This place is SOOOO SLOW. It's not even busy at all and it's taking over 15 minutes for an order of fries and popcorn chicken. The fries weren't even piping hot when we received them so I'm not sure what they're doing back in the kitchen.. The time it takes to get out the food is longer than the time for me to write this yelp review. Also, fries came out cold and popcorn chicken was 80% batter. read more

First time here, we ordered a few different drinks but i have to say that the taro milk tea was the best! Will be coming back to this location next time I'm in town. read more

we love tapioca express for the convenience! i go there 1-2 times a week. it doesn't help that my yoga studio, core power, is in the same plaza... my fiance loves the passion fruit green tea with extra boba (what can i say, he loves balls!). i prefer the lemon green tea, less sweet with regular boba. we always get an order of the crispy fried fish balls - extra hot if you're feeling adventurous. you should always double check your order. i would say about 50% of the time i ask for extra boba, they forget to add it in. they're really great about remaking it after you let them know. also, if you tell them exactly how you want it, i.e., not too sweet, they will follow the instructions. overall, 4 stars because they are pretty good and very convenient. read more

Once you dodge past the Mormons and skirt through the antisocial students of UCSD, you will find yourself at a place that shouldn't fit into La Jolla-some place cheap. TapEx is a great place to go when you are sick of your roommates, but still want access to internet. Get the crispy chicken (medium) or the fries and a Boba-any kind. read more

man. i just love it here. i've been a customer for 2 and a half years and i dont have any complaints. drinks are deeeelish, food is filling, music is great, and workers care about the customers :D thanks tapex!! read more

Stopped in for a boba quick and it was about a 10 min wait due to food orders ahead of us. Ordered a matcha milk tea and it was really watered down. I asked for them to add more matcha, but that actually seemed to make the drink worse. While waiting I noticed the place wasn't very clean- trash can was overflowing and there was trash strewn along the ground outside. Overall, not the best experience. read more

Tapioca Express - Matcha milk tea. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

Eh, I've had a lot better drinks at a different location. A Lot of these drinks here are just powder drinks which is gross. The service was kindof eh, took forever and didn't seem so happy. Place was kindof messy not very comforting. Would I come back... noo. read more

Got a matcha milk tea which tasted like mildly flavoured milk. Haven't got a clue where the matcha taste went but I could taste some sort of tea. I may as well have walked over to Von's, gotten a half gallon carton of milk for the same price and added the flavour myself. read more

4 stars for cheap happy hour deals, but overall 3 stars for quality of tea. This place used to be packed with people studying or hanging out no matter what time of day. Lately I noticed this place to be fairly empty-- maybe all the students are out studying or with finals. Tapex satisfies boba cravings, but the quality of tea isn't anything amazing. Wouldn't pay the regular price for a drink here. I'll stick to tea places on Convoy. read more

My last drink was a complete fail! First they made me a milk tea when I didn't want milk tea but i decided I can deal with it and not be a pain of a customer. But the boba itself was very hard, so that was two strikes in one tea and money/tea into the garbage. read more

i work at ucsd and prefer this location to the one at the price center. the price center is always so packed and sometimes i just need to get the heck out of campus. anyways, i head to this place on my lunch break and every time i have been there, the service has been great. it's rarely packed when im there (maybe i just go during the "down times") but its a nice place to chill/relax/eat with a friend during my lunch break. i am currently addicted to the calamari and fried tofu and they hook it up for u here. there is so much food u can save the rest for dinner. as for the drinks, i've the milk tea, which was fine and the coconut snow bubble. yes, the snow bubble was slightly sweet, but i love sweets.. so i was fine with it. i will definitely go back. read more

I know... 5/5? But surprisingly I do like this location a lot. Their service is always quick and drinks are always consistent. They definitely don't have anything unique about them but if you are craving a milk tea and crispy chicken snack, then this place will definitely hit the spot. read more

This place has gotten much better. I've been back a couple times since my last review and I'm glad I did. The drinks are way better. The service is unbelievably better. Like, MUCH better. I may actually frequent this place more. read more

free wi-fi !!! living in regencia over the summer and not having my internet hooked up for the first couple days i went to this tapex to get a drink and watch japanese tv shows. it's a super convenient location for all the off-campus students of UCSD because it's inside the vons shopping center. i like to utilize their lunch specials and happy hour specials. i believe happy hour is after 10pm buy one get one half off and lunch is like less than $4 for a snack size crispy chicken and milk tea with boba :D totally worth it. i highly recommend bringing a jacket/sweater/cardigan if you plan to study for long periods because it gets SO DAMN COLD in here. why ?! LOL idk but just bring extra snuggly warm things and you can study while sipping on tea/chewing boba ballsssssssss :) read more

