The Old Teahouse

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Location
825 Russell Blvd. #22
(At University Mall)
Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 11am - 12am
Thursday, Friday: 11am-2am
Saturday, Sunday: 12pm - 12am
Phone
(530) 297-5150
Owner
Autumn Field, LLC
Established
2002-04-29
Payment Method
Cash Only
Website
[WWW]OldTeaHouse.com

The Old Teahouse is an energetic Chinese restaurant with a decidedly Taiwan flair. It's open late, serves tapioca drinks, and draws in lots of students from the dorms.

Walk up to the register and pick up one of the two menus. One menu is devoted entirely to the drinks, one side in English and the other side in Chinese. The other menu is devoted to food with English translations and some pictures. Also check out the boards near the cash register as there will be items listed that aren't on either of the menus. They only take cash here so remember to come with paper money.

Food orders can take 10 minutes to be cooked if there are no other people ordering and upwards of 30 minutes if there are a lot of people ordering. Entrees cost about $6 to $8.

teahouse_inside_2006_03_22.jpgInside the Old Teahouse (2006). wonton_soup.jpgSome of their wonton soup.

The Old Teahouse has the "Buy 10 drinks, get one free" cards so ask when you order. They're nice and stamp for each drink.
It should be noted that your free drink can only be a regular sized tea drink (with the option of tapioca), although for 75 cents along with the filled-out card they will upgrade to large.

After eating, remember to bus your own table (there is a bin for dirty dishes near the front) or else they'll yell at you.

There are three TV's dangerously close to one another, positioned on the same wall. There is a fourth (on another wall) just for good measure. Of the three TV's, one is a widescreen. They usually play Asian-language music videos and sometimes play foreign language films, mostly Cantonese, the occasional Mandarin, and the even rarer, Korean film. They have HK magazines in a stack near the entrance to flip through. This is as close to Hong Kong as one can get without leaving Davis. The food orders take a while, so don't order right before they close.

Their level of shadiness isn't exactly "playing frisbee on the Quad on a sunny day". There have been a number of complaints about rudeness and shortchanging. They also ask for your paper receipt when you receive your order, which possibly might cause problems for some.

Their patrons note:

Some time in November of 2006 they added a large illuminated advertisement for an SUV inside the store.

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Current Reviews

2006-01-25 00:14:16   "..complaints of racism..." I bet you haven't eaten at some of our other white owned, fun establishments in town. Wait, you proabably have. And as for the food here, it's okay and reasonable. There is no such thing as good Chinese food in Davis, if you think otherwise, you obviously aren't Chinese. —SuperFlies

2006-01-25 01:43:36   I've had good chinese food. Old Teahouse is NOT good chinese food. It honestly tastes like they thawed it in a microwave from a package. Service is not bad, and I'm pretty white and never had any problems with racism. Just the fact that the food is awful. The seafood was tiny and was so ridiculously not fresh and not well prepared. Drink was delightful though. -Tim —TimCoady

2006-01-29 23:14:38   I like the food and have never gotten sick from it, altho it does take a long time to cook. They've always had tapioca when I've been there. And as for the customer service, they've always been nice to me and answered my questions. I'm mixed with Filipina so I'm light skinned by I've never felt out of places in there nor do I feel I've been discriminated against by the workers. —JoAnnaRich

2006-01-30 13:52:10   I've eaten here a handful of times. Food was ok-to-good, depending on what you get (obviously). Some food was actually bland. But as far as the soups go, the portions are pretty good. The drinks are like you would find an any other tapioca joint. In the times I've been there, I've never encountered racist service. I have encountered stupid and snotty service, so those that are quick to take offense would be wise to take that into consideration. —JohnNapier

2006-03-08 00:33:15   This is the only place where I can find Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. Yum! —MattimusMoyus

2006-03-14 22:36:49   I've never had a problem with this place until today. There was a new girl working the cash register and when I paid with a $20, she didn't give me all of my change back swearing that I only paid with a $10. ATMs only give out $20s so I only had $20s in my wallet. Check your change cause I know I will be keeping a close eye out from now on. —JoAnnaRich

2006-04-21 01:13:14   Ok first time I've ever ever ever had problems with the service. Some new cashier was hella mean to me. Never ever ever have I experienced this there before >=( Very upsetting and I don't know when I'll be going back. —JoAnnaRich

2006-04-21 13:35:51   Their food has so much MSG that it made me sick for 24 hrs after I ate it. —TiffanySnell

2006-05-03 11:42:30   This country has some definite MSG racism issues. MSG is in everything from Campbell's Soup to Doritos to Hamburger Helper, and people only complain about it when it's in Chinese food. I love MSG! I want my fried rice to have a 1 tbsp MSG per grain of rice ratio. Actually, screw the rice part. Just put some MSG in the soy sauce and hand me one of those big-ass tapioca straws. Besides that, yeah, the service here is really crappy. But if you're friends with someone behind the register, then the service merely mediocre (Most places with a bunch of college students working together actually have employees that enjoy each other 's company). To their credit though, I don't mind the food, and there was a time where you could call me a Tapioca addict. —JonathanVillavert

2006-05-03 11:51:25   It's amusing that MSG doesn't cause any symptoms in controlled double blind studies. Seems that people don't like the idea of chinese food, but MSG itself is perfectly fine. —JabberWokky

2006-05-22 16:40:23 I personally wouldn't go to this place for food or drinks. If you want chinese food, you can try going to hunan, shanghai hometown or mr chan's, just off the top of my head. Food is over priced in Old Tea House and the quality isn't great. Unless you like the fact that they use powder for everything and usually don't have certain items in stock you should go to Huong Long Bakery for pearl drinks. They don't use powder for their drinks. If you thought boba drinks always came with flavored powder, you should do yourself a favor and go to Huong Long and try something different (better). You have options in Davis other then Old Tea House. This place has given me the sh*ts too many times. —Chinese Guy

2006-05-29 11:19:39   I thought that for the amount of fried calamari and fried tofu I received and considering it was fresh, delicious, and well-cooked, the price was good. For about $4.50 each, each filled like two meals! They seal up the bubble tea with plastic instead of lids, which is what I like, am used to, and think is the "real" way to do it. :) —JennaChan

2006-05-29 011:37:13   I haven't been here for a long time, but it looks like people are still having the same problems with bad service. A good alternative for pearl drinks is Huong Lan Sandwiches as they're friendlier and use real ingredients (at least for the drinks I've ordered). —DatNguyen

2006-06-16 01:04:53   Bring Back Tapioca Express! Old Teahouse is ok, but I'm not down with the loud asian Karaoke TV's blasting at me while I'm drinking my boba. The Karaoke makes the place too "asian" for me. Granted, Tapioca Express wasn't THAT much better, due to the loud music and the huge DDR machine by the wall. But still, I like Tapioca Express Better, and I was totally into the spicy chicken things. —VietNguyen

