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Categories: Tea Rooms, Coffee & Tea
120 N San Gabriel Blvd"I try to come here as much as I can on the weekends to get my weekly fix of tea. I had the apple black tea today and it was so refreshing.…" read more »
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There boba is BOBA-LICIOUS.
Big Ass cups.
Good Prices.
Friendly Fast Service.
Good parking.
Half & Half Tea House attracts a lot of customers with its teas and special snacks. Many come here for their special honey boba. With free wi-fi, this place is a great place for friends/students to study. However, it might get crowded due to its small space. There are long lines during weeknights and seating is limited.
Personal favorites:
Yogurt Green Tea with aloe vera
Condensed milk brick toast
So I've been a regular customer for half a year now. Wow. I swear I'm here at least once a week, up to three or four times a week. Momo(the owner/manager/whatever she is) is there a lot, and says hello to me, which is a very nice gesture even if she isn't working. One time, I walked in to meet with two of my friends who are also regulars, and while walking by the waitress, she asks, "Oolong milk tea?" And I respond, "With boba please." Yup. I've probably gone through a few dozen stamp cards!
I still haven't tried their food in a long time. I do love their edamame though. Their combination of spices is terrific. Drink quality is just as good as it was six months ago. I still get the oolong milk tea with boba. Occasionally the green milk tea with pudding or boba, or the jade oolong tea with a little extra sugar.
The free wi-fi is attracting more and more long sitters to Half and Half, which makes finding a table inside(so you have an outlet) harder and harder. It's still not as bad as Tenju though. Although this is one of the more expensive boba and tea places around, I can definitely say this one is worth the price.
Still loving this place lots, coming here up to 4 times a week. I'm addicted to their oolong milk… Read more »
The place itself is umm...cute? Great for hanging out and chit chatting.
I came here once about a year ago to study, but it got too loud and I lost my concentration =(. I also had ordered one of the lunch specials that came with a drink (which came out to about 10 bucks?) They were out of boba at that time, so I ordered a milk tea or something- blah blah, it sucked. The food on the other hand was quite good.
*fast forward*
I took one my gf here recently because it was close by to do some catching up. We were in the mood for something sweet so we both ordered the Iced Milk with pudding & honey boba. It was sweet but good.... only for the first 5 minutes. The iced milk itself is somewhat tasteless and gross but thanks to the honey boba and pudding that compliments it. The thing is, the honey boba loses it's honey flavor after a short while, which then the boba become bland too. =(
(And yes, I did try mixing it too.)
Pricey Drinks.
Free Wifi.
Indoor and Outdoor seating.
Best boba shop in all of San Gabriel Valley.
JONASAPPROVED!
I've been bugging my boyfriend to try this place with me for the past few days! One, it had some pretty positive reviews on Yelp. Two, the pictures posted looks appealing. Three, it's super close to my house!
So I came here today & ordered their iced milk with honey boba. To be honest, it wasn't that great at the price of $4.48. I'll admit, their honey boba is pretty good but the drinks here are expensive! It's a pretty small place with limited seats! I THINK there's only 6 tables indoors & a few tables outdoors. The workers here are pretty nice & they give you a frequent buyer card if you don't already have one. It's buy 10 get 1 free!
I didn't really enjoy my drink, I thought it'd be REALLY good but I was let down. The first sip was plain so I just kept mixing it on my own & it was soooo sweet afterwards, especially towards the end.. Maybe I'll order something else from their menu if there's a next time. Until then, time to try another place!
Not bad place, popular with local Taiwanese.
Only, ive been 3 times and each time there most popular dish
was NA..
Teas not bad, service ok.
Not hard to find, when you see Wells Fargo, it's in that plaza..
Came here on a friday night and it was empty...
I ordered the Almond milk tea togo, it doesnt have much tea flavor and it didnt have much almond flavor.. it just tasted like plain milk tea..
they only have one size for their drinks. my drink came out to $4 i think.
i want to try other things because maybe i just caught them on a bad day and all these yelpers say its so great..
the interior is pretty cute but small. the lady who took my order was really nice.