I only like coming here for my tapicoa fix. I always get the jasmine milk tea with large boba and once in a while i'll order some crispy chicken, potstickers, or fried tofu. I love jasmine milk tea and I have not found a place that can make it better than TapX. Their crispy chicken has improved compared to two years ago when they use to be over fried and just plain rough and dry inside. I love their fried potstickers, they are just so yummy. This is my place for snacktime. read more

Not sure what to say about Tap-Ex that hasn't already been said. They're like the McDonald's of boba shops, a big national chain that's known more for convenience rather than quality. That said, if you know what you're getting they're not that bad for a quick fix, just don't expect anything amazing. This location in particular (or maybe it's all Tap-Ex) I feel is always stingey with the amount of boba they put in their drinks. I feel like other places usually put 1.5x-2x the number of tapioca balls/jelly. Other than it's your run-of-the-mill quick powder mixes but at least they're usually pretty quick preparing drinks and the staff is generally very friendly. Average boba shop = average rating. read more

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! They sell boba, milk tea and more! My favorite is the chocolate snow bubble without boba it is so good and is 1/6 of the calories in a chocolate milk shake but tastes the exact same you should totally buy from there it is so good when I discovered this I thought it was either crazy expensive or tastes awful when I got my first one, I LOVED IT! it is so addicting but not too sugary. When my brother introduced me to this I was skeptical bu t it is great. It's not too expensive and is sooo yummy read more

I love tapioca express, they haven't let me down yet. my go to items include the snowbubble thai tea, honey dew juice, watermelon juice and their chicken snack. read more

Horrible service, gave out food to the wrong person and did not apologize. Second person person walked away mid conversation. Bunch of college airheads working there. Be warn read more

I would have to say that I am very unhappy with the service I received at this location. The staff act as though they don't want to help their customer nor are they engaging. I ordered a chicken snack and a Vietnamese coffee since I had a craving for it. Max on the side of the counter asked I asked what levels do they have. He proceeded to point at a sign a ways over (of course I didn't see it) like he didn't want to tell me the levels. What? How many seconds does it take you to tell me the spice levels? I even told him this, but he proceeded to collect my cash and finish my transaction. As if he just wanted me to get out of his face. I am huge on customer service and I have visited the other Tapioca Express around town. And I have never felt or been treated like this. Not to mention the same chicken snack that I get just did not taste the same. Maybe it was the fact that I already had a bad taste in my mouth from the service or it was just that different. You already know that I will not be back! One customer lost read more

i'm not crazy about the menu selection. no complaints about the service. i miss lollicup's wide variety. i'm sure there's one around, but i haven't really tried to find it. *edit i went back the other day and encountered the bitchiest counter girl ever. i had to knock off that 2nd star for that. read more

Really dig the pepper chicken & thal snow bubble w/ bobba, what!?! The girly loves green apple snow bubble, this place is good

Not the best TapEx I've ever been to. The inside is kind of sketchy and pretty dirty, and the table setting is a bit awkward. I came here intending to study on a weeknight and managed to get a table + wifi, but I probably won't be coming back. The drinks weren't that great either (I got a hot ginger tea) but I'd say the most disappointing aspect is the setting...you'll see what I mean if you ever visit this place. read more

at first the service was a bit off...but i understand i mean they used to deal w/ TONS of customers...now that there is another store on campus i think their business slowed down a little so i think they're a bit happier haha. But yea the service has gotten better and they haven't run out of things as much as they used to...especially the calamari rings :D. this place ROX! and i live right near it too!!! read more

Let me start off with a positive- the boba drinks here are fabulous! I will definitely come back for my taro snow bubble fix. Now for the sad news... the food is not as good as the drinks =( I just moved within walking distance to this place & was hoping it would be a regular quick-lunch spot for me & the hubbs on those days neither of us feel like cooking. We both got meals- I got fish & chips; he got the chicken. I understand why Tapex might not have malt vinegar to go with my fish... they are primarily a drink stop, but no ketchup for the fries? Hmmm... I was offered some lemon juice, but I decided to just take it to go instead (can't eat fries without ketchup! ) When we got home, hubby opened up his box... ewww.... little dried up cat turds on a pile of rice. Luckily he's not picky when he's hungry & ate it anyways after dumping on some hot sauce. I tried one; the consistency is much like a pork rind- really, I'm not exaggerating. I finally came to the conclusion that we'd be better of eating at the Vons deli next door then getting a boba slush for dessert. Like I said, the drinks are amazing, so despite the bad experience with the food~ I'll be back for tea ;P read more

