This Happy Lemon is the one that's closest to me and the location is perfect because I go to the petco and safeway nearby and I never struggle to find parking. The drinks I order are almost always consistent. If you order a drink you've had there before, you know what it will taste like. When boba is $6-7 and over these days I expect my drink to taste how I want it to and Happy Lemon at practically ANY location tends to deliver. My go to order is a large A2 (black tea with salted cheese) half sweet half ice, and get a second one for the following day with 0 ice. I also love the grapefruit yakult, oreo milk tea, and matcha latte with salted cheese. Please note: I say this about the drinks that I order. There have been a few drinks over the years I was not a fan of. Every once in a while I'll try something new but not all happy lemon drinks are for me and that's okay! They cater to a lot of different palettes. For snacks, I've had the bubble waffles and popcorn chicken. Both are quite good. I personally get the chocolate bubble waffle with oreo inside, and the puff cream dip. I recommend that you eat the waffle quickly or it will get soggy. You can also ask for it to be extra crispy. My only gripe with this location is that no one has ever greeted me with a hello when I walk in. In fact, you practically dont even get acknowledged unless you walk up to the counter and even if you do walk up to the counter it's not guaranteed... It's practically dead silent in there unless you are placing your order verbally instead of using the tablet. That being said, the fact that they are 99% consistent with their drinks and food is enough for me. This isn't a fine dining establishment and I don't expect quality service from shy high schoolers. This is likely a lot of the employees first job so I cut them some slack, order what I want and go home happy. Pro tip on the grapefruit yakult: if you don't like it suuuuper sweet get 0 sugar because the yakult is already quite sweet! read more

Happy Lemon - Black tea with salted cheese - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

The popcorn chicken here tastes great, but the value has dropped significantly. Prices are up, yet the portions are shrinking. My last serving was unfortunately more fried batter than chicken. Hard to justify the price for what I received today. read more

Happy Lemon - Deep fried batter instead of actual chicken - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

This pace is awful. They have a sign saying bathroom is out of order but it actually works perfectly. I asked if the toilet was broken and the cashier said yes. I said that ok i just need to wash my hands. Then he said the sink was broken also. I said no problem i understand. I also have something in my eye may i just use the mirror. This through him for a loop and he just smiled nervously and said no. I understand some stores reserving the restroom for customers but they are lying to paying customers. At least have the nerve to just say sorry we don't let anyone use our restroom. read more

Correct your hours! Walk in at 7:50pm she said it was too late for a waffle they close at 8pm! It says 9pm? read more

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Looked up what time they closed, both on maps and yelp - says they close at 9pm. Knowing they close the kitchen an hour before closing, we showed up at 7:02pm and ordered by 7:04pm. Well, they don't close at 9pm. They close at 8pm. No where except on a piece of paper on the window does it say they close at 8pm. So frustrating that they advertise being open till 9pm, actually close at 8pm, and don't serve anything from the kitchen after 7pm. AT THE VERY LEAST, you should change your hours listed online before people waste their time driving to the location FOR NOTHING! read more

Not sure why this HappyLemon went downhill over the past couple of years - I stopped going to this location in favor of going to either the San Ramon and/or Pleasanton location. 1. Increase in prices for chicken, but reduction in actual amount of food provided. 2. Incorrectly made drinks 3x 3. Cashiers frequently do not speak English and enter orders incorrectly read more

The young girl at the counter didn't communicate clearly with customers. I ordered a milk tea, but she gave me just milk. When I tried to scan the QR code for points, she told me it was too late. Please make sure staff can communicate in clearly and provide better customer service. Also they never have chicken wings and taro puff as they advertise in their window. read more

Happy Lemon - I just got a cup of milk when I ordered milk tea for $6. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

