This place is great! I love the social environment and how they always have room for take a seat and chill. I love the spicy chicken and thai boba tea (small spearl). I like the whole plaza and all the stores nearby. I'm giving one star down because they've never had ashtrays on the outside seating area (though, they really should consider one!), but aside from that everything is great! read more

Wow, Sharon! What a terrible worker you are! You seriously don't like your job! TapEx should fire you because you give this place a bad rep. Next time, be polite because my fiancé and I just decided to give this place a shot over our favorite spot across the street. After tonight's experience we will continue to go to SnoCrave since they know how to treat their customers right. The two stars are for the awesome workers at the back who made our chicken very good as well as the yummy Lavender-Matcha Snow Bubble (it's on your website!) and the Cantaloupe drinks with extra boba pearls! Great food and drinks; ridiculous worker name Sharon who has bad skills with customer service. read more

soooo good! just moved into the area and was looking for a really good milk tea place. this by far is the best i've tasted! plus they have food! lol tip: bring cash because there's a $1 surcharge for debit/credit cards read more

defin a fan of this place! drinks are always good and the service is fast even when they have a huge line!

This place has gone down hill. Drinks taste like soap, workers are rude, and the food are either burnt or undercooked.

Love the crispy chicken, you can have it medium hot or extra hot. I always get the medium one, love the bits of basil with the chicken pieces. I wish they serve beer because it would have been a very nice combination. I also wish they do rose tea so I don't have to keep ordering passionfruit tea which is way too sweet for me.... water! water!! read more

Even though food and drink is great, their service staff should learn how to smile and be welcoming to their patrons. The girl who took my order acted as if she could care less. The place was not busy so there was no reason for her not to act less than welcoming. read more

great place for munchies. line is disorganized, you might end up fighting someone for cutting you. hope they organize the line so its against the wall like Chipotle. tables to the left of entrance, line against the wall to the right with belt dividers. or at least develop some kind of ticketing system. constructive criticism because i want this business to grow read more

I feel like the portions has dumb down by a lot since my last few trips. Main reasons why I love this place, aside from the flavor was the huge size portion that doesn't make me feel like I'm being jib. I'm not saying I was jibbed..... At least not yet. read more

Best Tap Ex in the Bay Area. Always here at least 3 or more times a week. Fast service even when the lines are out the door. Honeydew is always on point. read more

This place is always busy! Probably the most consistent boba place around this area. Their snacks are always tasty (popcorn chicken especially) and drinks are also good (pearls are okay). Come here for the food and drinks but defn not for the service or a place to get work done. read more

I come by here once in a month or so for their famous chicken crispers which are very good. Hardly ever since I been coming here when was in my early teens I experience rude customer service till yesterday. We stopped by for some milk tea and there were 8 orders of multiple flavored milk teas we told her the flavor we wanted and during the end of our order my wife mentioned no ice on all milk tea that's when the cashier attitude changed a bit she said ok when u order ur supposed to say for example strawberry milk tea no ice one by one not towards the end I want no ice because my employees starts making them as It shows ups on the screen. We found that remark bit bizzare since we haven't finished our order yet and haven't paid yet either we see that as being rude also because everything should be made after the order has closed and paid and isn't there is motto customer is always right well that doesn't work at this business We told her we didn't know it was like here she said its ok. Our teas were all good no paying customer should be told how to order and when to exclude ice there's no correct way plus sharing ur frustration with the customer just because ur employees have throw away som teas with ice is not our problem. read more

I hate this location. The food is always dry and over seasoned and the portions are waaaaay too small for how expensive it is. The workers are always so rude as fast to get irritated when you are being polite. read more

Strawberry snowbubble! I come here when everytime after I go to the dentist even if my mouth is numb and it is impossible to wrap my lips around the oversized straw. I love Tapioca Exress because it is the OG boba house in the bay and all others are posers. I give you 3.5 stars for delicious made to order milk teas, OK snacks (I like fried fish balls,#4 hot leverl),minus a star and a half for so-so customer service, not so clean store front and its always super hot or freezing in read more

Love the Pineapple Snow bubble here. It tastes almost like the dole whip from Disneyland. :)

If you're allergic to dairy...don't come here. Asked for Avocado drink but they can't put soy milk in it. Had to be whole milk. Wow. So they have soy milk on hand but can't make the drink. Go to CheLo a few doors down. They're accommodating and super friendly. read more

I used to go here because this was the spot to get boba and milk teas. Then more places opened up all over the bay and even around this area. Although it opens a little later than most boba places the long lines and the crowds of people aren't worth waiting in line for average drinks and alright snacks. There's always a line and the service isn't the best so why go to a place with those things where you can just get just as good or even better boba for less the wait. I get it, it's one of the original boba places but think about it when your waiting in line at 10:30 at night while dealing with all the people there.. read more

I have never experienced a problem here in my 7 years of coming. I love the honeydew snow bubble, Jasmine green milk tea, peach green tea, and crispy chicken. If you can't handle spicy things like me, try the .5 level on any of the snacks. read more

The drinks are ok too bad the skinny short haired cashier has such POOR customer service! Rude, rude, rude. Check your attitude & it would help to say "thank you" read more

I LOVE this place but I went tonight and things were different. I ordered spicy fish balls and the girl looked angry and irritated but I didn't mind that. We got our food pretty fast and the first thing I noticed was that the fish balls were totally plain I ordered them a level 3 and not spicy at all. Also, the bag was less than half empty. They always do an excellent job with their service and food but today was just the total opposite. read more