2.5. Average. Used to come here quite a bit when I went to UCSD. Decent option for boba and spicy crispy chicken in the UCSD area, but far from the best I've had. Mango snow bubble is pretty good, but a little on the sweeter side. They probably don't use fresh fruit here. Tapioca milk tea gets the job done, but is a bit too sweet and pretty subpar. The Jasmine milk tea is pretty awful though. It doesn't taste like any good ones I've had. It's doesn't have that flowery subtlety, but is unpleasantly strong in flavor. The boba pearls are chewy and soft here like they should be though. My favorite thing here is the crispy chicken with a lot of spice! Chicken is usually fried well with decent sized pieces most of the time, but every now and then I get an uneven batch with what appears to be the leftovers since there might be some pieces that are just fried pieces with not much chicken. The spicy seasoning really goes well with the chicken. The spicy fried tofu here is also a winner. This location has quite a bit of seating and is a decent place to get some light work done, but nothing too intensive. This location isn't the cleanest. Tables outside were pretty dirty. Overall, Tap Ex is a decent place for a small snack and if you are craving boba in the area, but it's far from perfection. read more

Boba is okay compared to other places. Need to step it up on the laziness of mixed drinks.

Back in college (LA), I fell in love with boba! When I moved back to SD, I could not find a place that served boba with iced mocha (just tea...). And then I found Tapioca Express... and I've been happy ever since :) read more

Way faster than the TE at UCSD. Worth driving over there instead of waiting at the ridiculous line in Price Center. Clean and good vibe. Make everything super quick. read more

It's conveniently located in UTC near UCSD for those of you who don't have a car... pretty standard drinks here. They need to brighten up the lights at night to attract more business... it's too mellow there in the evening hours read more

I've been going to Tapioca Express for 4 years now, and I'm sad to say that this place has really gotten worse in both service and food. I just went there last night, and they completely skipped my order AND gave me the wrong flavor tea after I had expressed what I wanted twice. The food isn't that great either. You're better off going to one of the restaurants in the same strip mall instead. I've never been to The Green Tea House next door, but I'm thinking that I'm going to start giving that place a try because this one isn't cutting it anymore. Parking is HORRIBLE in this strip mall in general. Not only is it always packed 22/7, but it's so small and not very maneuverable, even with a small car. read more

Wasn't too busy on a Monday night! I love boba although my bf is not a fan but he still loves this place because boba is a choice! I got the passion fruit snow bubble with boba. It was delish and not too sweet. The boba itself was good but a little more thick than I'm used to. My boyfriend gets the strawberry snow bubble with no boba which was also really good! read more

A couple of times we've ordered here, they hardly had any food available. The food, when you can get it, is ok--good fish and shrimp balls, but the chicken is just so so. The drink I order, milk tea with boba, is good enough, and the prices are ok. Not my favorite place, but it's closer to work than some of the other boba places so we are frequent customers here. read more

I called on and they let me know they don't take phone orders. Staff was friendly when I got there. Drinks and food didn't take too long. read more

It seems that the workers are fairly incompetent here. They messed up my girlfriend's order (how does Cantaloupe Snow sound like Caramel Snow?) as well as the person's order in front of us. On top of that she got completely side-tracked while helping us because her co-worker could not find straws... it took them about 5 minutes to find them directly next to and under the register. Lame. Unfortunately, Tapioca Express makes delicious treats and is hard to say no to. read more