Happy Lemon opened where TD Ameritrade once was. Interior refurbished with a few tables inside for seating, & a platform to take pics with a Lemon mascot. Prompt service as no patrons present. Ordered at counter. Drink ready in minutes. Offerings: yakult, bubble waffle, milk tea, lemon slushy, salted cheese, blended whole lemon, squeezed lemon, fruit tea, classic brewed tea, fruit smoothies.. Drink: Roasted Oolong tea (L. 6) 25% sugar/ice no tax -creamy, sweet. Roasted tea faintly tasted. -shaken slightly. Drink from hole, no straw needed. -this drink definitely worthy. Tried others @happy, not as satisfied. Salted cheese is done right here... read more

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The formula for Happy Lemon really hasn't changed for the longest time which is a good thing. I'm happy they finally added this location in Castro Valley since this is probably the best boba which is closest to my house. The parking is easy, there's plenty of space outside for parking, so you'll have no problems being able to reach this location. I ordered my usual green tea with salted cheese and boba since I've been ordering that for the past five years and it still has the same great taste of sweet and salty. The workers creating the drinks overall were welcoming and the space inside has a lot of room. Anyone who lives in the Castro Valley area should at least give this place a try since it's local and consistently has good boba to offer! read more

Happy Lemon - Front area - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

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Overall a pretty solid boba spot too but the prices are getting a bit outrageous... Let me preface this by saying, I used to LOVE Happy Lemon. The mango matcha was an absolute 10/10. But when the prices are just not competitive and the value is overall pretty low in comparison to other boba spots. It's $20 for a drink ($8) and a popcorn chicken ($10). I think the food and drink are both great, especially because the popcorn chicken is super juicy, but I really struggle to justify purchasing from here. read more

I called in to order for pick up, but the lady doesn't understand English pretty well. That's okay, but she couldn't understand my order. I tried ordering a Mango Lemon Slushy, but she told me they don't have that. I had to emphasize the word two more times for her to understand my order. I had to drive in and order. The drink was good, but the boba was way too hard. Overall, they need better staff and softer boba. read more

Looks like the ghost of Happy Lemon has stopped haunting this empty space, and finally opened up. This Happy Lemon for those who are locals know that it's been kind of weird trying to open for some time now. Every time you thought it was going to open, it would do the reverse and get boarded up again, or something. But nice to see it finally made its debut. This Happy Lemon definitely has a nice design vibe going for it on the inside. I'd only ever be at this location when I'm visiting my family, but way better looking than the Happy Lemon near me. They have the self-order kiosk right when you make it into the door, so makes it easy, unless someone is slow and stands there taking forever. What can you do? /shrug Pricing wise on only the standard milk tea is good, but all of their other stuff is pretty expensive. With i-Tea and U-Cha not too far away, they're going to be a bit more expensive than those spots. The quality of the drinks at this Happy Lemon is at least somewhat more decent than the one near me. I got the standard Milk Tea to try out here, and it was not bad. Flavored well, and also, the boba was pretty good too. Can't complain. If anything I'll probably be back to this Happy Lemon in the future when visiting family in the area, though cost wise, I probably will just get the house milk tea since the other stuff is a bit too much when you consider you're paying almost $8 for some of those drinks, and their cups aren't even supersized ones, so can't even justify the bang for buck with many of them. Is this the best boba spot around here? Probably not. But since they're right next to a heavily residential area, it's probably the better option besides just popping into Pho Play for their drinks. read more

