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Categories: Coffee & Tea, Taiwanese [Edit]
425 W Valley Blvd
7 reviews
Sierra Madre, CA
"Was passing through today. had to check on the p-units homefront after the fire passed through. all was well, cops were out in full force.…" read more »
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The almond milk tea is goood.
At first I was kinda hesitant about this place, I mean how good could it be, but now I could definitely see its charms. The drinks come in cute glasses and the tea in cute teapots, there are the usual Asian magazines to leaf through, friendly workers, pretty decor inside, music videos are playing, I think last time it was Jay Chou stuff. But yeah, this is a nice place to chill.
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85C has just been popular all the way from taiwan to sgv. i think mainly because of the crowd it has attracted, young, hip, smoker or not, boba lovers, Oh and nocturnal. young ppl like to hang out late, so 85C becomes the spot, along with tea stations and AU.
i heard it opened one in shanghai now and it's always packed too. the fact is, ppl like to go to a crowded spot, they never want to go to an empty place. so what got them popular in the first place is not only the quality of drinks/snacks, but also the services and the environment it creates.
put it this way, ppl who like to puff away their late night hrs will always enjoy this place, like Sunday Bistro, although the crowd there is a bit older and mostly chinese. but u get what i mean.
anyhow, for a non-smoker like me, im not too crazy about 85C but i guess it's a chill spot good for once in a while.
Like a torn lover on a lonely night, I just keep coming back.
At first I protested and threw a fit, but I hate being the martyr of the group. This time around, we got seated right away and I dove into the heaps of aisian magazgines (even though I don't read chinese) I love browsing through all the ads for facial whiteners and overpriced handbags that I wouldn't even use to carry my gym clothes.
We got all our drinks pretty promtply, they forgot one and messed up on another order, but it was neglible. Not sure about the one order per person rule, because I didn't order anything but if they were to start enforcing that rule, this relationship is back to not on speaking terms.
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06/20/2008
I need a new tea shop. =(
This place is ridiculously crowded every night of the week now. I didn't…
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Still the best tea shop around. I've just recently discover their horoscope drinks! So yummy! My favorite is Taurus! And they have really good popcorn chicken, and their fries aren't that bad either!
Recommended Items:
Iced Fruit Green Tea (It's $6.75, a bit pricey. but worth it!)
Honey Green milk tea
Corn
French Fries
and the popcorn chicken is to die for!
12/12/2007
First to Review
ok, it was 2am and cha for tea and tea station was closed.
and my friend mention 85 Tea House ----…
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LEE!! YOU LEFT A BAD REVIEW!!!
haha. I, on the other hand, LOVE this place! I love the tea here, the food is YUMMY and the shaved ice is grrrrrrrrrreat!! I'm here 2-3 times a week. YES, 2-3 TIMES A WEEK! I must be one of the fobs Lee (scroll down) is talking about because I speak in Chinese a lot, play with my NDS or talk about new gizmos with my friends. LOL Thanks for calling me a fob you bitch! lol
The workers are extremely nice here. Again, they know what I want right when I sit down. =D I've never had any issues here except for that one night where we had to wait about 20 minutes for seats (Lee's review). But they're packed for a reason, yanno? Cause they're GOOD!
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I was very hesitant at first when I came here. One of my friend always mentioned 85 this 85 that. So I wanted to see what the hype was about. When I got there, (I had a party of 8) and within less than 8-10 minutes, they had a table inside for us. And the night we went, it was sooooooo pack. Like, ridiculous pack.
So as usual, I look through their menu hoping they would have hot almond black milk tea. And so I asked and they did have it! YAY! Well, it wasn't sweet or bland. It was just regular. But I like sweet. So I still like Cha for Tea. It was cute how it came out in a regular ceramic mug/cup with a little handle. Just like those ones you see in an American coffee shop. I wanted to try my sign "LEO" but I'll try that next time.
The inside decor is so pretty!
Great tea, awesome decor, must try their snowflake super good, all of their tea are brewed on a daily basis, none of those powder stuff. Food is decent, popcorn chicken *dRoOLz*, great service (friendly waiters/waitresses). Parking is a biaaaaatch, but it's worth the hassel, highly recommended!!!
PS. Credit cards are accepted over $20
PSS. FREE wi-fi ^__^
PSSS. Minimum order - 1 order per person (reasonable)
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I've become desensitized to all the cafes in the SGV area.
They all seem to serve the same drinks - tea, smoothies, juices - with or without boba.
