Honestly I am not the type to leave yelp reviews even when I have received bad service ... but this will be my first yelp review. I have been going to tapioca express for a very long time but never had an issue w the service. Till yesterday I have to say the employee that has glasses and hes a little tall was wearing a black long sleeve. Monday afternoon he was taking my order was extremely rude and impatient. I placed my order that included one fried calamari and one popcorn chicken, he asked me how spicy for both I said number 2. I believe somehow he made a mistake because he was in a rush and accidentally thought put in 2 orders of popcorn chicken instead. I saw my receipt later on and saw he charged me for a random item that I did not ask for. I very kindly let him know and asked him what this charge was he gave me. He looked very annoyed by this and didn't even acknowledge his mistake. He then took money out the register as my refund (WITHOUT PROPER CHANGE MAY I ADD)and slammed it on the counter to giv to me. In no way was that provoked I was not being rude at all but he seemed to take his stress out on me because it was getting busy. Usually I am very understanding in those situations but this was very unnecessary for him to act like that towards me because of a mistake HE made. Especially when I was being polite the whole time. I hope there is a chance you will talk to him about having better customer service because this interaction was very unpleasant for me. Like I said I NEVER leave reviews because I don't like leaving negative reviews but your employee needs to be trained better! read more

Milk tea/slushes/drinks and food are really yummy! They also have pretty fast service. Only thing is could be much friendlier service but alas, the food and milk teas make up for it. Also, be prepared on busy times to be in a line out the door as many come here to hang out after work and school. read more

We came here for a light snack before our massage next door at Big Foot. We needed something to hold us over until our next real meal. I ordered the Takoyaki which I thought was gross!! I've had much better, but I may be spoiled because I've had some real good ones in Osaka, Japan! I'll never order this again! Never. My fiancé had the fried chicken and it was spicy!! I didn't like it at all. I don't like things too spicy. This place only takes cash! I think if you use a debit or credit card they upcharge you! They have a free standing ATM on site, but I don't trust those things. We have had the boba here before and it's ok. I prefer Tpumps, Share Tea, or 7 Leaves. read more

Tapioca Express - Takoyaki - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

This is my favorite Tapioca Express. This place also serves the best popcorn fish that I've ever tasted in the state of California! I used to drop in here on the weekends whenever I was visiting my friends in Hayward, but since they moved, I haven't been back =( If I'm ever in the area again, I'll be sure to drop in and order the popcorn fish with a pearl drink. read more

mmm boba! As a loyal Sweetheart Candies fan, I was a bit skeptical coming here, but when I saw on the menu that they not only offer mango milk, but that it indicated with a fresh sign next to it, that I knew I wouldn't be getting a powdered concoction of the drink. Tapioca Express, you've officially won me over! The pearls were fresh tasting and just the right consistancy, that and my drink itself was not super sweet. My boyfriend got the mango icy, but it wasn't as good, a bit too sweet, even for him! However they other reviewers stand corrected, this place is super Asian, even me, a halfie felt a bit out of place, but then again, my 6'6" white boyfriend must have even felt a little bit more awkward! read more

I'm not a tea connoisseur by any means but I do like my tea. Whenever I get the milk tea or litchi tea here, it always tastes great and the pearl/boba is always the right consistency and texture. I hate it when the balls are not evenly chewy and are slightly hard in the center (insert sexual joke here). Also, I absolutely love their pop chicken or whatever they call it here. The pieces aren't too big or too small. I always tell myself that I need to explore more of their menu but I'm so happy with the usual drinks that I order. Why ruin a good thing? read more

This place is busy all the time. But when you're one of the few that's open on Christmas busy, you're busier. But they're efficient, doesn't take long to get your drinks and food. Although I don't know why this is a popular place. I feel like I've had better drinks around the area. Also service... ehhhhhhh. They need to work on their customer service. Like at least smile. read more

Disgusting behavior from the lady cashier. I don't usually give negative reviews but this lady is the worst and cruel person I've seen. Service is so bad and food sucks too just like her. Close your business if you're not happy serving your customer. read more

