Cute boba shop with a wonderful atmosphere. The staff seem happy to be there, and the menu has various items, including vegetarian dishes and desserts. read more

Former employee, current customer and still my go to oak ctown spot. #loyal My drink order is as follows: TJ milk tea, less sugar!!!! (Fructose) or Oat Taro Eats: Tea eggs Flour buns Chicken steak ramen Only few spots w rewards program! Grab some gift card$ for the new year read more

We came here after ice skating because it was nearby. It was a good thing since I got so thirsty and needed boba! I was surprised there was a line outside during this time. It must be because of the late night happy hour specials from 8pm till closing. A lot of the drinks were only $2.50 and snacks were $2.95. I got the panda boba, which comes with regular and white boba. I thought that the white boba would taste the same, but it was a little harder and I can't quite tell what it tasted like, but it was interesting. I also tried my friend's mango green tea, the sweet potato fries, basil popcorn chicken- everything was very yummy. They offer a few board games and Jenga here, so we stayed until about closing time. read more

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Customer service sucks. Called in advance to wait in line for everyone to order to pick and pay my order took 10mins waiting. Cons: -2 drinks one with topping I got 2 skinny straws, which didn't make sense to drink from a skinny straw with topping -ordered popcorn chicken with no skewer stick to eat with. I had to go back in and told them what I needed but the cashier told me to wait to get me these 2 quick items next to her. If I could get it I would but the I couldn't reach. Such nonsense. read more

I ordered the chicken steak Ramen and a Carmel milk tea (regular sweetness) with Honey boba. If you have a little more of a sweet tooth Like me, I would recommend going 1 sweetness up. But anyway, It was AMAZING. The broth in the ramen had so much more flavor than i was expecting. The chicken steak was mouth wateringly juicy and flavorful as well. This is my first time having boba and ramen in Nor Cal (coming from Anaheim and Irvine where we eat it every other night) and I was not disappointed. I will always remember this spot. read more

T4 - I ordered the chicken steak Ramen and a Carmel milk tea (regular sweetness) with Honey boba. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

This was great a place to hang by myself after work from sf. Between the year of 2019. I recently started coming back here entirely of honey chicken wings but 3 tries had failed my desire to try again. Before the quality was crispy, honey licking good, Golden and to die for. It really hit me when the time I went the cashier "mistakenly" charged me for 2.31 tip. I didn't realized when I check my card called they resolved by me coming for the refund. I tried it for the last time... it is. Still salty dull plain brownish salty chicken wings. Barely any honey flavor or sauce. Sad. So no more tries. Service is okay. The boss is friendly though. read more

This place is a small shop located in the heart of Chinatown. There's not much parking due to lots of trucks and people parking in the streets to go to the grocery stores (street parking only). The drinks itself are great and consistent. I got a hot jasmine milk tea and a wintermelon milk tea with grass jelly. Both drinks were good and weren't too sweet. The drinks were ready quickly and I am happy with the service from the workers here! I would definitely recommend this place for a quick grab and go drink. read more

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The set up is chaos. Self order machine is complete garbage. Some of the buttons don't work, it's hard to find items you're looking for. There are few pictures and nothing is in alphabetical order. In our case it let us check out with items that are out of stock so we ended up having to go to the cashier anyway. It was also difficult to communicate with staff because they speak thru a mic due to the protective plexiglass in the way. The mic is also choppy making it difficult to hear so both sides needed to repeat themselves several times. The staff member grew flustered from having to repeat themselves so they gave us a refund in cash even tho we paid with a card. There wasn't enough cash in the drawer so they sorta in a mild panic deliberated whether or not to break open a new roll of quarters or ask another staff member for help. We were so flustered after this whole ordeal we accidentally dropped our drink as soon as we crossed the street and it exploded everywhere. At this point we just wanted to GTFO of there and never come back. Overall the worst boba experience I've ever had in my life. T4 your bad set up ends up creating more work for your customers and your staff. read more

Even though this place only has 3.5/5 on Yelp review, this is one of my favorite places in Oakland Chinatown, I would totally come here on a weekly basis for the drinks and food. Staffs are friendly and approachable, the wait time isn't very long either. The popcorn chicken is a must here in Oakland location, it's probably one of the best I've ever had. Coming to this place reminds me of my home, Hong Kong. read more