The inside is much smaller than the outside patio - which seems to be the preferred seating by its customers. We sat both inside and outside.
I did like how the tea was served with a candle underneath the tea pot to keep the beverage warm. The banana smoothie was excellent - tasted more fresh than artificial (where at most other tea places - it's the opposite). The milk green tea was yummy. I would have never guessed that there was green tea behind all that condensed sweet milk.
Next time, I will order the shaved ice and french fries.
Peep the pix/
There is a parking lot, but don't ever expect to find a spot. Park on the residential street instead.
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Quality is okay but the do close really late - past 2am for to go orders - and service is very nice. JONASAPPROVED!
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You should only come here for their shaved ice. The texture and quality of the ice is different from every place out in the SGV. Their mango shaved ice is especially awesome. I wouldn't be surprised if they got someone that works there that is a pro at inspecting and finding awesome tasting mangos. They know how to evenly distribute the mango chunks and condensed milk. I've been to places that don't do that very well. I haven't had any of their drinks. Their food is overpriced and tastes average.
They're located on a small corner plaza with very limited parking. You usually have to park on the street. Seating is rather limited inside. However, there is plenty of seating outside.
If you go any evening in the summer, there are a ton of people. Everyone is there for the shaved ice.
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I was quite pleasantly surprised by this place. This place was so well hidden, I didn't even know they have a patio outdoor seating surrounded by tall bushes covering up the few tables that were outside.
After a hearty meal, I was still somewhat bloated and needed something to calm down the tummy, I decided to give this place a try since it was so nearby.
We decided to do the scenester route and gave the ol' outdoor patio seating a shot. It was a good day and have a little breeze, so a little outdoor with the brush covering up the ugly streets of Valley Blvd seemed to be a good order.
My drink of choice for the day was a Kumquat Green tea. The only reason that I ordered that was that not too many places would be able to make that kind of drink or even offered it on their menu. It seemed like it was a very popular fruit for Taiwanese, but whenever I want to look for it, the fruit became an ordeal to find it. Getting a drink made here was a good surprising find.
To say that I like that Kumquat green tea was an understatement. I never really like a normal green tea or any fruit flavored green tea until I had this Kumquat green tea. It was such a refreshing drink, I forgot all about my tummy ache.
This place does offered free wifi if you are customer here. One great thing about this place was the young man that works there was super friendly and have all the polite manners that any parents would be proud of.
This is a little bit hard to find unless you took a good glance with their sign. As I pointed out, the tall bush can obstructed the view a bit, but their plaza next door to The Peach House (overrated yogurt). However, it's worth trying to find this little unassuming place that also serves some delicious tea house snacks.
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First, I'll have to agree with Sharon k. about the service at Tea Station: service at all locations in SGV sucks. 85C is not as bad but not much better.
My friends had been ranting and raving about 85C's mango shaved ice so we thought we'd stop by and give it a try. I personally wanted to compare it to Guppy's shaved ice.
When we first entered, I thought it was surprising that we were the only customers in the restaurant, especially since it was 1:30pm, still somewhat of a peak hour. We were seated and immediately ordered the mango shaved ice. A few moments later, the server comes back and says that each person must place the minimum order of 1 drink, which is totally fine. However, 5 minutes after we order and receive our drinks, another server comes out, informing us that they do not have any shaved ice today.
So we're sitting there with drinks that we ordered just so we could try their shaved ice and yet they did not have shaved ice. I might be ok with that if their drinks were actually good, but they pale in comparison to Cha For Tea's or AU79's drinks. We had the honey green milk tea and the almond green milk tea. Cha For Tea quells 85C's drinks to 0 deg C on any given day. The price is also quite outrageous. $3.75 for a small withOUT boba. I believe that at that price you at least get boba at Cha and it actually tastes good. Also, Cha For Tea almost always asks how the drink is and offers adjustments. However, here, even though we were the only patrons in the store, they did not even bother to see if what they were offering was actually worth offering.
Finally, when we get the check , the waiter did not take off the shaved ice off of our bill. In short, we should have been informed of an unavailable item before we received our other items, especially since there were 4 employees in the store and we were the only patrons. We should have been asked how our drinks were, especially if they're charging a premium of $3.75. Lastly, they could have at least had the courtesy of getting our bill correct.
My prediction: 85C will loose any steam it has left and freeze into a stagnant solid state in the very near future.
i don't understand this place alot of people said it was better than tapX, cha for tea, and tea station. i think not!. the parking royally sucks, the service was not that great. the drinks are ok but its not really worth the price.