2006-06-16 10:52:07   The "complaints about racism" has been removed. I scanned the comments, but nobody is directly saying that there was any (I personally certainly never had a problem), but that there were rumors about it at one time. If anybody has experienced racism, add a comment... or if not, I propose we leave the comment removed as unbased rumors. (To clarify, I'm suggesting that anybody who feels it should not have been removed to re-add it with some sort of supporting info) —JabberWokky

2006-06-30 02:35:08   The food is pretty good but pretty overpriced. The lines are long, the place is crowded and its a long wait for your food. —NathanielFurniss

2006-07-05 14:57:34   I usually eat there if I'm feeling incredibly nostalgic for home-food. The prices at OTH are within reason for the quality of food they serve. I personally find their porridges excellent in both seasoning (neither too salty or bland in comparison to their other entrees) and texture. My boyfriend usually orders their Almond Tea which always end up having this 'powdery' consistency to the drink. —KristyDai

2006-07-29 18:20:52   I like the Mango milk green tea and a few of the other drinks. I've enjoyed some of the food—soups and shredded chicken (which is not shredded) over rice, primarily, though the two-sauce rice dish is good sometimes too. I like the loud atmosphere. Some of the employees certainly went to the A$%hole School of Customer Service, but I don't think it's racism. I can't imagine my mood if I worked there during rush hour. One guy seems standoffish when he's actually just socially awkward. I will on occasion go on a Hong Kong Style French Toast kick. (It's basically a peanut butter sandwich in French Toast form—Elvis would be proud.) Copious weight gain usually follows. —MisterProfessor

2006-07-29 20:16:25   I agree with the accustations of poor service and rude employees. I don't think there's any racism but I'm also asian so I can't really say. Their food is only so-so and how does an Old Teahouse run out of pearls for their TEA. Anywho, the restaurant's fine. It's just the staff that turns me off. —LiRic

2006-08-04 14:21:31   I think my comment about the rude service was removed, but it had nothing to do with racism. Tom is a Chinese surname from Guandong. —MatthewTom

2006-08-11 13:32:09   drinks are good, food is bad, service is horrible —BenShmidt

2006-08-26 19:06:04   This place wins the prize for actually forgetting/messing up my orders more times than they have gotten it right. And the service truly is shit like everyone says. —CathleenLu

2006-10-01 11:17:06   The tapioca drinks are okay, the food is crappy as hell though. I think inexperienced college students cook it. As for the service, i'll probably beat them up one day. —ChrisNgo

2006-10-01 19:01:48   I've been a regular at this place for sometime, and I've got to say that their food really needs improving, its very oily and their MSG level is just crazy. They messed up my orders sometimes and seriously, some of their female employees are quite snobby with their looks. Haven't had much encounter with their male employees though. And why the hell can't we redeem any drink we want with our stamped card? instead we have to just redeem only "tea" —JamesLi

2006-10-02 21:42:24   I was there again today, LONG ass line, and service was mediocre i guess, but you know as I got near the cashier I realized that one of the reasons that it takes so long to wait in line is because people don't know what they want and they don't ever freakin read the menu!!!! GOD! JUST READ THE MENU, ORDER THE FOOD AND GET OUT OF THE LINE! When I hear the white girl in front of me say "Can I have a Manga boba drink? "I start cracking up. Maybe I am being an ass, but sometimes I think the bad customer service is there to cater to the bad and ignorant customers lol END RANT —JamesLi

2006-10-04 22:11:00   I think there's a whole bunch of haters on this website. I for one Like the Old Teahouse. Yes i do agree, sometimes they can be a bit slow, but can you blame them when they have like hundred customers lining up? In my opinion, Old Teahouse still has the best Chinese food in Davis. And who cares if the girls wear too much makeup? It's a restaurant, not some modeling agency. They need to speed up on their service though, but i think people here complain too much. If it was a bad restaurant, there wouldn't be tons of people going there all the time. —ChrisYee

2006-10-09 16:25:10   The food is only good when it's not too busy. I ordered the same dish two times there and it was a huge difference. One time was good quality and crunchy noodle and another time it was dripping with grease and too much sauce. Inconsistent in food quality. —KiwiSelina

2006-10-11 14:04:26   Been Going here for more than 2 years...Never really had a problem. Yesterday they gave me the wrong food, but immediately swtiched my food to the right one. So i'm not complaining. I think t his place is realy nice, it's something different in davis. I hate the long lines late at night though, but i still thjink that it's worth the wait. I think the only reason why the line is so long is cause people don't know what they want to order, and they ask a lot of questions that slow the line down. But overall, i think they've got the best authentic chinese food in Davis. Love their boba drinks. Don't like the long lines, but it's popular, so i expect it. We dont' complain about waiting in line for In and Out Burger..so i think patience is all worth it. —CraigStevens

2006-10-18 23:09:11   Not a bad place, food is pretty good, tea better. A bit overpriced, see Los Angeles and the 20-30 cities in that region for better quality and better pricing. It's a shame it doesn't have a outside area for sitting, tho they should setup a place just like the starbucks next door. —FrankYoung

2006-10-18 23:16:31   Don't see what commenting on the makeup of girls that work there has to do with the fact it is a chinese tea shop/cafe. —FrankYoung

2006-11-08 20:54:44   I like the almond milk tea with egg pudding. they always run out of egg pudding so I got it with cocolate pudding last time which was pretty good. Its the only decent boba place in Davis and I never notice any of the stares at my white friends, if there are any stares theyre from ignorant people anyway. —AnnThiNguyen

2006-11-10 22:36:01   See, for you guys that go to old tea house, i think you have to distinguish the kinda tea you want. You can't just say "Milk Tea", because "Milk Tea" is NOT on the menu....its either milk BLACK tea or milk GREEN tea.....n you guys take sooo long to order....i want my food, not hear you ask stupid questions to the cashier —JamesLi

2006-11-20 16:29:42   The food is alright. It's not THAT great. Basically, this place is like FOB heaven. They have these 3 big flat screens in 3 corners on full blast on the time with Hong Kong music, I'm assuming. The service is horrible. The pearl drinks here are alright. TapEx is way better. —LenaLim

2006-12-07 02:46:57   They still have a tendency to get your order wrong. Also, and this is more of a general gripe, but if you know how cheap it is to produce tapioca drinks, you'll probably never pay for one again, especially @ OTH's prices. —SeatonTsai