T4 - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

Solid spot in the part where downtown Oakland meets Chinatown. Pros: - The Basil Popcorn Chicken, which is also the main reason why I come, is outstandingly good. So good, in fact, that I like it more than many of the other T4 chains I have visited within the East Bay Area (Walnut Creek, Concord, and Dublin). - Their prices are still the same prices as the original franchise poster. Many of the other T4 chains seem to have increased their prices by putting new amounts next the menu item. - Their drinks, although very sweet (I always adjust everything to 50% if no toppings or 30% with a topping [as the topping makes the drink sweeter]) is usually reliable and will always taste the same - partially thanks to being a franchise and following a strict recipe. - You can call in ahead in order to avoid the 10 minute wait for Popcorn Chicken or 5-7 minute wait for milk tea drinks. Cons: - It seems like there is only one person in charge of the cashier aka the person that handles all the customers. I think it would benefit the company to have somebody handling the regular customers and another to handle the online/mobile orders/calling of drinks. - They have a very extensive food menu (which can be considered a con) but with many items just being 'ok'. Although it's wonderful to have a huge range of items, personally, I feel like it's better to be solid on a smaller list. This would also boost productivity. Tip: Call in advance. It really saves you so much time. It also makes me feel like a baller, skipping the regular line and going to the VIP aka mobile/phone orders line. HH: They have happy hour specials from 8PM until closing. However, note that no stamp cards will be accepted for drinks, and there is a list of items that are excluded from the menu. read more

I don't know. I'm kinda deciding between giving this place a 2 or a 3. I'll go ahead and throw it a 3. So T4, or Tea 4 U, apparently is a brand new place that opened up in Oakland Chinatown. Yelper Sammi had recommended the one in Dublin, but seeing as this was closer to where I was, I decided to come here. Their decoration is... interesting. It matches their color that they have in the company logo (the blue color) but seeing it- I don't know, for me, didn't really impress me much because I knew that this place was brand spanking new. And it did not look that way here. If you have no clue what to order, I believe they put stars or something that show the more popular drinks, so you can go ahead and look at the big menu to figure out the popular drinks and see which one you want. They don't have too too many tables, but I was lucky enough to grab one. I got myself the HK style waffle (or the egg puff) for $4.95, which was decently priced. I also got a peppermint tea for $3.95. HK Style waffle- For some odd reason, it took a while. It took a long while. And I was staring at the person making the waffle for me. She had a previous order, which took 2 minutes after I ordered, but she took a while for me. Maybe to make the batter? Either way after getting it, it had cooled down a bit more than I would have liked (eating these hot actually gives me the warm hearty feeling). These are actually pretty good, the way they have it here. The egg taste along with the taste of the whole HK style waffle actually tastes pretty good. It's not bland or hard like other places that mess it up. :P And if you're taking it to go, they put it in a bag for you so you can take nice pictures with it hehehe. Peppermint tea- The peppermint taste was there but I was definitely not a fan of the drink. It just didn't have the flavor profile that I liked, even with the sweetness/ice levels that you can personalize. All it had was a peppermint taste, which came at you kinda weak, which isn't really like the way I would have expected it. I think I know why I didn't like it tho. I had I-tea right across the street just minutes before :P It takes a while even there's not a line, and it kinda reminds me of Pig Haus/MJ Cafe down here in Socal, but definitely a place you could go to to eat their appetizers. Their peppermint drink though could use some work. :p read more

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Another tea drink place in Chinatown, I think it's a good addition. More places bring competition and foot traffic to that community. I've been to T4 a few times. Their drinks are pretty good, like other places you can customize the sweetness and ice levels to orders. They've had a good turnaround time from the point of ordering. The prices are reasonable. They also have food. I haven't tried their entrees but I've tried their snacks (e.g. curly fries, sweet potato fries, chicken wings) and those are solid. They have happy hour pricing including from 8pm to CLOSE, which a bunch of drinks are $2.95 and a bunch of the snacks are $2.50. They take credit cards. I like that they have a coffee shop feel. They offer free wifi and you see people using their computers there, there are board games for people to play, and they have TV's. I've been in the evenings and I notice teenage folks hanging out there, it seems like a pretty good place to hang out also considering there aren't a lot of places open late in Oakland in general that are youth friendly. My own criticism so far is I wish these tea places have coffee, I'm a coffee drinker. read more

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while the boba is consistently good, these folks do a TERRIBLE job with the fried tofu. The Alameda location used to be able to do this right, but I just got my third doordash order from them and it's essentially oil-drenched tofu cubes that maybe spent 10 seconds in the fryer. No color, no heat. Just awful. Not sure how they can fry chicken properly an can't do tofu. I will no longer order from here. read more

They have happy hour here! Happy hour prices on majority of their drink menu and snack menu. Their happy hour drink prices excludes basically their popular drinks. Happy hour starts at 8pm until closing. Their milk tea drinks are ok, they aren't mind blowing....but I do like their wintermelon milk tea. I like to get my drinks with zero or 30% ice. Their fried tofu and basil popcorn chicken are sooooo good!! They have free wifi! The password is TeaForYou. They have outlets to charge your phone. The people who work here are all super nice. read more

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Good for what it is. I wish I had known about the happy hour thing when I arrived. Lines and wait times can be rough around then due to the sheer volume of people. Store was pretty clean, tables not so much, cashier was friendly and helpful with questions. I got a soy milk tea with grass jelly, and the fried tofu. The soy milk tea was just milk tea. I do like the aspect of being able to customize the drink since I don't really do sweet very often. The tofu tho, legit. I like the use of fried garlic and the batter outside. Flavor was on point. Honestly, I'd return just for that. read more

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Soft opening from 1/18 - 1/22 which means $2.50 drinks (not including toppings). The place is a little hectic and it's kind of a mess because well.. It's a soft opening. The line is out the door with a bunch of folks tryin' to get their $2.50 drank on. I ordered a Rose Milk Tea ($2.50 for soft opening, regularly $3.50) with Agar Pearls ($0.50) to give it a try. I usually use the milk tea to rate boba shops but I decided to flip the script and do something different. It took about 12 min to get my drink which isn't terrible since they're slammed. The drink, itself, is quite good. The rose flavor is strong and 50% sweet is perfect for me. The Agar Pearls were also on point. Regular ice was a mistake on my part because it was half the cup. Next time, I'm going with 50%. The drinks are also kind of small, compared to i-Tea. I wouldn't pay more than $2.50 -$3.00 for a drink here considering i-Tea is down the block for slightly more. This place has the potential to be a 5 star. As it sits, they're a solid 4 star until the issues get worked out. Other notes: + They have board games so it seems like they want you to stay and hangout which is cool. + Everything is shiny because it is all new. + Food / snacks are offered. + The color scheme is teal and white which is super Asian and hurts my eyes a little. + I'm hella annoyed that Tim guy got the first review, especially since his review is virtually useless. read more

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3.5 stars...Similiar to other boba, tea places but seating with more snack foods. I'm not sure why but they seem to take longer to prepare items even if no line...especially the egg puffs...not sure why it takes a while especially when on a work break. Overall, decent fried snacks like the popcorn chicken but i'm sure there's MSG as i was thirsty the whole afternoon after eating...hmmm...will have to return for other items but not something i crave or feel i need to rush back. read more

T4 - popcorn chicken and passionfruit smoothie - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

THE CUSTOMER SERVICE AT THIS T4 IS BY FAR THE WORST. DO NOT COME TO THIS PLACE. THEY TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS LIKE FOOLS. Terrible customer service Dishonest On my recent visit, I ordered fried calamari for $6.30, and what I received was a box of less than half. Like wtf? I paid full price for this! I brought my order back to the counter and pointed out that my order was incomplete. The owner of the store denied and repeatedly argued that this is complete, all fried calamari orders come with 13 pcs of calamari. However, there were barely 10 pcs in my order. So I demanded a refund which I eventually received after wasting a good amount of time arguing with the owner. Employees and employers at this place genuinely need some serious customer service training. read more

T4 - An incomplete fried calamari order - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

Really watery drinks I won't be back. I couldn't be anymore disappointed They all had like no flavor and were not good read more

