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Summary: You can judge a restaurant by the iced tea it serves. With rare exception, full service restaurants brew their tea. Instant tea from syrup is so far limited to fast food restaurants where speed is more important than taste. |
| Restaurant | Iced Tea Served | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Markets | Nestea (instant from syrup) | Poor | Undrinkable without massive quantities of sugar and lemon to disguise the bitter artificial taste. Fresh lemon slices are sometimes available. |
| Burger King | