Tapioca Express

This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only.

 

Tapioca Express was a tapioca (also know as pearl tea or boba) franchise with a scary website. Their Davis location was well known for having some sort of DDR machine (it probably costed money to play), and being the location of a recent stabbing. They also have a Sacramento location. Zen Toro took their place (let's hope they have better luck).

Tapioca Express had many types of tea (green, black, snow), Italian sodas, and a limited food selection. The food included deep-fried chicken and tofu, as well as rice to go with it. You could order most of the drinks with or without boba, which is a large tapioca pearl. They provided large-diameter straws so you could drink them through the straw.

Tapioca Express is also notorious for not allowing substitutions. Even if it is taking the meat out of an item. They will give you less and and make you pay more. The calamari tastes quite different from the Italian version you might be used to. It has a cinnamon flavor, even when ordered "plain" (meaning not spicy). StevenDaubert used to work there in the Chris / Kathy Fabros ownership days, and the calamari had salt and pepper put on it even if there was no spice level. It was the funnest of the meats to prepare.

In 2005, Tapioca Express sponsored several teams for the annual Relay for Life. One team consisted of Tercero D Building alumni, and they had a deal set up that if you happen to grab a flyer and bring it into Tapioca Express on a Monday or Tuesday and use it when ordering your drink, a portion of the proceeds will go to benefit cancer research.

2004-12-07 13:45:47   That website is frightening. ...On another note. i had an arraignment the same day as the guy who stabbed the Tapioca Express owners in the face nine times in the spring of 2004. Small world. - RobRoy

2004-12-21 02:15:03   If you're a vegetarian you might want to avoid ordering their food, as it's cooked in the same boiling oil as the chicken, which they don't bother to clean out. They've since put up a sign indicating this, but you can be caught offguard with bits of chicken in your tofu dish. - PhilipNeustrom

2004-12-24 20:10:35   They also have a Street Fighter II arcade machine that lets you wrap from the top of the screen to the bottom when performing repeated Dragon Punches as Ken or Ryu! —AmitVainsencher

2005-02-14 02:27:39   As of now, the ddr machine is half busted. The left side isn't working. Plus I think even the right side isn't at 100% condition—ImranKhan

2005-02-15 00:04:56   They may claim their hours are from noon to midnight, but on more than one occasion I've found the place to be closed during this timerange. —JesseSingh

2005-04-11 14:59:00   Not open during their posted hours, no tapioca pearls ready when they are open; it's a shame they're closer to me than Old Teahouse since otherwise I'd switch loyalties. I suppose I could call in advance, but the posted phone number is disconnected. Shape up guys! My office wants to give you business! EDIT (2005-04-13) Swung by and they're actually open. Missing lots of things, but was explained why the phone number was disconnected (getting new wireless provider?). Still good calamari. Some faith restored, but would have been disappointed if I'd wanted mango, earl grey, or coconut jelly. —KevinChin

2005-04-11 23:40:34   Maybe I'm just unlucky, but they do seem to "run out" of stuff quite often. I like their chicken more than Old Teahouse's but I can't remember the last time I actually bought it here. —AndrewChen

2005-04-12 00:55:58   wow, their site is indeed frightening —PatrickSing

2005-04-20 00:07:59   Once, they ran out of rice. —StevenWong

2005-05-12 10:54:40   I agree with KevinChin - they're not always open during the posted hours, they run out of food, and lately their tea has been not as good as Old Teahouse. Come on, tea is basically the only thing that Tap Ex needs to do well. They are pretty friendly there though. My theory is that they have no female employees currently and that the guys that work there got lazy. —AlexChan

I have been living next door to Lux and some of the other people who run Tapioca Express. I don't know what the hell is up with them, but they seem to attract a lot of violence to their apartment. I was actually going to attend one of their parties, because we had a mutual acquaintence, when they party closed because things were getting stolen. So my group went to Safeway to get stuff to make margaritas at my place, and when we came back, there was a mob and people hiding behind patio walls. I got out of my truck just in time for the police to point a gun at me.

In the following Police Briefs in The California Aggie, the police apprehended someone that night with a stolen gun on the 1600 block of Drew Circle, which is where we were. My acquaintence was there at the party and said that they were being threatened by someone with a gun, apparently some "thuglets" as he called them, rolled up after the party closed and whipped out weapons. The party was a for someone's birthday, who was still barely under-age, so he got to hide out in our place until the ordeal settled down.

The managers of Sharps and Flats denied that this ever happened, and claimed that the observed gun must have been on one of the other properties on the block. (You can see why I have been critical of these bozos, and I recommend that no one ever move into this apartment complex.)

It sucks that Tapioca Express closed because their Toffee Coffee Snow Bubble was awesome. I haven't really talked to them much this year. This incident happened in the fall of '04 -KarlMogel

• Haha, that was my friend's birthday party—and yes, it's all true. -BrianChen

2005-12-22 07:33:31   Visit the Tapioca Express in Sac, on Freeport Blvd. The environment is much nicer, more mellow, big TV (you can watch what you bring, apparently, or if you are nice to the staff), games, karaoke, lots of seats. Their Peach Milk Tea is the best around, believe me!!! The springrolls are very good, addictive and cheap. The owner is very nice! You can also get sushi, spam sushi, and Taiwanese? icecream, and a few sandwiches there. If you go it is in a long, old fashioned strip-mall after Raley's and before Walgreens at Fruitridge... —AischaIbnouzahir