Ok as a place to study. We came here on a Saturday afternoon and it was completely empty. A lot of the tables don't have outlets so make sure they're charged, but at least there's free wifi. I had the oolong milk tea drink, and there's not much tea flavor in it. Also had the matcha egg waffles, nice that it was warm, but it's not the freshest, it is a bit soggy. Not sure I would come here for the drinks or snacks again anytime soon. read more

Cha Express - Matcha egg waffle - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Brought the kids here for some treats. The drinks and waffle puffs were delicious. You order through an ipad/tablet. When I came, they weren't as busy. My only qualm is that they took soo long with the drinks and snacks. Price is moderate. I'd drop by again to try the creme brule desert in the future. My suggestion is to pre order. read more

Nice owner, mango sago with crystal boba is the best! Creamy drink, chewy "boba", tall and satisfying. I first had this years ago and it's my fave place for this drink. Same plaza as Salju read more

This boba spot recently opened up next to Salju and they serve a variety of fruit teas and milk teas but I was mostly interested in their creme brûlée crepe. There is a kiosk to order from with pictures available. They only had one worker working when I went on a Sunday, so the wait time for my order was around 20 mins. It's quite pricey at $9 for a mini crepe but it tasted pretty good. I ordered the crepe with fruits and custard and enjoyed the taste of it. I also tried the egg waffle which was $6.50 for the original. It tasted like an average egg waffle and was nothing special. For the drinks I tried the taro pudding milk and guava passionfruit tea. My favorite was the taro pudding which had chunks of taro and egg pudding that tasted great with the milk. The guava passionfruit had real passionfruit seeds but it was way too sweet from the fruit syrup. Overall a solid boba shop with many options and dessert. I don't think their crepe and waffle are worth the price but I did enjoy the creme brûlée crepe. The taro pudding milk was good but I did not like their fruit tees since it was overly sweet. They have a few tables available indoor with free wifi. read more

See all

Great waffles and drinks! I tried the watermelon slush and the brown sugar boba/milk- wonderful! The waffle was well made and sweet. Recommended! read more

Cha Express - B6 Brown Sugar Boba Fresh Milk - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Everything here is so good! Super friendly service and attentive. All the teas taste fresh. It's a one man show most days so it might feel slow but it's always worth it. The many is very big so you always have something new to try. read more

5 stars for their hong kong egg waffles - The HK egg waffles here are made FRESH. It's served hot in a nice little cup. The egg waffles are crispy and the insides of each pod are super mochi mochi and chewy and delicious! Definitely reminds me of hong kong. 3.5 stars for my oat milk tea - I literally thought it would have oat/malt powder but the milk tea had giant pieces of whole oatmeal lol! It's a bit weird as a topping and might be difficult to get used to. Luckily I was OK with it. The tea flavor itself was just alright. Drinks here can run a bit pricey. Service is pretty fast and workers here are friendly! read more

Cha Express - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

The place itself is a little messy and disorganized inside, however honestly the drinks and desserts make up for it. You have to order on a kiosk which is kind of laggy and doesn't work well, but I don't mind it too much and will still come back. The drinks we got were amazing, and so was the crème brûlée crepe! read more

See all

drinks came out very fast and service was very nice!!:) food was also very yummy!!! bathroom was also very clean! read more

Cha Express - po tat gai dan zhai - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Server was incredibly nice even though we came in relatively late!!!! Drinks and food are yummy :)

First time getting a black rice drink and it was yummy! Wished i ordered 100% instead of 75% (I got sweet tooth). The oolong tea was okay, it didn't have a strong tea flavor. The boba was soft and chewy. There's a small parking lot and seating inside. You can order on the tablet. read more

Cha Express - A3. Handmade Black Rice Milk Tea (L), oolong tea (R) - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

