Favorite bubble tea shop in Chinatown. Unfortunately I've been to almost all of them so I can say that Twinkle is unmatched in its combination of menu diversity, price, and milk tea that actually tastes like tea. Forget Teahouse, Tapioca House, all those overrated places in Dun Huang. Twinkle may not be in as cool of a location, but this is the hidden secret you should look for when you're actually thirsty. The menu is slightly confusing and the cashiers don't explain it that well so I'll give it a shot. Standard milk teas ($2.74 for regular size, usual 22 oz): nothing special, just solid milk teas that might be premade (black milk tea) and/or flavored with powder. They're all cream teas with the exception of the Hong Kong Milk Tea which uses condensed milk instead. They do have some tea flavor, but are mostly on the creamy side. My favorites are the Jasmine Green Milk Tea and Taro Milk Tea. Every drink I've gotten from here has been as good as the $4+ stuff from other places, so it's not like it's bad or anything (you won't find a better sub $3 black milk tea w/ topping anywhere else). There's just better... Fresh Brewed Milk Tea ($3.79 for reg size) - This is what I come to Twinkle for! A machine fresh brews this stuff so it takes a while. I've never found tea freshness to matter once you've added milk and sugar, but whatever their Teapresso machine does is like magic. The tea it drips out is STRONG and concentrated, probably like if you used a French press to steep. The resulting milk tea is noticeably stronger and less creamy tasting. I've been nothing but impressed with the drinks from this menu - the Hojicha Milk Tea, Rose Milk Tea, Ceylon Milk Tea, all superb. The price is significantly higher but with such high quality and toppings included, you still can't beat this value. Teapresso ($3.59 for reg size) - same teas made by the Teapresso machine like for the Fresh Brewed Milk Tea, but without milk/creamer. Toppings/sinkers - another winner for Twinkle. It's a DIY bar and you can mix and match whatever you want, up to a certain line that's pretty generous. There are always some more interesting toppings in their rotation that you don't see often, like wheat germ, pineapple, and other fruits. Can't go wrong with tapioca though. It's consistently fresh, chewy, and lightly sweet, usually sitting in a container of warm syrup outside of the bar. Not the best tapioca in Chinatown, but it's definitely up there (and free!). I honestly don't know what I can knock on them. There's minimal ice in your cup, their default sweetness might be a bit much but you can request 50-75% sweetness on the machine brewed teas, and they have off-the-wall items sometimes like Black Sugar Milk Tea ($4.20) which is quite a unique and refreshing break from the usual fructose sweetened milk teas. There's still reason to go to Sharetea or other shops sometimes for different drinks and better tapioca, but most of the time I'll be recommending Twinkle. By the way, right around the corner is a shop called Go Go Ice that is like the Twinkle hidden secret of slushie/smoothies. No good for milk tea, but they've got the best and cheapest real fruit blended drinks around. UPDATE: they raised all their prices so regular milk teas are now $3.10/4.09 and fresh brewed milk teas are now $3.99/4.99 :( still great value though. read more

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I LOOOOOOOVE THIS PLACE! It is cheap! CHEAP! CHEAP! You get to fill in your own toppings. I always get the honey green tea and load it with fresh fruits (mango, strawberry, watermelon etc) and some lychee poppin ball and tapioca. It taste like Kravin fruit tea but better and half the price! God i love it! The tapioca chicken is so much better than tapioca house's chicken nuggets. I got so many of my friends hooked on this place. read more

This is my favorite bubble tea place in town! My boyfriend always sticks with his HK milk tea (which is so rich and full of tea and condensed milk flavor) that, according to him, tastes the closest to bubble tea does in Hong Kong, but I tend to try something new everytime I come here. So far the lavender milk tea is my favorite. The prices are fantastic for such large portions, you pick your own add ins (my favorite being the baby boba), and you pick your level of sweetness. The girls are adorable and always friendly and their wall of notes is cute. The place is tiny so we usually just grab our tea and run, but we have yet to try their snack options so I can't comment on that. read more

