Kickin' it at Factory Tea Bar

After a demanding week of work last week, I headed out to the newly opened Factory Tea Bar in San Gabriel with Jackie over the weekend. I heard about this place with Alyssa over the week when we went to the movies and were approached by someone from Factory Tea Bar promoting it to us in the parking lot. Cool story.

Anyway, the place wasn't hard to find, and although it was in the middle of the day on a Saturday, parking was not hard to find either. When we first opened the door, I was immediately impressed, as I never imagined the interior to be so huge and roomy. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's large enough that I could get a full workout from running laps in there.

We were instantly greeted by the servers, and were seated comfortably on a large couch facing their projector screen and stage set-up. The servers were very friendly and helpful in describing their menus and telling us about how they just opened. We learned how they were starting open mic nights, which explained the whole set up with the mic and instruments. Pretty cool. While no one was on the mic when we were there,  I thought it was pretty creative how they were playing music from Youtube, and were actually projecting the Youtube videos on their projector screens.

Anyway, we ended up ordering two drinks, and a snack to share.

Peach Yogurt from Factory Tea Bar

I ordered the peach yogurt drink, and was happy to see that it came in such a huge portion as the price was not what I'd consider cheap. However, for the size, I think the price is pretty reasonable. As for the taste, I really enjoyed it as it was a perfect balance of sweet and sour-- not too much of either.

Black tea from Factory Tea Bar

Jackie ordered a black tea which was also quite a large portion :)

Green Tea Brick Toast from Factory Tea Bar

For our snack, we ordered a green tea brick toast. I was so excited when the plate arrived, because it looked so pretty. As shown in the picture, the actual toast actually has the words "Factory Tea Bar" sketched into it. How cute! As for the taste, I was instantly sold-- green tea anything is pretty much a winner!

Fries from Factory Tea Bar

Lastly, we also got an order of fries on the house. I guess it's for promoting their opening, which was great for the two of us. Yummy! In addition, they are having a buy one drink get one drink free promotion currently, so if you're planning on checking this place out, the sooner the better.

Overall, I think this place has great potential, and I think it will be a great place to bring my friends for our get-togethers. But the only downside is that it is cash only, so beware! My only suggestion is that, as with many other tea houses, they should carry some card games and board games.

Factory Tea Bar

323 S Mission Dr

San Gabriel, CA 91776

(626) 872-2969

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A hearty lunch at The Counter

Sorry for the excruciatingly long break I've been taking from blogging! Between taking a short vacation, work, and play, most of my free time has actually been spent... sleeping and recuperating. With my busy summer break, however, I have been eating many delectable meals, and I can't wait to share all these places with you guys :) In particular, I recently ate at The Counter in Pasadena with my family.

As a celebratory meal for my mom's birthday, my mom wanted to try something a little more creative and different. The Counter fit the match with its "build your own burgers" (more on that later). The setting was also very comforting. Although very casual, the restaurant gave a very beach-y vibe, with it's outdoor seating, large windows, and aluminum chairs.

We started off with two intriguing appetizers: fried dill pickles and Parmesan french fries.

Fried dill pickles from The Counter.

Parmesan fries from The Counter.

My sister, a fan of fried pickles, told us that we had to try them, and so being the loving family members we are (haha), we ordered a plate of them. I... still don't know how I feel about them. The flavor wasn't very distinctly pickle-like, but rather, it was very ambiguous tasting, like it was trying to be sour, savory, and sweet at the same time. Very confusing.

On the contrary, I am in love with the Parmesan fries! I would order these over regular fries any day. I love the contrast between the smooth melting cheese with the crunchy crisp fries.

In addition to the appetizers, we ordered off the build your own burgers menu. We each got a small clipboard with a sheet of paper that gave options of meats, toppings, sauces, and buns that you could check off with a pencil. We all ordered the smallest patty, and even that itself was very huge. You could select up to a patty that was as heavy as a whole pound. Who does that?!? Pretty crazy :)

Customized burger from The Counter

I ordered a burger with blue cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and ranch dressing; just a pretty basic burger. I added blue cheese, because I remembered how good it tasted in a burger at Red Robin's, but unfortunately, when I ate it in my burger here, it was incredibly overpowering and was basically all I could taste from my burger. Also, I thought that the dressing I added would come already drizzled in the burger, but it came as a side, which I guess would be good for adjusting how much you might want to add, but I just found it a little inconvenient. Overall though, the patty was grilled to perfection, and the vegetables were fresh and crisp.

Here are the burgers that my brother and mom ordered:

My brother and his way of decorating his burger at The Counter.

My mom's burger topped with caramelized onions at The Counter. Yum!

I would definitely come back; I think it makes a very good lunch place. (But I'll probably skip out on the blue cheese next time!) The portions are pretty large though, so if you're not starving, you might end up taking home half a burger...

The Counter
140 S Shoppers Ln
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 440-1008