I-Creation

The drinks have a unique taste, but it’s not a bad unique. It’s an okay taste. The staff is really friendly. I’ve asked for recommendations and they’ve tried their best to find me the perfect drink to my liking. They gave me samples and they were super friendly.

Finally got to try this place when it’s open. I was surprised to see an elderly woman working, as for most boba places hire teenagers. I ordered the Green Milk Tea. I was surprised they didn’t have normal boba, they only had small. The woman who helped me was very friendly though. I have a five stars card, but the computer wasn’t working, and she told me to tell her next time I’m here and she’ll give me an extra point. Which is very nice of her! The Green Milk Tea wasn’t too shabby. It could be a teeny bit sweeter, but I didn’t mind it being a bit bitter. Overall, I think I wouldn’t mind coming back here. They should really update their times on Unilocal,since last time I came here at 8pm and they were closed.

i was driving my cousin home and wanted some tapioca, and he suggested this place because it was by his house. wasnt sure if it was still open but it was. when i asked they said they were closing but took our order anyway but they tossed out their tapioca already.
me and my cousin ordered to regular milk teas with some jellies which was around 4.29 i think and i tipped the lady like 1.71… because i thought she was being nice.
when i walked out i noticed my seal wasnt sealed properly and went back and she resealed a new one for me. when i got to the car i looked out Unilocal that they close at 8 pm… when i got there it was 6:03 or something so wth?
the milk tea tasted watered down so i am deeply disappointed. and also my cousin’s drink wasnt sealed properly too be he didnt noticed until i got to his house so that pissed me off more.
so the drinks suck, both drinks wasnt sealed properly, and it closes earlier then stated on Unilocal

Came here with my nephews since it was the closest thing to the park… and… kind of wish i didn’t. Tapioca on Taraval is just terrible in general since the Quickily’s up a block is gross too… so I guess in comparison, these two are similar. Anyway, I got the regular i-​Milk-​tea or whatever… and it didn’t taste like your standard milk tea… was a bit too sweet and odd tasting. My nephews shared the sour apple or something flavor… and that one was just gross… I’m not sure how they chugged it down… but I guess they’re kids and they’re happy with whatever they get. But I won’t be coming back here for tapioca! The only thing positive from this experience is that it was only $ 1.98 for each drink… but I guess looking back. I feel ripped off. You also get to throw your own toppings into it… but that’s starting to become a standard thing for other tapioca places. Overall experience? MEH.

Based on the two times I’ve been here, I’m awfully not impressed.
First of all, let’s start with the positives.
–They have a neat rewards system that I’m sure you can find a picture of the the photos section.
–The drinks have self serve toppings — similar to Teaway
–The location is rather convenient
–It’s pretty inexpensive
However.
The customer service is poor. I just went there, and I could tell they were talking about me, assuming I didn’t speak Chinese. Well I do. They were wondering why I was even out of school, and even asked me why I wasn’t at school, what my name was, and how old I was. Um, please. All I wanted was a green tea, not to be interrogated with questions.
Just for the record, I wasn’t at school because I was sick, it was the Giant’s Parade, AND Halloween. Most people aren’t at school anyways, and you don’t do much work on Halloween (how can you take anyone seriously?)
After I got my $ 3 large mango green tea and left, I noticed how orange my tea was. It’s not suppose to be orange… and it tasted LITERALLY like sugar + water. The tapioca was undercooked, and the jellies were all way to soft. The tea left an odd aftertaste that reminded me of egg. Not somthing I look for in a drink, personally.
I think this is the only time I didn’t finish a boba drink. Wish I didn’t get a large.
But I’m still going to come back to try their mango shaved ice. It seems pretty foolproof. How would you mess up on ice and mango? We’ll see next time.

If I don’t feel like trekking all the way to teaway for drinks, I-​creation would probably be my next choice if I wanted various things in my drink.
I have just gotten the milk tea and it’s alright. I personally prefer Quicklys milk tea, but otherwise its just ok. Consistency of the drink is good and the self-​serve bar is always fun but there isn’t much to rant and rave about. However when they started having their special shaved ice, the guy working there gave my sister and I a free cup each. Not bad but I don’t think it is worth $ 4 (i think, or whatever price it is). You can probably find better shaved ice elsewhere.

I was in the area with some friends and we all just happened to have an urgent boba craving. I-​Creating was the closest place to us, so we headed over to get some cheap milky goodness.
What I liked about I-​Creation is their self serve toppings bar. Tapioca, jelly, anything you want all for the same price. No more having to pick between different toppings.
The milk tea itself is on the same level as Tapioca Express or Sweetheart’s in Berkeley. It tastes cheap, fake, and powdery. Definitely not what I was expecting from such a nicely decorated store.
The workers all looked and sounded bored and disinterested, so that mixed with the gloomy SF weather and crappy milk tea just set the wrong mood in the air. This is one boba shop I suggest avoiding.