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I've been to twinkle a few times now. I've ordered the milk tea, jasmine milk tea, and regular mango green tea. All were good. The add-on's are already included, which is nice because the price isn't as much as other tapioca places. You can add them yourself but beware, you add too much, then theres no room for your drink. They will still add ice .. so make sure you leave some room. I've ordered the popcorn chicken and chicken wings there for a snack also. I've ordered the chicken wings once and it was pretty good, crispy and not too small. The popcorn chicken given is a pretty large portion, way more than snack size, that's a plus, but the last 2 times I ordered it, it was very soggy. The popcorn chicken was oily and soft, not crispy at all.. I always add chili pepper to divert the sogginess. The internet sucks.. I came there and the internet service had full bars, but no real connection. When it did connect, it would go on and off Drinks - great. Popcorn chicken - good to snack with friends. Internet - meh.. I've been here a few times though, so I do prefer twinkle compared to other teahouses read more

Of all the bubble tea shops in the Houston Chinatown area, Twinkle is definitely one of the more interesting places. You get your standard sets of flavors for milk tea, but they also offer a variety of other flavors that I haven't seen before. If you see something on the menu that you are curious about, the staff is very helpful and will tell you what kind of flavors to expect. Sometimes, they'll have a sample for you to try and make sure it's what you want. But the best part about this place is that the toppings (boba, jellies, fruits, etc) are all FREE, kind of like when you go to a froyo place. You can get any combination of things and then you hand the cup back to the staff to get your order ready. The toppings were not the best, as the boba was pretty hard and the fruits were cut in a way they would not go through the straw, but it is still a great concept. Also, be sure to check in on your phone! They offer a nice discount. I'll definitely be frequenting this bubble tea place. read more

Twinkle is the hidden gem of Chinatown! You get to fill up your cup with a variety of sinkers (but don't fill up past the line they draw on your cup or your drink will be too sweet!) I opted for baby tapioca balls, regular sized tapioca balls, and basil seeds - which went pretty well with the osmanthus oolong milk tea. Prices are standard for tapioca joints in the area but they have a student discount going on M-F from 1-5 pm where if you buy a drink, you can get a snack for 0.99! Awesome deal. Get their chicken nuggets! The batter on their calamari was a bit too doughy. read more

I went there more than 3 times and got different kind of drinks : taro milk tea, yogurt green tea, tapioca milk tea, vanilla milk tea, straw milk tea. And sadly, all of them taste like the same. I can't find any different :) [ might be only of their different name ] The service is not that friendly either. My sister orders chicken nugget [ which we found it might be dipped into too much salt, ewwwww], lobster balls [ the same prob as chicken nugget, we even saw many big balls of salt in the paper bag ] and terayoki or something sound like that which never came out . It was a long story ! They don't give us out receipt and after 30 mins of waiting, we came to ask and they said they did not heard about terayoki when we placed an order so the register girl ask if we want to order it again and pay for that, What ! Even the price sounds that appealing, $1.99 for a cup, I don't ever want to be back. *Note: cash only ***** read more

Twinkle - Taro milk tea - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

Twinkle done me wrong ]': YA DONE GOOFED ok the place itself isn't that bad. It's in a more secluded part of Chinatown, so parking is ezpz. What everyone else said is true: their drinks are pretty typical and you get unlimited sinkers--super cool, right? Ya, especially when the milk tea is like $2!! OH BUT WAIT. They raised their prices!! UGH. Seriously a few months after I found out about this place, I hear that they jacked up the prices like a whole dollar. NUUUU my heart )): Otherwise, the place is kinda crowded and small. I would come for a chill hang out, but not like a...deep talk, "tell me about how hard your life is" kinda talk. Definitely not a place to do work, either. It's a good stop for something quick, especially if you want like a small snack with it. The service is aight. Pretty slow, even when it's not busy. But I guess overall it's worth it if you're looking for a boba spot on the cheaper end. Overall--it's ok. I'm just heartbroken over the price increase LOL. It's not at the top of my list of places to go, but if someone suggested it, I wouldn't be opposed really. read more

