Bubble House

Our dinner was such a ridiculous experience that we laughed for the majority of the time talking about how bad it was. We knew going into it due to reviews that the service was slow and we're patient people so we decided to sit back and relax a nice long enjoyable dinner. Problems: -worst service i've ever experienced -glasses were never refilled or asked to be refilled -had half of the menu items unavailable -drinks, appetizers and dinner came out sporadically if at all -plates were never removed from the table -credit card machine being broken down was blamed on ""Comcast"" and not noted to us until the bill had arrived, although they had known about the problem since earlier that day. -manager was unhelpful, unkempt and very unprofessional -this dinner was at 7pm on a Wednesday evening, we had a reservation and the restaurant only had a few tables seated. the list continues but i'll just tell you, i've never seen service like this! but... the food that is available that you wait over an hour for is pretty good. Pros: ... at least the food was okay. Cons: service, lack of items, lack of interest in customers more

I went to the bubble house with a friend last friday in hopes of tasting some of their many various types of bubble tea. Thinking since it is called Bubble House, it will have the best Bubble Tea. I was so wrong on that front. First of all, the customer service was lacking, we was standing around the front desk for a good 20 minutes before someone came to the front desk. I got the Red Bean Bubble Tea, and it was bland, no flavor what so ever. I was mad as h-e-double hockey sticks. It was a good thing i only paid 3 bucks for this, if i paid anymore than that I would have been really upset. Pros: can add additional bubbles or flavor for an additional .50 Cons: service was lacking; no flavor in the drink; more

This place used to be okay, albeit overpriced, but a recent visit turned me off completely. The dining room was filthy! We went on a late Saturday afternoon. The place was near empty and the staff were just sitting around chatting. It?s not like a big party just left and they didn?t have time to clean up, but it sure looked that way. We saw ?bubbles? on the floor when we walked in and they were still there when we left. Their tired fusion food also dropped a few notches from its previous passing grade. The bubble tea, around which they built their business, is probably the worst item on the menu. Avoid it at all cost, and certainly at the ridiculous price they are asking! I know this is not Chinatown, but how hard can it be to make a decent bubble tea? By the way, there?s no ?best bubble tea? in Chinatown because they are all good. It?s not easy to mess up a bubble tea. Let?s face it, as long as a restaurant has a gimmick, wealthy Penn students and visiting parents (especially those from a non-urban background) will eat it up, and the restaurant can count on a new batch of customers every year to sustain the business. But the dining scene in University City is getting more interesting now, and students can check online reviews even when they are already walking down the Sansom Street restaurant block. I hope they find this review and keep walking. Pros: location Cons: filthy, overpriced more

Waited 10 minutes for waitress to acknowledge; then left after another 35 minutes when the food did not arrive. They could not make tea because they had NO HOT WATER and this is a TEA HOUSE. I wonder how this place stays in business especially with some of the other restaurants on the block. The food court behind this joint was better and faster. Pros: NONE Cons: EVERYTHING--SLOW SERVICE UNCARING WAIT STAFF more

Been here twice: more

DA FOOD AINT ALL DAT.. EVEN THO IT IS A TRENDY HOT SPOT NEAR WHERE I LIVE IM SORRY BUT I JUST GOTTA SAY SOMETHIN Pros: QUESTLOVE, HAPPY PEOPLE Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE YO more

I've given this place a couple of chances, and I can pretty much expect the same.......poor service, extremely lazy and unintentive. It's a shame too, I know a lot of people that feel the same, it has the reputation for the food being tasty and the people they hire are completely unprofessional. However, sometimes my friends and I enjoy going to Lee Jones Sundae party, that's a lot of fun. I wish they would find a cooler place for the party. Pros: Sundae Party Cons: service, poor attitude more

I had high hopes for The Bubble House after marveling at the list of flavors on the menu. I ended up ordering my usual--a Thai iced bubble tea. I was disappointed though because they made it wrong. Instead of using the sweetened condensed milk that makes Thai iced tea so delicious, they used regular milk--bleck. I drank it anyway, because the bubbles were very soft and chewy and I waited all week to try the Bubble House. My friend said that the bubbles are usually hard at BH. Fortunately, they weren't the night we went. Pros: Yummy food, lots of flavors Cons: slow service, some flavors are madeincorrectly more

The bubble tea is good, but a bit expensive. Dining in the restaurant is not something to do if you are in a hurry. The service is pretty slow, and the food always takes forever. And if you go on Sunday during their house music event, don't expect to get your food in any less than an hours time. The portions are small, but the food is usually pretty good. Don't go hungry, unless you are ordering several appetizers and sides, in which case you'll pay a lot. Pros: They serve bubble tea. Who doesn't love bubble tea? Cons: Slow slow slow tableservice. And overpriced. more

