Teaway

I hate when my snow bubbles are chunky.
Ordered a thai tea snow bubble, not the best. I didn’t even finish my drink, and i love thai tea! it just wasn’t very appetizing, barely could taste the tea. Service was nice though.

Misled.
Some menu mistakes are minor. Spelling error. Incorrect price.
Others are so bad they are laughable.
Teaway’s menu advertises waffles. There are pictures. Unfortunately at this location there are not waffles. Time for Plan B. Ended up being the better plan.
Weather was warm and sunny. Perfect for a cold beverage. Such as iced tea.
Numerous flavors to choose from. Picked the very flavorful passion fruit made even more so by the jellies and puddings from the unlimited toppings bar.
Passion fruit jelly meet passion fruit tea. You both got along brilliantly.
Three bucks for the above. No charge for the best best MIA waffle ever.

This is like the Yogurtland for boba lovers. Let me explain. You order what drink you want (tea, milk tea, etc) and tell the cashier, who will ring you up your order. On the cup, there is a line near the bottom, which indicates the maximum amount of toppings you can add in your cup. Now… let the fun begin!
Tea way has a lot of toppings you can add, ranging from small and big tapioca to different kinds of jellies (coffee, almond, lychee, mango, strawberry, etc) to pudding (egg, taro, etc) to random things like azuki beans (red beans)! Choose whatever you want as long as its under that line on your cup!
After you’re done, you hand your cup to the barista who will then make your drink and voila, you have your drink with a mix of super cool toppings!
I really want to love this place because i love the concept of having the ability to make my own customized drink every, but the quality of the drinks are just not up to standard. I got the ginger honey black tea which was deathly sweet, seriously, I felt like I was drinking pure honey. I couldn’t even taste any tea flavor at all, I don’t even think they put any in it! I also ordered it hot, but received a lukewarm drink.
Although the drink was relatively cheap (under $ 3), I rather go somewhere else like Purple Kow and pay more for a better quality drink!

My friend is obsessed with the Teaway in the Sunset, so when I saw this Teaway while I was in the Marina I decided to check it out. I made the mistake of paying for my drink before scoping out the «fixin’s» because I definitely wouldn’t have ordered my taro milk tea if I knew that I only had a choice of 5 different types of jellies, 2 disgusting looking «puddings» and tiny boba that was all clumped together. The signage above the toppings bar listed red beans and other more interesting things, but that stuff was nowhere to be found. The drink itself was terrible. Way too sweet and artificial tasting (lay off the powdered flavor mixes!) and my «hot» tea was more like lukewarm tea. I only took a few sips until I chucked it out.
Oh, and the worker was wearing a high school sweatshirt and I asked her about these two seasoning shakers that had some strange looking stuff for your tea. She said she had no idea what they’re for. I’m not judging the worker for being young, but the employees would look more professional with a uniform of some sort and maybe they should have more knowledge about what the café offers.

The coconut milk tea was very good and you get to add your own toppings for a different flavor. This is worth checking out if you are in the area.

Well the reviews for Teaway aren’t stellar but my individual experience was pretty good. I’d have to go back again to see if their issue falls in with lack of consistency.
Saturday afternoon, my friend and I walk in and we’re informed of all the ways we can customize our drinks. Normally I don’t get boba in slush but the girl told me she could make it less icy so that I’m not left with all the dried out slush in the end.
Also nice, many of the drink options were under $ 3 which you can’t beat even in Japantown.
I say a thumbs up to this place for now. I’ll be back and be able to update on how Teaway holds up!

Had a chance to check this place out and really loved it. Build your own… very interesting!
It’s not cheap. But it was good. The Black Peach Boba was super tasty, and the watermelon slushy boba was fresh and delicious.
I will be back!

I love Teaway… but there’s better ones around.
I was raving to all my friends about how Teaway was the best milk tea and boba joint and what do you know? We stumble across one here on Chestnut St?! Too bad it’s not as good as the one on Irving St or in San Mateo…
This place doesn’t even have «Snacks» on the menu!!! Plus they charge an extra 50 cents on all their items. At least accept credit cards if your going to charge more, but nope… it’s still cash only.
Might as well drive my friends to another Teaway so they can enjoy the full Teaway experience.
Teaway is like a hybrid between Quickly and Yogurtland!