You order your drink and they hand you a cup to fill with the toppings you want. I like all the options for toppings. I usually get boba, lychee jelly and basil seeds. Make sure to fill your toppings to the line they draw on your cup. There is a 75 cent fee for over filling. Drink recommendations: brown rice milk tea, grapefruit yogurt tea, Japanese hochicha milk teapresso read more

My new favorite place!!!! The drinks are good. Prices are reasonable and you can add your own sinkers up until the line without the additional charge!! Also if you're a student and you go between 1-5pm you can buy a drink and add on a snack for only .99 cent! Can't beat that deal!! Fast and friendly service. I usually get the boba milk tea and popcorn chicken. You can add the spice in yourself. I will definitely come back to try other flavors!!! read more

Twinkle - Milk tea & genmatcha (brown rice tea) & popcorn chicken - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Place is renovated and got a three dollar discount after I turned in my stamp card which is obsolete now. I ordered the white grape oolong tea. Wow it was bitter even after adding the sugar. Grossest tea for sure. I hope the other teas aren't that bad tasting. Organic teas can taste so bad or harsh if not properly brewed and stored. read more

I'm honestly not that big of a fan of this place, but I'd still recommend it as a drink place. Sure, they have a bar that's solely for toppers/sinkers. But even though they have a variety of toppers/sinkers, it doesn't cover up the fact that their drinks aren't as yummy tasting as other places I've been to. Although I do appreciate their efforts with doing Fresh Brewed drinks! Their popcorn chicken is good, the sizes of each chicken aren't too small and dried, but I do wish they served it in a larger portion. x: All in all it's a pretty good place, but the price for their drinks just aren't worth it. read more

It's my first time coming here. I originally wanted to come for the egg waffles since I saw it in one of the photos, but realized later that someone mentioned they discontinued it in their review. I still wanted to come try their snacks and drinks. I got the Honey lemon tea and got to scoop my own grass jelly and chia seeds and it was really good. There was a line marked on the cup to show how much toppings we can add. I also tried the Takoyaki. The sauce was a bit sweet to my tasting and thought the inside was a bit soggy/uncooked. Other than that, the shop was small/cozy with cute decor and the service was quick. read more

Twinkle - Cute display. Hence the name 'Twinkle'. - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I have been here several times and the experiences were OKAY. But I went here recently and asked the cashier would she recommend having the yellow pudding with the new advertised item: Hong Kong style milk tea or just regular milk tea ( I wanted pudding but just didn't know what drink tasted good with it), she was confused about what I was asking her.....-______________- and kept telling me she has to charge me extra if I wanted to add anything into the drink (OKAY I GOT YOU ON THAT!). Seriously, if you don't know, you could have simply told me that you are not sure yourself and haven't tasted all the drinks there. SHESH! The end of the story: IT WAS HORRIBLE. Even without the pudding, the so called HK style milk tea was diluted and was like bad coffee...not even one taste of tea. -______- Ugh. Yes the place is cheap for drinks, but it is not very good. I guess you get what you pay for. read more

I went here for the first time after driving through 6 o'clock rush hour traffic for some hokkiado and finding out it was closed. I think it was a blessing in disguise. LET ME START BY SAYING THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE BEST THAT IVE EVER RECEIVED IN CHINA TOWN. its so rare to have such sweet and helpful people in these china townn shops. They're When I walked into this place i noticed it was a really nicely decorated and clean but it was really small. The menu is pretty simple and get this, it had a WHOLE SECTION FOR CHEESE CAKE DRINKS. I haven't tried it but it sounded so cool. I really liked the workers, they were so friendly and they helped me out a bunch. (I was so lost because I didn't realize it was a self serve toppings kind of place). I had the peach green tea and my sister had a chocolate shake. I really liked their baby tapioca over their regular tap and their egg pudding was really good. They even have those lychee flavored juice filled balls. Yumm. We also had their takoyaki. I actually hated it but thats just because I'm not very fond of octopus in general. My sister downed 3/4 of them in a flash haha. Next time I think i want to try the popcorn chicken, their serving size was so good for the price. Overall this place was cool. Loved the sinkers, drinks themselves were average but good for the price, customer service was awesome, the decor was so fun to look at, and their little food items were good. I'd go again no doubt. :) read more