I've been going over some of the other reviews, and it actually saddens me to see that so many people are putting up bad reviews of this place. As in, it causes me physical pain. I might actually have to start crying. This particular TapEx has been the staple of my college career. From the first time someone tantalizing mentioned doing a Boba Run (but never followed up on that offer) to the epiphany-like moment of when someone I was working on a group presentation with surprised me with my first Boba, to last night when I really needed a fix and walked out in my PJ's and bought me some Milk Tea with Boba. Does it get crowded? Yes. Can the service be bad? Well, I've never had it so, but they are mostly college students and hey, if you go to where I work you're probably not going to get good service from me either. Do they mix up your orders? Again, never for one such as I, but if they did, I repeat with a forgiving smile: Crowded + College students. It happens. But this TapEx is more than just a restaurant. It's a place you can go to at ten o clock at night dressed in your PJ's because you really, really need your Boba and you need it now. It's the kind of place you can go with your coworkers after a long hard day of doing something just to kick back and relax and try and find that perfect combination of flavor. And, as a personal note, it's a place that will gladly make up the strange off-the-menu requests you might have and do so, complimenting the way you think. This place is my Milk Tea filled home. read more

I am giving 2 stars based on the average of 1 star for the food & 3 stars for the drinks. I normally only go there for drinks now since it's so close to me. After having ordered food from there 3 times, I finally came to the conclusion that the management of this place has low standards in terms quality, considering I've eaten at plenty of other boba places. The chicken sandwich I ordered only were left over scraps of pickled carrots, a smear of meat spread & chicken. Come on, if a place doesn't have all the ingredients to make a normal sandwich, then just let the customer that you are out of ingredients! As for the pork chop, never had a worse pork chop till now (twice this has happened), in which I had to cut the chop into several little pieces just to identify meat. The pork chop was such poor quality of mainly consisting of at least 3/4 fat. One thing this place could learn is also quality of food since they're only perhaps 50 cents-1 dollar difference compared to other boba places in terms of food pricing. If you want really great quality rice or vermicilli dishes, sandwiches at a boba shop with continued friendly service then consider Fusion Cafe off Clairemont Mesa Blvd. If you want something alittle more formal or various teas, then consider Tea Station (but avoid it during busy hours, b/c waiters can be slow & non-observational) on Clairemont Mesa Blvd as well. read more

compared to all the other tapioca express locations i've been to, this la jolla store definitely falls short. be careful what you order--if it isn't painfully simple, the staff WILL manage to somehow mess it up. honey milk tea doesn't taste like honey at all, neither does the honey green tea, tapioca iced mocha just didn't taste right, etc etc. once i ordered an almond milk tea and clearly specified that i wanted it warm. when i got my drink, it was BURNING hot. i told the lady that i ordered it warm and she said "oh, whenever someone orders a drink warm, we just make it hot." uhhhh WHY!? that's not what they asked for! why in the world would you do that!? ugh. ridiculous. i tried SO hard not to give her attitude. i don't know...a lot of things with this tap ex are just a tad off. they have a cool ceiling though...the high part with the paper lanterns. very cool. props for that. read more

Jennifer S. told me about getting the iced teas with half the sugar. Thanks so much!!! It's still sweet enough and I feel a bit less guilty getting that delicious sweet tea. read more

I really don't like this location but it will do for now. In my opinion, the customer service here lacks. I understand that you're the average college student making some extra cash to pay for your college life. Great, awesome, totally up for it! BUT, don't let your personality kill your customers service. There should be no exception for that. I'm really big with this. The past couple of times I went, It almost seems like the cashier/servers are too busy to take your order. No eye contact, no smile, just straight to the point, and "let me put in your order so you can leave kind of deal". A lot of the people that do go to this location are usually UCSD students hanging and studying. Or some people from the hospital near by. Then you have your average La Jolla natives. Tapioca Express is a new modern experience of it's own. So when a customer comes in, new to the scene - you should at least look alert and willing to answer any questions they may have on a certain beverage and not just daze down. It's so rude. The thing I love about Tapioca Express is the selections of snacks and beverages. Make it into a combo and get a drink of your liking or a bottle of water. If i do end up getting a combo I normally get the spicy chicken. This is the weird part, I know that this is a chain of many other Tapioca Expresses, But when I went to the one on Convoy, I noticed that their combo had a lot of different other sides. So can someone please tell me, does the combo meal matter which location you go to? ( I honestly prefer the Tapioca Express on Convoy) My meal had the chicken, rice, 1 wonton (come on.. just one?), and steamed veggies. (Convoy: veggies, egg, ground beef/pork mix (on the rice?) and seasoned to perfections spicy chicken) I personally don't like how they prepared the chicken. It's not as spicy as I asked it to be. Barely any seasoning. Try again. I'll come here when I'm in the area. But I wont go out of my way to visit this spot. read more