Meet Fresh

Currently operating in 13 states with three locations in Orange County, Meet Fresh is an 800-store Taiwanese dessert chain that has not become better over time – at least at the Irvine restaurant we’ve visited several times through the years. The menu has always been polarizing, focusing largely on bowls of hot or cold sweet soup made with taro, sweet potato, purple rice, boba, grass jelly, beans, mochi, almonds, tofu pudding, and/or sago. Put aside whether those ingredients sound or actually taste great as desserts – that’s more a cultural question than anything else, as they’re enjoyed across multiple Asian cuisines, and can become acquired tastes even for the uninitiated. (Some locations also serve shaved ice.)

For us, the real issue at Meet Fresh is experiential, and our last visit was so bad in that regard that we still wish we could forget it. We entered the Diamond Jamboree location to find dirty tables, and a fully self-serve ordering kiosk with numerous out of stock items. It was as if no one was managing the restaurant’s most critical front or back of house activities, or perhaps just not caring.