Their drinks are very large, you definitely get your money's worth. The most awesome thing about this place is that you get to pick and fill your own sinkers (tapioca, flavored jelly, pudding, ect)! 1. Pick a drink flavor 2. They'll hand you a cup with a marked line, go fill your cup with sinkers. It's like CHRISTMASSS! 3. Return the filled cup for juice/tea/coffee 4. Ta da! Cup of awesomeness. read more

Great place with perfect service and the sign gave me the reassurance I needed ! Come check it out and enjoy ! read more

Twinkle - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

I literally used to love going to this place years ago...but their rose tea changed and it made my throat hurt...this isn't in their control so I tried asking for another one but I had to pay for a complete other tea. She kept asking me what was wrong with it and I said nothing was wrong with it, it just made my throat hurt. I felt super bad about the situation but there was genuinely no remorse from her. read more

Their tea isn't as strong as it used to be (or I've had bad luck: they've once forgotten to add the tea to my milk tea, or maybe they are cutting down on amount of tea used per cup). Their takoyaki is good. Only place in town that I know of where you add toppings/sinkers to your cup yourself. read more

I love their drinks and their options for sinkers, and you can choose your own combination. The snacks are always so tasty too. All their items are at such a good deal too. Only downside, my cupholders in my car can't hold their large cups.. :( but also :} read more

Delicious drinks. Love the option to choose degree of sweetness in beverages. Tea made espresso method, aromatic and flavourful. Freshly made (upon ordering) Takoyaki and popcorn chicken. A friendly place to chill alone or with company. Won't get thirsty nor hungry here! read more

Twinkle - More delicious than picture can convey! Takoyaki. - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

Tip: Pick your own fillings. Buy two large drinks and get a free appetizer. $10 minimum on CC. I got the jasmine milk tea, which was a little on the sweet side for me. The cool part though is you get to pick your own filling (like boba or pudding), so that's different! They also have those every day specials for buy two drinks get one free appetizer, but you def won't get full off of it. I'd go there again just to try there other drinks. Pretty easy to get milk teas right, so I would come back, just getting less sugar. The place is pretty small. read more

What a hidden gem! My friend showed me this place for their student discounts. Mega size drink with a 99 cent snack, can't beat the price! Their takoyaki was pretty good, not so crispy but perfect for a price I paid. The rose milk tea was huge, like a togo soup cup. I love that I can put as many toppings as I want, free of charge. I chose 50% sugar and it came out just right! The cashier girl was nice and helpful. They do need to find a bigger space dou, too tiny to hang out with friends! read more

Super tiny tapioca shop, I just grab & go. They have unlimited sinkers here and it's different everyday so different varieties. Strawberry smoothie here was lacking a bit, I think it's the unlimited sinkers that got me. That's about it. read more

Twinkle - Front of the shop. - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

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This is my go to place on Tuesdays when my primary boba stop is closed and I'm craving some tea. The staff here is very friendly and the prices are great. First you pick out your drink and pay, and then they'll give you your cup to scoop add ons into. When you're done with that, you give them back your cup, and they'll pour your drink into it before giving it back to you. The add ons they offer change daily so you never know what they'll be offfering. My favorite add on they offer is the aloe vera and my boyfriend likes their popping boba. Their takoyaki is also pretty good. So far I've tried their lychee black tea and green apple green tea. Both were delish. read more

Twinkle - Lychee black tea with lychee jelly, strawberry popping boba, and basil seeds. - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

Good drinks and mini snacks - chicken popcorns are good and freshly cook - price are reasonable and ladies at the counter very friendly and good customer service - unlimited tapioca and other choices of your liking / recommended read more

Twinkle - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

Upon returning several times, the quality seems inconsistent. Green tea is too bitter/dry, milk tea tasted strangely artificial, and the chicken made me nauseous one day. I hope this is just a new business adjusting, because this place has potential. read more