Glad this place is open late. It is always filled with people and often times there is a crowd chilling outside smoking cigarettes while drinking their boba. They recently opened up a Tap-Ex Lounge just a couple of stores down the strip. It is nice to just chill there when there are no more outdoor seats in front of the actual shop. Their hot honey milk tea is a winner for me. Can't go wrong with that. It isn't too sweet and it has that tea aftertaste that I enjoy. Wish the minimum for card wasn't $20 though. It's a boba shop. Not a restaurant. How much boba would I need to buy to get to the minimum purchase price? Hah. Anyway. Yay for the stamp cards. And yay for the buzzers when it's busy. That is all. read more

Open late on Saturday and Sundays. Saturdays open til 1AM and Sundays open til 11PM. This information isn't posted on their site, so thought I'd provide it. During the summer time, there are tons of people that kick it here. The lines are still long when you go late night, but it's worth the wait if you love boba! read more

Tapioca Express - Mocha Snow Bubble. Yummy! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

The service here is terrible. No greeting and no thank you from the cashier lady that is always at the register. They call your number loud and non-stop. It's like they expect you to fly from your seat to the drink counter in .05 second. Annoying. Drinks and food are fine though. read more

One of the best Tapioca joint. Helpful counter lady who knows my order and very professional.

Drinks are food are really good. I love their crispy squid head that's the reason why I keep going to this please. I've been to other milk tea place and so far they are the only one with the best crispy squid head. The only about this place is their customer service is not good. I'm not saying that all of their cashiers are bad at it but most of them does. They don't know how to communicate well with their customers. Some of them are arrogant. But like I said their food and drinks are great. read more

Love their drinks here! Always a long line when I go but worth it. Prices are reasonable and I love the fact that they have hot food menu as well. I bought the fried squid ($3.99) which was good along with Honeydew Snow bubble w/out the tapioca ($3.25), watermelon snow bubble w/out the tapioca ($3.50), Thai tea w/ tapioca ($3.20), strawberry milk tea w/out tapioca ($2.70) Thai Tea snow bubble w/ tapioca ($4.00). Good place to just hang out and chill as they have tables outside. Please note if you are going to use your debit/credit card they charge a $1.00 fee, YES $1.00 which I think is a little high! But they do have an ATM inside and charge a $0.40 surcharge. Otherwise bring CASH. I would have gave it a 5 star but customer service was not too great. The cashier was not to friendly and does not greet you and say hi before taking your order nor does not say thank you after you order and/or pick up your order. Which to me is dissatisfying. But other than the unfriendly cashier everything else was GOOD. read more

Tapioca Express - Thai tea snow bubble; watermelon snow bubble; honeydew snow bubble; Thai milk tea; strawberry milk tea - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

Food quality is great, customer service is horrible. Same cashier everytime and he has attitude. Doesn't get the right spice level and talks to me like he's mad and in a rush. Also uses his phone a lot during work. read more

I love this place near my house. Not only nice drinks, but also good finger foods. It opens until midnight, so that we can go after dinner and gym. read more

Tapioca Express - This place opens until very late. We always get together and chat. Good food and nice drinks are served. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

Drinks: - Perfect amount of Ice, Flavor, and Sweetness. - Put on a 4-drink, cup holder. - The milk teas I got, actually had hint of tea flavor into it. - Reasonable price, especially since it's better quality than some of the Boba places with similar prices. Location: - Remodeling? There's an abandoned shop 3 stores down that also say 'Tapioca Express' - Plenty of parking around. Service: - Rude and Cranky person who takes the orders. Partly because of the constant, long lines that go out the door... Partly because he doesn't speak English that well, and there's a communication barrier. Overall, I plan to return. There's a lot of awesome restaurants in the shopping center, and Tap Ex seems to be the perfect post-dinner dessert! read more

