Class 302 Cafe

Alternately known as Class 302 Cafe, Class 302 Tea Cafe, and Class 302 Taiwanese Cafe, this small chain of Taiwanese tea shops with snack items has been one of our local favorites for years, despite some notable ups and downs. The Market Place location on the border of Tustin and Irvine is Orange County’s only remaining Class 302; additional locations remain in LA County.

For us, Class 302’s biggest attraction remains its selection of self-serve boba drinks, which are currently unparalleled locally. Originally, guests were able to scoop their own boba, bursting boba, pudding, crumbled cookies, and/or jellies into their cups, then choose from around two dozen different teas and slushies, and pay for finished drinks at the counter as their cups were plastic sealed. Following the pandemic, a person at the counter began handling the boba and jelly scoops, initially somewhat unpleasantly; this has thankfully become somewhat better over time.

Over countless visits, we’ve enjoyed frozen Thai tea and matcha drinks, honey milk tea, winter melon tea, mango green tea, and tons of other options. For both kids and adults, this is a perfect place to learn about and sample the wide variety of teas that are now available at so many places throughout Orange County (and the world), then create a fairly large cup with as little ice and as much boba as you want, without getting upcharged for either. You pay a flat rate of $7.50 for the large cup, not by the ingredients or weight; Yogurtland, which has lost the plot and countless customers serving DIY yogurt by the increasingly expensive ounce, should really be taking notes from Class 302.