Sweetea

Its been awhile since I’ve had my sweet tea fix. So when I was craving it the other day I headed over here. & to my surprise, they closed down! I’m so heart broken! They honestly had the BEST popcorn chicken! Always gave a big portion! Ugh… where am I gonna go now!!!

Been coming here for more than 10 years. Love their boba. It’s perfectly chewy and sweet. My favorites are taro snow bubble because they put chunks of real taro and it doesn’t taste fake. Their milk tea is indescribable because it tastes like tea and chocolate. It’s a very consistent flavor and it’s my number one favorite place to get taro and milk tea. Unfortunately it’s now cash only but I know that I have to come here with cash. I don’t ever want this place to close. If they do, I’ll be sad

They no longer take debit or credit card. Don’t know about wifi, they used too have it free.
I have to say I am not coming back here. The drink taste so bad now. I ordered a simple watermelon juice and it tasted bad. I think its cause the sugar or whatever they put in it change the watermelon taste.
A couple of weeks ago I ordered a different drink and it didn’t taste good, it was a tea drink. So no more from this place! Years ago the drink here were good but not anymore.

Lychee green milk tea is bomb af, I should stop experimenting with other lesser drink choices here and just stick to what I know tastes AWESOME and AUTHENTIC tea taste.
Sometimes I get it with pearls but its very refreshing to sip on by its own and also has little lychee bits inside! Honey milk tea is also decent.
Flavored green tea was not sweet on its own but overloaded with syrup. I’ll pass on these (forever)
Prices are average, $ 3 – 4 a drink with an add-​on. Usually a single nice person making drinks and taking orders so leave a tip!

didn’t think much of the name until the first sip. omg never again. I feel like I’m gonna have diabetes soon the more sips I take from my reg milk tea. lychee milk tea was fine. passion fruit, meh. milk tea w/​o adds are $ 2.89ish. look for the KFC/​taco bell building. i like my milk tea with a strong tea taste. yuck!

Got the fries combo which come with two appetizers: pop chicken, squid rings, lobster balls, squid balls, fish balls, Sui Mai, potstickers, corn dog, and fries: garlic, sweet potato, original or curly. And any flavored milk tea.
I got it with squid rings and popcorn chicken and regular fries since they run out of garlic fries and with passion fruit milk tea with grass jelly
It is cash only

Just like when I was in high school, their drinks are good and doesnt have hella pumps of syrup like the new places in essj. Popcorn chicken is on point.
Wished they had more topping selections like pudding and smaller boba.
Also, it’s freaking cash only
The inside décor looks like the same stuff they had opened the shop with. Some stuff got moved around and the video shop is still their storage area. Same old posters on the wall, its time for an upgrade in look people!

I used to come here often and even after coming back after so long, I still like this place! I always order my own concoction thought up by my brother (Blueberry-​Raspberry Black Tea with Strawberry Jelly). It literally tastes like you’re drinking candy… which probably isn’t good for me but it tastes so damn great! And this is the only place that can make this drink for me.
The food is also good. We ordered the popcorn chicken and garlic fries. My brother got the Milk Tea so we got the Fries Combo for about $ 7.95(?). The popcorn chicken was GREAT compared to any other boba place. It was delicious and the chicken was nice and juicy. The servers have always been really nice here as well. Originally we didn’t get the Fries Combo but he was nice enough to make the last minute change… although maybe he should’ve recommended it based on our order, but eh. It’s also nice because they have some seating areas and since it was pretty late, we were able to sit and talk until closing.

This place is so underrated! Sweetea can rival tpumps, tapex, Fantasia, quicklys, and many of the other popular milk tea joints out there! I mostly blame it’s location, which is tucked away in a tiny plaza right next to KFC/​Taco Bell and across from jazentea.
Their milk teas and slushies are very reasonably priced at under $ 4 and they taste fresh! It doesn’t taste overly powdery, artificial or sweet. Anything with lychee in it would be a good pick. Very refreshing and you can actually taste the fruit. Very nice balance.
I’ve been here multiple times and have always loved every order, whether milk tea or slushie. I now need to try their snacks.
I really hope this place gets the recognition it deserves!

