Tapioca Express

Love the food here, one of the best places for bubble tea and food BUT the staff is ridiculously rude. When I order I can’t help but to notice their really negative attitude and their tone when they talk to me. Every question they ask, it seems like it was forced upon them and they didn’t want to work there.

There aren’t very many good bubble tea places east of Seattle. If you’re having a craving for bubble tea (because EVERYONE totally does) and want mediocre bubble tea, come to Tapioca Express.
It’s VERY spacious, so you could totally hit up your friends and have a hang out there. Even on a rainy day, because rain is SOO rare in Seattle, you could chill here and play some board games that they have or even read manga from their bookshelves.
I’ve only had their regular black milk tea and it’s just «okay». I mean it fills the craving. I usually get it 50% sugar, since it can be really sweet.
Other than that, they do have Taiwanese/​Chinese cuisine food.

I love coming to tapioca express. This is my favorite place to get boba in the area. There is a line a lot of the time, and usually only one person making smoothies, one taking orders, and I’m assuming one making food which tends to slow things down a bit.
I haven’t had any food, so I can’t speak on that, but i have had a few different types of smoothies with boba. Their avocado smoothie is good because they use real avocado. What amazed me most is that they also use real taro! This is the only place I have been to that doesn’t serve powder taro. Their tapioca is good as well.
I was surprised to see only three and a half stars for this place, and I really recommend giving it a try!

Love their milk tea! I lived in Okinawa, Japan for about 10 years and loved boba. After moving to the states it was hard to find it! Hit the jackpot with this place! I haven’t tried the food yet. I’ll be back :)

kind of Taiwan fast restaurant. Not too bad and not too good. Bubble tea, noodles, fried chicken. Try if you want. Not strongly recommend.

Everything is good. Popcorn chicken, bubble tea with mini boba. You won’t be dissapponted. Except for the chichi fries… that’s just too much.
This location is super nice but it gets suuuper packed so beware!

They have really good bubble tea hear. That’s the only thing I always get so I don’t know anything else. It’s not a place to have a conversation, when they make their drinks the blender is so loud you literally have to scream to the person you’re with. One of these days I will try their food.

Favorite bubble tea place in Seattle area so far.
I always get the Taro milk tea, Hazelnut milk tea of the mango yogurt smoothie with boba.
They also have board games and nice seating so it’s a fun place to hang out.
Love that they stay open late (till midnight)

Normally this is my favorite bubble tea spot. But I guess only the Jasmine milk tea and honeydew snow bubbles are good.
Anytime I try to venture and order different items (i.e. Cookie snow bubble, matcha milk tea) it always tastes. Off.
I got the matcha snow bubble today which is a regular order for me at every bubble tea spot. It tasted very grainy and not like matcha. I mentioned this to the guy working and he was quick to say he probably didn’t add enough powder. He offered to make a new drink so I got the matcha milk tea. Matcha and milk tea are two of my favorite things so I felt like I wasn’t taking any chances.
It was thick. And puke colored. And tasted quiet nasty. Sometimes I can be picky so I asked for a second opinion from my sister. Who is normally pretty easy to please. We agreed it was really strange and seemed like the recipe was off. I was definitely not going to drink it so I went back to the counter to pay for a new drink. When asked about the previous order, I told the two people working that the second drink tasted off. Both workers started talking in Chinese and it was so obvious they were talking about us.
I ended up paying for a strawberry Italian soda literally to get the m. milk tea taste out of my mouth. They put orange juice in their Italian sodas, which mixed with strawberry, made it taste like medicine.
Definitely never ordering anything other than my usual Jasmine milk tea, (honeydew milk tea for my boyfriend) or plain iced tea. For food: only popcorn chicken or the railroad bento.
I was so disappointed by today’s visit because I come here quiet often with no issues. Very hit or miss. Since consistency is super important with my regular spots, it may be a while before I come back.

The milk tea with boba was alright. I love how late this place opens. The food looked really good, so I’ll have to come back to try that. This place was a lot bigger than I thought. I came here after dinner around 9:30pm for a boba fix and the line was constantly put the door almost. Long wait to order and long wait for my drink to be made. Only one cashier and one drink maker the whole night. I felt so terrible for them. If it was me, I would shoot myself in the foot. 3 stars for them and the bubble tea but seriously, management could’ve hired more people to help those poor people.

We have become regulars are this location because it’s so good!
We don’t live around the area but whenever we crave some boba this is our first pick and we will drive the distance for it.
We often come at night and that’s usually when it gets busy. The lines sometimes goes out the door because I think their understaffed which pushes people away. –1 star.
The product they make is quite delicious. I come here for the fresh avocado and fresh taro boba smoothies and they make it perfectly. The use real avocado and real taro root so it’s quite tasteful. They also have some Manga books for those who likes to stick around and hang out. Plenty of parking and plenty of tables. There’s also a barlike sitting next to the windows.
If they can fix the long lines that forms this will easily get a 5 star!

Tapioca Express provides the divey food court dining experience, but within their own space. Walk up to the counter, order your bubble tea and/​or Taiwanese food, then wait at the end of the counter to pickup your tray of food. Then bring your food back to the table. Before sitting down, wipe away the food remnants from the prior guest then begin to enjoy your meal to the jazzy tune of Taiwanese Pop music videos playing in the background.
The drinks are sugary sweet, sometimes too sweet. The food is greasy and rich. Lots of fried appetizers. Asian comfort food. The pork belly rice is decent and cheap too.
The restaurant could be a tad cleaner, but this is all part of the food court dining experience. It wouldn’t be the same without it. Food comes out relatively quick and you can get in and out in a short time. Overall, a solid two stars dining experience.