Just like any other boba shop except parking is a little tricky...theres a teeny tiny parking lot but if it's full then you can try your luck at residential parking.
All drinks are made with syrup or powder just like every other boba place so it's good but nothing special.
I was actually pleasantly surprised when I walked in--the modern and stylish decor, clean interior, unique-shaped glasses for the tea, and tables that were spread out nicely rather than being crammed together like Cha for Tea. I even thought to myself: "when I get home I'm gonna write a good review about this place on yelp."
Everything was great... until the drinks came. Their drinks are crap. Extremely watered down. Like.. 90% of each drink is water. I had the most tasteless boba milk tea I've ever had in my entire life. Even the milk tea mix from 99 ranch had more taste than this. My bf ordered lemongrass tea, which was equally horrible. Unable to take any more of the milk tea that tasted like diluted tap water, I decided to order a Strawberry Smoothie. I thought to myself, "they can't go wrong with a smoothie, all they need to do is blend some fruit and yogurt together!"
At this point I would like to insert the definition of a "smoothie":
[Smoothie]
A smoothie is a blended, chilled, sweet beverage made from fresh fruit. In addition to fruit, many smoothies include crushed ice, frozen fruit, or frozen yogurt. They have a milkshake-like consistency which is thicker than slush drinks, but unlike milkshakes, they do not usually contain ice cream, but can contain milk.
The drink I received was pale, translucent pink. If you've ever had a real smoothie from Surf City Squeeze or Jamba Juice, you KNOW smoothies are NOT supposed to be translucent. My so-called "strawberry smoothie" was 90% ice, with a thin layer of strawberry flavored syrup on the bottom. There wasn't even an ounce of fresh fruit. Good god, what a waste of 4 bucks.
If I was solely rating this place on drinks, I would give it 0 stars. But they DO have a great ambiance and a nice, comfortable interior, so I'll give them 2 stars. It's a good place to study because it is open till 2am. Next time I might just order a coffee and stay away from the watered down teas.
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This place very small and people play board games or cards. They have similar food items to other boba places, service and Parking suck....
Thumbs up.
I've been here a few times. Its usually empty on the weekdays but gets pretty packed on the weekends. Good indoor and outdoor parts for the smokers and non-smokers.
The waiters are really nice there. Thats a big plus from the other tea places. When we went in they "helloed" us with a nice big smile.
They also have quite creative drinks. they had this one set of horoscope drinks. each of the twelve horoscopes were available so as homosexual and girly as me and my three buddies were, we orderd the capricorn, saggitarious (SP?), aries and libra drinks as a fun suprise. The drinks were colorful and the the cup itself had this pretty cool necklace thing looped around it that made it just that more cooler. Each for about 5 dollars. Even better since we spent about 1 1/2 there and they didn't hurry us to leave or anything.
Also, when we asked for cards, the waitress said "sure!" and gave it to us. big props to her, the other tea places nowadays require you to bring there own.
One down side is on the weekends parking can be an issue. the back parking is usually full and tight to squeeze into, but u can find parking on the street if you don't mind walking half a block.
Overall a good spot to just chill and hang out.
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Some history.. I used to come here when it was still horoscope cafe and game structure was next door. game structure then moved and closed.. and horoscope closed as well. Then i drive by one day and i see their huge 85C sign.. i just had to try it..
On to the review..
I love coming here late night to hang out with friends or on a hot day for their mango shaved ice. It's a little on the pricey side, but the service has always been helpful, funny, and friendly so I don't mind. Food is decent but not amazing.. but who comes here for food right? Some of their tea is on the bland side, but I'd say good overall. I mainly come here for their mango shaved ice with condensed milk.. it's soo dam good.
They DO accept credit card.. but its for orders of $20+.. and they're VERY strict about this (because you don't actually need a certain amount to charge). Parking sucks because although they have a parking lot.. it's always packed.. so you need to park on the street. A few reviews have said it's empty on weekdays.. what time do you guys go? anytime i go there are people. anyways, I was going to give it a 4 because of their prices and bad parking.. but I think its good enough of a hang out place to deserve a 5.