2006-12-15 22:54:28   hey, for whoever is complaining about the appearance of the females workers at OTH,why dont u post up your gf's or ur own photo here so everyone can adore you, JT. If you don't like their food, well please tell me which restaurant has better Hongkong style food here in davis. Panda express? actually if you prefer other chinese food in Davis other than OTH, it only means that you don't really like HKstyle food. AND! people are so right abt know what to order. MAN! LOOK AT THE MENU PLEEEEASE! "can i get some lychee milk tea please?" —HidetoMatsumoto

2006-12-16 03:37:07   hahaha, wow what an enraged comment, but i have to agreed wholeheartedly. People seirously don't look at the freakin menu when they order, stall SO much of my time while i'm waiting in line.They think it is like panda express where you can just go "can i have a chow mein?" or "Can i have a fried rice?" LOL LOOK AT THE DAMN MENU PLEASE! —JamesLi

2006-12-16 10:12:20   Perhaps Old Teahouse need to remove one of their LCD TV and put up a menu in its place. That will get rid of most stall and confusion time. —SimonFung

2007-01-27 23:02:50   Have the hours changed, the last time I checked the DavisWiki page for this the hours for Fridays and Saturday didn't end until about 1:00am or 2:00am. —JonathanMartinez

2007-01-28 00:53:09   They open till 12 every night, except for Thursday and Friday, which extends till 2 —JamesLi

2007-01-31 07:37:21   Old Tea House is my favorite place to go for wonton soup! Tho out of the 4-5 dozen teashops I have been to, OTH is by far the slowest at making drinks. The food can be good at times or poor depending on how busy it is and wether or not the Chefs are tired. —FrankYoung

2007-01-31 16:46:10   well, it does depends on what time you go there? you going there at 10something at night when the line is out the door? or 12 pm when they just open? —JamesLi

2007-01-31 19:58:02   Fun atmosphere and interesting menu but they screwed up our order (after a half hour wait at 8:30 on a Tuesday night) and the food (fried potstickers, pork ribs in bean sauce and something that was supposed to be orange chicken but turned out to be some other kind of pork in bean sauce) was cheap ($17 total), but terrible. The meat was chewy, the vegetables were slimy, and the sauce was grossly corn-starchy thick and pretty tasteless. Maybe the orange chicken would have been better. —JulieSimpson

2007-02-01 00:13:21   I like the drinks only. For their tapioca. The clear kind. I forgot if I posted this already but it's worth mentioning again. —TusharRawat

2007-02-01 02:08:20   haha I was there on tuesday night, i understand what they were saying. I overheard that they were implenting the new staff , so the newbies screwd your order over haha —JamesLi

2007-02-02 05:05:44   Old Teahouse was the closest in proximity to the Cuarto dorms when I was a freshmen. So it was either OTH or teriyaki express for food whenever i wanted something other than dining common grub. OTH scores 1 for having Boba and Tea. Teriyaki Express scores 50 million for having better service and infinitely better food...it's cheaper too. —JasonVien

2007-02-04 23:16:03   Old teahouse is the only place to go for boba in Davis. Other than that, it has randomly good or bad food. Usually the food is pretty decent, but occasionally they forget to dilute their concentrated flavor packets sufficiently and youll get a big glob of unedible salty goo. Service is variable also, and the servers often have an attitude when you point out a mistake on your order. I go for the cute looking fob girls. (and the tea) —KroneckerDelta

2007-02-06 12:59:34   Agree with JamesLi, they need a sign like this, "Please know what you want before u get inline or get the X out of it." —AvilaVoom

2007-02-20 18:16:43   Piping hot, fresh, tasty food. Authentic. Cheap. Great videos. My favorite Chinese food place in Davis. —RayValdes

2007-03-06 22:28:17   Bunch of assholes work there —MikeWong

2007-03-11 14:20:21   After seeing you give so many neg. feedbacks to all the other restaurants... i must feel bad for you that you live in Davis —JamesLi

2007-03-15 17:29:39   Came here often during freshman year. The drinks are good but the food I wouldnt eat that much. It is like all other late night teahouses that lace their food with a huge amount of MSG. Most food taste the same and the meat is usually very chewy. Go for Teriyaki Express for a more decent, healthy meal. Staff isnt very friendly but they are usually busy. —BrandonToo

2007-03-27 13:42:35   I for one am very glad to have Old Teahouse here in davis. I eat there most days of the week, and it's close to my apartment and I think the food is pretty decent. I do admit that sometimes the service is not the greatest, but I do see that there's always a long time of customers, and i don't expect the service to be so great all the time. Seriously, I use to work at a restaurant back in South Bay where the lines were crazy too, and i understand that with constant customer traffic you can't always be smiles and have time to be so friendly. One complaint i do have is that they run out of tapioca quickly and it takes some time for them to cook.

But I have some pretty nice server behind the counter and i've encountered ones that aren't as nice, i wouldn't classify them to be overlyrude, they just seemed tired, which is understandable. But overall, people there are nice to me at least. To the guy who said that "people who work there are ass**les" I seriously think that he's just mad at the world. He's given so many negative feedbacks to all other restaurants that i feel are pretty decently good. All in all, a good place, one of my favorites to eat in Davis for Chinese, Fuji for Japanese and Dos Coyote for Mexican. —SarahLee

2007-04-17 05:16:55   it is a bit pricey for quality, but good selections —KaiWan

2007-04-20 20:28:02   I've mostly had nothing but good experiences at the Old Teahouse, including times where my friends have randomly gotten free Boba. I think their food and service is mostly good, unless you go late at night when they are frustrated with their customers. —JonathanMartinez

2007-04-23 22:55:40   this place is good overall. the fact that they messed up orders sometimes still needs to be improved indeed. but the drinks are good. and i thought that the foods have improved recently. its not as oily as before. and one more thing is that they need to make sure their stuff is ready. for example, they don't have jellys too often. but i feel sorry for the workers there. they actually have to be blamed by the costumers for not having those jellys.

