Tapioca Express

When I heard that a new bubble tea place had opened across the street from Fat Straws, I was pretty stunned. I couldn’t help but wonder if the proprietors of Tapioca Express KNEW that there was another established bubble tea place already across the street! For me, Fat Straws has good drinks, but it’s not my favorite bubble tea place to go to. It’s too sweet for me, and the bubbles are much too soft. Tapioca Express is also not my favorite place, but it has great variety and I like their milk tea more than Fat Straws’.
The staff are friendly when you come in, and I also agree with other reviews that it takes some time for items like the food to be completed but if you’re ordering a cooked item then you’ve just gotta deal sometimes! The crispy chicken there is DELICIOUS though, I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a snack or a small meal, and it goes great with the bubble tea they provide. You can also customize how spicy you want it, so that’s a plus!
I’ve tried a variety of their drinks but have kept safe with the foods… I love the crispy chicken too much. Between Tapioca Express and Fat Straws I would recommend this place, and it has a lot more choices when it comes to sinkers such as grass jelly, pudding, etc.

Didn’t have to try anything here to know that it isn’t worth my time. Followed my friends into this shop because one of them wanted a drink. After she ordered, I asked for a water. The cashier rudely answered, «are you going to pay for that?» Whoa. Then she asks, «don’t you want a green tea milk or something?» I say no and step back to wait for my friend’s drink, trying to collect myself after that rude assault. I understand that some places charge for water. That’s fine. It could be possible that there is a more customer-​friendly way to tell me that.

It wasn’t terrible. They are really really slow at making drinks though. I went in because they were offering a free drink with a Unilocal check-​in and I wasn’t disgusted or anything. They do offer soy substitute which is great for people avoiding casein.
Really the main downfall of this place is that Fat Straws is across the street.

I tried this place when it first opened and ordered a milktea but was not very happy because it didn’t taste like tapioca house’s milktea. So i never came back. But my friend told me that they now have grass jelly milktea that tastes pretty good and with a free 16 ounce drink Unilocal check in offer, what do i have to lose? Maybe they’ve had some time to tweak their drinks a little.
When we got there I decided I wanted an avocado smoothie instead and to drink my grass jelly milktea later. I couldn’t help but notice the word «fresh» next to their avocado smoothie and got very excited. I don’t think the other bubble tea places make their avocado smoothies with real avocados. But I saw the man use a fresh avocado and it made me very happy! My smoothie was absolutely delicious! The consistency was perfect and it was just the right amount of sweetness.
I then headed over to my friend’s house and she took a sip of my smoothie and demanded that I take her to get one because she loved it. Being a good friend or should I say a «push over» that I am, drove us right back to tapioca express so she could order her own. I haven’t tried their fruit teas but I didn’t see a jasmine blueberry tea on their menu so I will save my fruit tea cravings for across the street ;)
I will give you my opinion on the grass jelly milktea when I have room in my tummy later to drink it :) but I’m kinda nervous because I forgot to ask him to make my drink half sweet :(I might not like it if it’s too sweet. Y’all know how I am about my drinks being too sweet… so for now, just give their avocado smoothie a try, you won’t regret it! ;)

Dont come here if you’re in a hurry and need to pick up a quick drink. There’s usually 1 or 2 people behind the counter, and if three people order, it’s game over. Husband, brother and I dropped by one night after dinner and waited 10 minutes for our drinks. 10 minutes later, we asked how much longer on our «fried biscuits»…turns out they completely forgot about our order when two other people walked in behind us to order.
To be fair, I like the milk tea. I always get grass jelly in mine, and they’ve got it. Saves me from my cravings when I’m not in Richardson and driving distance to Tap House. As for Fat Straws across the street, the owner keeps promising me grass jelly, but has yet to deliver. Husband and Bro both say the tapioca balls are meh. I’m not a fan of balls, so no input from me on that one.

I finally tried the fried chicken… love em! Although there was something missing… the basil! Basil enhances the flavor of the chicken and although I’m usually not a fan of basil, it really goes well with the fried chicken. And I like the extra kick when they add in the spice. I was pleasantly surprised and I definitely will order it again. I also tried their Honey Dew milk tea — not bad! Although the color is a bit off… definitely doesn’t look like what I thought it should normally look like… a lime green color… but nonetheless it tastes pretty good. Not my favorite place for it, but it’ll do.

The service and atmosphere are what set this place apart from similar restaurants.
The offer free wifi, board games, magazines, Wii, and friendly people who want to help you.
The drink selection is HUGE too.

(*** of *****) Food; Do not expect a restaurant. You will not find rice, bread, nor complete meals. However, you will find tasty ‘fun food’ like you would find at a fair, festival, or bar. I like the fried tofu and crispy chicken, but the chicken is a bit too salty & both items are not crispy enough. The tofu batter is a bit gummy. They really need a hot oil filled propane wok.
(*** of *****) Service; good for a self service type fast food place. You can place phone orders before you head out so food will be ready when you arrive.
(*** of *****) Atmosphere; cute décor, luv the egg chairs. They need a sofa, and a real table. Their munchkin tables are fun, but sometimes you need more room.
(**** of *****) Conclusion; The tally is 3 stars, but I snuck in another star for value. You get a free drink for checking in & dishes are only $ 3 to $ 4. Plus free wifi to boot. That’s an unbeatable deal.

