LOL!!! I am always tempted by the darn pizza stand and then regret. I wish the crust was better.
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The one near the food court? We went in, took a look at the prices, and then quickly walked out. Glad to hear that following our instincts was not a mistake! ::sigh::
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No, I was talking about the pizza at Eataly. They always look better than they taste.
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Thereās also an Eataly pizza āshackā next to the food court, no?
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Not today or at least not at the time I went. And they actually had donuts so I tried one. Definitely not my thing. Strawberries and cream. Gobs and gobs of it and in my opinion way too sweet. To me the cream to bread ratio was way off. The bread part tasted defrosted. Not sure how they make these.
Still lots of people in line at Chagee. And a shorter line at the boba place upstairs, I guess the people who didnāt want to wait in the longer Chagee line.
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I finally made it to Chagee. And it was disgusting. I rarely call food or drink disgusting, but this qualifies if you happen to (1) be a tea drinker; and (2) are 18 or older. (Although I canāt imagine having liked Chagee even as a young teenager).
I didnāt want a sugared latte (or a non-sugared latte), which is the majority of their offerings, and I wanted hot tea, so I asked for a recommendation. Was recommended the Peach Oolong. It tasted really artificial and bubble-gummy and bubblegum is not a note I look for in tea. It brought back memories of being 17 and drinking Andreās Cold Duck - the height of sophistication for a suburban 17-year-old back in the day . . .
Because Iām not big on the microplastics which line Chageeās paper cups (and which are supposed to leech even more plastic into your drink when hot water hits the plastic lining), I decided I would buy one of Chageeās cute tea thermoses. I bought it despite them telling me that for āsanitary reasons,ā they could not actually pour the tea into the thermos for me, meaning I had to take the tea from the plastic lined cup and pour it myself into the thermos, somewhat defeating the purpose, although at least my tea wouldnāt be marinating in microplastics.
Do not make the mistake I did of buying any merchandise from Chagee. Iāve seen manufactured junk before but their $30 thermos took the cake. You unscrew the cap to pour in your liquid, but the thermos was so cheaply and poorly made that it is almost impossible to flip the top to actually pour from it. It actually took not one, but two, strapping young male Chagee workers to pop open the top for me. However, once flipped open, it is almost impossible to pour from the thermos because there is just a tiny hole through which to pour. And the spout is plasticky junk, so in any case you would be pouring your hot water through plastic, and avoiding plastic was the whole reason I bought the thermos in the first place. So I just unscrewed the top and left the top off while I sipped the bubble-gummy tea.
I was with a friend and she said I should return the thermos. I decided to try, pointing out that it had taken two of their workers to actually open it. I was told that they do not accept returns (a policy which was not displayed) under any circumstances. So I am stuck with the $30 piece of junk. Unless you want to give it to an enemy, I would highly suggest you not be tempted to pick up one as a stocking stuffer for Xmas.
At 3:00 p.m., we avoided a line, but as we were sitting and drinking our tea, a fairly long line formed (although not out the door). Average age seemed to be 17 to maybe 25. Now I can say I have been to Chagee and I will never go back. And that I donāt get it.
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Yeesh. Sorry it wasnāt a good experience! FWIW, these newer tea chains from China (Chagee, Heytea, Molly Tea) are more enjoyable if you frame them as sweet treats or desserts instead of an artisanal tea. Thereās a reason the majority of the menu is milky/creamy. 
Itās not sophisticated, but it hits the spot sometimesā¦and in China, those drinks are around $2.50 USD, which feels a lot more fair than what weāre paying here.
I hear you on the merch ā hate the mass amounts these brands put out. Every new opening seems to be paired with tote bags and cups that nobody really wants. The quality is poor, and youāre essentially paying to advertise for them.
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Did you write this? It feels like ChatGPT or Google AI Overview
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~ Iām sorry, Hal, Iām afraid you canāt do that. ~
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I just asked for a summary. Is HeyTea that bad?
AI slop detected, boo.
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In retrospect, after reading about these Chinese āteaā chains, I see that I was operating under a fundamental misunderstanding ā i.e., that they were actually using tea leaves, whether loose leaf (doubtful) or teabags. Now it all makes sense ā we are talking about powders made in a factory or lab and then doused with āflavoring.ā Which explains why when I watched the worker at Chagee pour the tea and then cap it, there was foam at the top of the cup. I thought maybe they had gotten my order wrong since I had specifically not ordered a latte, but I was told āno this is the way our plain tea is.ā Makes perfect sense now that I realize they are using some kind of powder - it foams like soap or detergent.
I had initially intended to head to La Colombe at the mall, which as far as I know uses actual tea leaves, but had wanted to see what all the Chagee fuss was about. Iām not a coffee drinker, but I find it ironic and sad that as coffee becomes more artisanal, tea becomes a frankenfood.
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I donāt think anyone here would begrudge you for using LLMs to inform yourself. I use them in my personal and professional life frequently. But people come here to hear the personal opinions of other users they know and trust, whereas LLMs are by definition - even when providing a range of viewpoints - regurgitating the āaverageā of what anyone has ever said about a topic. There is a strong sentiment here, if not a written policy, against posting verbatim LLM outputs, particularly when thereās no compelling commentary accompanying it.
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HeyTea is fine imo. The grape drinks are unique. Not my thing, but the family likes them.
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I would also sugges that, since my vague memory is that @hal, would copy-and-paste stuff from the internet in the past w/o attribution, perhaps @hal could simply add the attribution in future posts, āHereās what I found when I asked ChatGPT about this: ā¦ā
I do agree that I think most posters would also appreciate some non-AI generated commentary to go with the AI stuff.
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I havenāt gotten around to updating the terms of service yet, but AI-generated posts are not allowed.
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The mainland China tea chains are just sweet drinks with low to medium quality tea. They just do packaging really well so consumers are easily wowd.
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