2007-04-29 18:36:04   i asked, "what's your biggest and bestest beef dish." she said, "beef stew over rice". i felt like i was eating salt beef. you know, like the sailors ate, only beef instead of pork. mmmm. —boristheblade

2007-04-30 13:00:30   hahah, shoulda went next door n order a beef bowl then, u went to the wrong place man —JamesLi

2007-05-02 12:48:07   Their drinks are adequate if you order the right ones, but otherwise they may taste like they were loaded with powder. The food is cheap for the portion provided but can be greasy and heavy. the honey milk tea is my favorite drink so far =) —trambajuice

2007-05-15 14:39:27   really crowded at night, went the OTH alot when I lived in the dorms, but since i moved off campus i never go here —DonaldJaye

2007-05-20 22:03:45   Never tried their food so I have no idea about that.. but the drinks are okay. Haven't tried many flavors, but I remember the Green Apple Tea tastes pretty horrible.. kinda too fake for me. I like the Passion Fruit Green Tea with less sugar so I can taste the slight bitterness of green tea :D

Think they should take Debit/Credit -_- Twice I came there and realized I had no cash left...
I've never experienced any problem with their service though. —maggienguyen

2007-05-21 20:17:13   They definitely need to accept Debit/Credit. Yes, there is an ATM in the parking lot, but by the time you remember you have no cash, you're ready to order and the line behind you is out of the door. Their service is not the greatest. They can be short with customers on good days, and downright rude on bad ones. This is a very popular restaurant, and should maybe get more personable workers. However, all of this can be overlooked since their tea is good. They definitely tide me over in my boba addiction. —BreeButler

2007-06-09 20:06:09   It's too bad that Teriyaki Express had to close down next door. There you could get a plate of tasty chicken, mixed veggies and white rice for $5.23 and only have to wait about 2 minutes to have it prepared. Here, you may have to wait 20-25 minutes to get your fried rice, which may end up being bland/greasy, but DEFINITELY full of MSG. —PatrickSing

2007-06-15 12:19:42   The OTH is my favorite restaurant/hangout place. The teas are delicious (i'm hooked on mango milk green teas w/ tapioca) and the food is pretty good. Me and my friends love coming to the OTH and sometimes stay for hours. The OTH has a super comfy environment; perfect for everyone, from noisy teenagers who run around in there socks (like us) to the studying college student. With pillows, great food and awesome Chinese music videos and movies, what more can you ask for? —rivas

2007-06-28 14:44:24   Service was extremely slow and the box of food was 80% mushy white rice. The meat and vegetables were in a gooey, oily sauce and I simply could not finish it. —MarieHuynh

2007-08-08 22:35:34   This place is awesome, I've enjoyed it time and time again. It ruins Boba places at home because they pale in comparison to the awesome Old Teahouse. —GregWebb

2007-08-08 23:03:25   i LOVE the Taro Blizzard! But then again, how DO you explain the exact taste of the taro? —JamesLi

2007-08-13 00:23:54   Click on my xanga to see their full menu and find out what's bad and what's worse. [WWW]http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=alxboi —AlXBoi

2007-08-13 13:24:25   haha nice we got a menu stealer, no wonder all the damn menus keep disappearing.... —JamesLi

2007-08-15 02:49:38   I can't wait until the Hawaiian BBQ to open next door. All I need is a Quickly's to satisfy my tapioca addiction and I would never have to go to OTH again. Their food takes forever, drinks are made with powder, and certain employees are really rude. The atmosphere and music is decent until the employees start messing around with the volume and controls. People including myself have found that their food is not the cleanest and can get one sick, but there's only so many places in the area for chinese food and tapioca drinks. —elmo

2007-08-19 21:01:19   overrated, overpriced, overtime, overcooked —KaiWan

2007-08-22 16:55:28   I think this is the best place to get tapioca drinks in yolo county —ArianeMetz

2007-08-24 21:31:10   they closed at 12 last night, which was a thursday. is that summer hours? —CraigBrozinsky

2007-08-25 18:26:58   I ordered a chow ho with beef today. I believe what they gave me is with pork. I am very disappointed for this. —Sueleo

2007-08-28 19:04:19   the only solid pork pieces they have are spareribs, they dun even have pork fried rice....pork? gimme a break —JamesLi

2007-09-08 13:44:52   I have never eaten there. I have had several drinks there on several occasions though. They were delicious, but not as good as Pearl drinks you would find in Oakland Chinatown or San Fran chinatown. I find the pearls particularly chewy. I recommend the blizzards. The service during the times I came was neither slow nor fast. I have come at all times of the day and night. Crowds or no crowds. I recommend taking your drink to go, as it gets very noisy with the tvs and all the people eating and such. I have never been there when they are out of tapioca (I am lucky). I wish they would give me my receipt back so that I could save it for my records. —AnnaF

2007-09-13 22:42:42   Being Chinese, I don't know if my review is a bit biased (as my tastes for Chinese food are above the average American's). However, I just have to say I am very disappointed in their food. The rice was hard, it tasted old, and just like many others have described, it really does taste like it was microwaved. Doesn't even slightly resemble rice coming out of a rice cooker. The black bean pepper chicken didn't have much flavor at all and I was forced to resort to my own soy sauce and hot sauce mix. Service? Well, they were nice to me (probably because I'm Chinese) but from their other interactions, I can tell they weren't exactly the friendliest of people. I know it seems like I had a horrible experience, but I must admit, their pearl milk tea was great (although I ordered it with pudding and I didn't even get it!), the pearls were chewy and the flavor was adequate. All in all, I recommend this place only for the drinks and not the food. Make sure you get YOUR pudding. —MichaelHuang

2007-09-27 22:04:19   Personally, I really like the Singapore style chow fun/fried noodle. Like, really really, I want to get this everyday and die of sodium content love. A bit pricy at $5.75, but I usually can't finish it all in one go. The tapioca is fairly good, can't beat Fantasia imho, but is on par with Quickly's. If only it was just as cheap.

Long waits for food, and they run out of tapioca, but they're open until midnight, so they get my patronage. —AmyOhe

2007-09-30 20:26:00   I went there today and ordered two things: an Almond Blizzard and a serving of Popcorn Chicken. The Almond Blizzard took 3 minutes to complete. The ONE serving of Popcorn Chicken came 17 minutes later. Outrageously, an order of Popcorn Chicken came out 5 minutes preceding mine, to a person who had ordered later than me. I'm convinced they forgot my order and had to go tell the chef a second time, hence the long wait. Despite the cashiers' repeated apologies to me, it's obvious service may very well be substantially improved at this establishment. —AlexQuan

2007-10-02 15:16:10   For those of you who care about the sanitary/cleanliness of where you eat...DON'T EAT HERE! Check out the yolo county's health website for what violations the OTH had to fix....GROSS! —ELin

2007-10-02 23:20:08   As quoted from the top of this page "Wontons, potstickers, soups, crispy chicken, calamari, fried tofu, chicken wings, baked goods and appetizers take an average 15-20 minutes, and if yours is done sooner, consider yourself lucky. The fastest is fried rice usually." —JamesLi

2007-10-10 00:39:38   I second the note about the Health citations. Couple that with what former of employees have told me about their "work ethic", I don't know how anyone in their right mind can eat there. —JesseSingh

2007-10-11 06:49:11   I was not too thrilled with my one visit, so, being mature, I just decided to not go there. As for James Li, either you own stock, or you need to find something better to do then so vehemently defend a crappy restaurant. —DCWine