Yup, I'm here again! Right now! Wow Sundays are packed with a mixed of family and friends and little pieces of wifi leechers here like me.
Still best place to wifi it up - great drinks & great shaved ice! I finally tried the strawberry and lycee jelly shaved ice, loved it - probably because I determine how good it is by how fine the ice is. AND IT IS FINE! =)
Packed by staff is helpful enough to find or figure things out for you. My fav is still ICED HONEY GREEN TEA.
This place is still the ultimate best place for wifi and good drinks. Its totally worth studying… Read more »
Excellent recommendation by Diana w. This is the spot for fast and reliable Internet. Thee green tea is not bad. Ordered the minced pork dry noodle. Is it pod? Lemme take a bite. Brb.
It's simple. Carrots minced pork shredded cucumber corn an noodles. Let's say it's healthy. Perfect food for studying since it won't get you super tired.
This is another hit for me.
I love Half & Half Tea House! I was first introduced to this place by one of my friends and then I introduced my family to it and they love it too!! The boba is reallly good and is just the right squishyness. I've had boba at a lot of places (AU 79, tap ex, quickly, etc) and it's always super squishy and soft like jello! But Half & Half's is just right.
My favorite drink from here is the Iced Milk with Honey Boba. It's blended milk with Honey boba. The drinks comes in a huge cup and gets you pretty full! My friend likes the Milk Tea with Honey Boba (I think it's a little too thick for milk tea), my cousin loves the Fresh Milk Tea with Honey Boba (it's the same as the milk tea but not as thick), and my sister loves her Almond milk tea with honey boba.
Everybody has their own preferences but no matter who I brought to Half & Half, they were able to find a drink they love\.
Setting: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
After the birthday dinner of a friend, we decided to go to Half & Half, which was only a couple of blocks down. When my friend first mentioned it, I honestly have to say that I've never even heard of it. After my first experience, though, Half & Half became my favorite place to grab drinks.
This place is known for its iced milk drink with honey boba. Which is just milk with crushed ice, honey boba, and a sweetener. When in doubt, get the iced milk drink. Unless you're lactose intolerant, you won't be disappointed. The prices for drinks here range from $4 - $5 and the food costs a little more, but probably around $10 max. For what you're paying, the drinks are worth it taste-wise and size-wise. The iced milk drink can really fill you up. I also like their tea drinks, but yogurt green tea is my least favorite.
The waiters here are very nice as far as I'm concerned. My brother found a speckle of something in his drink one time, and they happily replaced it for him. My only problem with them is one time, they took forever to get our bill and we sat there for almost twenty minutes before they finally brought it to us. When they didn't come back for it like they usually do, we had to bring it up to the cashier. They were, however, busy that day and we happened to sit by a corner behind a big group of people so I won't make fuss. Although, I will say that the seating arrangements can improve. You can sit outside if you smoke and you want air, or on the inside, both of which can get cramped up if the place gets busy.
Overall, Half & Half serves good drinks and has acceptable customer service. It isn't massive but has that carefree hangout feel to it. If you want to pay little for a lot, this place is definitely recommended.
This has officially became my hang out tea spot. I love the Oolong black with black jelly pudding and simple syrup. This is the only place where I've gone and not have to request my drink to be less sweetened. The amount of syrup added to the drink seems to perfect my drink. I've tried the almond brick toast, house dumplings, and cold noodles with minced pork. The selection of food was pretty decent for a tea house.
i know someone who drives out to SGV (from torrance) for 99-cent bobas. so ... for the longest time, i thought of SGV as the land flowing with inexpensive chinese food and 99-cent bobas.
that is, until i found this place on yelp. for $4~$5, the boba drinks are pricey regardless of how big the serving is.
otherwise, i've only had their regular "milk tea" and "almond milk tea." the "milk tea" is quite good while the "almond milk tea" isn't (or i'm just not partial to almond flavor in drinks). if i came back (which will be not for a while) i'll try the "coffee milk tea" ... which brings me to ask: is it a coffee flavored tea? or is it coffee in the tea?
good drink, loud crowd, place is too small for people to sit there and chat their days/nights away... LONG wait if you want to wait for seats...