I only go to tapioca express when I receive my 50% entire purchase coupon in the mail. The drinks are okay in my opinion, nothing sets this place apart from the others. I believe the bubbles to be flavorless and the teas seemed watered down. The interior is nice though, very spacious. This place is worth a try, it just didn’t click with me

We stopped by for a quick snack. I had the milk tea but really didn’t like the flavor. It was a little sweeter than what I’m used to, and it just didn’t taste right. Mango’s milk tea is still my favorite. But they have a huge list of drinks, so maybe I need to try something else.
In addition to drinks, they have a small menu of snack food items, including pizza slices, calamari, fried tofu, potstickers, etc. We decided to try the crispy chicken and asked for it to be spicy. It was bite-​size pieces of fried chicken sprinkled with dry spicy powder. It tasted okay.
The interior is on the small side, and there are only a few tables inside. The staff was very friendly. They gave us a card that gets stamped after each drink purchase. After ten drinks, you get one free. Not bad, although I’m not too inclined to try anything else at the moment.

This is the new location for the old Richardson Tapioca Express, which I loved so much I actually felt depressed when they closed. Upon discovering their new location we rejoiced and celebrated at their grand opening. The staff is as friendly as ever, if not friendlier. The place has cheerful and modern furnishings and is always tidy. They have free wifi, although I think they’ve blocked youtube for some reason. The caramel milk tea is amazing, as is the hot vanilla chai. The pearls are always perfect and on the couple occasions something didn’t come out quite right, they were happy to fix it for me or replace it with something else.
The only thing I wouldn’t recommend at all (so far) is the taro milk tea. I’m a huge taro fan and theirs was the only taro I’ve ever been unhappy with. Still, they cheerfully swapped it out for a caramel milk tea with which I was ecstatic. Lastly, if you go with friends try checking in on foursquare together. They have a special free food with purchase deal on there when you bring three friends.

I must’ve missed the add-​ons selections, because on my repeat visit, I spotted jellies, pudding along with the standard tapioca. I ordered the mango icy with tapioca and coconut-​pineapple jelly; this time the drink was sweet and tasty.
I also ordered their crispy chicken and calamari (both extra spicy) to go. The calamari didn’t travel as well as the chicken in their paper bags; but both snacks were DELICIOUS. I’d come back to Tapex for their snacks alone.

Went there again and I love the Strawberry drink with Bubble. It is sooooooo good. I also ordered the big fruity slushy combo (sorry, don’t know the real name but all these were on their picture album)
The fruits were fresh and sweet.
The service there was great. The lady at the counter was friendly and welcoming! I will definitely go back again!

A little slow on the service, but they are working and not just standing around.
The fruits are fresh. You see them chop it up. You can tell in the taste. I got the large avocado. It’s freaking huge. Enough for two normal people. They also have appetizers items. Which are not too shabby. Something to munch on while sipping.
The layout is hip and modern. Free wifi is a plus.

Tapioca Milk Tea? Yes Indeed!
I’m familiar with Tapioca Express since I’ve been to a couple of them when I was in California. I remember their Tapioca milk tea was delicious and the crispy chicken was off the hook! Fast forward and I’m living in Dallas now and what do I see? Tapioca Express in Dallas! So I stopped by after work with a friend and got the Crispy Chicken extra spicy and a Tapioca milk tea. Tapioca milk tea is as good as I remembered, but what happened to the crispy chicken! Did they change the way they make this dish or something?!? I remember they used to use white meat, looked orange, and it was spicy goodness. All I got was a bunch of dark meat, fat, yellow looking, and a lot of crunchy batter! What a disappointment and definitely not how I had remembered it! Oh well, I’ll just come back and get the milk tea instead of their food items.

Disappointed…
My wife is Taiwanese so I was looking forward to taking her to this place because on their website, it states they have combo meals. So when we asked the ladies behind the counter, they said, no we don’t do that here. the funny thing is they have a menu spot for it where you order which is blank like something they would be adding. Again, I politely asked and then one of the owners or managers interjected, they don’t offer that here. They would not explain and were just smug about it.
So, we opted for their snack menu which was pretty good. There is a place across from my wife’s mom’s house in Taiwan that serves a similar menu but better quality. It was basically some Taiwanese popcorn chicken, fried tofu and fried calamari. Again, it was not bad, but I was so disappointed that they did not offer the combo meals that they advertise that I really did not care.
As for their boba, I had a caramel milk tea with boba; it was mediocre at best.
So, we probably will not be back…

BISCUITS get in my belly!
Following the Unilocal check-​in offer for a free 8 oz drink, I decided to try this place out. I went with my boyfriend and brother and because of our Unilocal check-​ins we were able to order 3 drinks and biscuits for a total of less than 5 bucks.
Instead of boba, I actually got the mango freeze I believe it’s called which is pretty much just plain yogurt and mango fruit blended into it. It is a bit on the sweet side but I recommend it if you want a change from the typical boba tea.
The biscuits, HALLELUJAH… eat one and you eat the whole plate. 5 biscuits for $ 1.95 is what I call the
. To describe the taste, it’s pretty much the same texture as a soft doughnut hole with powdered sugar on top and tastes like a funnel cake. If you decide to get these, get a tea thats either without the boba or on the lighter side. The sweetness of both biscuits and the drink can be a bit overwhelming.
I love everything about this place and enjoyed every minute of my time here. The staff is extremely helpful and friendly for first timers like me. I will definitely be back, probably doing a happy dance on the way in and out. Kudos Tap Express!