I’ve only been here twice, and I’ve gotten the same thing twice. I’ve gotten the «almond snow with pearls and strawberry jelly.» I’ve gotten the same thing twice, because it’s just so good. I’ve gotten the almond snow at TapEx, but it doesn’t compare to the Sweetea one. The Sweetea leaves you with an authentic toasted almond taste while the TapEx one clearly tastes artificial. The pearls here are also really good. There’s a huge poster that explains to you what «boba» is, and their boba is their description. It’s chewy, and well sweetened. Their strawberry jelly is awesome too! They kinda remind me of the ones in Che, and they do have the strawberry taste to it. It’s deliciousness!

I did not like their drinks at all. I gave it a try for the first time not too long ago. I ended up sitting in my car and chilling because there were no seats at all. Their drinks were like water and a hint of tea with pearls as hard as rocks. I’m actually surprised because they’ve been around for so long. I was hoping for something better.
The staff was friendly.

First time here and I initially wanted to order the honey green milk tea but they were out of honey that day so I ordered their taro black tea and it was DELICIOUS! My boyfriend had their lychee green milk tea and we also liked it, but the taro was better! They actually had small lychee pieces in the drink and the jelly was good as well. The tapioca in the taro drink was chewy and soft which is a plus in my book. Good experience, and the guy who worked there was friendly and made my order quick. They have a small area on the right of the store where there are games if you are planning to hang around after you got your drink or waiting for your drink.

After dinner at Big T’s, I wanted to try the boba right next door at Sweetea. I already thought that there aren’t any good boba places in San Jose, and this place just adds to my list of meh boba places. The store itself is decorated, but nothing fancy. You order at the counter, and you can chill on the sofas that are provided. I didn’t feel like staying long because the boba shop didn’t seem very clean.
The boba itself was cheap tasting — like Tapioca Express or Quicklys. (I might sound like a boba snob but…) I would definitely skip this place and drive elsewhere for boba.

This place is okay if I needed boba and was in the area. Had the lychee green milk tea, but it was much to sweet for my liking. Not sure if you can adjust sweetness here or not, but if that was normal it was much sweeter than normal. That being said, 1 extra star for having really awesome popcorn chicken. Very hot and fresh, much better than most places I had tried. Also adding the basil on top with the sauce on the side made it that much better. I would come back for the popcorn chicken if anything.

Grabbed a quick boba after dinner. Pretty decent.
I like that I was able to adjust the sweetness level of my drink. In Hong Kong and Singapore boba shops let you choose 25%, 50% or 75% sugar level but I haven’t seen that offering in the US yet. Nonetheless the lady was willing to obliged my request for less sugar water and did a good job at that.
Pro-​tip: If you purchase more than $ 6 (I think. or some amount) you get 20% off. Pretty sweet deal so gather up your purchases with your friends.

In past visits I was a bit in love with this spot, but recently I have come to realize just how unsanitary the spot seems to be.
The drinks are good, that’s in no way the problem, but the staff seems to be a tad behind on the hygiene trends.
Last time I was here I got a simple order of fries, I know people don’t come here for the fries, but I was hungry, and didn’t want to pay for overpriced phở, across the street. So… fries it was. I got fries and a foster farms’ hot dog, but was super turned off when the woman cooking brought me out some ketchup and placed the packets on top of my fries. The packets were disgusting, and looked like she had just picked em up off of the floor! Yuck.