I expected more but it just tasted like typical boba. Drinks: I got the Apple tea one and it was just way too sweet and fruity. Typically I like my drinks really sweet but this was like diabetes sweet. The peach Smoothie one was pretty good and a perfect combination of sweetness with iciness. Overall, drinks were simply ok and I would rather go to iTea across the street. Service: They ran out of boba and that their kitchen was closed at 9:30ish. I thought most restaurants kitchen close after their closing time and what kind of boba store runs out of boba?? However, they let us stay after closing time so bonus points for that. Ambience: lots of seating and overall pretty clean. I would come back here to try their food dishes or other drinks. Not really all that impressive or the place it's hyped up to be. read more

This is another great place to enjoy a bite to eat and get a refreshing drink! They were open to making my "unique" mixed drink Taro/Lychee. It's always exciting when they understand I'm drinking it & I'm ok with it tasting "real sweet"! It is a very busy location (at lunch) when I went. Knowing other T4's they do stay busy so don't get upset on the wait. The good news is I actually didn't have to wait longer than 15 minutes which included them making my calamari. There are a lot of good food/snacking options for you to try with multiple drink choices. If your not familiar with T4, you can pick your sweet %, which is helpful for the health conscious people. Parking is bad as it's downtown Oakland but close to the 12th street Bart exit and worth the trip. read more

T4 - Lychee/Taro with extra boba smoothie & fried calamari - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

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I basically come here every week before going to dance practice with my friend and though parking is a pain in the ass, we always find ourselves coming back. I always get their Taro Pearl Tea ($3.5) bc its not too sweet (you know, the artificial taste) and not too powdery unlike other boba places. we joked about measuring how long it takes for our orders to be prepared and it was actually 6min -which is kind of long for boba lol. Other than that, the interior is super casual- theres a lot of seating and while you can probably study here, there's also always highschool/college kids hanging out and having a good time. IG factor: Solid C. Really just your average boba shop." read more

T4 - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

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I ordered a single drink and snack item. Took 20+ minutes. Not what I was expecting to wait for a small order. I was also charged for a bag without being asked if I wanted a bag or not. The issue is not the extra cost of a dime but that it's wasteful. I can carry these 2 items out on my 2 hands to my car that's 10 steps away...What I can't really do is find use for a small bag like that. It's hard to reuse. Some people actually want to move towards zero waste by end of 2020. Meanwhile this place is trying to squeeze as much coin from you as possible. Another thing: usually the snack items are flavored with 2 different sauces (it's an option). I wasn't given any and had to ask. The gal preparing my order gave me just 1. I asked for the other one and the cashier said she would have to charge me for an extra. Normally pre-COVID, they have these powder dispensers out that customers can use to flavor their snacks but at this point in time, they pre-package powders and sauces in little plastic cups with kids. They deserve a pat on the back for taking an extra step of caution but charging for it...huh? Also want to point out, a fella before me got both without being charged so I'm not sure what their policy is or if a cashier lady decided to self charge. Might just be a single incident. Maybe not. The bag charge has happened more than once, though, and to others in my group who also ordered. All in all, T4 isn't my cup of tea. I only go here as a last resort when other boba places are closed. There's iTea down the block and Quickly's around the corner. I prefer iTea's drinks. Sweetheart cafe is also 2 blocks down with the best tasting snacks and you get the portion you pay for. The snack I ordered today at T4 was pretty good so that's why this review has 3 stars. Their questionable customer service just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. read more

We came exactly at 8pm, which was the beginning of Happy Hour. Drinks are $2.50 and snacks are $3.50. As time progressed, the place was packed. It was a Friday night, so lines were out the door and did not die down all night. Happy hour is definitely a popular time here. They have around seven tables inside so the place gets filled up fast. People tend to stay and hang out here for a while. They have board games here that you can play with. I ordered the French pudding milk tea with 80% sweetness and popcorn chicken. Despite a 20% decrease in sweetness, the milk tea was still quite sweet. 100% must be something powerful. The pudding is also sweet and my favorite part of the drink. The popcorn chicken was pretty good, except that some of the pieces were a bit soggy. The portion size isn't that big. You get a little cardboard box of the chicken, so don't come hungry. Overall, good food and drinks at a decent price, but beware of the drink sweetness. read more