Twinkle is a good place to get a drink or a snack. They have a variety of flavors and a DIY bar where you can choose your own sinkers- tapioca, mango pudding, egg pudding, different flavored jellys, etc. The fried chicken nuggets are very tasty - so are their fried oysters. However- the egg puffs may be a hit or miss. The time I went, it was burnt and left a weird aftertaste in my mouth. I'm not sure if that was how it always is (it does not look like the pictures posted here on yelp). I've had better. My favorite drink to get here is the strawberry milk tea. Although this place is not my first choice to get Tapioca- at least you don't have to drag me kicking or screaming here. read more

I came during student happy hour and got the nuggets for .99 cents and they tasted really good however they filled the bag only halfway full. I ordered another one for regular price and it was filled all the way up. I mean I guess.. Also had milk tea(2/5) and it wasn't terrible but I actually did not like it at all. I give it 3 stars for the good popcorn chicken but other than that I wouldn't be back read more

Japanese Hojicha milk tea is so amazing wanted to update this review since I feel like their quality has stepped up over the past couple years! read more

So I guess I haven't been here in the past couple of months for some reason, but it's changed...no more small cups...I wanted to come here and try out their rose milk tea and only have to pay less than $3...but nope. They have a special going on right now for buy one tea get one free. So I ended up paying $4.10 for two regular size drinks which isn't a bad deal for the promotion. While the tea you can see is made fresh, I didn't like how my rose milk tea tasted...and the honey boba was a little too chewy for my liking. The place was very hot, too! read more

Twinkle - New menu and prices - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Likewise to many, we really enjoyed the option to choose our own sinkers! We ordered 4 drinks (the Roasted Oolong Milk Teapresso, Taiwan Lychee Teapresso, Strawberry Milk Teapresso, and Wintermelon Green Tea), along with the takoyaki and lobster balls. The heart-shaped strawberry jelly sinkers were delightful!! Everything was very tasty and delicious; although, there was only one person working both as the cashier and barista :( so the wait was a bit longer than usual (about 15 minutes). It would've been helpful if they assigned names/numbers to orders as she just called out the names of the drinks. Additionally, only some of the sinkers had labels assigned to them, so we had to kind of guess as to what was what. But overall, we enjoyed our time there and would definitely recommend it to others! read more

Twinkle - (Left to Right) Taiwan Lychee, Strawberry Milk Tea, Wintermelon Green Tea, and Roasted Oolong :) - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

The idea of self serve toppings is a unique concept that I have yet to see in most boba shops in Bellaire, but everything else fails here. At first glance, the prices of the drinks seem cheap. $1.99 for milk teas and $2.99 for smoothies or other varieties, but when you think about it in terms of the quality, take your three dollars else where and get a better drink. I gave this place three tries and I don't know why I even bothered after the first time. The last time I went I got a lemon cheesecake shake and my brother got an ice cream milk tea. Walking over to the topping bar, I saw that the cut up strawberries were all mushy and seemed rotten. Eh, I'll just settle for some mango...but wait! There are only two little pathetic pieces in the bin! Asked the girl to please refill and she pulled another bin out from underneath the table. I'll let it slide. So the way they make these drinks is either to scoop the drink from the freezer or use the many powders they have on the shelf mixed with some kind of liquid. No wonder it tastes so artificial. According to my brother, all the milk teas taste the same. Haven't tried the food and have no interest in trying it either. The menu may seem cheap but don't be fooled, save your money and go to the many other drink places in Bellaire for a better tasting drink. There's also a minimum credit/debit card charge...argh. read more

Wonderful little place here . It has many tasty teas and blends , very affordable and good service . But what makes it stand out from the other places is that YOU can add your own toppings and how much u want ! . I recommend this place to everybody . Keep up the good work . :) read more

Twinkle is a cute little place with friendly workers. I love it that we could choose our own sinkers with no extra charge. Lychee poppin' bobas are my absolute favorite. Rose milk tea was yummy, Lavender milk tea was good but like Rose better. They even have different Cheesecake flavored shakes. It's like drinking your favorite cheesecake without having to chew on your lazy days. I tried the crispy chicken nuggets as well and they were surprisingly good. Give this lil cute place a try when you are in the area, but be prepared to wait a bit longer bc I usually see 1 or 2 the max working there at the same time. Nevertheless I don't mind b/c I like the drinks and the friendly service. read more

