Tapioca Express Arcadia

Honestly I really love this place. The staff is so friendly and they have high quality drinks. It’s a good place to go to when you want to study or hang out with friends !

love their lunch box, so convenient and good price,

I love this Boba place. They make the flavors perfect. The staff is friendly and the drinks come out consistently good. My favorite is the passionfruit green tea with rainbow jelly.

3.5 STARS
parking: tons of parking especially if you go at night bc the other stores in the plaza are closed. only the 99 cents store is open.
environment: small location but has around 12 small tables. if you have a big party just combine tables. usually there’s under 15 people there. people usually study/​do homework or just chill there. it’s pretty quiet but the only down side is the wifi never works and since its small so the people smoking outside can be smelled from the inside. (sorry guys, no hate)
food/​drinks: pretty big portions for popcorn chicken and when you ask for extra spicy it is HELLA SPICY. have ur drink around just I case. drinks are standard. $ 2.29-$ 2.70. good place to drink if you aren’t looking for crowds or super big drinks or super like hyped up. standard drink.
I come back all the time so… see you later :)

What I love about these Asian food places is that they are open late, and they make healthy food. I have work during the day til afternoon like most people, and then I go to the gym. I train and teach at Old Town Fight Club in Monrovia so I stay there until about 10pm or so. The only places that are open at that time are fast food joints; not the best places to eat after training. Then in comes Tapioca Express.
They are open until midnight which is awesome. It’s a small place but they have outdoor and indoor seating to accommodate customers. I usually get their Japanese BBQ Chicken. It comes with what seems to be a breast and thigh in teriyaki sauce, rice, an egg brewed in tea, and salad. It’s $ 6.99. There is something in it however that’s bitter. I think it’s these small black things in there so beware. Their fish steak rice is awesome too.
I love their frosti milk drinks. But their Snow Bubble smoothie drinks have to be my favorite. They are smooth and filling. They are basically milk, ice, and a flavor. I always get a large which is about $ 3.50. The caramel and vanilla I have tried so far. All in all Tapioca Express is awesome. Healthy food all day is what I love about it.

I never stay here. I just order to-​go. The drinks are not bad, better than quickly thats for sure. Their almond milk tea tastes like chocolate. I like that they have mini boba because a lot of boba shops do not. The prices are average. It was $ 7 something for an order of fries and popcorn chicken. I have to admit I liked their french fries and popcorn chicken. Both were super crispy and flavorful. Sometimes wait can take a while but its not unbearable. Overall I like their food over guppies and honeyboba so they get 4 stars. I hope everyone has a great experience with their food and drinks as I do.

Ugh.
My bf came in and ordered two drinks and a popcorn chicken
The popcorn chicken was done in maybe 5 minutes. My drink on the other hand… Took OVER 25 minutes to get to me!!!
It’s a drink… I get there was a new guy who needed to be trained to make drinks, but when he’s taking more than 10 minutes to make someone’s drink, someone really should step in.
Terrible experience… Poor service

I’ve been coming here ever since my middle school days. If you’re looking for a combo to get for lunch or dinner, I recommend getting Combo C (the crispy, popcorn chicken rice combo) and you get a choice between green or black tea with it too. Their combos are reasonably cheap and leaves your stomach feeling satisfied. They come in a little bento box now, with some vegetables (either bean sprouts or cabbage/​carrots — depending on what they have that day). Their drinks are super cheap too! I like their regular green and black tea a lot, but you can never go wrong with their snow bubbles and milk tea too. For snacks, I always get the crispy tempura — I usually don’t like how other places prepare this particular dish, but damn Tapioca Express’s tempura is on point! The popcorn chicken has the perfect amount of seasoning too.

