Always Popping - Gourmet Popcorn & Boba Tea

"I am always in the Faire to enjoy a cappuccino mornings. Yesterday, I came in the afternoon as well, and I wanted one of Always Popping's booze free mojitos. When I walked in around 2, there was no clientele and 3 employees behind the counter. The odd thing was all 3 saw me walk in, and no one said a word, and all continued doing the activities they were involved in. I looked at them and didn't say anything and there was this extremely odd period of silence. Finally, a gentleman who was doing something at the register said hello but then proceeded to leave the shop. I then stood their oddly for a bit more when finallllllllllly one of the young ladies, blond, said, "hi, what can I get for you." I said hi back and ordered. She rang up my order, and then the other young lady, brunette, made my drink. When it was ready, she called out my drink, and I retrieved. I then said, "Thank you, ladies." But both said nothing back and ignored me. Here I am the customer being proactive with them, versus them thanking their customer. Sing they ignored me, I killed with kindness, and I said "thank you, ladies" this time very loud. They both looked at me and then did reply "your welcome". The mojito is absolutely refreshing, and it makes a great afternoon sipper. But, these ladies need to learn fundamentals of customer service 101, as when the tourist season cools off and they want locals loyalty, it will disappear....."

"My worst boba experience and customer service experience ever! I love boba and know pretty much all the boba shops in San Diego area. This place took 25 minutes to make our bobas!!! I have seen how busy boba shops can be and the longest I had to wait so far was 10 mins. I always ask 0 sweetness and if there is sweet syrup the cashiers usually warn me. My 0 sugar boba was sickeningly sweet! The lady that was making boba was so slow. She was swimming and spacing out. We had to wait for a group of customers whose order was forgotten to find their order in a system. Then another lady arrived, I guess she was a manager. She was like United Nations very concerned and apologetic that it takes so long to get our order but did nothing about it. She didn’t go to help nor make out bobas, she just stood there looking at her phone and moving popcorn on the shelf. What a way to ruin your day and waste your time!"

"Honestly the popcorn and the boba drinks are underwhelming. The popcorn does have many varieties and unique flavor , the boba drinks are not bad, however both the popcorn and boba drinks are bland and flavors are mild at best. Service is great though!"

"Food is great. The night we went it was understaffed. The one employee was working hard and managing a lot. If they had a second employee the whole operation would run much smoother. The popcorn is great. It really is. I love movie theater popcorn and the butter popcorn isn’t the same and that is okay. This popcorn is great on its own. The Carmel popcorn also great and I got them mixed together in medium bag. Loving it. My daughter got boba tea. She said it was the best she ever had. She is almost 11, and I don’t drink boba so I have no clue. Certainly made her happy. Worth checking out for sure."

"We had the taro milk tea with boba and brown sugar snowbubble. The drinks were good...the brown sugar more so than the taro. We ordered it as is and had the right amount of ice...both were a little sweet. The place is located conveniently in Village Faire and a quick walk down to the beach."