Ugh, I really just hate the parking situation in SF. But luckily, the boy drove and snagged a parking spot a street down! I like the placement of this boba place — it’s surrounded by clothes shops and lots of restaurants. What I don’t like about this Teaway is that there aren’t any tables or seats. They have a bench-​like seating area, but I think it’s more for people waiting for their drinks to be made.
The girl that took my order didn’t look too friendly, but oh well! She took my order and made my drink fast, so I guess I can’t complain. What I do like about this Teaway compared to the Alameda one is that the toppings are unlimited. They have a lot of toppings to pick from — boba, jellies, mango stars, taro, etc. But even though it’s unlimited, they do advise you to not get too much. They even have a recommended amount of toppings to get.
The taro milk tea I ordered was slightly not as taro-​y as I liked. And it wasn’t cold at all. (She did add ice, but my drink was still lukewarm.) A regular sized boba is about $ 2.60, and a large sized boba is $ 3.24. Not as cheap as the Alameda Teaway, but it’s pretty average prices for boba!

It’s pretty difficult to mess up my typical boba staple: the lychee slush. Yum. Here, it was pretty good, and the boba was not too bad (not the best I’ve had, but pretty good). The only thing that relatively sketches me out (and I know other boba places do this, too) is the self-​serve boba thing. There’s something mildly unnerving about fishing for my own boba in the sea of boba + whatever that liquid substance is. Meh. Other than that, I was satisfied with the final product, and it was pretty tasty.

First it’s hot pot in the Marina, now boba? Next thing you know, they’ll try to serve Korean BBQ so people can smell like a walking grill before fist-​pumping their way to Circa.
Having never been into a Teaway before (I’m only a slightly nontypical Asian), I decided to try it out to see how the pearls were faring in its new digs. There was one other person in there, and the lone girl working there was finishing up his drink and didn’t acknowledge me when I first walked in. I stood there to peruse the menu, and it wasn’t until a few minutes in that she told me she would be with me shortly. The same thing happened when she was making my drink: two middle school girls walked in, and she didn’t acknowledge them so they left after a few minutes.
The menu of drinks is pretty diverse: ice cream milkshakes, cheesecake shakes (with «real NY cheesecake» — I’m afraid to know how many calories are in a small cup), slushies, yogurt teas, milk teas, regular teas and juices. They also have waffles and crepes with limited toppings, and when I asked for a crêpe, she told me that they didn’t have enough batter (?). Maybe they’d run out during the middle school rush around 3? It was around 4 PM when I walked in.
I settled on a guava slush and added aloe because I’m afraid of regular boba’s 35-​calorie-​per-​ball nutritional value. They have a lot of different types of jellies and puddings to add in, and you get to choose your own, put it on the counter, and they’ll fill up your cup with the drink part, seal it, and hand it over.
Guava taste was mediocre; it was a little too syrupy and artificially sweet but surprisingly the guava taste was unmistakable. I was hoping it would taste more like guava nectar but sadly it did not. $ 3.24 seemed a little too much to pay for a drink of this sort, but on a hot day, it’s the only option besides a smoothie at The Plant that’ll run you double the amount.
Like many CCG places, Teaway is cash only.

What sold it for me? The lady making my drink took the time to steep my drink in ice to cool it before serving it to me without the ice. This matters so much! I don’t want a watered down bubble tea. I don’t want to have to maneuver around ice cubes to get every last tapioca pearl.
Far too many places serve them on ice for my liking. So it looks like the service here is hit or miss. Can’t speak to that, as the girl was quite pleasant when I dropped in, and as mentioned, made my drink the way I like it. I also appreciate the drinks being less than $ 3. It’d be nice if they took cards, but it wasn’t a deal-​breaker.
Would’ve given them four stars had they opened on time the next day. Sign said they’d be open at 11. Passed by at 11:30-ish or so, and such was not the case!

You know the instant wail that results from a kid who’s balloon has just popped? I probably would’ve screamed that loud… if I was still 5. However, I’ve chosen to handle this in a more grown-​up fashion instead… by Unilocaling.
Teaway is the first boba tea place to have a presence on Chestnut St. My reaction when I first noticed it: Pretty cool! The Marina could use this!
Unfortunately, it’s less than stellar. I walked in here late one morning thinking I’d get a coffee milk tea and be a happy camper, as usually is the case at Tapioca Express/​Quickly. Not so much.
First of all, tapioca pearls weren’t ready. Um, what? You’re running a boba place and you’re out of tapioca? Ok, fine. I’ll wait the 10 mins.
10 mins later I scoop in some tapioca pearls into my cup and hand it back to the girl to do her magic in making my coffee drink (oh yea, Teaway is tea YOUR way — meaning… you make it, they just seal it up for you). The concept is neat, but the drink wasn’t so magical. What a terrible aftertaste! I couldn’t figure out whether the tapoica wasn’t tasty or the drink itself… but when I tried each individually, neither was good.
After drinking a total of 3 sips, I concluded it was the worst $ 2.49 I spent in quite some time. Ehh.
P. S. C$sh only.

Well, they cost more than the Sunset Teaways, but I’ll settle. There is no other place for boba in the Marina… not even a Quickly!
I like lychee jelly with black tea.