This particular location has got to be the best Tapioca Express in the Bay Area. If you're looking for a decent place for boba, do NOT come here; go to Tea Six or Tea Station instead. If you're looking for a quick meal or midnight snack, come here for their popcorn chicken or fried calamari. They'll ask you how spicy, from 1-5, you'd like it, and 3 is already pretty darn spicy. My only complaint is that sometimes, if you order with spice level 3 and your friend orders with 4, they'll make both of the orders in one batch, so it may be more or less spicy than expected for one of you. Oh yeah, just be aware that for the next 3-4 hours, your burps will smell atrocious after eating the popcorn chicken because I think they use a lot of garlic. And if you're taking it to-go, your car will smell like fried, oily goodness for the next couple of days. read more

Out of all of the tapioca express' around the area this is probably the best one. One thing that no other place can beat is their popcorn chicken and fried calamari #5 spicy---extra spicy please!!! The drinks are alright, I prefer other tea places that'll let you customize your drink in regards to the sugar amount because I think their drinks are too sweet for my taste. Nevertheless, you will see me here since it's down the street from my house, great snacks and decent variety of drinks. This place is poppin and always busy, line to the door/out the door - weekends they are open until 1am and people do hang out there until that time. read more

Forever my fave place whenever I crave for milk teas, smoothies, slushed, & crispy chicken!!!! Yummm! read more

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The best TapEx in all of the Bay Area in terms of quality of the drink! I used to hate going to TapEx and no matter what drink I tried it was off in taste. Tried this location one day since I was craving some milk tea and this is the only location I'll go to from now on! The workers here have really perfected the drinks. I have no complaints with the quality of drinks here. Though their customer service leaves little to be desired.... other than that if you can get me in and out of this boba spot with my drink well made I'm a happy camper! read more

I love love love this place! I've been coming here for years ever since high school and I still come here from time to time to catch up with old friends or whenever I am craving some calamari (ugh, all their snack are delicious though). Would highly recommend this place to any boba lovers out there! Also glad that their service has gotten better over these past few years, there always used to be cranky bratty cashiers working the front, keep up the good work guys! read more

Was needing a tapioca fix after my vacation and this was the closest location. I guess i should've waited for my local spot to home. The popcorn chicken is usually a hit or miss and this was a miss . Big pieces and brown inside. I like them small crunchy and white inside. The upside was the Brazilian coffee I just came back from Brazil and this was just the perfect fix i needed. Really strong but not bitter. Also... the bathroom... just a tad weird finding utensils in there. No toilet paper. It was only 1pm and the garbage was over flooded, was this cleaned the night before? read more

Tapioca Express - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

This place is my favorite boba spot in town. I've been coming there for years and I love their popcorn fish and chicken. I've tried multiple other places in the bay, but nothing comes close to their popcorn fish/chicken so far. The servers are really helpful, and I love the fact the kind cashier lady at the counter already knows my order when I get there. Would totally recommend checking this out . read more

Tapioca is my guilty pleasure - there's really no point to it: waste of time, money, and calories...but I just can't say no! I live in Oakland, but somehow I find myself here every week. My regular: almond milk tea or passion fruit milk tea with lychee jelly. Loveeee And I demand to know how they make their popcorn chicken so good! The only thing/people bad about this place are the Asians that sit outside and smoke right in front of the door. Can you NOT?! First of all, your child is sitting right next to you. Second of all, and most importantly, you're ruining my tapioca experience. read more

Tapioca Express - Looks like a chubby chicken! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

We come here often for Boba drinks , but they have lots of other menu items... Fried dumplings, octopus balls, shaved ice cream , fried pepper chicken , lumpia ,etc.. You stand in line to order... The line is usually to the door but it moves pretty fast . The cashier is usually pretty friendly and efficient. The orders are produced quickly , they're open late on weekends and 'till 11 weekdays...convenient for a snack or meal . We come back often and recommend highly. read more

Only tried their avocado smoothie, I'd give it 4 star. However, the cashier and the lady who gives drink are so so so rude, I guess it's not a happy place to work, you guys may need to consider find something that makes you happy. I never saw them smile and experienced a huge eye roll from them. the cashier didn't ask me about ice and sugar when I ordered( most Asian boba places ask tho) , I didn't blame her just kinda checked if they started making my drink or not...got an eye roll as a response. Hey do you guys know the Happy Lemon will be opening soon? read more