2007-10-19 18:18:45   This is one of my favorite restaurants in Davis and I am very sad I live in South Davis because I am so far away. The food is very good, but can take a long time to get. The place is usually very busy and it can be very overwhelming the first time. The music videos are fun to watch, though, and you can't beat the price, especially with the amount of food you can get. I don't think I have ever had a bad meal there. However, don't expect to get a table; as I said before, it is usually quite busy unless you get there at certain times. —LolaTorney

2007-10-19 21:14:39   I love the Old Teahouse, and I come here all the time. The milk green teas with tapioca are the best. The food is pretty good, too. I've never had a problem with the service, and I'm surprised they don't kick me and my friends out for being noisy, disrespectful, or for paying the price of a tea in pennies. Check out their music videos, too—they're awesome. —vanessa

2007-10-19 23:19:20   To reply DC WINE's comment, no i do not own stock or wat not haha, its just i have experienced the slow wait, some bad customer service on a bad day (we all get finals/midterms, mind you....), but i know which food is slow and which food sux cuz i always go there. So....unless you're weird or don't pay attention, you get the fastest food, aka FRIED RICE, n get the hell outta there....why bother with "i want popcorn chicken"? suck it up guys! —JamesLi

2007-10-20 01:35:20   I admit that Davis doesn't really have any good chinese or any place to hang out. But here, I can just sit there for hours, watch movies and listen to cool asian music video keep me entertained. The place has pretty cool and authentic yet modern feel to their chinese decor for a space in that area. I really love their boba and the consistency of the "chew"? As a tea addict, I liked how original the taste is of the strong tea flavor unlike one of those places that just use old tea sitting there or worry about microwaved milk tea (qcup) and not too sweet, and they always knew what i wanted, even if i duno what flavor to pick.. So far I think it's the best one in the area. I also like their crispy chicken and nooddle-HK style. The only thing is sometimes it gets kinda crowded with customers...BUT parking is awesome!! haha —WongShuwen

2007-11-08 16:28:05   I've been coming to the teahouse for quite some time. I really don't like the long waits sometimes to order, but then again i go there during the busy times. Other than that they are a pretty good place. I mean for Chinese food, i still think they are one of my top choices. Teahouse is number 1 and then Panda express is number 2 and perhaps Noodle City is number 3. But the tea drinks are great, i love those blizzards. Some of them you have to tell them to put less sugar, because it could on the sweeter side. But it could just be that i don't like too sweet of things. I think the place is very cozy, i sometimes study there or just do projects with friends there cause they have those really good popcorn chicken that i share with my friends. But be aware, they can be pretty spicy. I ordered medium last time, and it came out to be very hot. overall great place, i recommend you go there during non busy times. —sarahnewman

2007-11-08 22:41:44   its kind of annoying how they only accept cash..but i guess if you really want the food..well bring out the cash..anyways the taro blizzard is preety awesome..but i find their boba hard and not chewy at all..its like eating a starchy boba...me and my friend both got tummyaches from eating the boba..but hey sometimes you crave it..and this place seems to be the only decent boba drink place near ucd...i order the fried rice and chicken..preety good..and same with the black pepper stir fry noodles..you get sick of the food cause they give alot of it..but its taste is preety good..and about the "racism" there is none...i dont know..maybe you went at the wrong time when the cashier was pissed? otherwise that they are really nice..even if you have to wait 30 mins for a boba drink..but on a hot day...wow the taro blizzard..i could go for one there now... —MAIRA

2007-11-26 19:47:45   I think teahouse is a good place to get food especially since it's close to campus and the food quality is pretty good, but a bit pricey especially since you have to pay in cash, but a BOA machine is right outside so it's not too bad. The line for the food can get very long especially on the "busy" hour, usually late at night. During midterms and finals you can be sure the place is packed. Their boba drinks are pretty good, though the quality can vary from time to time cause especially the coconut milktea. I ordered the coconut milk tea before (big coconut fan)it was really good, but the last time I went there, they overpowered the drink, the after taste killed the drink ended up throwing most of it away. Their Mincead Meat Tofu Rice, Vegetable Spare Rib Chow Fun, Chinese Beef Stew Rice, Salt and Pepper Rib Rice, and Shredded Meat and Preserved Vegetables are all pretty decent. Oh they make a great Taro Blizzard. —YingBei

2007-12-07 23:44:35   We bought two tapiocas (coconut milk green tea & and almond milk green tea). Took a sip. Wanted to spit it out. Drove home. Threw it in the dumpster before we got in the house. Wasted $5. Will never come here for tapioca ever again. Here is a more a crude version of my review: this place sucks ass, don't go there. —VinhBoy

2007-12-08 01:29:58   Latest health inspection result

[WWW]http://www.decadeonline.com/insp.phtml?agency=YOL&violsortfield=TB_CORE_INSPECTION_VIOL.UPDATE_BY&forceresults=1&record_id=PR0031295

Beware. I and my friends found bugs in the soups. The Brocolli taste funny too. This place is super dirty!

—Davisresident2

*Just try to eat at the restaurants first before defending it. Apparently someone has too much time in their hand to defend a crappy restaurant!" Davis Resident2

2007-12-08 14:54:58   decent- best is in SF but what do you expect in Davis? —KenichiSan

2007-12-08 15:12:55   Noting the 'health inspection results' above, they seem to have had the same reports for a long time, given that I have eaten there weekly for the better part of a year, I would like to attest that I have not felt any ill effects from the food or drink here, noting that I also change my order weekly (trying new things with a huge menu) so I could simply be lucky in avoiding all health risks, then again the group I am with also never seems to get sick. Thus if it were that this food makes normal people sick, and we who eat regularly are not sick, then this food is wonderful at boosting ones immune system and tolerance to becoming sick, and I would then advise anyone and everyone to enjoin on this possibility. For lunch I find Yummy Guide is better, just because it is closer to campus and cheaper, also accepting credit cards. —DavidPoole

2007-12-10 00:18:12   I am white and the people at the old tea house have never been anything but nice and very sweet to me. Last week my friend forgot cash and they still took our order, on faith that we would come back with cash. The food does take a long time, but the prices are great and they fill you up for your money. I also love their hours. Overall a nice place. —dirtyblondebear

2008-01-26 15:12:22   I've eaten there once. Service was extremely slow. They have a sign that lights up with your order number, except they forgot to use it for my order, which sat there for quite a long time. They said that they called out the number, but the place is so crowded and noisy that there was no chance of hearing a number being called from more than 2 or 3 feet away.

When I finally got my order (Chow fun), I discovered that it really wasn't edible because it was so greasy. Despite being very hungry, and having waited at least 40 minutes for my food, I barely touched it.

Seating was very difficult to find due to crowding.

