Welcome to the first edition of “The Essence of Food!” by yours truly, Gourmand Raddish. This is the first edition of our article series, but trust me, you will be seeing a lot more of me around town! Well, actually, you wont be seeing me. You see, thats the whole point of this article! I’m going to be doing anonymous reviews of some of the most memorable restaurant locations in all of San Andreas and giving my brutally honest review! Think of this as our state’s own Michelin guide, just way less serious and the restaurants (hopefully) wont start charging 3 times more for being on it. Here’s how it works:

• We try at least two of every food type at the business (Starter, Main, Dessert, Drink, etc)
• We will only be trying mainstay items. No collabs, limited time offerings, or otherwise
• We will not only grade on food/drink quality, but staff friendliness, decor, and cleanliness
• Under no circumstances will we announce that we are with Los Santos Sentinel or conducting a food review
• The reviewer will pay for the food and drink in full

With introductions out of the way, its now time for our first review! I am excited to let you all know that the very first iteration of “The Essence of Food!” is none other than… TEASPOON OF BOBA!

Owned by Elsie Shaw, Teaspoon of Boba is, well, no surprise, a Tea and Boba restaurant located right on the beautiful Vespucci Beach. Walking up to the location, you’ll notice there are no doors and no host stand. This quick, in and out concept has the “on the go” folks of Los Santos in mind, offering quick and delicious Boba Tea without any fuss. The menu is located right next to the cashier within the wall of boba inspired bubbles. The workplace was clean, even with it being entirely outdoors, and the seating was varied from high top tables and chair to relaxing lounge chairs on the opposite side of the business. The local florist is staying in business supplying flowers to Teaspoon of Boba alone, as they have an entire roof made of flowers as well as flower pots on the tables they do have. The views of the beach are nearly unmatched in Los Santos and you can take your boba right onto the beach in less than 10 steps.

The cashier and “Bobarista”, as they are called, was kind and took my order promptly, even with a slight mishap on my part. As she worked through making each one of their mainstay tea’s, the Strawberry green tea, Hibiscus, Cookies and cream, and Taro Milk tea, she asked me if I would like any milk substitutes, which included some substitutes I wasn’t even aware existed. Each flavor of tea was better than the last and even were surprisingly light and refreshing. Even after downing 4 of them, I felt fine and ready to take on more! The only downside I could find in my visit to Teaspoon of Boba was their mainstay collection.

Alright, I think I’ve made my point so far. Excellent location, quirky decor and Tea that can be enjoyed on the beach within seconds of receiving it. But what about the score?? Well, heres a bit behind the scenes on the scoring system:

-The businesses are scored on a scale of 0-20 in 5 different categories, for a total score of 100. They are:

-Food/Drink selection

-Food/Drink Quality

-Cleanliness

-Staff Friendliness

-Decor

From there, business will be graded into “Stars” depending on how they score. There are 5 star levels, with 5 being the best! Those exact scores will remain a secret, but lets just say it will be extremely difficult for a business to get 5 stars. We will release our official star rating after a certain number of business have been reviewed.

“ALRIGHT, GOURMAND! WHATS THE SCORE?” Here you are, you impatient people:

Teaspoon of Boba:

-Food/Drink selection: 9/20

-Food/Drink Quality: 18/20

-Cleanliness: 18/20

-Staff Friendliness: 16/20

-Decor: 19/20

For a final score of…80!

Unfortunately, the limited “Mainstay” selection really affects the overall score here, but even with that in mind, Teaspoon of Boba should be very proud of the business they have!

Be on the lookout for my next review in the coming weeks!

Signed,

Gourmand Raddish