Au79 Tea Express

Really cool to see colored boba (esp pink for girly girls like myself)! I got the Rose oolong tea with smashed strawberries inside– really diff and it was good, but i think I should’ve ordered normal sweetness. The atmosphere is awesome, the employees are so awesome & though my drink could be better, the boba itself was amazing. Will def be back. seems like an awesome study place.

Went in for the Almond BMT with mini boba… tastes so good! The best boba tea so far in Pasadena. worth it. I would definitely recommend this compared to t-​pumps or flour+tea.

this is one of my favorite boba places! The milk teas are excellent and the staff is usually very friendly. The prices are fair. They offer a student discount and it is conveniently close to PCC (literally across the street). If you haven’t tried this place, I would definitely recommend it. I have yet to be disappointed.

They have a student discount and the rose milk tea was delicious! The bubbles were soft and sweet, and the tea was fragrant and very much real (unlike the powdered stuff you get at other places). Wish I could come here all the time!

Pricer and the better quality of the Boba places in Pasadena. They even allow you to adjust your sweetness level.
I like the Almond Coffee and Hawaiian Tea (with Aloe instead of Boba).

I love their black milk tea with boba. My husband loves their iced green tea w/​50% sugar. This place is one of our favorite places to go to for boba/​tea. The workers are always friendly and attentive :)

They always have new drink samples :)
It makes me happy!!!
Last time I ordered two with no ice and once they realized they made the wrong order they just added water instead of tea. It was really watered down. Plz fix it properly.

Their boba milk teas are the best! I order the Rose mil tea (iced) & it’s fantastic. The boba is clearly very fresh and is the perfect texture. I alsoblikenthtvyou can adjust the sweetness level. I go with the #2 sweet which is the perfect hint of sweetness for me. I believe the give a discount if you have a valid student ID — I’m way too old for that but bless their hearts for asking if I had one .
There is a small parking lot behind the shop.
Keep up the good work, Au79!

Forget Starbucks and come here for the Roasted Almond Coffee instead. I usually get it half sweetened and it tastes great! Definitely keeps me awake for the rest of the day at work.
Discounts for PCC staff and they also have the rewards point system.
Small parking in the back.

As a boba addict, I would get AU79 all the time if it weren’t so far away from me! I love their rose milk tea and their boba is nice and chewy. According to their menu, they cook it fresh every hour from open to close. I also like how they automatically ask you for sweetness preference when ordering because I sometimes forget to adjust the sweetness when at other boba shops.
There are also a lot of students every time I stop here because it’s right across from PCC. Seems like a great study spot with good drinks and good snacks!

Default place for good boba near the house.
PARKING: Shared lot with 7 – 11 and Subway.
FOOD/​DRINK:
–Tea: AU79 has significantly better tea quality than TeaSpots around the corner, but at a steeper price. My default is a Rose Oolong (deep oolong flavor) with half sweetness and easy ice. Any $ 4+ boba place doesn’t think twice about allowing you to customize your drink by sweetness or ice level.
–Snacks: You can’t beat their fried snacks for a quick pick me up. My favorite is their tempura, which I think is some sort of squid paste shaped into rectangles. Unsure though, but I know it’s delicious and has a chewy texture. AU79’s chicken is also a great pick for its crispy shell and juicy meat.
SERVICE: Always with a smile. My only gripe is that they don’t offer a free stamp card. Last time I checked, they wanted to charge $ 1 for it! With their margins, they shouldn’t be charging customers $ 1 for a loyalty card.

It’s a really nice place inside. The boba prices are okay just like everywhere else. The employees are all dress real cool! Gives it a good young vibe! It’s nice because it’s right in front of pcc. Our bobas where not so good it was really sweet & room temperature ! When we asked for cold drinks. The place is nice and that’s why I’m giving it a three starts, it’s filled with college students.

Now that I’ve recently accepted my new BFFs friend request, I feel compelled to review one of her and my fave boba places.
AU79 blends fresh fruits in their boba drinks! There’s no powdery taste or artificial flavoring. Not a whole lot of places can compare to AU79s boba drinks.
Staff are cool. Haven’t tried their foods, but I do see they serve some fairly decent light meals

This is a pretty average spot. The high reviews are likely due to its proximity to PCC.
I came here to meet some friends and wanted to try the food, particularly the fried taro balls. Unfortunately they no longer sell those, so I got a taro bun, a veggie bun, and fried sweet potato instead.
Taro bun– sweet, but tasty. I like taro so I enjoyed it but I’m sure there’s better ones out there.
Veggie bun– eh. The filling wasn’t very good at all: lacking hearty veggies and any good flavor.
Fried sweet potato– these were sweet potato fries. Good, but I expected something a little different.
I would not go out of my way to return.

Came here a little after 9:30am because Unilocal has it listed that they open at 9:00am. Nope. They open at 10:00am. I’m guessing their summer hours are different than their regular hours because there aren’t as many PCC students in the area. Changing opening hours for a business that relies on the student population across the street for its profits is acceptable. Not posting updated hours online (not necessarily Unilocal,but even their website doesn’t list hours!) is poor business practice! Minus one star for wasting my time.
When I came back after 10:00am, I was greeted by a friendly young male. I wanted to order rose milk black tea with boba but he stated that since they just opened their boba was still cooking. Minus another star for not having boba ready when the shop opens. Tea shops need to have boba ready when they open. Half and half always has boba ready when the doors open. I understand that the company doesn’t want to pay its workers to come in earlier to cook the boba in order to save money. It’s not the worker’s fault but I was still disappointed.
The tea itself was good and was creamier than a lot of other tea places. I would have preferred a stronger rose flavor but it was adequate. The aloe vera I ordered instead of boba was standard.
With so many other boba places in SGV, I don’t think I will be coming back.