Slow service, bad, greasy food, poor seating, overcrowding, and a poor method of getting people their food make this a place that I don't particularly want to go back to. —IDoNotExist

2008-01-27 11:01:34   i agree, its greasy, but then again, its like going to Coco's n order fettuccine alfredo and then complain how cheesy and how oily it is (and the fact that if you take it home + microwave , ur asking to die). Its chinese chow fun, its suppose to be greasy, wat do you expect? GET THE DAMN BEEF CHOW FUN! —JamesLi

2008-01-27 11:30:39   I often get Chow Fun at Noodle Express, and it isn't greasy. However, it is quite yummy. I got beef chow fun at both places. Noodle Express' chow fun was great. Old Teahouse's chow fun wasn't edible. —IDoNotExist

2008-02-13 05:40:05   Again, Mr. James Li, I am browsing at work night shift, and I love silver dragon, but if someone else hates it, that's fine and I live my life. It is just funny, nay weird and/or suspicious, how you do strongly defend this ( crappy ) restaurant whenever someone simply detracts and says it is not good. —DCWine

2008-02-16 07:50:27   you know , i agree that sometimes the food they made is craappy, sometime extremely crappy. —JamesLi

2008-02-19 01:33:22   This place is a little below average. The food here makes you feel more unhealthy than usual compared to other chinese food of better or same quality. The food lacked some authenticity which would make the food more delicious. however, their tea is extremely delicious! Their jelly with the tea is SOOO YUMMY. If I could get only jelly and in masses, I totally would! Go for passion fruit! —chand3123k

2008-02-22 04:47:57   I don't know how to email, but James Li....would you happen to be from Southern California? If so, I think we may have gone to high school together......random question —DCWine

2008-02-26 17:49:45   Unfortunately, I am from san jose haha —JamesLi

2008-03-19 16:36:24   The popcorn chicken is amazing! If you get a chance, get it EXTRA EXTRA spicy, because it's delicious! The drinks are pretty good and I've never been there when they were out of tapioca. I only go for drinks and the chicken, so I'm not so sure about the food. —VTang

2008-03-19 18:52:49   While I have to go here because I need pearl tea (there's not really anywhere else you can get it in town), I find the staff really unprofessional. They sit/stand behind the counter and eat right in front of you. Whether or not they are on break, they should really go somewhere else and not sit behind the counter eating and chatting amongst themselves while you're trying to order. Really, really unprofessional. —AndreaPasiliao

2008-03-21 15:20:45   I am quite disappointed. The first couple of times that I went there with my boyfriend to get Boba, they were pretty nice! But then the current couple of times that I went there to get lunch, their manners seem to descend...I am trying to go from Vegetarian to Vegan, so I ordered an Eggplant Tofu Special, and they had bits of meat in there! It was absolutely outrageous. Today, when I was ordering, the worker was rude and I felt pushed away. I really really liked going there, but I am afraid that after these incidents, I won't go there unless I am going to get Boba with my boyfriend and friends, and that's if I really crave it that badly anymore. :((((((((( —ThisIsSoHard

2008-05-03 17:32:05   Food is so so, but is fast to get. They do sometimes make the rice too hard, and that just ruins the order in my opinion. You do get full, but the fullness is most likely due to the rice. Each box has a lot more rice relative to the order. —Noobster123

2008-05-09 15:06:09   i stop here maybe once or twice a month for the salt and pepper tofu and a boba when i'm having a craving - and i have to say that on at least five or six occasions i have either been given incorrect change (initially), or made the wrong drink (like today), or otherwise jerked around at the register - and i am white, and have always felt the vibe that my business/presence isn't appreciated. and i'm never here when it's busy and there's an excuse for confusion or rudeness - i usually come in when it's dead. i wouldn't come here at all if it wasn't the only place in davis that fit that particular snack niche. last time i paid with a $20 (i read the other entry about this) and the girl behind the counter insisted that i'd paid with a $10, too, so i imagine she might have a *lot* of "bad days"... but what do you expect from a place that doesn't take credit cards? pretty sketchy all around. —calvin2

2008-05-14 23:04:16   this place sucks. 3 reasons: 1. it's over crowded with first year teeny boppers, who haven't realized this place taste like cheap crap
2. they once charged me .50 cents for a cup of water (which i think is actually illegal in california because it was not bottled water)i was thirsty tho i didn't feellike wasting energy arguing over 50 cents
3. more than once they've gotten the wrong order
4. the food is not good, and over the years they are getting cheaper...ie. less meat, crappier veggies, etc —foodexpert

2008-05-17 02:44:55   Although I have never asked for a glass of water (Nor if they charge for it), Im pretty sure its not illegal, if you consider it, the CoHo also charges you for a cup of water, excpet its in a disposable cup instead of reusable one. —JimL

2008-05-22 12:03:59   this place is sooooooooo bad. and the service is sooooooo crappy. —C.H.Kuo

2008-05-28 21:50:51   if you can, get 44 and only 44. 44 is the best. —chand3123k

2008-05-29 02:44:52   The Tofu dish I ordered (after asking if it was vegetarian) had bits of greasy meat at the bottom of the container. I threw the food out & will never set foot in there again. —AprilAries

2008-05-29 13:07:57   I've felt put off by OTH a number of times, but on the other side of the coin I know a Davisite who works there, and the fried chicken is good, but I have heard vegetarian horror stories for sure. —StevenDaubert

2008-06-06 21:02:42   The only positive things I can find about this place is that it is open till 2am on Thursdays and Fridays, the fact that it is the only boba place in Davis, its proximity to campus, and their fried rice. —susiekim

2008-06-10 02:09:29   Greasy/oily & salty..

I took a bite of eggplant-tofu and I could taste the MSG D: —xcutioners

2008-06-11 09:44:34   This restaurant has its flaws, but it's not necessarily as bad as people say (though I certainly wouldn't laud it as the greatest, either). Service does tend to be a little laconic, but the employees are often exhausted—have you seen the peak hour lines? Some of the food isn't really that good, but it's not terrible as far as Davis standards of Chinese. There is some fluctuation of quality. It's also a very, very crowded restaurant and very popular.

To get a table and much faster food preparation, just come by during less busy hours. For some reason, college students seem to like eating late, so after about 9 or 10 pm it gets pretty busy all the way until the restaurant closes. This is really annoying to a lot of customers, but the restaurant can't help when people decide to come by in huge masses, that's up to the customers. Come by in the middle of the afternoon, which generally means your pick of tables and food being prepared much more quickly. Most of their problems like terseness, mistakes, slow service and so on can actually be attributed to how busy they are, so. —KayChang

2008-07-16 15:23:45   this is the only place in davis where you can get salted fish and chicken fried rice. i hate this restaurant, but i cant deny the awesome fried rice. —julpham

2008-07-20 01:23:07   I hate you Old Teahouse! It's HORRIBLE service. The cashier has been mean to me of over 3 accounts. They rudely tell me that they don't take my credit card and they only accept cash. Then they give me a disdain look while I dig for cash in my wallet. On another occasion I tried to order peach flavor and they tell me it's not available so I ask for something else and cut me off before I finish to tell me it's not available. Their tone of voice was continually rude.