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2 day Grand Opening bogo, 4/28 and 29th! The lines are long for the first day for sure, but a nice cold drink for this weather, it's worth it for sure. It was about an hour and a little more around 7pm on the first day (4/28). Service was very efficient and all the employees were bustling for sure. After ordering, it was less than 10 minutes for my drinks and bubble waffle to come out. I got the strawberry milk and my normal Happy Lemon order of Mango green tea with mango boba. The strawberry milk was definitely as what you'd expected, nothing all too special - just a creamy refreshingly sweet drink. I'd wanna give the puff cream one next. As for the Mango green tea, tastes normal like how it does from other Happy Lemons. Only gripe is that the mango bits were very crunchy, unripe mangos probably and it wasn't the best texture to go with the mango boba to me; definitely my go to drink to satisfying by boba craving normally. As for the waffle, the red bean was out when I ordered so oreo was next up to try. The waffle is always fresh, made to order - lightly sweet and very satisfying with a nice crunch (when eaten hot). It's definitely a snack that I'd like to get to-go (even my pup likes to have a bite when I get just an original flavor). This is a great addition to this plaza! No need to go downtown just to satisfy a boba craving now :) Final Thoughts: This place is gonna be dangerous being only a few steps away from 24hr Fitness... gotta practice self control for sure. As each boba shop in the area has a specific drink I go there for, Happy Lemon is mango green tea and bubble waffles for sure... just don't have to leave the area for it anymore. I'd like to have another review a few months later after the grand opening rush has died down a bit - but for now, great areas in the shop for boba pictures and service is smooth for being the first day! read more

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Got to try out my first ever happy lemon drinks during this grand opening! I've had happy Lemon on my hit list for years actually and I'm glad one finally opened up in Castro valley. Line was prob about 40 people deep and it took about 1 hr and 15 mins before we got our drinks. Workers were very patient w the orders. It took a long time bc people ordered 8 drinks or so at a time. They handled the orders quite well considering and once you get to the front, the orders are quick and took about 10-15 mins. Quite honestly, wasn't super impressed w the drinks. Tried different drinks from 4 different categories. Fresh dragon fruit lychee w salted cheese was my least favorite. Not sure if it was the combo of flavors, but the taste seemed to be overpowered by the lychee syrup, which seemed to make it taste artificial. It was hard for me to finish this one. The Ube milk tea w taro puff cream and taro balls also tasted somewhat artificial and reminded me of a regular taro milk tea from quickly's but with toppings. They didn't have taro balls, which was disappointing so it came with boba. If you try to sub out boba for a different topping then it costs .75 or more to do so even if the substituted topping is the same cost. The mango matcha smoothie was decent. I ordered it 100% sweet but it could have used a bit more sugar. There were still noticeable ice chunks that were not blended well and it reminded me more of a slush than a milkshake bc it wasn't creamy and the milk wasn't noticeable. Really appreciated the real mango bits but they were not ripe and seemed a bit raw and crunchy. Drink was decent. Lastly, got to try the passion fruit mango green tea. This was quite refreshing. There was noticeable fruit "swirlies" in the drink and sweetness was well balanced with tart. Download the app and add an e-gift card for 5% back Not my first choice when it comes to tea/fruit drinks but glad to have it as an option in Castro valley now. read more

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Mango yak was excellent. Plenty of parking shared w Safeway. Servers gave good advice on choices

We've been waiting for this to open in Castro Valley! Came here during their grand opening and got the buy one get one free drink. There's plenty of parking in the plaza (in the Safeway, Petco, Panda Express plaza). The line was pretty long as expected but it moved quickly. My go to is either the mango or grapefruit lemon slushy ($6 Large) and I got the grapefruit one this time. Also, got the the lemon yakult with aloe ($6 Large) as the free drink. Both drinks were good and refreshing! read more

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My family is super happy that this location made it to Castro Valley. We attended their soft opening. Buy one get one free. We've been to this location a few more times after the opening. Kids enjoy drinking the Yakult, and taro milk tea. Also, the bubble waffles. We've tried the chocolate bubble waffle and the oreo waffle with the puff cream. Extra $1 for the puff cream. There are other flavors for both. Just recently we tried ordering through their app. There might have been a glitch with the app that day. Placed the order through the app. It charged me, but the screen still had a "submit" notification. We figured it would go away. We get to the store and they asked to submit and it double charged me. The cashier was very helpful and tried resolving the situation with the IT person. Hopefully, we can place a mobile order without any other issues going forward. read more