We go here every Friday after the gym ever since they opened up a couple weeks ago. Yes, i know there goes all my hard efforts !
The milk tea here is a little sweeter than their across the street counterparts. I also like that they’re on the other side of hebron. Their menu here is really humongous so you may want to look online before heading out there. They even have food but it looks unappetizing.
Some of my favorites thus far: ice mocha, any of their yogurt drinks, as well as their classic milk teas.
This business seems like a family run business.
The largest gripe is the service. I’m used to quick service provided by their competitors. They all move like molasses.
One final thought, what i also like is that they post nutritional information by the door. It’s helpful; so pick carefully!

This morning Groupon gave me $ 5 to use on a Now! Deal. I decide to treat my self and try something new. I was wonderfully surprised by Tapioca Express. The service was great! The man at the counter answered all my questions and I had a few. I went with a Tropical Fruit Tea with Tapioca balls in the bottom. I have never had tapioca of any kind before so I gave it a try and found that I really like it. Also I had an Avocado Snow Bubble (basically a smoothie). You wouldn’t thing that Avocado mixed with milk and ice would be good but it was heavenly. To finish off my drinks I got what they called biscuits. A round ball of dough deep fried to perfection and dusted (heavily) with powered sugar. Yummy!!! I can’t wait to go back and try the fried tofu and a milk tea.
FYI: They have these super wide straws that are perfect for smoothies or sucking up a ball of tapioca with out it getting stuck in the straw.

Let me tell you about my beloved Tapx. In my life I’ve had lots of boba, tons of milk tea, literally for at least 1 full decade I have been drinking this stuff. But it wasn’t an obsession. It was a «Oh hm, I’m in the mood for milk tea, let’s drive to Tempe to get it.» occasionally.
I had a group of friends in LA, the best friends I’ve ever had (well I mean before we all split up) and they would take me and my twin everywhere. I ate so much Taiwanese crud during this time! I became addicted. But what was even worse was addiction… the milk tea.
I literally remember the first time I had TapX in Arcadia, I said «OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO GOOD» I think I startled people. It was so heavenly, delightful, the PERFECT version of milk tea. As if God created it specifically to define perfect milk tea. It literally started my OBSESSION.
So when my favourite Unilocal reviewer from Dallas reviewed this, and I was bored at work checking Unilocal,and saw the name… Tapioca Express, I couldn’t believe my eyes. REALLY?! TAPX!!! ITS LIKE… I dont know. I dont know this feeling. I was REALLY sad to leave TapX behind. It was really such a huge part of my life, I went there almost twice a week on average.
So I drove from work straight there, and tried it. It took two hours to get there (and back, dude, traffic SUCKS!). I drank the sweet nectar with suspicion, but it was unfounded suspicion, it was indeed the SWEET HEAVENLY NECTAR OF PERFECTED MILK TEA that is TapX.
It makes all of the other Milk Tea in Texas look bad, but then, it did that in LA too. And I tried literally at least 50 different milk tea stores/​restaurants while there. I just didnt review them all. yet…
Anyways…
I also ordered crispy chicken which in LA we call Popcorn Chicken. I ate a large amount of it while it was hot, and it was good. But then driving home I pulled a lukewarm one out of the bag and bit into it, and this flood of memories from Arcadia came back to me and I literally cried.
It tasted exactly like the first bite I ever took of the popcorn chicken, almost a year ago, it filled my heart with longing for my friends, it reminded me how my friend handed me this stick with the chicken on it, and I thought «I better not eat a lot since its fattening» and took a bite and loved it. It reminded me of playing basketball in the park afterwards until it was dark. It reminded me of my twin and my friends and all the things that are missing from Texas. It reminded me of the second time I fell in love, and drawing on a calendar.
Not to depress you, but that’s just how accurate the taste is of the Popcorn/​Crispy Chicken. I highly recommend it.
Since I didnt have a strong emotional reaction to the tea itself, I will avoid the popcorn chicken in the future and just go with the tea next time. ITS SO DELICIOUS. PEOPLE BELIEVE ME, I AM A SELF PROCLAIMED MILK TEA MANIAC. NOBODY DOES IT LIKE TAPX.
I’m really excited that it’s here. Maybe I can forge new happy memories with friends there. I hope so.
ON A FINAL NOTE:
GOOGLE MAPS THIS LOCATION WRONG
It is on the SOUTHEAST corner of MIDWAY and HEBRON and not where Google claims it is.
It is near the Whataburger next to Christina’s Mexican Kitchen. It is NOT in the complex google maps lists!