Factory Tea Bar in San Gabriel used to be a hot spot for students to hang out in with some food and boba, and since we were in the area, parched with thirst and famished with hunger, we thought we’d give it a try.
If you’re not very familiar with the place, the store’s entrance is a little easy to miss, but just turn into the parking lot and it’s the first shop in the building.
Here’s what the building looks like from across the street:
When I looked at pictures of the food and drink, I was immediately interested in a few things they had to offer. One of which was the Elote Fries and, of course, the Popcorn Chicken, both of which we ordered.
For drinks, we ordered the Grapefruit Honey Green Tea and the Peach Green Tea, both with boba.
It looked delicious and the first bite of the fries was absolutely wonderful. The next few bites, however? Not so much. There was too much mayo and it lacked chili powder overall, which I believe was what gave that first bite its punch. We did keep eating it but it wasn’t compelling enough for us to consider going back for more in the near future.
The Popcorn Chicken as well. It was good in flavor but the pieces were extremely small and there was barely any meat in the bites. It honestly felt like I was digging for treasure combing through the crumbs to find any chunk of chicken. There really wasn’t much in there. The sauce, too, was just okay; it tasted like the usual sweet and sour sauce you get with popcorn chicken except it had Sriracha mixed inside it. Not something that was necessary, in my opinion, since Sriracha has a tendency to overpower a lot of other flavors.
Now the drinks.
I have to say we were even more disappointed in these. Neither me nor my sister finished our drinks, though she did get halfway through, most likely because she was so thirsty. Maybe it’s because we frequent higher quality boba shops but the drinks in this place just tasted like the average syrup mixture you get in places that don’t really make drinks special or fresh. Just a fast and easy way to get drinks out the door.
The boba itself wasn’t very nice either. It was a little on the tougher side, and hadn’t marinated long enough in honey or brown sugar. Honestly, the boba felt like it was just a boil, toss, and dump job, if you know what I mean.
All-in-all, it’s a no-going-back from us. I always go into new places hoping to be a frequent flyer but I think this experience has told me all I needed to know about this place. The interior of the place was interesting though, if not a bit too busy.
Anyway, thanks for reading! We’re off to find a new place to dine.
Until then, ciao!
Side note: just a reminder that this is all just our opinion and that it, in no way, represents what the majority outside may think. I highly encourage everyone to go out and try out these places for themselves because different people will definitely have different taste.
EVERY DAY A MYSTERY 