Been coming here since 2007 always so good. Everyone is so friendly. I've been coming here since I was in high school and am 30 now. My def go to boba spot wit all the other ones around. Went the night before I had my kid went the day after I got home read more

Always like the food over here, but I charge $1 to use a debit card. Front lady told me the system charge $1 for it,

Be careful what you get from them because the people working here does not care about the quality and safety of the drinks. I got a watermelon juice and 2 milk teas. The watermelon juice was absolutely rotten. It was sour and disgusting. If a child got this, they might not know and actually consumed the whole thing and gotten sick. Unacceptable! They get so much business that they don't care about the quality. read more

I love people to navigate with me when I am deaf. I often use my phone to order foods for myself (my late lunch/snack) after I finish work. Ps, I tend to order drink, peppermint milk tea mostly and caramel milk tea sometimes read more

1. Charge a dollar extra for using credit card! 2. Long line, not that friendly customer service. 3. Crispy chicken was good, didn't like spring rolls (too much pork, not enough veggies). 4. Milk tea boba was too sweet. Not my favorite boba place in town. read more

For some reason this tapex has the BEST popcorn chicken. I've had tapex in SD, Newark, other parts of bay and nothing compares. I pretty much go here for the chicken, level 5. or 4. The drinks are good. I always get the typical tapioca milk tea or green tea. The food prices definitely increased. Combo A is now $5.99 -__-. You only save about 10 cents if you get the combo. $5.99 can get you a cheeseburger meal at in n out. K i'm done complaining. Best tapex on earth... imo. read more

First time to come here for the longest time of pandemic and I got yelled for making a mistake in my order . If I can give a zero star for the lady in charge of the cashier I will . Very rude people . At times like this be kind to everyone read more

Average drinks. They dont take credit cards, debit cards or cash only. Social distancing in effect, including 6-feet between your own children, so here we were spread out over 24 feet for one order - annoying. Store had posted on their door and completely mis-interpreted the Alameda County Dept of Envir. Health rules, "Persons who are family members or household contacts, may stand or move together but must be separated from OTHERS by at least six feet". Not a pleasant experience arguing with the store operator. Learn to read English. read more

Food and drink quality is great and head to head the top Tapioca in the Bay Area along with the Milpitas location. However don't come in thinking you'll get good service. They are incredibly rude read more

Agreed with Lyn comment. This place used to be the spot but it seems like they changed owner or something. I came in on 2/12/2023 and was met with a guy at the counter who was pretty rude. Didnt say hi or thank you. He was on his phone multiple times. read more

Very warm service. I like the popcorn chicken the most, They only offer take out at this time but service is still maintaining the high standard. The cashier lady smiles nicely and very helpful. I like this tea house!! Have come here so many times. read more

I would've given this place more stars. I love Tapioca Express Mango Snow Bubble. I'm a Boba fanatic. However, if I would compare this to the Pacific Commons branch, this place is just nothing like it. First, parking was crazy. Not a fan of places with no ample parking spaces. Second, this place looks like a real ghetto hangout of several kids that have nothing to do with their free time. (Not referring to real kids aged below 13 mind you. They're more like above 18.) Third and final whack job about this place is that they need to inform customers that they're charging $0.49 for using a debit card. They don't accept credit cards. An additional $0.49 for a $3.00 snow bubble is preposterous. You better bring your cash if you plan to go to this place. But then if you bring cash, be sure you won't get mugged by the gang-looking peeps hanging out in and out the store. In other words, I'd still go here to buy Tapioca, but only if I have cash... only if I find parking... only if I see less gangbangers outside their store. Gee, when will that be? read more

Tapioca Express - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Union City, California

I've been at this Tapioca Express since 2002. A great place to hang out with friends to get something to eat. I always have a great experience with them. The food is very good, and the drinks are awesome. This is always my stop to get drinks or some grub. read more