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My friend bought me a Ube milk tea with taro puff cream and taro balls. This is my first time to try it. It is super yummy. I will order it again next time. read more

Happy Lemon - D6 Ube milk tea with taro puff cream and taro balls - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

This place is going downhill. Restroom is always out of order, and they don't have soap! How do you run a food establishment without washing your hands with soap? read more

After months of waiting, the Castro Valley Happy Lemon has finally opened! I'm especially excited to have a boba place on this side of Castro Valley. It's located in the 580 marketplace right next to Bodi's Java. This shopping center has plenty of parking, especially in front of the Safeway. I came here for their Grand Opening BOGO deal (4/28-4/29). The line was long, but it moved quickly. Inside, there are several tables. After the opening hype dies down, it could be a nice spot to hangout. I ordered a mango green tea with mango boba and a passion fruit green tea with lychee jelly. Keep in mind that the mango green tea with mango boba drink doesn't allow for any sugar adjustments. The mango boba appears to be agar boba, not tapioca boba, so it's pretty firm and chewy. The drinks tasted on par with other Happy Lemons I've been to. Overall, I'm satisfied with my first visit to the Castro Valley location and am excited to come back! read more

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Love that Happy Lemon has a new location in Castro Valley! There is a kiosk to order from when you enter or you can use the app to order ahead. They also have a cashier at the front that can also take your order. I got the mango passionfruit green tea and a strawberry green tea with mango boba. Really love their teas and the mango boba is like an agar boba so it sits well overnight. I also like the mango matcha smoothie. They had a grand opening one week ago and I have already been twice. read more

Happy Lemon - Clean interior - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

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This Happy Lemon location is in the 580 Market Place plaza, which is off to the side / out of the way, but it is not that far from the freeway. There is usually parking here as well. I had been here multiple times and each time, the experience gets worse. I was craving their Bubble Waffle and ordered their Original Waffle on their app. After ordering, I started to head over to their shop and shortly after, I received a call from them saying that they cannot complete my order because they stop making their Bubble Waffles already. I was already almost at the store and I was confused because I was able to order it still on their app and they were saying it has been an issue with their app - I understand if they just opened, but after being opened for awhile, I would think that they would had already fixed that problem, if it already happened so many times. Anyway, management / the owner should really take the time to fix this because it is pretty inconsiderate of their customer's gas and time. read more

Grand opening is here! Long line but it moves fairly quick! Bogo today and tomorrow. Similar layout to other locations, and same menu. Glad to see they made it to CV! read more

So happy they opened one in Castro valley!!! There's not a great boba spot here so v happy. I got the black tea with cream soooo good !!! Service could be a bit friendlier but they were super busy so understandable. read more

Happy Lemon - A2 black tea with cream added grass jelly - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

The worst part is they just ignore me and laugh at me.. I'm definitely never coming back to this place.. My order was two Straberry Shortcake one with soy milk and the other just regular( no boba) .. they just give everything wrong and I ask for change and they ignored. The place was empty and now I know why.. read more

Happy Lemon - I never ask for boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

The customer service is super awkward, Happy lemon is known for their cheese cream and it's my personal preference that I remove it. When I asked the worker he looked at me super judgmental and acted like I offended him and just made him day a lot worse, then when asking what the snack options they had there, he looked super annoyed and rolled his eyes then aggressively pointed to the tv screens they have in there, which I had already noticed but their tv shows a different part of the menu every 4 seconds or so, making it difficult to read all the options. The drinks there are delicious, I recommend asking for light ice so you get more for your money. read more

Not sure how this even happened lol surprised to find a used paintbrush underneath my bubble waffles?? Ordered through DoorDash, the bag was stapled shut so I can only assume it happened at the store. Definitely a safety hazard.. no clue where that brush has been. read more

