nice back to you.

We walked in and walked out after 5 minutes. Was standing at the counter figuring out what else is available on the menu board, till we found the physical hard copy of the menu somewhere on the counter. We were not even been greeted when stepped into this place, and place looks kinda in a messed, feels as if they’re going through some minor renovation near the front counter. We began flipping through the pages of menu while the staff is attending to someone else just right in front of us. Menu make no sense at all! We couldn’t find the page on shave ice, what’s going on? We were so confused and staff is not welcoming and helpful at all. So a group of us just left! Bad impression of this place, even before we try anything.

Walked in with customers in line. But it didn’t seem like they cared to take your order. The entrance to the right had a bunch of old cluttered that looked like it needed to be thrown out. To the left was an old pool table that was just taking space. The menu was confusing to me and my friends to understand. And all we wanted was snow ice… We walked out when no one offered to help with the menu or even bother taking our order. Very bad service in my opinion. The longer we stayed, the more awkward we felt. In the end, we just walked out without even ordering!!! What a disappointment and never going to come back here ever again!!!

This place has a lot of potential! Extensive menu of drinks and desserts, though I can’t rate the quality of the teas, since I’ve only been here once and only tried the shaved snow and a fresh fruit drink, which were both great and really hit my sweet tooth spot-​on. Yay for rice balls that are filled with black sesame!
I think this place is pretty unique, in that they have a pool table and accessible piano, haha. Seats are limited here, but there is also outdoor seating. I want to say that Snow House Tea Bar is a mix between a lounge and your typical boba shop. Even though this place looks as if it can get fairly loud, I can still definitely see myself coming back as a regular once fall semester starts and my needs for a study place (particularly one that comes with nice distractions) kicks in. Personally, I don’t study well in quiet places, as long as I have my earphones and good music. I’m just hoping the drinks are decent!

Overall: Not a bad pick, but they have some work to do. Place has potential and can become a top performer with some focus.
Drinks/​Food: Had a nice tasty solid green tea with honey. Reasonable sweetness with good amounts of tea essence. Honey green is my test drink no matter where I go to establish a baseline for their competency.
Service: Friendly and helpful. I felt right at home. Keep in mind that because the tea is brewed to order, it will take longer than you would like to get your order.
Seating: They allocate too much space for the pool table and piano, which could be re purposed for seating. ½ of the tables are metal mesh style patio furniture, which makes it impossible to use a computer mouse and it’s very comfortable.
Wifi/​Power: Wifi is a dismal 3 Mbps, which is horrid. At the very minimum, I would hope a place has 10 MBPs plus. Power outlets are pretty plentiful, so that’s not a problem.
Parking: There’s surface parking, as well as a garage downstairs. Be careful when curving left into the garage, as the lanes are pretty narrow and people like to walk down along driveway instead of taking stairs/​elevators.
Atmosphere:
It’s very college coffee house-​ish. Fairly rowdy, but everyone is having a great time here. Walls are colored red and feel very warm. The lobby area is VERY cluttered and feels sloppy. They need to clean things up to project some tidiness, making customers feel more at ease.

SO so slow. Drinks are ok. Expect to spend the same amount of time waiting for your drink as you would at Half and Half, only with literally no one in line ahead of you.
If you do have time, however, it’s nice to play pool or any of the board games they have there.

This place has a bit of a Factory Tea Bar vibe– it’s relatively dark, has things to do (pool table, piano), couches/​lounge chairs in a section of the room, and tables set up in another part of the room. I was slightly taken aback by the setup of the place because although it may not sound like it, the placement of everything in the room seemed a little out of place, making the room somehow appear disorganized although everything is technically sectioned off appropriately. Basically the layout is a little strange but I got over it haha.
I ordered the milk drink with grass jelly and aloe vera with half sugar since I was going for something non-​caffeinated. It was not bad and fairly priced (relative to US drink prices, sorry can’t compare to price and quality in Taiwan haha), and there was a 10% offer with Unilocal check-​in.
The owner of the place is very nice and smiley! She felt just like an auntie! However, I can see why so many people complained about the wait for their food. While my drink came out in a matter of minutes, it really depends on how busy the place is, especially since I’m 90% sure she was the ONLY employee in the place the whole time I was here. I did come on a Monday night though, so I’m hoping they have more staff members on busier nights! She did all the cashiering, waiting, food prep, and cleaning! Power to her though.
I did come here to study and got studying done but overall I feel like the vibe is better suited for chilling with friends. I would say half the people here were studying and the other half were hanging out, and the people hanging out weren’t rowdy or distracting or anything, but the ambience just seemed a bit too relaxed for me to get super work done. Fortunately I was cramming for a straight-​memorization test so it didn’t bother me too much.
Parking on a Monday night = no problem (not surprising)

I first went to the tea house when they had their grand opening and it was a sweet nice place, it had potential. I just recently visited it again and I was sadden to see their décor has changed.
The décor was not very welcoming, there wasn’t anyone to take my order until I had to walk into the other room to ask if I could order.
I wanted to order an original milk tea with boba, but they had so many different original milk teas I just asked them to surprise me. So I’m not very sure what I was drinking. The prices are average
Parking is limited

This is probably one of the more inconvenient location to find. Snow House Tea Bar is located in the same plaza as Jazz Cat in San Gabriel and there should be plenty of parking spots available.
Service was … extremely slow, probably one of the slowest service I’ve experienced out of all 50+ different boba places that I’ve visited to this date.
Only one staff was working on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, our group just sat at the table for 15+ minutes and he was nowhere to be found. It took me several attempts just to FIND him and finally got our orders. Oh and guess what, the whole café was pretty empty. Unsurprisingly, it took him another 15 minutes to prepare our drinks.
Washington Apple Black Tea (16 oz, $ 3.50 + $ 0.50 for boba): Drink itself was somewhat decent, but not amazing. Taste a bit on the lighter side, but at least boba was somewhat decent (warm and soft). (³⁄₅)
A pretty good place to study due to lack of customers. Average drink, but service definitely needs to be more attentive.
P. S. — 10% discount with Unilocal check-​in.