Joyful Boba and Fresh Juice

I finally got around to trying this new boba shop in our area. Ordered a Thai tea with lychee jelly and some tempura shrimp.

The first thing to note is that they serve more than drinks, they have very nice snacks on the menu. They have a deep fat fryer so their shrimp tempura, chicken wings etc. are fried rather than baked. The shrimp had an absolutely fantastic texture, I loved them and will go back to try other snacks. Very promising.

They have a wide variety of teas, coffees and juices, and seven different jellies (bobas) for the drinks. I actually don't like the texture of the jellies, I find it off-putting, but I wanted the flavor and the experience. The lychee jelly added a very nice layer to the flavor of the tea.

The people are nice, and there is a beautiful custom mural on the wall. The furniture is pretty basic but goes well with the colors and there's plenty of room if you want to hang out. They have board games, so they are encouraging you to stay. I am taking off just a bit for the bathroom--it was not as clean as I would have hoped, though it was usable. Definitely worth going back.

My Yelp Review

Mexico Tacos and More

This is the latest restaurant to locate in the Chevron Root Mart at Root Road and Northcrest. I stopped in the other day to give them a try for brunch.

They have the usual breakfast tacos available. They have a carnitas plate and I love carnitas so I went for that, with corn tortillas, rice and beans.

The rice and beans were fine, standard issue for Tex-Mex. Would have to say that the carnitas were on the dry side. I tried both red and green salsas--they are good and taste homemade. Both with a pleasant heat but not super spicy. The corn tortillas were store bought.

Root Mart is a nice, community-involved convenience store so if you're in there for something else and want a bite to eat I think they would be fine. There are a lot of good Tex-Mex convenience store and food truck options nearby (my favorite is still Tony's Street Tacos) so it would be hard to justify going out of your way. These folks seem very nice and I wish them well, but they will need to up their game to make it in this location.

My Yelp Review

7 Brew

Yet another coffee chain! There are 7 Brews all over the country, but this is the first one in the Houston metro area. I stopped in to give them a try on my way to the game the other day. I got the Triple 7, which is their Smooth 7 (coffee with Irish cream and chocolate) made with espresso instead of coffee. So 6 + espresso shots depending on what size you get (small, medium, large--understandable sizes!). The Smooth 7 would probably be too sweet for me, but with the bitterness of the espresso it tasted quite good. And of course a serious caffeine hit.

Like Dutch Brothers and Scooter's, there's no seating, it's just a drive through. Like Dutch Brothers, the waitstaff come out and take your order in person rather than talk through a speaker, which I like. Unlike either of those there's no food on offer--if you want to chew on something go elsewhere. They do have smoothies and milkshakes, as well as tea and energy drinks. Do we really need another coffee chain? Hard to say. I give it 5 stars because I have no reason not to. Service was fast and friendly as promised. No ambiance to speak of, as promised (though they might be playing music sometimes?).

My Yelp Review

Jeremiah's Italian Ice

Stopped in to try the new location for this chain near our place. I also looked at their website before coming in, and can tell you that it does not do the menu justice at all. The online menu makes it look like you can get shaved ice, or ice cream, or they'll do a basic layering for you. In person there are all kinds of complex and tasty-looking combinations. The menu names are kind of a mouthful and I don't remember them correctly. What I got was a German Chocolate cake themed creation, with peanut butter ice cream, coconut ice and shavings, and cake crumbles. It looked like the assembly took several steps. I was the only one in the shop at the time so my food came out quickly. It was excellent, so much going on and I savored it.

The decor is fun, lots of bright colors, with very basic furniture and a concrete floor. Interesting classic and alt-rock playlist. The men's room was clean and ready (they have gendered restrooms, not sure why, I bet they are exactly the same). Service was fine. If you want other options like coffee or food your choice would be Sweet Dreams nearby, but this place has more variety in the frozen items. It's a nice change from froyo. We'll be back. 

My Yelp Review