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I've gone there a few times, I think they have good (not amazing, but worth going) milk tea and an obscenely large selection. I've also gotten their bubble waffles, which I'm a fan of, not even with a topping. Solid place to visit, though you won't be bowled over. read more

T4 is probably one of my go to places in the east bay for Taiwanese food. They make a decent beef noodle soup and popcorn chicken. I usually come here after 8:00pm because they have happy hour. Popcorn chicken for half the price. It's at a great location that's usually populated at night so you don't feel you're in danger in the middle of Chinatown. read more

Just visited T4 in Oakland Chinatown, I was attracted by that strong milk tea aroma inside the store instantly. Staffs are friendly and approachable, usually I would like to order Earl Gray tea, roasted oohlong tea, Milk tea with coconut jelly, or French pudding milk tea, but today I tried their new special drink called Fresh grapefruit green Tea, and that tastes pretty good and so refreshing, I love it. And I have tried their several snacks, ramen, and using noodle as well, and they all taste good the price is somewhat fair($6.95--$8.85 before tax). There is one thing I need to complain about is the wait time for a single Eggpuff order (20 minutes minimum ) read more

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Came for a late night snack and I was pleasantly surprised that they had happy hour on their drinks and snacks! Score! Happy hour is after 8pm and all drinks are $2.95 and snacks are $3.50 (some exceptions apply). Also, free WiFi is available. Food: First off, the milk tea itself has too much milk and not enough tea in my opinion. You'll notice in the pictures how white the milk teas look. I ordered the rose milk tea with boba and 0% sweetness. Don't be fooled, it was still very sweet. Rose flavor was light, but recognizable. Lychee black tea and winter melon milk tea were also very good. Just a heads up, you can't change the sweetness on the winter melon tea. I'm someone who doesn't like overly sweet drinks so that hindered me from ordering winter melon. If you're hungry (or even if you're not hungry) get the popcorn chicken! It was so delicious. Juicy, crunchy, flavorful pieces of chicken. And during HH, only $3.50! Service and parking: I thought service was pretty slow, but there was also only one guy making the drinks. Street parking available, but very limited. read more

T4 - Popcorn chicken is a must - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

Most anti climatic experience ever. I wish I could have my $15 back! Got popcorn chicken, jasmine milk tea boba, and fish balls. Popcorn chicken was bland and under seasoned. Jasmine milk tea was too sweet, boba was too soft. Fish balls were whatevs. Didn't care for the sauce on them, also too sweet. read more

T4 is probably one the the best milk tea chains, in my opinion. I come here after work every now and then to wait for traffic to die down. It is a chill location, there are a lot of students coming in and out. But can't blame them, it's a cool kick it spot. This location offers a little more menu items than other locations, dope! I wanted to try something different from the basic drinks at all the T4's. The worker was super nice in answering questions. The worker also served me my food after I sat down, presentation was even nice. I got the Jasmine/Thai milk tea because it looked super interesting, duo colors! The taste of the drink wasn't all that. It tasted like a not as strong version of Thai tea. I also ordered the popcorn chicken with minced pork over rice. Oh my, so good! It tasted like a home cooked meal. I was really enjoying my food even if my drink wasn't what I expected. I didn't know what to do with my tray after, there was no where to place it. But I guess they also pick it up at the tables, I think. I seen another customer do it, so I did the same. You can never go wrong with T4 read more

T4 - Thai + Jasmine milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

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Came in at around 930 pm on a Sunday, it was pretty packed. The only drink I've ever gotten from T4 was the Roasted Oolong Milk Tea, and I don't want to ever change that! The roasted oolong milk tea is enough to satisfy my after dinner cravings. Although the wait is a little long when it's busy, it's worth the wait. Apparently the food that's offered here (egg puffs and popcorn chicken) is supposed to be really good too, so maybe next time I'll try those out as well. Happy Hour: 8pm - closing. Regular sized drinks all $2.95. Bigger size: +$0.50. All the snacks unless otherwise listed are $3.50. read more