Ambiance: small yet bright café shop, with variety choices of tea and desserts, also many board games for you to play
Service: fast and friendly, provided useful suggestion
Drink: in general ok
Mango green tea — *** refreshing taste with lychee jelly
Thai milk tea — ** they ran out of mini boba, had to choose regular boba, and the tea itself tasted so so
Price: they provide large drinks with relatively cheaper prices than other similar places, cash only

This review is for their Vanilla Cookie Milk Tea, which is basically an oreo cookie in milk tea, quite literally. I felt like all they did was make a cup of milk tea, grind up the top half of the cookie (the half without the cream), and dump the other half directly into the drink. When I was walking out of the store, I noticed that there was a large chunk stuck to the side of the cup, but I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until after I got home and drank half of the milk that I realized that the cookie was pretty much still in solid form. Another thing is that I barely tasted the cookie or vanilla. Don’t get me wrong, I like TapEx and most of their drinks. I’d just stay away from this drink in particular.

Nothing to rave about. Was in the neighborhood and husband wanted something to drink. Boba /​tapioca was average. Drink itself was overly sweet.
However one thing I did not like about this place was the price discrepancy. After I pointed that out to my husband he also noticed that his drink price was off as well. We didn’t bother bringing it up to the cashier.
Highly doubt we will ever be returning to this mediocre location.

I used to always come to tap ex back when I was in high school, but now that I’m a lot older, I stopped hanging out at tea places like this. The reason is because there are just too many little kids around this area. Of course I love kids, but do I want to be around high schoolers who are going through puberty? Not really. I also don’t want to be around kids who think smoking a cigarette and wearing bagging pants are cool.
Aside from the people that come here, their drinks are fairly cheap. Not as cheap as quickly but cheaper than tea station & Au. I always get their boba milk tea, it tastes exactly like quickly to be honest. Their boba has no taste to it, I prefer boba that is really sweet or has that honey taste.
I always get their fried tofu combo. It’s not on the menu, but you just tell them you want it as a combo (comes with veggies, egg, and rice). Their fried tofu is BOMB! I love their batter, it’s so crispy, crunchy and I always ask for extra spicy. Trust me, the powder they use on it is spicy! I always ask for extra on the side. The tofu always comes with their own sauce which is yummy but super garlicky! My breath smells for days after eating it.
Their French fries are also delicious, I definitely recommend this if you just want a snack. They’re thin and cooked to perfection (I love thin fries, hate the thick ones).

This place is open pretty late and they are actually cool about you staying if you ordered food already.
Husband and I just landed from the airport and were on our way home and I was craving popcorn chicken… not just any popcorn chicken, the ASIAN kind. With the sticks!
So we came here.
NOTE: CASH ONLY
SERVICE:
Nice. Standard.
FOOD:
We ordered:
* Popcorn Chicken — spicy — SO GOOD. So so good.
* Crispy Tofu — pretty good.
* Pork chops meal: Mehh… it was OK.
DRINKS:
Watermelon juice — mehhh… it was SO watered-​down.
AMBIANCE:
Free wifi. They have a big TV and are celebrating the Superbowl. The place is well lit and they have board games. Very clean. Good for groups.
PARKING:
Tons… in the 99 cents only plaza
OVERALL:
Good for a late night snack.

Affordable any combos come with iced green tea or black tea. Great food and fast service

I used to work much closer to this location, and regularly went in for Boba drinks. I have never purchased food at this location, but the drinks were always on point… Maybe a little on the Sweet side, but for a big guy like me that’s never been a problem.
Parking is sometimes a little difficult in the parking lot, due to the busy strip mall with 99¢ store as an anchor tenant, and several other small businesses, including a subway, the donut shop, a couple of Asian specialty foods places, and some discount clothiers.
These days, I don’t make it there as often. However, I ducked in there the other day, and ordered my old usual. It was quite tasty, the Bobo being a little bit warm, until the ice had a chance to catch up.
If memory serves, this was one of the first Boba places in the immediate area, as most of them were always closer to Valley Boulevard and the Alhambra side of town. Now that there are many options throughout Arcadia, I don’t get over here with the same schedule. but reliable is reliable, and this place has certainly stood the test of time… At least when drinks are the issue at hand.