This place has my new favorite drink. The pudding milk tea with honey, it's little pricey but they don't cheap out on the ingredients so its okay.
The place is a little small so don't expect to bring 10 friends and be able to find a seat.
Honey balls, mmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They need to expand this place! If not, adjust their seating so at least they can fit more customers in there. It was just too hot sitting outside! Umm anyway, their drinks are pretty good here. Well I only tried 2 so far so I can't say much. Some of my friends don't like it though, hmm. I always get the peach green tea and I like it! Not too sweet or peachyyy...! I was freeloading off the strawberry & banana smoothie and it was delicious.
Umm what else to write about a tea house..it's pretty clean here. Their servers are somewhat friendly...majority of the time! They need more people though because it took them awhile for us to get our drinks! I find it awfully weird that they charge $1.58 for cards...so bring your own deck of cards for entertainment. Ohh yea, CASH ONLY!
Normally when I come to places like this, I always order some drink without boba. When that whole sting about tapioca balls in your drink came out many years ago, I was really into it. I'll admit, I fell into that trend. Later on, I soon found out that I actually enjoyed the drink and the boba just got annoying to me. So for the longest time, I boycotted adding boba to my drinks.
From many reviews on Yelp, the honey boba was a must at this place. I decided to give it a shot, since many of you Yelpers raved about it. I proceeded by ordering the green milk tea with honey boba. Let me tell you, I was NOT dissapointed. First, the drink itself was not sweet so you know it's not all water and sugar. Second, the texture of the boba was perfect and the taste had a nice subtle kick to it from the honey. It was about a $4 drink but I've been to places where a drink like this costed me $5ish so I didn't complain.
My friends ordered one of their shaved ice dishes that had green tea ice cream, honey boba, red bean, and lots of ice. They seemed pretty happy with it. They said that the green tea ice cream was extremely good but the ice could have used some extra sauce. I guess it got bland near the bottom of the ice after you eat all the surface parts off.
All in all, I liked this spot. The service was good and the atmosphere was very chilled. It's not like they were only playing Chinese or trance songs either. At that time, they had some classic 80s/new age music on. It's a nice change up from what you usually assume from a boba joint.
Also, the food on the menu and from other tables looked very good. Unfortunately, we were not able to try any of their food because we just came from dinner and were looking for some sweets.
The place is modern and clean. One downfall: unisex - onesy restroom to share. Besides that, I would definitely come back here. I'm going to continue to not order boba with my drinks but I think I will make an exception here.
I now officially LOVE this place.
I went on a mission for a place that offered good brick toast closer than Guppy's and better than Guppy's. After a tedious Yelping session to find a suitable location, I decided...eh, the boba was good. It'd be at least worth going back for that alone.
And the boba was good. Amazing actually. I had the green milk tea, and the only reason this milk tea was expensive is because it is double the size of a large milk tea at most other tapioca places. This was my downfall. I could barely finish anything we ordered because I was so full with the milk tea. My friend and I decided, next time, we'll just split the drink instead of our initial plan of splitting the entree or brick toast.
The green milk tea wasn't overpoweringly sweet, like most I've gotten at Tea Station or Ten Ren. So score for Half & Half. My friend was disappointed that they didn't have Thai ice tea, but that qualm was soon forgotten once she got her MONSTROUS mango slush.
They have a relatively small selection of entree combos, each served with a small soup, but quality over quantity. Very very cute set up and served a good portion of food. The dry noodle was pretty good, topped with half a tea egg, minced pork, corn on the cob, carrots, and cucumbers. Plus, the kitchen is always about 10 feet away, so you can see them cooking it.
Now. Brick toast time. Needless to say, both my friend and I were stuffed to the brim by this point, despite that both of us had saved about half (in my case 3/4) of the dish in preparation for the brick toast.
I ordered the almond cream, and my friend the hazelnut chocolate (aka Nutella) brick toast. Now, the prices for these are a bit steeper (and it's half the size of Guppy's), I have to say. But maybe it's because the joint is smaller that there seems to be more attention dealt to each serving made. Cause it was DELICIOUS. The presentation of my brick toast was pristine. The toast was perfectly buttered and well...toasted, topped with sliced almonds. Served in a cute little basket, crisp and easy to cut. I sorta want more now just thinking about it (but still ridiculously full, even though it's been 4 hours since the meal).