I love coming here for the snacks! You can't go wrong with the chicken, calamari, or fries. Ask for it extra crispy lol. The drinks are alright, not the best boba place for drinks. The line can get long during weekend nights though. read more

One of my main Boba spots in Union City that will never disappoint. Line is always long, but moves really fast. You really can't go wrong with drinks and snacks here. Bring cash! read more

Service aside, this is THE BEST Tapioca Express in the tri-city area. They make all my drinks right the first time and the chicken is bomb. I like how they are open late too. Almond milk tea, baby! read more

The drinks and food served at this location are pretty good. I've tried several flavors and have enjoyed every single one of them. This place is a popular kickback for many, be it high schoolers, college students, families, or asian gangsters. If you're a noob, then get whatever snow bubble you like and pair it up with some crispy chicken. You won't be disappointed. read more

Why do they serve their hot drinks in a plastic cup..... no thanks.

Have been coming here since I was a teenager and the one thing I love about this place is that it hasnt changed one bit! No other boba place can compare to this! As i remember it was the only one for miles! And still to this day the crowds are still there. I think the most popular items to eat are the crispy chicken and the calamari. The Drink menu can be a little over whelming especially if its someones first time, however personally I like all the options. I still come here weekly and occasionally I would try new boba shops. However, I always find myself back at this place with the crowd. read more

maybe it's because i'm from Union City, or maybe it's because Christina Y. (who is my friend in real life) wrote the first review for this place, but i must say this is The Best Tapioca Express. ever. i used to frequent this place a lot in high school. combo e (milk tea + calamari) was an after school staple. although some like to get fancy with their orders, i remain faithful to the original milk tea. even though it's a chain, no other Tapioca Express makes milk tea as good as this one. ps- although the "cool kids" who loiter late night are annoying, they are a necessary staple to the Tapioca Express ambiance. read more

They're the only Tap-Ex i know of that still serves the yogurt blended drink. 'Nuff said.

The boba here is decent, but I usually come here for the traditional shaved ice. The portions are generous and there is plenty of condensed milk to top it off. My go-to toppings are the red bean, tapioca, and rice balls. I highly recommend the rice balls - so good! read more

how does this place only have 4 reviews? i swear this is the most visited Tapex's in the bay! This was the very first TapEx ive ever been to so every tapex i compare to this one. They have a wide selection and is located in a nice spot with a big parking lot. The people that work there are all fobs but its cool, what do you expect? read more

My chocolate snow bubble doesn't taste like chocolate. It tastes like chocolate with something extra added, like gummy bears or strawberry. Whatever it is, it doesn't taste like chocolate. Plus, $1 surcharge for debit transactions? Dang. read more

service is terrible! thats all im seriously going to say. heard the milpitas location has better service, food, and employees so i would definitely make the extra drive for that moving forward. read more

One of my fav boba places but one of the cashier is hella rude and slow. The line can be long most of the time.

This place is a common hang out spot on the weekend for me and my buddies. Honestly, this place is ok, but I've had better and cheaper (Irvine). The place is too noisy and too packed. If you're Asian, you're likely to see a familiar face or even someone you know. The squid and popcorn chicken are good, but a little on the salty side. I don't remember the last time I had a drink here actually. So whether you want a pearl drink or you want to be stared down by other dudes because they wanna race against you and your car, this is definitely the place for you on a Friday or Saturday night. read more

Drinks quality has gone down so much. Hardly any tea in the drinks. The snacks is decent. Although, the quality has gone down as well. I've lived in union city most of my life and tapioca express used to be my favorite. I can say there are better bubble tea spot I'd rather go to now read more

Ah, remember the simpler times when it was just TapEx and the now Che-Lo (used to be quickly and then so many other names before Che-Lo finally did the plaza corner a glo up). Even though we now have Green Bubble and Sharetea and Sno-Crave and BlackBall, a drink from TapEx always hits the spot. They, to me, are like the grandparent to all the other boba shops in Union City honestly LOL. Fast service, late hours, pretty damn good drinks especially in the late hours, forever my favorite shop in Union City! read more

I had a mango smoothie. It tasted ok but I think it was a bit too much. I like sweets but this smoothie was way too sweet . Way too much sugar. read more

This is the best place to go for crispy chicken. Spicy number 5, please! Chicken is always consistent, delicious and crispy. Be sure to bring cash because they charge you extra for credit card/ATM. The wait is usually long during the peak hours. My go to joint since high school. Not much has changed since besides the wider variety of snacks and drinks. read more

The best boba (and crispy chicken/calamari) place I know of and definitely the best out of all the tapx locations in the bay-- hands down. The taste of food/drinks change at most places over time, but this Union City location has not changed a bit since the day they first opened which was about 13+(?) years ago. Takes me back to my youth each time. Would give ten stars if I could :) read more

Use to eat here all the time when I was in high school. Returned after many years because I moved. Boy have things changed. The lady at the register(Asian lady with blonde hair) greeted me with "what do you want". I asked her for fried calamari "spicy". She told me "it's too spicy for you, I'll give you two mild and two spicy". I asked her if they had any drinks with coconut. She told me to go read the menu and then come back. When I gave her my card to pay, she swiped it and basically threw it back at me and told me to enter my pin and walked away. I'm not someone who likes to create a scene. I just said fine paid for my food and left. I've never in my life been treated that bad at a place where I'm paying for something. Customer right after me was Asian. Her tone towards them was completely different. Maybe they just don't want people of my color as their customer. Well, I'm okay with granting that wish. I'll never buy anything at that place again and make sure my family and friends that still live in that area also know that they don't want our business. read more