Just another boba cafe in the 626

Growing up in the 626, you see boba shops on every corner. It’s become natural for people to say “let’s go get a drink” at 10pm and go to a cafe. So when Cafe Roule opened up in Temple City, I went to see if it was just like every other boba place or a hidden gem unlike any other.

At first glance walking in through the front door, it was a cute and aesthetically pleasing cafe. There was plenty of seating and cute picnic bench seating in the back. Along the back wall was a patch of grass which i’m not sure why it was there, but I mean, it looked cute and added a pop of color to the room. To the right there was some frames hanging on the white wall and a couple of succulents to dress up the room. My favorite part of the decor was the table along the big window in the front of the store with stools to sit on. The window brought in a lot of light.

When I looked at the menu, I was sadly disappointed. There was nothing special on it to me. There was, of course, your milk teas, ice blended drinks, and coffee. Although they did have organic handcraft tea options. They sold sandwiches, brick toast, and “munchies” such as french fries and crispy fried chicken. If you ask me, you can find this at any ol’ boba shop. I ordered a strawberry black tea and an order of french fries which was okay. The tea was pretty good. The boba was warm though and I hate drinking a cold drink with warm boba. The french fries were alright. I thought it was weird they gave me an entire box of fries and a little cup of ketchup. Note: They’re stingy with their condiments.

The customer service was fairly average. I’ve been to places where the employees are extremely friendly, aka Chick-Fil-A, but this place was nothing like this. Maybe it’s just me and my constant anxiety of paying for food but I’d rate their customer service a 4/10.

I sat down at the table against the big window in the front with my friend who had accompanied me on my visit. There was a table of board and card games by the door. We grabbed a deck of cards and played for a while. Mostly everyone in the store was on their laptops doing work. It seemed like a quiet and relaxed enough place to come and have study dates.

In my final thoughts of Cafe Roule, I’d give it a 6/10. It was like any other boba shop in the 626 and I didn’t find anything special about it that made me want to go back. They didn’t even have cute cups to Instagram. What a shame. I guess the perk of this place is they have free wifi, but that’s it. Would I recommend it? Probably not.