I should've trusted the not-so-good reviews here. I came on a Saturday night around 12:30 am, and there were only two parties inside. We ordered a crepe and two drinks, and now it's 1:09 am, and we're still waiting for the crepe. The first drink came out after 20-25 minutes, and the second one came out after 35 minutes. I've never waited this long for a drink, not even at Omomo, where there's a visible long line. The grape cheese with agar boba was okay, but the Hawaii fruit tea wasn't really to my liking, and I definitely wouldn't order it again. As for the crepe, it was mediocre at best. After ordering a matcha custard crepe, the server told me they ran out of custard but could offer "puff cream" instead. I asked if the puff cream would be matcha-flavored, and he said they could add matcha to it, which they didn't, or I couldn't taste any matcha in it. I asked if it would taste good, and he shrugged and said, "Yeah" -- huge red flag. When the crepe finally came out, it was super runny and dripping. The puff cream tasted just like whipped cream, and that's not what I signed up for. Overall, not worth the hassle. There are much better tea and dessert spots around. I only gave it a try because it's open until 2 am, but I won't be coming back. read more

Please DO NOT come to this place!!! Waste of $45!!!! I came here with 3 other people and the wait time was over 20 minutes for two crème brûlées even though we ordered three. The service was really bad. The guy who took our order didn't communicate with us AT ALL. He didn't even give us the right amount of food. I asked for two egg waffles, he gave us one. He burnt the popcorn chicken and it tasted disgusting. The place didn't even have enough toilet paper for the restroom and it smelled bad. There was an old man sleeping in the corner and when he woke up he was watching us eat. Overall the place is weird, the food is bad and the service is terrible read more

TLDR: Extremely soft boba and strong tea flavor; Cute and comfortable store I came here yesterday and got their Original Yunnan Black Milk Tea with boba. Their boba was really interesting because it was so soft, squishy, and small. That made them really easy to drink. The tea had a strong flavor and was not sweet even though I only reduced the sugar by 25%. A lot of their other drinks look really interesting, so I will probably come back and give them a try since this location is only 5 minutes from my house. The girl working there was nice and made my drink really quickly. She was even kind enough to bring it to me when I was waiting at a table. The design of the store is really comfortable. I love all the soft blue chairs and quiet atmosphere. There is a lot of natural light inside as well. If I had something to study for, then I would definitely come here to do so. Parking was super easy as well. read more

Cha Express - Original Yunnan Black Milk Tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

One of my favorite boba spots in the 626 area. Staff are always very helpful and attentive. Strong WiFi, great service, nice ambience, and outlets to charge your devices if needed. Drinks are not too sweet and boba is soft and chewy. Food is always cooked perfectly- great spot for the late night munchies. I appreciate the large menu with various food items to choose from. Not many boba shops offer an extensive selection of food and drinks as well as a late closing time but Cha Express offers both. I have come back several times, to study and hang out with my friends and family. This has become my go-to boba spot. I will definitely be coming back! read more

Cha Express - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Came here as it was one of the late night spots with good reviews for dessert but sadly, disappointed hugely by their service and food. We ordered 2 crème brule crepes, house milk tea, sweet brick toast and coffee. The place was busy and only 2 ppl working so we tried to be considerate but it took over an hour to get our order which insane!!! The sweet brick toast came out looking nothing like the pictures. It was a piece of bread with condensed milk!! The cream brule crepes were soggy and just ok. The black milk tea was probably the best think we ordered. We also noticed other big parties that came after us getting their order but not ours. Overall not a pace we would go back to. Definitely need to hire more people too knowing how busy they are at nights. read more

I was looking for a milk tea spot to give me a energy kick before the gym, so I found this place! This is in the same plaza as salju dessert and enough parking. I've always been a fan of black rice desserts and I saw they had it in their milk tea, so I was really curious to try it. There's only one worker but she works rather quick since this place seems very lowkey? Not that popular and seems pretty quiet. Ordered my (A3) Black Rice Milk Tea with 50% sugar, and the first thing I noticed, it's not that sweet, and the milk tea is strong. JUST HOW I LIKE IT. The black rice in it was very interesting. It didn't really click in my head if I liked it or not at first, but the more I drank it, the more I really liked it. STIR VERY WELL! It's a bit chunky in the bottom so it feels like a topping lol. This drink was a lot heavier than I thought, which I shouldn't have done before going to the gym but it was pretty good. I had no regrets trying it that day :) If you're looking for some strong milk tea that's not too sweet or bitter, this is the place!! I've always been a fan of hk milk tea, so this was pretty close to something that's not too sweet or bitter. read more

Cha Express - A3. Handmade Black Rice Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Cha Express is our go to spot for milk teas. Cha Express has a great selection of drinks and they also serve up some yummy treats. Service is great. You do place your own order using the kiosk. And this is a cashless establishment. They play top 40 videos on a descent size T.V. The noise level is pretty chill. You can definitely come in and concentrate. Whether you're studying or reading a book. read more