If you’re looking for something other than Quickly’s whilst wandering along Taraval, I-​Creation will do just fine as a alternative boba place. Basically it’s a serve-​your-​own-​toppings style and once you’ve filled your cup up, they’ll pour in the drink. I got the standard milk tea and it was decent! Not sure whether they actually do use tea or not, but it tasted like tea to me.
The lay-​out of this small shop is very similar to Teaway on Irving (even the menu layout looks the same) and the drinks are cheap and not bad. The place is pretty tiny though so I’m going to assume that on a busy night you probably can’t expect to sit down or really stand around the store for very long.

Bleccchh.
Somebody bought milk tea for me in the area before, so when I was on the L with my brother I decided I would jump off and grab a cup. This definitely wasn’t the place.
Their boba is cooked fine, but the other additions made my drink tasted odd. I never had a problem with my experimentation making my drink taste too syrupy! My brother’s Thai Tea tasted sour and was obviously straight from a powder mix. What a waste of money.
They’ve got iPad kiosks and music videos playing, but the store was empty and the workers looked miserable. It was a terrible atmosphere and instead of staying to drink my terrible tea, I stood outside and waited for the next train.

I-​Creation has somewhat been my go-​to spot on Taraval for milk tea. You’re able to go in and purchase a cup which you fill with any combination and amount of tapioca pearls, jelly, etc. which is a nice touch. The place is clean and there are ipads around for you to use if you decide to stick around. The first few times I went were awesome. There was one staff member who constantly remembered my name and drink and had it ready for me before I could even order. Recently though I-​creation has been greatly declining in quality.
There have been two asian girls who seem to be the only ones working now, the milk tea has remained fine for the most part, but they are incapable properly preparing the snacks. I ordered french fries and I literally got potatoes that were practically raw. The last time I tried to go I was told the shop was closed at 7. I found that odd since it was still 6:58 and they have always been open till 10.
Aside from those few negative experiences there are a few group of asian kids who affectionately refer to each other as «niggers» who have been there easily half the trips I’ve taken there. They also have the strangest music playing in the shop. I was partly mesmerized by an asian hip hop group with lyrics such as «duck the donkey punch» as I waited for a milk tea.
Overall, it’s not a bad place. Just don’t expect anything amazing, and avoid the food if there are girls working.

Disclaimer: This review is based primarily on their shaved ice dessert. I had been waiting for a place in the Bay Area to serve shaved snow so that I don’t have to make a special trip to Class 302 in Rowland Heights. I almost lost hope until I saw i-​Creation.
Texture:
Even though it’s labeled «shaved ice» on the menu, there are no ice chunks. The texture is indeed light and fluffy like snow, and the shavings pile into the cup in the form of thin sheets rather than slush.
Flavors:
The ice shavings are flavored naturally (eg. with real fruit for the fruit flavors) rather than with syrups.
— original tastes like milk as it should without added flavor
— mango tastes like juicy mangoes, favorite so far!
— sesame tastes like black sesame, pan fried in house!
— taro tastes like taro, light and delicious
— green tea tastes like matcha green tea
— white chocolate is actually pretty good, has a light flavor that’s not too sweet
— pineapple is sweet and tart, quite refreshing
— chocolate — haven’t tried this yet
— strawberry is a seasonal flavor; have yet to try when strawberries are sweeter
Add-​ons:
The shaved ice is delicious by itself, but condensed milk, syrups, and self-​serve toppings (same as what you’d add to drinks) are available.
Cost:
$ 4.88 + tax per cup (one size) with or without add-​ons
Hospitality:
The manager is nice and friendly, and he always takes time to explain menu items that seem unusual or unique. The other employees aren’t as knowledgeable so I keep the questions to a minimum. If you haven’t tried this type of frozen treat before, don’t be afraid to ask for a sample or two!
Seating:
The store is small and not much of a hangout spot. Not counting the iPad stations near the front door and self-​serve area, the side wall and front window has counter tops and about five stools.
Rewards:
They’re part of the Five Stars rewards program now, and they will transfer stamps from your old card onto your Five Stars account.
Rating:
I don’t mind the low star rating for their milk tea, especially when I don’t have to worry about waiting in line. But for the love of shaved ice/​snow, I need this place to stay in business! I’m giving them 4 whole stars for shaved ice texture, natural flavors, variety, and reasonable price!