Super friendly service. Good Boba with many flavor choices. I like the Lavender or Taro. Love their BBQ pork buns although the machine was broken — just my luck on the day I came in. After debating on the apps & needing something light since I skipped breakfast, I opted for the Tempura. Medium spice was spicy enuf. Glad I didn’t go foe spicy, that is jalapeño spicy! The tempura is pretty much thin fish-​like bites. Enuf to tide me over for an early dinner. Bummed they did not have mayo. Yeah, I am the kinda «British» influenced growing up type who loves mayo dips for anything fried :)

This boba place is awesome! It’s quaint, clean and they have decent drinks.
Customer Service
The staff is very friendly and they work efficiently, or at least they did when I was there. This may have also been attributed to the fact that there was only one other customer ahead of me. I also think that it’s awesome that they give PCC students a discount. It serves as a good incentive for those who attend!
Environment
This is a nice little shop for people of all ages. I saw a couple of people studying here and it made me feel like AU was very welcoming. I also appreciate the fact that it’s so orderly and clean inside. In regards to parking there are plenty of spots at the back of the restaurant.
Boba
I got a Thai tea boba and I thought it was nice that the cashier asked me how sweet I wanted my drink. Typically, the boba places I’ve been to never ask, if you want your drink less sweet, you’ve got to let them know, but not here! I thought it was great that they asked because I probably would’ve forgotten that day. I enjoyed my drink a lot. The boba appeared to be fresh, which was such a relief because towards the end of the day, you’re usually served old boba.
Next time I come here, I’ll probably try green milk tea or just regular milk tea and I’ll grab myself a macaron (can’t believe I forgot!!). I would recommend this place to someone who wants to grab a drink and chat with friends, or someone who wants to sit and study while sipping on a refreshing drink.

My husband is crazy for the kiwi bing sa here! Sweet, icy, and refreshing. The best part is the fresh pieces of kiwi on top. This place is a bit pricey ($ 5 for the bingsa only available in large), but the quality seems worth it. The lychee and passion fruit are also very good as bing sa. Usually we only need to drink half and freeze the rest for later.
For teas I like the rose milk tea and it’s caffeine free! I look forward to trying more options when I am having caffeine again :-)

I love Au79! Definitely one of the better tea spots in Pasadena.
Mmm, I love their Oolong Milk Tea. It’s so good! It has a slight hint of coffee taste to it but without any coffee in it. They usually make this drink with non-​dairy creamer but I always ask them to make it with milk. It’s more natural that way and it gives the tea more of a creamy flavor. (They charge $ 0.25 for the milk but hey, what can you do?) The Rose Milk Tea is also another winner. This one is more floral (obviously) and light and they add these cute little rose buds on top. Love! You get to pick the level of sweetness so #2 (light sweet) or #3 (regular) are good numbers. Btw, they offer reusable (plastic) frequent customer cards so you will need to purchase one for $ 1. After that, one card is all you need.
They serve food here but I haven’t tried anything yet. The Fried Taro Balls, BBQ Pork Buns and Red Bean Buns all sound amazing though! Macarons are also sold here but they are not the best. Some of the flavors taste better than the others but the quality is nothing like what you would find in France. Still, it’s good to have some just to try. The rose and raspberry macarons were not bad!
The layout inside is pretty cool. Nice, modern décor with some tables and chairs. I like that they have a couple bar counters (facing the street) where you can sit and watch the world go by. The windows bring in a lot of natural light so it adds to the atmosphere. They also have restrooms available towards the back, past the tables.
Au79 is located across the street from Pasadena City College, so you will see many of its fellow students hanging out here. And since they offer free Wi-​Fi, most likely they will be studying. Students also receive a 10% discount (I’m assuming from any college, not just PCC) so have those IDs ready people.
The staff is just wonderful. Mad love to my favorite employee Luigi! I don’t even have to tell him my drink order anymore, haha. He starts making it the moment I walk inside AND he makes the best tasting drinks. Thanks Luigi! :)
Parking is available in the lot behind Au79 but it’s limited, since they share the lot with a couple other establishments. But of course, there is always the street!

I’ve been here several times and concluded I just don’t like it.
My reasons: the tea itself is usually good. But, I have had varying levels in regards to the sweetness, despite how I request it.
Also, the boba just is not on point. It’s too mushy, not perfect little spheres. I usually ask for ½ regular and ½ mini boba and every other visit the employees only add one type.
I kind of feel like the employees are a bit negligent, even though they’re all relatively nice.
I think the macaroons are so overpriced too. It’s $ 1.79 for a tiny single macaroon. Not worth it IMO.
I’ll keep checking out other businesses. I mostly came to this place because I liked the ambiance. There are usually students and a fair amount of chairs. But this boba connoisseur is exploring other ventures.