Have you ever tried to park here when it’s not after 8pm? LOL There’s only 2 designated spots here in the plaza for Sweetea. Parking is horrible in the day time.
I enjoy not constantly seeing little girls working behind the counter. I’m not ogling the guys working here, but it’s a change. I don’t have to hear gossip on dates, boyfriends or hot guys when I’m trying to place an order. Speaking of order, they have a semblance of order when making my milk teas. It’s always calm in the area. There’s a little sitting area, the seats aren’t as comfortable as most milk tea places but I only set when I’m waiting for my drink. I don’t wait long for my drinks, it’s only when it’s busy. It’s not often it’s busy when I’m here, but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about this place closing down anytime soon.
Almond milk tea :) LOVE LOVE LOVE it. There are times when I sip it and turn right around asking for less syrup pumped into it… It tastes like chemical when it’s over pumped or wasn’t mixed/​made correctly.
Green apple milk tea– anyone ever look at that on the menu and go o_​O… I asked a few of the guys working there if it was good. They do tell me honestly that they have never tried it, and that it is not a popular drink. I’m not much of a beverage dare-​devil, but every time I look up at the left menu and see it, I keep wanting to try it. I’m glad I did. You sip it, you think you’re having a fruity, refreshing beverage. You swallow and your taste bud reminds you, it’s tea!
I’ve been here multiple times before, but I didn’t know there was a loyalty/​rewards card! It’s never brought up by the employees, and I’ve never seen anyone with it. Also… most loyalty cards are placed in front of you to see, this place has it behind their monitor/​screen and the card holder has it facing them not us. Pretty sure I would’ve passed up TapEx or Quickly’s if they had this showing me up in the face. I like me some freebies!
They have a little game area to the right of the entrance and of course the claw machine. I mainly go because of the quarter machines that spits out the superhero «ball people» I don’t even know if those toys have a name, I just know they’re collectible.
Price wise? For a regular drink, I always pay $ 3.10 with tax… I’m used to paying less than 3 dollars for my milk teas at TapEx

Came here last night after Sipatea because I heard this place has «the best popcorn chicken.» Well, it took my boyfriend and I almost 10 minutes to find this place. It was about 6:30pm and it was pretty much dark already. It was freezing, too. My boyfriend and I decided to save gas and just walk over here, but we didn’t know where «here» was exactly so we ended up walking in the opposite direction.
Finally, we gave up. Walked back to the car and finally see it and drove over.
Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was empty except for the 2 workers inside. So, around $ 4 for popcorn chicken isn’t bad, I mean, it’s even more expensive at Quickly’s. Is this the best place for popcorn chicken? In my opinion, it’s acceptable. Not «DA BEST» but passing. Compare it to Quickly’s popcorn chicken, it’s more cooked which is good. They give you this sweet chili sauce to dip the chicken in and it’s pretty good with/​without the sauce.
Service here was fast, too.

Pros:
Food: Even though all the food here is deep fried, it’s still hella yummy. I personally like the popcorn chicken or the squid heads, they both taste garlicky with a good crunch. For snacks, you can find popcorn chicken squid heads or rings, fish balls, pot stickers, french fries, curly fries, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, and garlic fries.
Variety: This place has a wide selection of drinks and snacks. When you enter the store, you’ll find the drink menu ranging from flavored milk tea, flavored tea, flavored milk, snow bubbles, which are similar to smoothies, slush icy, and juices. Although, drinks at times, taste really powdery.
Price: For food items, the prices are cheap! And they have combos meals which comes with a milk tea for a low price.
Cons:
Cleanliness: Out of all the tea places I’ve been to, this place was pretty dirty. And I went early morning when the place was all cleaned up, even then the place didn’t look all too great.

My buddy really wanted some Thai tea which we couldn’t get at the Vietnamese coffee place we just came from so we dipped into Sweetea for some boba.
I ordered an almond milk tea with boba and it was immediately better than the stuff at Tea Era because there was no powdery residue from the mix they use to make the drink. The boba was pretty good too and was nice and chewy. For less than $ 3.50, it was also a decent value too.
Popping into solid boba shops has been tricky to find in the area so far but this was a pretty good experience. I sometimes miss San Diego for the abundance of boba places but will be keeping an eye out for more like Sweetea. There are even tables outside to enjoy your drink at with your pup if you happen to be going for a walk.
Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