I was so excited to try my first snow ice ever, I got the mango with condensed milk, lychee, and milk pudding on top. It was just ok. I think I like froyo better.

Taking a star away because iCreation has gotten worse. The milk tea had this spoiled aftertaste. Ick. They didn’t even have any tapioca pearls on hand.

Their milk tea and tapioca tastes a little off for some reason. Their spicy chicken wings taste good but they’re way too dry. Their mango shaved ice is alright. They have ipads for you to play with which is cool.

This place is okay. No different than teaway. Same price and most of the toppings you find in teaway you’ll find them here. They also have self serve toppings, but they have a limit on how much you can put in your cup. They mark a line with a sharpie telling you that you can only fill it up to that.
The place is conveniently close to where I live. And is less crowded than teaway, so maybe I’ll visit here more often.
First time I ordered the strawberry milk tea. But I disliked it because I didn’t know that it was going to be only regular milk tea plus some artificial sour flavor. However, next time I came I ordered the regular milk tea and that was okay.

Came here with my friend since we had nothing better to do. I got their special penguin? i believe. it was alright it was nothing special. my friend got hot milk tea. she took a sip and made a face at me and told me to try. I taste it, we both had better thats all i got to say. The Milk tea wasn’t even hot it was barely warm. But the décor is pretty cool, and the self service toppings were pretty cool.

Meh.
The drinks here aren’t that great, guess I should go there for desserts instead. The drink topping selection is whatever; they had a lot of different jellies so I guess that’s good if that’s your thing. But I wanted me some pudding and they only had mango :(no egg! I had the green tea, which was much too sweet for my taste. Overall, just an OK drink.
[+]:The manager was really nice and friendly! He smiled and greeted us warmly, and didn’t laugh when we didn’t know how to use the iPads mounted on the wall haha. He offered us a free sample of the Mango Shaved Ice. It was really good and true to the mango taste yumm. But I felt that there was a weird powdery consistency in the shaved ice though, no bueno.
Overall, a mediocre experience. Great service, average drinks.

I-​creation offers shaved ice, smoothies, milk teas, and yogurt drinks. like teaway, the toppings (boba, jellies, mango purée, marshmallows, etc/​) are on display on the shelf.
drink: either regular or large, price not posted on later
–green milk tea (1.98) with unlimited boba/​jellies)
pretty sweet, no doubt from jellies. nice milky flavor, reasonable price.
tea drips:
–frequent buyer card, 10^th free
–i-​creation doesn’t imitate teaway, it’s evolved into the next generation of asian drinkery, (away from froyo and gelato).
–i-​creation differs from quickly and teaway in that they don’t offer food nor desserts (didn’t see any).
–very personable associate, offerred free samples of shaved ice, passed. too cold…
–small shop, not much sit down space.
–cash only

Teaway isn’t the only boba place that has self served toppings for drinks. Just because it looks like a «Teaway Clone» it doesn’t mean jack. Most of the toppings there arn’t even for the drinks. Silly gooses.
Food: I ordered the mango shaved ice after they gave me a large amount as a sample (half a cup :)). It was different from what I had imagined. It came out in thin sheets of mango and ice. It tasted like a sorbet, but less sweet. It was unique to me, and it really standed out. After that the boss gave us a white chocolate shaved ice for free. It was weird when i first heard it… White chocolate shaved ice, but it tasted better than it sounded.
Service: The service was nice. The free food helped a lot haha.
Décor: I love the chairs. They look so cute. I don’t get why they have I pads hanging around though… Its a neat but illy idea.
Over all this place was a hit for me when it comes desert. It is a bit pricy, but i wouldnt mind paying 5 dollars a cup.

I crave boba late at night and there are plenty of local places to meet that need. A new contender just opened up down the street, and with their «$ 1 off everything deal», I couldn’t resist giving it a try.
I ordered the taro milk tea with boba, pudding, and all that jazz. It’s hard not to compare them to Tea Way since they have the same model, but for some weird reason they don’t have any of the same popular flavors. Why not offer stuff people actually want? Overall, the drink was ok, but the boba had a strange, overly sticky texture. They mix the shaved ice and tea toppings together but then put a sign up saying you can’t mix them. They’re also about 18″ back from the counter so you really have to reach for them.
They’ve got iPads mounted up like arcade machines but it’s kind of awkward to play since the shop is so small. Their snacks are all not finger food friendly and they don’t offer boneless chicken. Some of these things are pretty obvious fixes and I hope they manage to get around to them. If they do work out the kinks, they may be able to compete with Tea Way. Until then, that’s where I’ll be.
Food: ⁶⁄₁₀
Service: ⁶⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₁₀