I have been here three times with friends (each time against my will) and will never be back. This last visit pushed it over the top. We waited for seating, as prompted by the girl at the bubble tea counter, for 15 minutes in an almost EMPTY restaurant! When we got seated, the server brought us water in dirty cups. It was disgusting and undrinkable. She apologized and took 10 minutes to bring us fresh water. We ordered a chicken wrap with sweet potato fries (fries were cold and soggy), a tasteless rice noodle soup ($9 for an APPETIZER sized portion, even though they claim it is an entree) and a red curry with chicken. The curry, though slightly bland, was the best thing on the menu. Despite the lack of patrons in the restaurant, the food still took 40 minutes to arrive. The waitress was very apologetic. As far as the ambiance goes, the whole place seems to be falling apart. For some reason, they choose to hang dying plants everywhere and the tables are crusty, sticky and wobbly. There seems to be crust in every corner, which doesn't bode well for the shape of their kitchen. Go to the White Dog next door instead for a decent meal! Pros: loose leaf tea Cons: overall bad experience more

This was a horrible experience. We were seated promptly, however the service was horrific. I ordered my flat iron steak medium/medium-well and it came out almost raw. My boyfriend ordered the crabcakes and asked for sweet potato fries instead of rice. His meal still came with rice and he had to remind her that he ordered the fries. it took a good 15-20 minutes for her to bring out meals back the way we ordered them in the first place. the server never ONCE came back to see how we were doing and it took forever for her to take our plates away and bring our bill. I will never go back there again. I DO NOT RECOMMED IT. Pros: cute little place Cons: server, food more

I saw first hand why it seemed that everyone said this place had bad service. The entire place is just off the chart horrible when it comes to the environment. There is no real front entrance; instead you wander in only to see the dissapointing looks on the patrons faces with no wait staff to be found. When someone who works there finally acknowledges you, they take you to every room in the place trying to find a clean table only to make you wait in the crowded isle with your privates facing someone while they are trying to eat while they attempt to clean off a table after realizing there isn't a clean one in the entire place. I could write a novel on everything wrong with this place, but to save you time... the wait staff is the worst I've ever seen, the bubble tea is horrible and taste somehow stale, the food wasn't actually that bad, but it would have to not only be free, but beyond five star to make me want to live through the waiting ordeal ever again. Pros: so so food Cons: everything else more

pretty good unviersity eats. nice place. didn't like the service too much though... more

pretty good unviersity eats. nice place. didn't like the service too much though... more

We went there on Thursday (07/09/07) for lunch. We were seated at 12.30, our orders were taken wihin 10 min, water is served, then we have to wait for 45 min for two orders of pan fried noodles, within this period no one showed up for any info about our food. After 45 min, food came. My fiancee had ordered tofu with her noodle, but there were none. By the way, we had neither silverware nor napkins. She walked to the front and asked for chopsticks. Our waitress finally showed up and we asked him about the tofu. His answer was: REALLY. Then we wanted the tofu on the side. He said okay. After 20 min, we were done with our food, but there were still no tofu. Then we got upset and decided to leave. We walked to the front side and asked for our check, our waitress was also there. He told us that he would be with us soon. But we decided to wait there. The bill was 21.29 dollars. I gave 25, and wait 5 min for him to return the change. I was shocked when I saw 3 dollars. He didn't even bother to give me back my 71 cents. After all those I thought that it was a joke. And I just left 1 dollar tip. Then we start walking to the back door. This guy followed us and shout to us: Thanks for everything. Thanks a lot. the 1 dollar in his hand, and he put the money in front of us. At first, I thought that he was sorry because of the service and didn't want the tip. But then we figured out that he was upset because he didn't get a good tip. I told him thanks, and I told him after all I shouldn't have left any tip. But he still have my 71 cents. By the way, we were not the only victims. Everybody was complainig and the table in front of us left very unhappy, and they put 2 dollars on their table. Just be careful. Especially, that very kind looking hazel guy might make you feel really upset. Terrible service...The quality of the food was okay. But the portions are little. Especially when you compare with the price. more

We waited 45 minutes for our food. We didn't get napkins or silverware, I had to go ask the wait staff. They forgot the tofu in my dish, and then they said they would bring it. But it never came. The noodles were soup water teryiaki and had no real sauce. And there weren't hardly any noodles. more

I was pretty excited when I first found out that Bubble House has boba tea, and right next to the Penn Campus too. But alas, I have to be disappointed with it. The boba tea here is horrible in comparison to what one could get in Chinatown. I guess this is a good way to introduce boba to the over-privileged WASP students on campus who have never heard of such things in their lives and to overcharge them for it. Cons: Bad boba more

I've been here numerous times--you will never get great service but the sweet potato fries are the best, esp. with the special sauce. I get the korean bbq wrap and it's not real korean but it's tasty! more

I will definitely be visiting the Bubble House again! I had the Lime-Garlic Chicken and Shrimp with noodles and my friend had the Curry Chicken with rice. Both were absolutely delicious. My first experience with their bubble tea (and bubble tea in general) was not a good one. I thought it was a bit over-priced and I was disappointed with the taste and texture. GO HERE FOR THE FOOD Pros: delicious food Cons: slow service more

There was no wait for a table for Sunday brunch, which is a plus. Upon entering the restaurant there is a mild, sweet, stale odor that I did not like. The molding on the floor looked a little grimey and there were flies that were bothersome. The tea cups had lots of detergent stains left over from the rinse cycle of the dishwasher. Pros: sweet potato fries, short wait for table Cons: very slow kitchen, poor ambience, overpriced more