I don't go there anymore, I refuse to support their establishment which hires rude people. Plus I'm not a fan of their food anyways. —cnk.midori

2008-07-27 02:27:54   hey cnk.midori, shouldn't you learn by your third visit that they only take cash?? Although they might have been disdainful, it MAY be due to the fact that they've got a HUGE 'CASH ONLY' sign on their cashier...but JUST maybe.....

I think its pretty obvious he meant that they were rude on three visits, and the first time was because of the cash issue..

—ColinDoyle

2008-07-27 23:33:01   Hey cnk.midori, third time you're there and you had a problem seeing the huge "Cash Only" sign after 2 visits? what can i say? —AvilaVoom

2008-07-28 21:41:05   holy drama —fredchen

2008-09-02 18:39:45   Anything is edible if you just food it... —SunjeetBaadkar

2008-09-21 03:15:16   I LOVE TO PAY $3 to $4 dollars TO DRINK POWDER FLAVORED WATER! I LOVE TO PAY $3 to $4 dollars TO DRINK POWDER FLAVORED WATER!

seriously. it's overpriced like crazy but who cares, all the cool kids are drinking it and i love wasting money. —2point0student

2008-10-23 20:41:59   I used to come here when I was a freshman. I like the popcorn chicken, then I really examined what I was eating. It was like spicy shake and bake chicken fat. —CodyDuncan

2008-10-26 10:21:19   I'm glad that another tapioca place opened their store. Much more friendly and accommodating than Old Teahouse. So maybe they must learn not to treat their customers like SH*T and recognize the competition. Hopefully they will shape up and realize that without customers like us, they wouldn't exist. —KimN.

2008-10-26 10:37:07   Where is this new store? —IDoNotExist

"2008-10-27"   I've never actually gotten anything to eat or drink at OTH, but I do think that it's interesting that half of the posts on this page are people sticking up for what seems like really bad service here. I've worked at busy restaurants in this town where people are served tableside and those places NEVER get the benefit of the doubt on the wiki for being busy. Just thought I'd point that out. RussellAnderson

2008-10-28 16:25:31   I got food poisoning from their popcorn chicken. I guess once in a while I still need to be reminded of why I should come only for the drinks. —BenLee

2008-11-01 12:43:52   Yea, the new store opened. But I am still a big fan of the Tea House. Their tapioca drinks are good and there so many choices of foods for me. I would come by at least 2 or 3 times a week. It is true that workers their shouldn't be mean to customers, but for people who are complaining, have you ever thought about, maybe you're just too not likable to receive a good service from them? I mean, if you always go there with a Sxxxty face, HOW, seriously, HOW do you expect them to still treat you nicely? You're not so nice yourself either. I've been there for n times already, but never experience a bad service. So you know, if you expect something good, be good yourself, too. —QueenOfBigPrint

2008-11-04 19:55:12   hey,queen i love you so much. —dd

2008-11-10 00:30:47   I tried the beef fried rice and the chicken fried rice my friends got. The chicken fried rice was pretty dry but the beef fried rice was good. —kkash

2008-11-19 18:00:55   I love the tea drinks here. Addicted, really, and I'm trying cut back, both for health and monetary reasons. But they are soooo delicious. I rarely order food from here. Although the orange chicken is dynamite and well portioned, the wait time is simply unbearable when the Hawaiian joint two doors down has your food ready in a couple minutes. I don't know what people are talking about with service, though. Everyone is nice and attentive. I don't like that they check your receipt upon pickup either, but I actually think this is more because they want to ensure orders aren't mixed up, rather than someone coming in and stealing food. —condemned2bfree

2008-11-20 15:32:56   food is ok, drinks are good. service is hilarious. The first time i went and asked if they take cards and the cashier looked super taken a back and made an x with her arms and said no! You could see my reaction to that but its fine. Also, if you understand mandarin, sometimes the cashiers talk shit about customers in chinese. Keep your ears up, its hilarious. all in all, still the best tapioca place in davis...sadly still a monopoly. —boked

2008-12-03 20:53:31   My BF & I frequently come here for the drinks & SPARINGLY for the food. I ordered food here once with my BF & I guess it depends on what you order b/c my food order tasted terrible & nothing of what I expected it to taste like while my BF's food tasted fine & decent. Secomd came back with a friend & food tasted fine with different orders this time.

Second note, YES addiction is an ugly thing. I am addicted tea drinks period. Back home I like to drink tea HOT or COLD brewed out in stores & at home. I have a HUGE problem with drinking teas. I don't usually like to order their fruity tapioca drinks ( though I have tried), my friends, BF, & I usually order GREEN/BLACK teas for ourselves or for each other ( when someone picks it up). The teas are decent but it is PRICEY compared to other tea shops I've been to. Overall the place is decent & convenient to a lot of students who live nearby. The ppl who work there are nice & approachable but they've got to drop the occasional attitude change/ mood swings toward customers.

PRO = Place looks nice, clean, & tidy. Offers a good selection of drinks. Convenient stop.
CON = Don't like to wait for my order esp during one of those busy crowded nights. Waiting is frequent. Only accept CASH, NO CARD! Not the best place for decent Chinese food in Davis ( and YES, I too can taste the heavy MSG in their food which I avoid.) Sometimes I do noticed that the girls/ boys behind the counter do gossip a lot / even say something shitty about the customers which I find very immature, unprofessional, & ugly.