The Nutella brick toast is Nutella brick toast. Fresh off the heat, perfectly toasty and slightly crunchy. Aaaaa I have to say Nutella is the best thing that ever came out of Italy. But I guess that's more credit to the spread than the actual toast.
The service was friendly. Not the most attentive, but very helpful once they realized you needed something.
The only problem we had is that I forgot it's cash only (oops. Yay for CVS and cashback! Btw, the limit is $35 at that CVS). Yeah, it was pretty pricey ($34 + change for 2 drinks, 2 entrees, and 2 brick toast. Don't worry, we had enough spare change on us to ensure that we left more than $35!), but honestly. Yeah, I'd come back. For sure.
And the frequent buyer card (buy how many drinks, get one free) insures that I will. :)
Came with a friend after lunch. Aaa was so full I could barely even think about boba.
But we did. And…
Read more »
Yelp, has let me down. =/
I was really looking forward to try this place, but I was extremely disappointed.
I based this place on three drinks I try. I originally order the Iced fruit green tea since I'm a big fan of it from other shops. The drink itself is too syrup like. It was too sweet and you can't taste the tea. (Which they praise themselves on having good tea flavor) The next drink I try was the Honey green milk tea, which was recommend by other yelp users. This was a definitely a let down. Based on that drink, it was terrible. The drink was way too milky than it should be, and you can barely taste the tea flavor. I also try the pearls with the drink which was way too hard the chew on. The last drink was the iced peach green tea, which you can basically get it at any other tea shop. It wasn't nothing special. I have to say it was a tad bit on the sweet side.
Some say, this place is as good as tea station but I don't see the comparison.
Like most tea places, they have a minimum charge which is $3-4 per person. Be aware, they have limited seating indoors and outdoors.
I would definitely just skip this place and head to tea station instead.
oops, we finally hit the peak hour. it was never busy for the 3 or 4 times i went, and this previous time, the place was actually FULL, inside and out. i joined my fnd at their table and waited super long for them to take our order. or i should say that i went to them at the cashier and told them that i wanted a iced milk with honey boba and pudding.
I get addicted to that..that's the only drink i ever ordered here. i waited, waited, for about 30 mins, my drink came, and apparently, they took the wrong order. so took 2 mins to exchange for a new one...hmm..that was fast. but my iced milk with boba and pudding wasn't good as usual. had very little boba and it wasn't warm and chewy, they were rather hard and cold.
this lesson is to teach me not to go there when they're busy.
i came here because i just live so close to it and found out that there are actually restaurants… Read more »
We went to Half & Half in Las Tunas n San Gabriel with friends yesterday...found out this store is totally ripped off. First they tried to charge min. $3.84 per person, (this is just a coffee house, not a Hotel Coffee Shop, no services and no fancy/romantic theme) then, their check price is different than menu price, when we questioned about the charges, they responded the menu price is for cold drink only, additional fee applies for Hot drink...all the hidden fees were not listed anywhere in the menu...very dishonest way to do business, there is tons of coffee house in San Gabriel, CA...we rather give business to other honest merchants...never go again...
Originally I would have given this place a 4, but after reading about the spoon-licking incident, I marked it down one. I probably should mark it down more, now that I think about it...
Anyway... good milk tea! Plus, my friends and I were studying here for at least 3 hours and nobody came to force us out or give us a check. Music is kind of annoying, but I don't understand what they're saying anyway so it didn't distract me. I did see an ex-boyfriend's new gf here... thank goodness he wasn't there, too. It would've been awkward city...
I used to be at this Boba place at least twice a week until....YELP ruins it :P. Since the place is so small, now it's hard to get a place to sit.
If you've never been to this place, you'll love the decor and the way they serve their drinks and food.
Also the free wi-fi is a plus.
WAIT... so why didn't anyone tell me about this place sooner??