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Reasonable price and decent food quality but the customer service is so poor. I went there today for a drink and a snack, saw three girls chatting and laughing at the back, I patiently waited for over a minute then a long hair girl who was not even on uniform took my order, but kind of not very friendly, maybe because she had to stop there conversation and came help me. Since it wasn't that busy, my order didn't take very long to be ready, but my number wasn't called until there conversation was over. Good thing it was on a Sunday afternoon and I was not in limited time frame, otherwise I'm not sure if I should ask them for my order that was sitting on the counter or I should just wait for them to finish their conversation. read more

Great teas BUT don't ever come there during the afternoon. It's a chaotic mess with an entire class of kids from school. A man was yelling about his order he never received and waited 20 minutes for and the girl behind the counter couldn't hear a word anyone was saying. Walked down to Boba Binge for lunch instead. read more

T4 is solid, yet I've fallen out of love with them from where I was initially. Their boba is good quality, and they have a soy milk alternative milk option, which I appreciate. They also use fresh taro for their taro drinks -- yes!! My main issue is that I used to love their taro smoothies but lately the consistency hasn't been smooth/well-incorporated -- it's like I drink the flavor out of the ice and then have to wait for the ice to melt. I brought this up a few orders ago and the helpful person I spoke with thought it might be that they used too much milk before. For that order it seemed to go better, but for my last few orders it's been the same issue. For this reason I've lost my enthusiasm for this particular boba shop. It's still in the rotation, just not my fave anymore. read more

On this blazing heat, it was much appreciated having a cold winter melon drink. T4 has many great drink varieties and known for their boba and small bites. Lately they have became quite creative. The wait for snacks can take up to 15-25 minutes. I was rushed to another meeting, so I ordered sometime simple and fast. It was very satisfying and refreshing. Winter melon can be eaten as a savory hot soup with mushroom, meat and sometimes with seafood, but making a dessert cold drink is a crafty idea like having honey lemon tea. Winter melon is like a pumpkin with white flesh and seeds in the center. It is bland, but it is known for soothing comfort soup. read more

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I love this place. Their taro is really good and it's a nice cheap place to go after eating some dim sum

Decent milk tea spot next door to shooting star. There's plenty of room, free wifi, tables and booths for sitting/waiting, and a restroom which some of the other boba shops in Chinatown don't have. The service here is decent. Sometimes I have trouble hearing the numbers being called if the music or atmosphere is too loud but it's not something that will keep me from coming back to this place. There's nothing special about their pearl milk tea drink but some of their royal tea drinks are pretty good and I like their egg puffs. I decided to try their new cheese drink today and it was ok. Some places suggest you tilting the drink at certain angles to get the best proportion of cheese topping to tea but that isn't a thing here I assume because of the cup it came in. I just tried stirring some into the tea and it reminded me of the creama drinks at Sharetea. I got my drink with 30% sweetness and maybe only mixed about a third of the cheese? It was quite hard to mix the cheese into the drink tbh so maybe I was doing something wrong. Overall I enjoyed my drink and thought the price was pretty cheap ($5 for a large with boba?). Tip: don't forget to get a stamp card if you don't have one already! read more

First off, get the egg puffs. They're awesome. The batter is just perfectly balanced and fluffy. I wish I bought more than one order for the drive home. Also, this is a nice tea shop. The selection of tea drinks is good. They're made quickly and they taste good too. Seating is kind of tight. There are a few tables for parties of four. Overall, it's a good T4 location. I'm glad I stopped in. read more

Amazing tea! I-tea has great dessert drinks but for tea drinks with strong tea flavour I always come to T4. I almost always get the roasted oolong milk tea with 30% sweetness and either 30% ice or hot. The tea has always been on point. It's not too sweet or milky and never tastes watered down. The new fresh taro milk tea drink is also very good. Not something I would get regularly but the fresh chunks of taro at the bottom are great. I've also had the regular egg puffs and they are very tasty. Finally they take credit cards, even Discover, with no minimum charge which is a rarity in Chinatown. It's open pretty late and all in all a great place to get late night dessert craving satisfied! read more

T4 - Mixed Thai and Jasmine - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California

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Delicious popcorn chicken! Crispy and hot! I love coming here during happy. Great snacks and variety of drinks. Their seasonal watermelon slushy is amazing! They use fresh watermelons with no syrup added! My all time favorite. read more

T4 - Bubble Tea Near Me - Oakland, California