We came here because saw they had creme brulee crepe. Located in a plaza with limited parking, but street parking available. We ordered Black Rice Milk Tea, Avocado Smoothie, and Creme Brulee Crepe. It took forever to get our drinks and crepe ready. While we waited about 30 minutes, the guy came to us and said that they're out of creme brulee. So, he offered to put vanila ice cream instead. Crepe was ok. The black rice in the milk tea was uncooked. It was hard. We ended up being so dissapointed. read more

See all

Ordered pickup through Fantuan from Cha Express, and goodness, I had to wait over an hour for my order. Yes, over an hour. I get it, it is busy and my friends and I were hanging out. We got 3 drinks and a toast, but honestly, it just wasn't worth the wait. I do feel bad for the 2 workers, though, and the place was packed at around 11 PM. It's great that they're getting business, especially since no other boba places are open that late until 2 AM, but the long wait and the quality didn't quite match up this time. Regardless, that doesn't mean the quality should be neglected. Of those 3 orders, I ordered a matcha latte and didn't expect much, but what I got was a disaster. The color wasn't even pastel green, and it tasted like milk. Not even their artificial matcha came through--super disappointing. Never coming again! read more

Located right next to Salju Dessert. Small parking lot but it's enough. Very nice interior with seating but lots of sun coming through the windows. It was a little difficult to figure out how to input the coupon code in the kiosk machine, but I'm glad the employee was able to figure it out. I tried their Original Yunnan Black Milk Tea. It was sweet and very good. And the prices of the drinks aren't too bad. read more

See all

Great boba, crepes, and most importantly service is amazing. So happy to have this close by to my house!

We came in to try the creme brûlée crepe and accidentally flopped the first one onto the floor. The employee was kind enough to remake one for us. The service is stellar and I'd recommend, this place deserves a little more foot traffic. read more

Great service and the Yunnan black sesame milk tea was good! I would recommend anybody to come if they're around the area.

this boba place was a chill place to hangout but personally, there's nothing special about their drinks. it's an avg boba place but the service was fast and there was only one employee working in the front and he did a good job! my friends and I played some card games while drinking our boba so it was a fun time read more

Cha Express - S1 Mango Sago Pamelo with Crystal Boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

Waited one hour for our waffle and everyone that came after us got theirs so quick. Had to go up and ask about it and was questioned. Should've really gave us a refund for losing our ticket. Need to be more organized with their tickets. read more

I came and waited 20 minutes for my drinks then they told me last minute there is no more boba. I came from far because I wanted boba late but they didn't have any so it would have been a waste to not get the drink. The food I ordered was given to me with the wrong topping due to no bobs with out telling me. Lastly my winter melon tea was just milk and was missing the puff cream. Worst waste of time and I don't not recomend. My food was also burned. I will be reporting this to my card as it is a waste of money and didn't not get what I payed for. read more

See all

A friend suggested we grabbed our drinks from Cha Express. Sorry to say, I will not be returning after my visit. 1. Online Ordering System - this is suppose to make your life easier, but only when it do what it suppose to do. Their online ordering system allow you to customize your drink, but it would not let you select a pick up time. What is the point of pre-ordering when your drinks will be made and ready for pick up in 3 minutes? 2. Clueless Barista - They really need to hire someone that speaks English. I walked in asking to pick up my online order and gave her my name, and she didn't know what I was asking for. My drinks doesn't look like what I ordered and I asked her some questions, and she didn't know how to answer any of them. 3. Got my order wrong!!! First of all, both my drinks were suppose to have grass jelly, and we ended up lychee jelly. Secondly, I am lactose intolerant, I ordered the Oats Milk Tea thinking it is oat milk, but saw a milk tea drink with oatmeal looking things in it. I tried to verified with the girl if they used Oat Milk or Milk, and she wasn't able to answer: After repeating my question several times, she said "Yea. Oat Milk" Sorry girlfriend, I am not trusting you. End up throwing my unknown milk product drink with the wrong jelly in the trash. In all seriousness, I think they meant to sell "Milk Tea with Oats/Oatmeal". They should really clarify because I would have been the first to file a complaint against them if I have drank that got sick. Long story short. I am upset and will not be returning! read more