IF the workers @ OLD TEAHOUSE is reading this, PLEASE TAKE NOTE... just b/c the place is noisy & busy doesn't mean we can't hear your gossips. Just b/c we speak English/ Cantonese to you doesn't mean we don't understand your RUDE UNNECESSARY Mandarin comments. Sure it's none of my business but I am being blunt & sincere about that previous comment, it is sometimes really unnecessary. Thanks for reading! —AlyceeLeung

2008-12-04 15:27:52   The best popcorn chicken in Davis... SOOO GOOD!! I am not a big fan of their Black Milk Tea, Quickly's is better. —hazeleyes16

2008-12-28 16:33:45   I was unpleasantly surprised by the oyster sauce in my vegetarian dish, even after specifically asking that it be withheld. Be careful as they don't list in the ingredients list. I suppose in general I would recommend avoiding this restaurant due to its bad service and mediocre food. —VinceLee

2009-01-14 00:38:20   They're vegetarian food isn't that good, in my opinion. I've been there a couple of times, and each time my vegetarian meal was basically just cabbage and noodles in a broth. It didn't really taste like much. I could have made that by myself and not have paid $9. —AmanpreetSingh

2009-02-10 23:23:15   I just got back from OTH with my friend just now, and I just felt like writing a review. I ordered a yotea (yogurt) green tea with grass jelly, less sugar. If what I got was less sugar, I have to wonder how much syrup they use for a regular syrup flavored tea. Quickly has the same problem though, the default recipe is just way too sweet. Also, the grass jelly had a strange texture. Not quite sure how to describe it...like jello with too much gelatin and too little water... =/ It was also way too sweet for grass jelly, and lacked the herbal taste that makes grass jelly so distinctive and yummy. I tasted my friend's thai milk tea...I think they got it to compete against Quickly which I find funny. Anyway, it had a really strange aftertaste, but that went away after the first two sips :P For food, I wanted to try something completely random, so I decided to try their fried buns with condensed milk. I expected a couple of small buns that had some sort of custard filling, deep fried, and drizzled with condensed milk. When I got my order, it totally was not what I expected. I'm not sure if the non-chinese people on here will get it, but they were literally regular sized "man tous" tossed in the deep fryer, and then put over a bed of lettuce in the box. They gave me 4 full sized deep fried mantous...the box felt like it weighed 5lbs. I was starting to get excited, this was hella food for 4 dollars! I try a little piece, and in my first bite, I literally felt a GUSH of oil rush out of that tiny piece. There had to be a tsp of oil in there. No joke. Not only that,the bun was not sweet at all, it completely lacked flavor...except I think they used the same oil they fry their popcorn chicken in =X mmm popcorn chicken flavor with condensed milkkk...tasty! Anyway, I decided that the dish was inedible and started to play with my food. I took a bigger chunk, and pinched it and I was disgusted to see a *stream* of oil gush out of that bun. It seriously was like they took a sponge, soaked it in oil, then fried it, and served it to me. NASTY. My friend ordered some curry dish with beef and potatoes and stuff, it was pretty tasty, and she got a decent amount of beef :)

To sum it up, I recommend the yotea green tea, (its better than the one at Quickly), and that beef curry dish my friend got. The grass jelly and thai milk tea was just okay. And the fried buns were just repulsive. lol it IS kind of my fault though...pretty stupid (not to mention unhealthy) choice XP —jfong252

2009-02-11 16:44:36   I've only been here a few times, but it's not bad. The food is alright, but depending on what you order, it can be really greasy/oily. I don't like the service, though. They can be really rude. —fszeto

2009-03-19 18:01:17   Bottom line: Don't talk smack about your customers to your coworkers IN FRONT OF THE CUSTOMERS, because you never know if the customers can actually understand what you're saying. Yes, some of us that are Asian who order in non-accented English (and use Americanized terms like "boba" as opposed to "zen zhou nai cha") ARE fluent in Mandarin with a good grasp of Canto.

It's just plain rude, and that is the reason why I'm not returning to the Old Teahouse.

Food is decent, but service sucks. —sugarpop

2009-03-20 12:45:58   Went today at 11:30 a.m., well after the place was supposed to have opened. It wasn't. In fact, no one was even in there. What's up with that? —condemned2bfree

2009-03-30 03:35:39   I agree that the service here could use some work, however I will return because the food, price, and convenience makes up for it. —DannyT

"2009-04-08 18:20:20"   The service really needs some work. People who work here are very rude to customers. However, I will return because of their yummy rainbow jelly and fried wonton. =] — thtly

2009-05-04 16:29:07   The food can sometimes be good and sometimes be salty. Overall, I love their rainbow jelly, it tastes good with any drink. The customer service is pretty bad, can have some adjustments. —thtly

2009-06-16 21:49:27   I'm a graduating senior at UCD and have lived in hong kong for half a decade. Some people here need to get one thing straight - OTH is TAIWANESE-oriented, NOT HK. I agree that they serve SOME dishes that you might find in HK-oriented restaurants, but they're nowhere NEAR what an HK'er would consider an HK restaurant to be. That being said, the MUSIC is ALSO primarily Taiwanese, NOT HK (Jay Chou, anyone? Mandarin, anyone?). Having said that, I adore OTH and like it for what it is. If anyone here's looking for something HK, the closest thing that Davis has right now is QUICKLY in North Davis, inside the Savemart complex (davis wiki it if you don't know where it is). As an HK'er, QUICKLY provides much more of what an average HK'er would expect. To finish off - BOTH places are has its ups and downs, and I don't mind the occasional "rudeness" that happens in OTH. Most of the servers are college students like all of us - give them a break. Do you work retail or stand in front of a cash register 9 hours a day, dealing with 17 retarded customers outta 30 total every hour? You don't, so you don't know how it is. Y'all go to OTH for their food and drinks, you don't go there to be to be served. Go to Olive Garden for that shit (though I doubt you'd find tapioca there). Oh wait, you don't even pay tips, so wtf are y'all expecting? Got a problem with their customer service? Go to their owner and explain it yourself and let them know what's going on. No offense to anyone here, but I thought I might get that off my chest before I get outta Davis, 4 years is almost up. Good luck to y'all. :) —AnthonyLam

2009-07-02 09:45:16   I live close to the OTH and I have a major sweet tooth so I frequent them often for milk black tea. I also enjoy the popcorn chicken and a few other items.

—ColinDoyle

2009-07-30 00:54:41   I used to dislike this place a lot. I don't frequent it all the much but I'm definitely not opposed anymore. I was really turned off by the service but now it seems much better (though, I have pretty low standards: just a basic acknowledgement and maybe a smile, non glacial speed, accuracy, and a thank you... that sorta thing, nothing over the top or contrived... whatevs). I don't get the drinks because that was the biggest problem before but I do like what i've had of the food. On another note: I heard that the workers are divided in shifts by dialect, I assume Mandarin and Cantonese, but maybe more? So for example (just an example) in the afternoon Mandarin speakers will work and in the evening Cantonese speakers will work. True? Commentary? —hitobito

2009-09-02 20:14:26   i do not like the service, my friends are always complaining about rude employees, so i've been boycotting this place with them, we always scream "LET'S GO TO QUICKLYS" just to make OTH mad lol —emme

2009-09-27 19:26:05   I havent been there for a while. I went there around 1pm today and the service was great. The workers were just chatting in Mandarin and from what I heard, nothing about customers. My drink was good and my food came out quickly. I think i'll visit again. —kkash

2009-09-30 12:28:33   I just went there on monday for lunch but i didn't experience anything bad. It was packed but the cashier was very patience with my questions, the drink maker was extremely fast and my drink came out great. Great improvement. —AvilaVoom

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