This place has ridiculously awesome-tasting drinks - specifically, milk-tea drinks. I tried the Coffee Milk Tea here with the boba and it was seriously, the best I have ever had. I don't know how a drink can be so damn orgasmicly good. I also tried my friend's drink (melon variety) and it was really good as well.
For the guys- the girl workers were all pretty cute, so another nice incentive to check this place out. A lot of the customers were pretty good looking too.. maybe this is where all the 626 hotties like to go. haha
I loved the decor- it is very cute and unique, quite different from all the other boba places. There's a dark, smooth, cool, relaxing feel to it.
Also, I think this place has free wireless. I saw a lot of people with their laptops...
I really liked the fact that our waitress did not give us any trouble (no weird/rude looks as I had expected) for eating Dots cupcakes inside.. cupcakes + coffee milk tea = sky-high sugar high but oh..sooo goood.
I will stop by here to get some yummy drinks anytime I'm in the neighborhood from now on.
The coffee milk tea with honey boba is out of this world. Highly recommend it. The boba is delicious with an outstanding texture and firmness.
I found this place on yelp and this is my favorite boba place.
The drinks remind me of Taiwan! They're huge! Although the drinks are a bit pricey but the amount makes it worthwhile! The first time I came, I had the honey boba/flan milk tea and the green tea shaved ice with the bf. It was plenty for both of us! The second time I went, I went with a girlfriend. I attempted to drink the honey boba/flan milk tea. It was good but I think I was on a sugar comatose (even with the eel rice bento combo which looked so cute!) I was so thirsty afterwards! I should've gotten the watermelon juice my friend ordered. She ordered a chicken cold noodle salad. She loved it and she's a healthy/picky eater. I can't wait to go back and try the pig's blood cake. My friend wasn't up for it otherwise I would've ordered it by then. It is a small space so it does get loud quickly. It's nice when the place is half empty.
Nothing better than sitting outdoor on a summer's night eating a huge bowl of Shaved Ice with some friends. Mmmm.. this place was soo good. Must come back soon.
Free Internet!
+1 star for letting the actual taste of tea flourish in the drinks, and not covering it up with milk/sweetener
-1 star for crappy, wierd parking lot
+1 star for no azn wankstaaas' (yet)
+1 star waaay cheaper and better tasting than AU
+! star for perfectly "qu qu" boba balls, yay!
signed,
your true Taiwanese fob
I enjoy their teas very much!
This place has been getting busier and busier. I still remember the days when the place was not crowded with people. I guess people that use to go to Tenju or Tap Ex go here now. I use to go to Tap Ex that is nearby, but not so much anymore.
Their teas are the strongest teas I have tasted so far. Just the way I like it! It is not too sweet as well. Their honey boba is to die for. There are many times I crave their honey boba later in the evening, but they sell out quite often. I guess they make enough so they do not have to waste it. The drinks are a little bit pricier than the average tea places, but it's ok.
I have never eaten a meal there. The only food item I ate was their toast. I do not come here for their food. I come here for their drinks.
Oh yeah, this place does have wi-fi. There's always someone on their computer.
I had their milk tea boba with pudding. I asked for them to make it less sweet. It was great! I'd definitely go back again. The only downside is the place is a bit pricey and a bit small, but the decor is really cute and the service is great.
A friend who lives in the SGV wanted to meet at Half & Half so I figured it must be good. There were three of us and it was full inside so we ended up sitting outside - where all the smokers hang out. I don't smoke so I didn't really enjoy sitting outside in the sun.
We sat down and decided what we wanted to order. Thinking that someone was going to come take our order, we waited and waited. But no one ever came. We ended up going inside to order and our drinks came in plastic cups. Since we didn't get the ambiance we were paying for (drinks in plastic cups cost just as much as the ones in nice glasses inside the cafe), Half & Half lost its fifth star. The drinks were good and the place looked sanitary. It's definitely the type of place where you want to hang out and relax. If you just want to grab a quick drink, you may want to consider TapEx or Lollicup.