Cha Express - Oats Milk Tea with Grass Jelly. Where is my Oat Milk and where is my grass jelly???! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Tasty but took a really really long time. They were working very hard and what looked like the owner at counter was working very hard. But it took crazy amount if time for milk tea and a matcha. But busy is good i guess service and drinks great read more

Love this place! Super low key, came here on a weekday night after Salju (same plaza). The owner was very sweet. We came specifically for the crème brûlée crepe which would take some time to make, he offered us a free drink for the additional wait. Really enjoyed the black rice bubble milk, the yunnan tea was also very flavorful. 50% sweet here will actually be not that sweet. Could totally see myself studying here if not for the midday closure. There were plenty of open tables and a few wall outlets. read more

Cha Express - A1. Original Yunnan Black 50% sweet- felt more like 25 Black rice bubble milk 50%- so freaking good - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Cha Express is right next to The Hat / The Boat! The parking lot is shared with a couple of businesses but there is also parking on the street. There aren't that many tables inside as it's a quick order and to go. If you follow and like them on IG, there is a BOGO for their regular milk tea only. Must try: - original Yunnan milk tea - handmake black rice milk tea I cannot believe this but their tea can be comparable to Chicha San cha . Simple milk tea was made very tasty and strong and the handmake black rice milk tea was top notch. I'd order this drink each visit if I could, but I do want to try their varieties. Interior: There's only four to five small tables that can fit at least 3 to 4 people on each. Not much decorations as of yet. Definitely recommend checking them out. I'd come back again. read more

Cha Express - Menu - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

The drinks are pretty good here, especially the pudding that you could add in. The place has comfortable, contemporary decor and a few tables with chairs. They could fit more but just have some along the window. Good spot to hang out and chat. read more

See all

By far the BEST Drinks and Costumer Service. I was going around town looking for the BEST MATCHA and by FAR THE BEST in Town! read more

Cha Express - Best MATCHA Around !!! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

3.5 stars - A1 OG Black Milk Tea; 50% sugar & 50% ice I only got the one drink, so my review is based on that. It was satisfyingly creamy and perfectly sweet at 50% sugar. Even when the ice was melted down, the drink was just as good. Tea flavor was there, but it wasn't super strong. Which is fine with me since I tend to be sensitive to caffeine. It's a solid place for milk tea. As of June 2022, price is $5 plus tax without toppings. Small parking lot on site or street parking. read more

Cha Express - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

I was left really confused about this place - I ordered a Thai tea that ended up tasting really bland along with the soggy boba. My drink came out really fast but the whole place seemed uninviting - no music, no decorations on the walls or anything. read more

3.5 stars, rounding up since it's new and they're still working out the details. Cha Express is a new tea place that just opened up for soft opening yesterday in Alhambra - seems like the first location was in San Mateo and they expanded down to the SGV area. Definitely still in the beginning stages of getting to know the drinks/menu, but it's a welcome addition to the plethora of tea places in SGV! They're located in the same plaza as Salju, with a private parking lot as well as street parking. Interior has several tables with plushy chairs. Menu has a number of drinks that they offer - they have puff cream bubble teas, a fresh milk option, fruit teas, Yakult drinks, cheese milk foam teas, a matcha drink, and tea by itself. The main tea that they use is the Yunnan black tea, which is unique as I don't think I've seen other places using this type of tea before. All iced drinks come in 1 size only, while some drinks have a hot option. Jasmine cheese milk foam tea - $5.75 for the large size. I ordered this with less ice and sugar; one of the few tea places that I feel really pay attention to that sugar option. At 75%, my drink had the perfect amount of sweetness (for me). I did enjoy this drink, although I felt like the jasmine tea could have been a tad bit stronger. Tea was pretty good quality and went down very smooth. The cheese milk foam was also pretty light and airy. Though the price is a little on the pricier side, I wouldn't mind ordering this again. Original Yunnan black milk tea (A1) with boba - $5 with additional $0.50 for boba. We were surprised by how much we enjoyed this drink. Sugar was not adjusted, and I felt like the sweetness was just right. The tea flavor is quite strong - probably not something I could drink later in the afternoon. And the boba was cooked on-point. I like that they use slightly smaller pearls than the regular boba size, so almost in the middle between boba and mini boba. For a regular boba milk tea, this has to be one of the better and more solid ones. Puff cream bubble black milk tea - $5.95; we were intrigued by this drink and when the owner (?) mentioned that the puff cream was similar to the whipped cream found in a cake (he described it as a cupcake topping), we thought it sounded interesting enough to warrant a try. So the drink is more like a regular black milk tea with cream that's streaked around the sides of the cup. This was 75% sugar and we all thought it was a little bitter compared ot the A1 drink. I think they didn't use enough puff cream or perhaps the puff cream could have been stronger? But it didn't add anything to the drink. This drink does come with boba, which we weren't aware of at first. Likely will not be reordering this. It seems like the A2 Champion milk tea is one of their best-sellers. This drink includes boba, red bean, grass jelly, and egg pudding (you get 4 toppings in one!) which is a little too much for me. Since they just opened yesterday, I feel like they're still working out the ins and outs of the menu and figuring out how to make the drinks. They do take card with no minimum. --------- Tried the Yakult Lemon today - unfortunately was not wowed by this drink at all. They don't actually use Yakult, but Cool+ which is a cheaper yogurt drink. I personally am not a fan of the Cool+ as there's some weird aftertaste, which I can taste when I tried the Lemon Yakult! The drink tasted like ice cubes that have been melted with some lemon aftertaste - or like the lemon nectar thick water yeckk, and for $5.50, I would not order this again. They should not use "Yakult" in the drink name and instead change it to Yogurt Lemon. read more