As you have read my Tea Way review on Irving Street, the beverage shop is a big hit in the Sunset District. With the success of the local franchise, another Teaway has landed in one of the city’s popular neighborhoods-​the Marina District. It does take time for the rich folks in the Marina to familiarize what TeaWay is about.
The last time I was at this spot where TeaWay is now located was when Jamba Juice was in business. I haven’t been here since that provoking wrongdoing displayed by ex-​wife (read my Jamba Juice review).
I did checked-​in twice within a few days. My first visit, I had the Taro Milk Tea. For $ 2.99 and just like the Irving Street location, you place your order to the cashier and you choose your choice of topping (s) to your beverage, in which I added boba balls to my nutty root-​flavored beverage. Now I know where to get the refreshing Taro Milk tea that is not in Chinatown. Milk Tea:
My second visit (²⁄₁), I had the Caramel Coffee Milkshake. The $ 3.99 milkshake does sounds yummy, right? No, not really… too watery. Milkshake:
Despite being located in the Marina, the location is much closer for me, plus Joe Cool doesn’t mind looking at the girls walking along Chestnut Street. But you will have to pay the Marina price though.
Not much of a wait at this Marina location. The lone young lady working there was nice to Joe Cool. But I would hate to imagine what happen if the shop gets busy esp. on a nice, hot day!
You can also use the stamp card at this location too.

Dang. After walking nearly 2.5 miles from Civic Center (Bart) to USF, our feet felt like pulp and we nearly over-​heated because of the unexpected beautiful weather in SF today. After our exhausting trip, we felt that we deserved a jumbo jug of refreshing asian tea so we sucked it up and found some bus routes to go ALL the way down to the Teaway district. Okay, my Bestfriend has told me about this place and when i heard that the three stores opened in the same area, I thought okay maybe just like on the other other side of the street right? NO! They were literally almost next door and the other one was just a block down. –_​_​_​– come on! Is that good for business? It’s like putting 3 starbucks in the same plaza or side by side. Anyway, the owners can do what they want– I’m just here to enjoy your tea!
I got the Honey Dew Milk tea and since it was my first time, I over filled my cup by over 50% with the egg pudding, lichi jelly and taro jelly. Haha. ooops. The lady in the back gave me this ‘look’ like yeah… you noob kind of expression. I asked her to scoop some out cuz i didn’t want to look like a pig eating it to lessen it ya know?
She put my milk tea in, shake it up, and wow! It was pretty good.
I paid 2.70 $, which isn’t shabby compared to other asian tea places when you can decide on the amount of pudding, jelly, etc to go into your tea.
Not bad. I would definitely come back if in the area. FUn to try out and yummy to drink.
Thanks for making our cruddy day better!

12.31.11
It’s aight. We were in the mood for something other than coffee the evening of NYE, and this provided a good alternative.
It’s been a long while since I’ve been to one of the Irving locations, so forget that you can pile on your own toppings. Good thing the sales girl still did it for me!

Yay, boba in the Marina! I loved being able to pick what fillings I want in my drink and then having whatever drink flavor on top of that. I picked the taro milk tea with small and large pearls. I also picked taro jelly and litchi jelly. It was super delicious and cheap, $ 2.49. So maybe it is more expensive than other locations, but I’m not complaining!!! Service tonight was super friendly. I hope they stay here for good!

The first SF Teaway not on Irving St. has opened! I come to Teaway for the snacks as much as I do for the affordable tapioca drinks where you add your own drink add ins (jellies, puddings, 2 sizes of tapioca pearls). Their popcorn chicken is the best in SF. I like having popcorn chicken and milk tea for lunch.
So, this location DOESN’T HAVE POPCORN CHICKEN or their other savory fried snacks. Very disappointing!!! It’s also more expensive ($ 2.49 for milk tea and yogurt drinks) but I can understand that because it’s the Marina and it’s still cheaper than many milk tea shops.
This location also has shakes, smoothies, a case of Double Rainbow ice cream, custom crepes, cheesecake shakes, and Belgian waffles.
The milk tea drinks can be hot or cold and they come in two sizes. Holiday drinks include gingerbread milk tea and peppermint milk tea.
* Royal milk tea: didn’t seem that different from the regular black milk tea, I asked for it less sweet and it was still too sweet, pearls were firm, chewy and fairly sweet
I’ll add a star when I see popcorn chicken on the menu.
The frequent buyer card works at all of their locations. Cash only.

Came here after finding out that a new Teaway has opened yesterday on Chestnut in the Marina. I came and got a Jasmine milk tea. The milk tea was normal like all other Teaway’s but the jelly was a bit hard and the boba was chewy which was good. Unfortunately this location does not have any tables but it does have a big bench and it does not offer fried snacks. FYI Everything on the menu is $ 0.50 up from other locations.