Twinkle - Chicken nuggets and unlimited boba!! - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I used to frequent here! But i live so far now so sad! Me and my best friend had said this was one of our top 3 bubble places! I love this place cause it's friendly and cute and you can customize the toppings yourself.. so i always go crazy hahah read more

This place has the BEST milk tea and the BEST popcorn chicken. How would I know you ask? Ever since my nursing school friend and I realized we both shared a deep love of milk tea, we've been in search of the best milk tea in Chinatown. Finding the best popcorn chicken was collateral. This place is unique because it allows you to add your own filling. I always add a mix of egg pudding and mango pudding. I wasn't a fan of the Hong Kong milk tea when I first drank it. I had ordered a large and took the rest home to finish the next morning. The drink tasted a lot better in the morning! The reason this place lost a star is because of the weird furniture making it a terrible place to study. The tables are tiny, but the chairs are huge. Fix the furniture and the $10 minimum to use a credit card, and this place could be my forever hangout. read more

Taste: 2/2 Ambience/Service: 0/1 Value: 1/1 Will I return: Yep! 1/1 Total: 4 stars Twinkle is one of the cheaper options for bubble tea in Houston (disclaimer: at least from what I've gathered in my visits to Houston since I'm not from there). A small size at Twinkle is also more like a large size at other boba spots along Bellaire, and doesn't cost you $5 so that's definitely a plus! I recommend getting your drink at 50% sweetness, but I do that at most places and it's all personal preference. You select the type and amount of "sinkers" (I've never heard them called sinkers before Yelp, but it's an accurate description!), and you can choose from tapioca pearls, basil seed, egg pudding, grass jelly, coffee jelly, more jellies, etc. I really like the egg pudding and grass jelly, they're very earthy and nutty and compliment milk tea quite well. The boba are a little smaller here but have a good chewy texture, almost sticky so if you like softer boba maybe try something else. The only bad thing about Twinkle is disorganized system of making drinks. After you pay for your drink and put in your sinkers, you're supposed to just set your cup back in front of the cashier for her to fill up the cup with your tea. However, there's not a set location to put the cup, and other customers will try to "cut in line" by putting their cup further ahead of others' cups, etc. So if you're in a hurry, you might want to stand guard and make sure your cup isn't pushed behind someone else's. I went on a weekday afternoon so that likely contributed to slow service, but when I went there was only 1 person working there and she had to juggle making snacks and drinks by herself and there were always about 7 cups waiting on the counter to be filled. I waited about 20 min for my drink. I'll be returning to Twinkle, especially for their egg pudding! I also want to try their snacks, like popcorn chicken and fried calamari. read more

Mmm the taiwan lychee milk tea is amazing!!! The girls are very sweet and helpful! You can pick what to put inside your drink which is cool. They also had a wall dedicated to notes from customers which was super cute to look at and read the notes!^^ read more

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Twinkle is a small shop nestled in a strip center that formerly housed Star Snow Ice and now has 3 other boba shops around it - GoGo (where Star Snow Ice used to be), Tapoica House, and The Teahouse, which means a lot of competition. What makes Twinkle different from the other shops is its DIY sinkers and its price. A small (around 16 oz) drink is 1.99 and you can add whatever combination of sinkers you like without having to pay more, which is pretty unique among boba shops. The server will add the drink for you after that. What you don't want to do (and they warn you on the signs) is to put too many sinkers in there. I find that filling the cup up to the 1st/2nd line with sinkers is optimal. What's also nice is that if you find yourself not being able to choose, they have suggestions for all categories - and I wouldn't go wrong with them! I had the coffee milk tea and added coffee jelly and boba to it, and it tasted great! They also have an assortment of snacks such as popcorn chicken and takoyaki, and next time I'll try these. The only con to this place is that they have a limited selection of drinks compared to the Teahouse and they don't have slushes. But why have a whole bunch of drinks and have them be all mediocre when you can have a small selection and have them all taste amazing? I don't think I'll be heading to Teahouse anymore when I need my boba fix. Oh, by the way, they DO accept credit cards, but there's a 18 cent surcharge if your purchase is under 10 bucks, so I recommend carrying cash. read more