Cha Express - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

Same plaza as Salju Desserts, small parking lot. It was very quiet inside so I can see this as a place for studying. There are about 4 tables to sit at. I'm only reviewing for one drink which is the champion milk tea. It only comes in a large size for $6 but it has boba, grass jelly, red bean, egg pudding in one drink so that's 4 toppings for you and it was honestly pretty good. read more

See all

A pretty decent tea-forward spot in SGV. I got the Original Yunnan Black Milk Tea. The tea flavor is strong, but not bitter. Usually I get 25% sweet at most places, but 50% was barely sweet and I probably wouldn't go lower. Their menu is mostly fruit teas and there are not a ton of options for milk teas. You can get an oolong tea, but not oolong milk tea :( The decor is super cute and there are 5 very cute 2-person tables inside. It's in a tiny plaza with its own parking lot. CURRENT DEALS: - During the month of July 2022, they're offering a buy any drink, get A1 (Original Yunnan Black Milk Tea) for $0.99, or buy any drink and get A4 (Handmake Oats/Oatmeal Milk tea) or C4 (Taro Pudding Milk) for $1.99. - Check in on Yelp for 20% off. - Share to your IG feed + story for a free drink. read more

See all

We were looking for a boba place right after lunch and we searched on Yelp for some recommendations. This was the closest from where we were and it also had decent reviews. Upon entering, the girl in the cashier just looks at us blankly then proceeds to saying "what's your order?" in a very unhelpful tone. We ordered four milk teas which all came out very good but it took a while for them to make the drinks because both people working were very slow and still had the time to use their phones. I was happy because they offer in the menu crepes just like the famous Millet Crepes in Sawtelle and Little Tokyo but I ENDED UP BEING SO DISAPPOINTED. I can't believe I paid for something like that. It was very stale and dry. You can tell the crepe was not made fresh in the kitchen, and even the custard was too watery in texture. It was just disgusting. I believe the owner of the cafe is an older Asian guy who was also there during the time we visited but he was just sitting on a table not doing anything even if another customer before us complained to have her drink remade. This place I guess is okay if you want something "just right". read more

Cha Express - A1. Original Yunnan Black - Bubble Tea Near Me - Alhambra, California

See all

When we went in at 10:30pm we ordered two crème brûlée crepes and it wasn't busy at all. There were a few tables but looked like they had their order apart from one table. After 30 minutes, I went to ask how long our Crepes will be. The one gentlemen working said it is coming. I noticed now that he was making the boba for the table that had nothing...I don't get how it takes this long to make boba!! So it's now 45 minutes and another gentlemen came out with our crepes and just handed it to us, without saying which is the black sesame or Nutella. I had to ask before he left. The crepes itself wasn't great. My crepe was cold, if it took 45 minutes to make why is it cold?! I don't recommend this place. read more