These are reviews of Old Teahouse from 2006. See also reviews from 2005, 2007, and 2008. For more current reviews, visit the main entry.
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
- That sucks! Most places have a video camera aimed at their cash register, so you may have recourse to prove your case. Even if the digits aren't visible, the bill picture may be, and you could also see which slot the bill was placed into. Which, by the way, should tell her which you gave her. If there's a 20 in the 10's slot, that's proof there. Also, at the end of the day when accounts are reconciled they would know if they were $10 over. In the future, perhaps the solution is to get into the habit of speaking what you're giving, i.e. "Here's twenty". —SteveDavison
- Yea but I got my change back. I was just unhappy cause I think she may have been pocketing extra cash. When I checked my receipt, it said I paid $3.22 exactly. She coulda pocketed the $10 without anyone knowing. But I'll still return here, no other problems. And I have 9 stamps outta 10 so I want to get my free drink. — 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
