Anyone know anything about Chagee at the Century City mall? I happened to walk by today and there was an enormous line out the door.
Curious, I looked it up and Chagee appears to be a Chinese version of Starbucks except for instead of coffee in paper cups, Chagee serves brewed tea in paper cups, and just like Starbucks has pastries baked off premises.
Is this the new Pinkberry for those of us old enough to remember when people actually stood in long lines for a frozen yogurt?
I also wonder when someone is going to put True Food Kitchen at the south end of the mall out of its misery. On a day when I have never seen the mall so packed with people and dogs, there was not a soul to be found at True Food Kitchen. All the restaurants at the south end of the mall adjacent to True Food Kitchen were also like a ghost town.
I was also curious about the space across from Panini Kabob, which is now unoccupied. So many restaurants have come and gone in that space. Not sure if something else is slated to go in there.
Not really, at least not when I went a few weeks ago to see Thunderbolts on a Friday evening. But they weren’t holding a class there, so I imagine it gets really crowded when they do.
Right now, it’s all about Chagee and Pop Mart. Labubus are starting to gain critical mass… you can buy little outfits for them from the street vendors in Little Tokyo. It’s going to madness there at LEAST through the summer.
Depends very much on day and time. Weekends before Noon there might be 50 people in line. Random Tuesday afternoon there’s very likely nobody in line.
So funny you mention this. A friend of mine (who lives here but is originally from HK and still has lots of family) was talking about Labubus, and I was like, “Never heard of that.”
Chagee only gets a mediocre 3.4 by Google reviewers. While I am an inveterate tea drinker, I’d want a higher score for me to make the long bus trip from Van Nuys.
Chagee only gets a mediocre 3.4 by Google reviewers.
Oh my goodness, I just looked at the Google reviews. Apparently Chagee is the Starbucks of China and is all about sugary tea lattes. So sort of like boba without the boba. From looking at the menu, they do have a few plain non-sugared teas served in plastic cups. It is a little unclear to me if they actually serve hot tea or only iced teas.
There was no line late yesterday afternoon, but perhaps it was a lull period and everyone had already gotten their post-lunch dessert. There were definitely people inside.
I was excited at first when I saw the “Knotted” sign because I thought a quick massage place had opened at the mall, which in my mind would be a better addition then yet another dessert place.
I’m not a ramen person, but that location in the mall is really bad. It’s dark and depressing and I’m hard pressed to imagine any restaurant succeeding in that space. Panini Kabob seems to do okay business during the workweek and the space is a little more open and less depressing than the space across the way, but Panini Kabob was dead yesterday in a mall that was otherwise bustling. I don’t think anyone wants to eat at Panini Kabob on a weekend due to the unappetizing location.
Chagee is mid. To be fair - none of the Mainland China based tea chains that make it here are anything but average =( They all tend to run on a gimmick
They can survive on office catering alone and they likely do. They are a big favorite in our office, their large family meal feeds an army
Same. Of the newer tea places, I have been most wow’d by Kettl. Their Gemaicha + Matcha tea is one of my favorite drinks in L.A. right now. Well worth the pop over after a visit in the area. Also, Culver City is getting one of these soon… Super curious about it as it gets good marks up in the Bay Area.
I used to frequent the Century City mall a couple times a week (one of the few things, or maybe the only thing, I liked about working in CC). Now I’m down to a couple times a year since I changed jobs in 2021. Anyway, we went there on Saturday, foolishly thinking it was early enough that the wait at Din Tai Fung wouldn’t be too bad. Nope. Three hours for a table for two, or we could stand in line for the bar seats, estimated wait time 60-80 minutes. That was not happening. So we wandered. The mall was packed with people, with long lines at three places: Chagee, Pop Mart, and Ramen Nagi. Eventually we made our way to Eataly for pizza and salad at the La Pizza & La Pasta bar. Not life-changing but very enjoyable. Great bartender / server who inadvertently invented the Parmesan Manhattan. They will not be adding it to the cocktail menu anytime soon.
I learned about Labubus on Wednesday at breakfast and have since been inundated by them from all corners of my life. And I just got back from 2 weeks in Hong Kong in March with nary a sign of them. Go figure.
The Line at Ramen Nagi tends to move quick thankfully. They run a pretty tight ship. It’s good for the mall, but if you can grab a bite elsewhere, it’s not a must have bowl IMHO. I sometimes pregame at Ban Ban burger before heading to the mall and making bad decisions at Eataly.
Nary a sign in that no one in Hong Kong was talking about them. I actually work for a HKG government office and Wednesday was approached about doing something with the designer of something I had never heard of b4. LOL