This is an interesting place. It's a young Asian hangout, where none of the people look like they're going anywhere any time soon. I have found my tea drinks overpriced and not particularly memorable, though they are not bad and certainly beat the run-of-the-mill powdered boba-drink crap that proliferates throughout the U.S. Service has been awkward but friendly.
i stumbled on this place while waiting for a doctors appt next door the teas are good but quite expensive but the glass is huge but doesnt seem that much when u drink it the food is pretty good like wanna tea station & the service is medicore & they dont accept credit cards unless is 20+ which is a bitch but overall ok
My new favorite tea house in the area. Their tea is not overly sweet (compared to Tea Station) but you can really taste the tea flavor. It's a small cozy place with limited lot parking, but they're usually not too crowded and they have outdoor seatings for your dogs
Having passed this place on Valley numerous times and reading the very positive reviews on Yelp, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would eventually end up here. Unfortunately, my experience didn't live up to the hype.
I had a large Lychee Green Tea while my friend had a Peach Green tea. Mines was okay. There's only a hint of lychee, and it's more of an aftertaste than an obvious flavor. Thus, it bordered on watery, although the tea taste was much more apparent. The Peach green tea faired better. It was typical: strong in peach (not too strong) and sweet. At $4.75 for a large (or was it $4.25?), it's the priciest tea place I've ever been too (including Cha for Tea). It might be due to the IKEA-ed interior, or the front (albeit small) courtyard. The layout inside is a bit awkward, as the register is on the side, invisible when scanned quickly.
The atmosphere wasn't as welcoming as I had hoped. Although our drinks were to go, we waited long enough to get a feel for the place. There's a wide screen in the front, although not visible to many sitting on the side. We can't comment too much on customer service, except that they seemed just as mechanical as the servers at Tea Station. In short, I didn't feel too welcome. But to be fair, other tea places aren't much better.
I'd come back if my tea wasn't so subtle. Maybe it's because I like my drinks stronger. Give this place a shot if you're curious, otherwise you can drive past it when you're on Valley for the millionth time.
So I admit that I haven't been to that many tea houses out here since moving from Denver, but I'd have to say that finding this tea house was a "great success!!!"(with a Borat accent).
It doesn't matter what time of day or night you come, you will feel very comfortable and feel very welcome. The service here is awesome, they are very friendly and will help you pick out the tea's of your liking. I'd have to say I don't think I've ever had tea so good and refreshing anywhere else.
This tea house isn't like your typical boba place like Lollicup, Tapioca Express, I Love Boba kind of place, it's very contemporary with its interior design and to plasma TV's playing chinese pop music. The teas are brewed fresh and you can either get it cold or hot and add a couple different variations of boba that you would like.
This is the new age of tea houses....
I'd definitely recommend this place and do take my friends who visit from Denver here.
I am really surprised that this will only be the third review for 85C. It's a really good tea house, and while I tend to be a Tea Station loyalist, I came away quite impressed.
First off, the environment is incredibly comfortable. They have patio seating, a very comfortable indoor area with music videos, and very a friendly staff that actually greets you personally instead of with the "welcome" voice box that is usually attached to the door of most tea houses.
The tea was good as well. I had the almond milk tea and it was just right, not being too sweet or too mild on the almond flavor. Seeing that I spent a good couple hours there with friends, I also ordered the taro milk tea, which was also good, but perhaps a bit too mild on the taro flavor. It was definitely there, but it was more in the background than as a primary flavor element.
What really topped off the experience was the popcorn chicken. I am very picky about popcorn chicken at tea houses, and they absolutely nailed it. It was perfectly crispy without having too much batter or being overseasoned. Every bite was moist and tender, and the portion was more than adequate. It was definitely one of the better popcorn chicken appetizers I've had at a tea house, and my friends and I ended up ordering two.
As I said before, I do tend to be a Tea Station loyalist, but if any of my friends suggested this place instead, I would have no complaints.
the drinks here are sooo good and they're open late. it gets really packed. i love the mango snowflake.no one else has it in the area. and the milk teas are bomb.
The rose milk tea here is just delicious. They have so many different teas here but we just fell in love with the rose. This is a good place to just have a cup and chat. The waiters are friendly except this one new waittress. We ordered the sweet butter toast and I asked for three forks so we can share but the waittress either thought I said something that offended her or I had something on my face because she had this disgusted look. Anyway, she came back with one fork and I'm like, three (now putting three fingers up). Ugh. It was the first time I saw her there so I think she is new. Besides my one bad experience with this waittress and the smokiness, you could probably find me there once a week for the quality of the tea. I'm giving it 1* short of five because they are so busy that we had to sit outside in the patio many times and it is smokey out. I wish this place was bigger.
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