Tapioca «Express» Arcadia… YEAH RIGHT… Express I don’t think so… They were not speedy in any sense of the word «Express». I always find that misnomer kind of thing humorous… perhaps it should read Tapioca «Expressless» Arcadia hahaha
So yeah while not having the best speed as determined by a herd of turtles, they actually do get your order right. So that is a benefit, but I just wish it wasn’t at the speed of molasses on a cold winters evening. My lychee green tea with boba was definitely what I needed. It filled that yearning deep within to have something that is not as bad or good for me as I would like with an explosion of taste that filled my taste buds with happiness. The munchkin enjoyed her Boba as well =D
Pro Tip: Do not plan to eat/​drink/​study/​stay here… Yeah I haven’t done one of these in a while huh…
I think this place should honestly be strictly takeout. It has nothing to do with the cleanliness level as it seemed clean to my blind eyes… However, the chairs were covered in rips and were generally worn out looking. I am wondering if there is a new distressed restaurant chic style that I missed the memo on when I came in here… Perhaps you can provide a TPS Report to me on it. UMMMM Yeah… (yes I love that line =P)
The grub menu here was rather brief. I don’t remember what snacks that they had on it, but I didn’t get any of those. So yeah no food ratings for this review. The prices were a bit more than I anticipated especially with how much money the owner was saving on furniture. Trying to maximize I am sure… but it does mean I am not coming back… To bad this place was rundown like it has been, it could be a bright sunny stop on the Tapioca Express… so yeah at least it tasted good…

By far… the worst hainam chicken i’ve ever had… rice/chicken/sauce…bland…funny thing is i ask for soysauce… they dont have. The ginger sauce (actually ginger water) n (i guess) chili sauce… since i see little bit of chili in the container n it is a little spicy… is watery n oily, the rice n chicken looks n taste like reheated leftover… rice…especially hainam chicken’s oil rice. If fresh should be fluffy n flavorful since cooked in chicken stock n oil… but this have that microwaved rice… hard texture… n did not come w pickled vege… luckily there is no chicken breast… otherwise…i am so leaving this box untouched on the table…
…n that little fly is really annoying me…
…washing down this meal w the green tea…

Been coming to this location since middle school, a lot has changed since.
This is my all time fav spot, other locations from San Diego SUCKS! drinks and food here are perfect! most of sd locations’ fries are huge and disgusting. And they only have either ranch or sweet & sour sauce.sigh. Maybe its cause they are ran by non eastern azn. I prob just miss my azn azn flavors LOL
I guess the owner changed, so the interior changed. Looks pretty chic in here:) pretty dark here haha. I’m sick so I couldn’t order anything, but my all time fav peach green tea still tastes amazing wish all the sd locations were like this –_​– ugh

We came in here in the late afternoon just intending to order a drink for 2 or 3 bucks. But then we saw that they offered Asian snacks like popcorn chicken. And then the cashier pointed out the numerous choices of combo rice box meals that include either an iced green or iced black tea. For $ 5.99!!! What?! My expectations were kind of low and the meal way over-​exceeded my expectations. The pork chop rice meal was really yummy. And the pan fried breaded chicken cutlets meal was hot and flavorful. I really can’t believe that it cost $ 5.99 including the drink.
It’s definitely not a fancy place. When your food is ready, they call out the order and you pick it up from the cashier. And it’ll probably be packed with high school kids in the evenings. But I’ll definitely swing by here for a quick, cheap meal the next time I’m in the area! Not only because I enjoyed the food but it was so damn cheap that I can’t get it out of my head!

They do have the best café food around the neighborhood, with the best fried Chicken nuggets in the whole SGV. Been here since it open almost like 10 years ago.
Now their drinks are really surprise me… surprisingly good (very fresh and with great tea favor and not too sweet) Now with new deco really give the place a new facelift