Haven’t been back here since winter, so I was happy to stop by to fuel up before my evening class. It wasn’t packed, but wasn’t dead neither.
I got a mango ice with mango jelly, which was nice and refreshing, not too sweet. I love their jelly/​tapioca selection!
I also got Fried Squid Balls and Spicy Popcorn Chicken. The squid ball were «ok». I asked for a «4» of a sauciness level between 1 – 5, and it was definitely very very spicy! Would be ok if there was more flavor to it, not just the chili pepper.
The popcorn chicken, also a «4», was perfect though! Spicy enough and flavorful. Also very crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Not chewy like at some places.
Overall, it a great spot to grab a quick bite or have lunch at. The service is friendly and quick. The restaurant looks clean and nicely designed. I think there are comics available for reading too, or something of that sort.
Will definitely be back soon!

We were eating dinner close by, so we dropped by to get some bbt. It was crowded, and the cashier had a really bad attitude.
The tapioca milk tea tasted bad, and the matcha snow was too sweet. The tapioca balls had no taste. Meh, I kinda expected this. Time to go to boiling point for bbt.

Really good bubble tea and surprisingly good food. I really like the consistency of their snow bubble drinks. Sometimes when you get bubble tea and it’s so thick it’s impossible to get it up the straw. Here it is icy, but smooth and blended very fine.
I’ve had the railroad bento with popcorn chicken and it was all tasty and inexpensive. Huge amount of food.
This place always seems to have a line or wait, even when they’re not that busy. Not a big deal, but it seems like they have plenty of staff.

Their Railroad bento boxes are cheap and good. I’ve tried it with popcorn chicken and pork chop and both are equally good.
The bento boxes also come with green or black tea. Their black tea tastes waaaaaay better!
I like snow ice texture shaved ice and their shave ice is kinda chunky, not a fan.

Yummy and fun Railroad Bento, tasty Popcorn Chicken, great selection of tea and juices.
I recently came here during lunchtime on a Sunday with a group of 6. When a friend suggested we go here for lunch, I was surprised that a place called Tapioca Express would serve food since it sounded like a bubble tea joint. But we gave it a shot! The café is located in a plaza with a parking lot, so it was pretty easy to get to. The inside was spacious with plenty of tables and booths. Service was straightforward, as we ordered at the register.
Drink menu was pretty big, but food menu was small. However, the food they offer is good. After placing the order, we sat down and waited for about 10 – 15 minutes, not bad considering it was weekend lunch rush.
Railroad Bento with Popcorn Chicken:
Comes with white rice, some pickled veggies, cucumber, egg, a meat sauce on the rice, and the popcorn chicken was served on the side. The presentation was cute in a little silver tin. I thought the portion was decent and the taste was good. Although other Unilocalers rave about the popcorn chicken, I thought it was kind of dry on the outside, and my husband thought the chicken looked a little undercooked on the inside. Then we both got sick after the meal. Sadness. Oh well, at least it tasted good lol.
Iced Black Tea:
Small, came with the Railroad Bento meal. A straightforward drink that was well made with lots of ice.
Cantaloupe Juice with Grass Jelly:
I liked the concept that it is fresh squeezed. It was a bit expensive for the amount. The juice took forever to come out. I got my food, then had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes until the drink was ready. Then I discovered that they didn’t put any ice in my drink, and so it was served warm. The flavor was sweet, but the warm juice with grass jelly was not a very good taste. I was too lazy to tell the staff to change it, so I ended up removing the seal and then adding ice from my husband’s leftover ice tea. It was much better after that.
Overall, great concept of Taiwanese café, decent food and drinks, but a couple of hiccups during my experience. I think I would consider giving this place another chance, if someone suggests going in the future. We’ll see.

A pretty solid place if you’re looking for bubble tea and food late night. It’s pretty standard and I would probably come here more often if it were closer to where I live. I’ve been here a few times and it satisfies my boba cravings. I’ve gotten some milk teas and bubbles and it’s pretty standard. The food is Taiwanese and at a decent price! The bento combo I got with pork over rice with popcorn chicken was about $ 8. I definitely had leftovers. It’s not the best minced pork over rice, but it satisfies my cravings. Solid place overall, but not a destination restaurant I’d come to.

The popcorn chicken here is the best in the city. I come back time and time again for this specifically although on my last visit there was a bit of an ordering problem and I got crispy chicken steak stripes instead. It still had the same tasty flavor but not the crispy texture that I was hoping for. I love the bentos and other food options too. It reminds me of Taiwan! (Note: the free tea with the bento is smaller than the regular sized drinks.)
The only downside is that the service is a bit slow, but if you’re not in a rush then grab a game and sit down and relax.
Also parking is kind of a hassle but that is not the restaurant’s fault.

The best deal here at TE is the Train Bento Combo, which you can get with the Popcorn Chicken or Pork Chop as the main (among other things). I usually choose the Pork Chop option, which comes with the Pork Chop, braised egg, rice, pickled veggies, and minced pork on top of the rice. In addition, the meal comes with either a small iced black or green tea. All of this goodness for ~$ 9 — that’s decently priced with a capital D.
The drinks here are good too. The place has more flavors than other typical, more basic boba shops, like blueberry, smoky oolong, and okinawa. Snow bubbles are the blended smoothies, which some flavors are made with real fruit.
I’ve had the other snacks here as well. Popcorn chicken is much better than Oasis and is on par with Mee Sum. TE, further, has fried squid balls, which I admit are my guilty pleasure. If you do want food for sure, I recommend this Redmond location over the Edmonds one because the latter sometimes runs out of the Train Bento Combo #fail
And for some of you who are from Cali and think this is the same TE as the one in your hood, it’s not. The owners are different. From what I’ve heard the TE in Cali is really bad (or more like there are better places in Cali like Quickly and Half&Half). The TE here is comparatively more superior!