Photo · UnsplashTeaspoon
A-tier · OutstandingUniversity Avenue · Palo Alto
“The cheese foam is the move. Salty-sweet cloud on top of a clean green tea — I think about it on Tuesdays.”
Weighted across 6 dimensions
The Breakdown
Quality and depth of the tea base — is it brewed fresh or out of powder?
The chew. Springy, warm and freshly cooked — or sad and gummy?
Range of drinks, toppings and seasonal specials worth coming back for.
What you get for the price — size, quality and refills of joy per dollar.
Service warmth, wait time, seating and overall good-time energy.
Can you actually dial it in, and does 50% taste balanced and intentional?
Shines brightest
📋 Menu Variety — 8.9
Room to grow
💰 Value — 7.8
Lenti’s Review
Teaspoon is the fun one. Right on University Ave, it leans into cheese foam and a rotating cast of cheeky specials, and it absolutely delivers on the gimmick — the salted foam over jasmine green is genuinely balanced, not a sugar bomb. It's a reliable downtown perch with a student-friendly vibe and prices that don't sting. The base tea is good rather than transcendent, but the creativity of the menu more than makes up for it.
What she loved
- Best cheese foam in the radius — salty-sweet and stable
- Inventive, rotating seasonal menu
- Walkable downtown location with seating
The quibbles
- Base teas are good, not exceptional
- Specials sell out by late afternoon
The Order
- Signature drink
- Strawberry Cheesecake (cheese foam)
- What Lenti got
- Jasmine Green Cheese Foam, 30% sugar, with boba
- Best for
- A fun afternoon drink while people-watching on University.
Find It
- Address
- 445 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA
- Distance from Palo Alto
- 0.3 mi
- Price
- $$ (mid-range)