I hardly rate a tea house place 5 stars. The last time I did was for Cofftea in SGV. I almost did for Half & Half. A friend wanted to meet at Half & Half Tea House tonight and at first I never heard of the place. Huh? Half & Half what? I used to go to Quizno's at the end of the same plaza for my expensive sandwich craving and never noticed the place until now.
So I guess this place must be new and didn't realized it already has almost a hundred reviews! Where have I been all these times? Well the place is hidden behind (what used to be Long's Drugs) now CVS Pharmacy/Drugs store and in the same plaza of Quizno's and Well Fargo's.
It is pretty much a hidden treasure and parking is fairly easy compares to a lot of tea house places out there in ghetto SGV.
So here's a breakdown:
(+) their milktea is great
(+) their tapioca is very chewy and made fresh with black sugar (what is black sugar? http://kitchen.j321.co...) coated so they are very sweet and Q (if you know what I'm saying)
(+) their drinks are relatively large and they have this tapioca with egg pudding milktea drink that is really good!
(+) they still do the whole buy 10 get 1 free drink deal
(+) free wifi
(+) outside area for you smoking folks
(+) restroom is clean (for a clean freak like me, I care!)
(+) good service, my friend mentioned their tapioca tasted a bit sour tonight and they immediately explained to us about the brown sugar coating method and even scooped out a spoonful of tapioca they made for my friend to taste even though we insisted it was fine.
(+) price are just like any tea house out there, no crazy overprice charge, with the crazy competition out there, I sure hope they will survive and stand out from the rest :)
though...
(-) their greentea sucks (do not order their greentea, get their milktea!)
(-) sorry, cash only. you can get cash back from the CVS right across within the same plaza or an ATM machine from the Well Fargo's branch there a couple of stores down.
Wow! A place with tea that's stronger than Tea Station! I'm a fan!
Half & Half is pricey, but they do not try to rip you off. I had a milk tea here and the mug was HUGE and I took a mango oolong home for my boyfriend and it was the size of the Large cup at Tea Station. The milk tea they brew here is pretty darn powerful. It is more bitter than the one at Tea Station and I consider their teas pretty high quality.
I came here with two friends and we all ordered noodle dishes. Me and one friend got the cold noodle with peanut sauce and shredded chicken and my other friend got the dan dan mien I think. The food was pretty decent, but not really spectacular.
I love their boba. They're like soaked in honey or something and so chewy.
But I don't think there's anything too special about the drink itself. I've only had their flavored teas and slushes. Maybe their milk teas are better? They taste like any other place. I go here specifically for their boba. Mmmm-mmmm. Also it's a bit pricey - like $5 a drink. They do fill the to-go cups to the top of the dome lids. So that makes it a bit better. Cute little place with plenty of parking in the CVS shopping center. Oh and they also sell small little trinkets slash art pieces which are adorable.
After eating at Dai Ho, we decided to get tea drinks. I suggested we stop at Half and Half. I ordered my usual Green Tea with boba and my friend had a milk tea.
Mine came out great. Excellent green tea and a touch of sweetness. She said hers was very good, but there was way too much ice. I took a look and the whole cup was ice (literally top to bottom), so it was hard for her to drink without sucking up ice.
Other than the overkill on the ice, the drinks here are very good. It was $8.06 for two drinks (one size only).
Ciao!
The milk tea with boba and pudding (pictured) tastes as good as it looks. With so many poor to mediocre boba places around San Gabriel, Half & Half Tea House really stands out. Their boba has the perfect chewy texture (can't get enough of it) and the milk tea is made with just the right amount of sweetness. At about $5 per drink (the ones with pudding and boba) - it is a little pricier than other tea places - but it's well worth it.
Next time.....brick toast with condensed milk....mmmmm.
I've only been here once, but hopefully that was indicative of their normal beverages. I ordered almond milk tea; I asked for less sugar and it tasted perfect. While it is slightly pricey at ~$4 a drink, the size is bigger than the average cup and worth it. I'd definitely go back and try them again.
$.10 off
Neighborhood: Highland Park
Afternoon Lunch Special
Neighborhood: Alhambra
Temple City, CA
Category: Coffee & Tea
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Coffee & Tea
San Gabriel, CA
Category: Taiwanese
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