Happy Lemon - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

Grateful for this new location in the 580 marketplace. everyone who lives up the hill no longer have to go that far for boba. I love the customization on dairy options, sweetness, and ice amount. The waffles are pretty good but other locations have expanded their menus to add savory snacks. I wonder when this franchise will add some because I can't wait to try. My favorite drinks are the milk tea oreo with salted cheese, mango matcha, & mango passion fruit. the boba and jellies are great. It's a small place, surprisingly i've never encountered a long line. The workers are nice and there's a self order kiosk at the front. This has become my go-to boba shop! read more

We bought two drink and one of them was Okinawa MK with boba but it had no boba in it! Realized it when we got home. read more

Happy Lemon - Bubble Tea Near Me - Castro Valley, California

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Yes another boba/slush place in the area...but this one isn't like the others. Happy to have this one in the marketplace with ample parking. Additional of a kiosk helps with the lines. We're a fan. read more

If you download the app and hope to get reward points, make sure to scan your QR code before paying. Employees never ask if you have a code to scan. And when you ask them how to get points, she looks at you like you're dumb for not scanning before paying. (I guess I was dumb to think she'd ask me first) Drinks are good. A bit oversweet, so we always ask for 50 % or less. Employees are usually loud and busy chitchatting with each other. read more

My wife enjoys her lemon tea so it's nice to have a tea place in this part of Castro Valley! She popped in one day not long ago and picked up a lemon tea and the strawberry shortcake drink. The lemon tea was pretty good- hard to go wrong with a basic lemon tea but good to know they can get their namesake right! I was surprised with the strawberry shortcake drink as I actually liked it a lot. Nice and creamy and not too sweet. I'd definitely get it again! Will definitely pop by here again! read more

Stumbled across the construction phase of Happy Lemon more than 6 months ago, I believe, when I saw wooden boards across the windows and doors as I sat in my car awaiting food pickup at Pho Play. I was so ecstatic that they were going to be around the corner from home, but I knew that was just bad news for me and my love for their fresh dragonfruit lychee juice and original bubble waffle with delicious puff cream dipping. Bubble waffle has the perfect outer crisp along the thin edges and soft, airy chew in the puffs. I have a pretty good feeling that this location will be much more popular and crowded than San Leandro or Pleasanton as the grand opening outcome was a huge success on day 1 - 4/28/23. Waited 1 hr and 10 mins from stepping into line to leaving with my order. I counted six (6) workers so let's hope they are staffed up to keep up with demands. Located in a bustling shopping plaza, there's usually parking aside from this grand opening madness. read more

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Drinks r ok. Egglet snacks are NOT good at all. Wait time is too long. They only hire one person to make drinks on a friday evening which is unacceptable. I would not come here if i had a choice. read more

Update, they even stop serving Popcorn Chicken 1 hour before they close..... I don't get it

I come here very often and my go to drink daily is the Grapefruit GT, but the consistency in sugar level is so inconsistent that when I order 75% sweet it taste like 125% sweet. I am not understanding why sometimes it taste perfectly fine but most times it is overly sweet with the same order of sugar level each time. Please take my review into heart and make sure sugar level is consistent each time as I am a returned costumer. thank you read more

Had terrible customer service They didn't even make my orders, right Because they were on the phone giggling read more

We really wanted boba on Christmas and was surprised to see Happy Lemon open. (Props to them for being open on Christmas!) I got the black tea with salted cheese with 50% sugar and thought it was a tad bit sweeter than other places with 50% sugar. Not sure if this is a one time thing or if their 50% is just sweeter. Other than that, the boba was good and I would definitely come back! read more

Worst popcorn chicken of my life! I had two bites and it tasted almost raw it was under cooked and in huge fatty chunks. Literally typing this with a stomach ache. read more

I ordered online to pick up my drink. I got there early and the guy never called my order. Waited a good 10 minutes at the store. They also FORGOT to put aloe topping in my drink. The guy is forgetful and provides horrible service. I have no problem with the other girl workers. read more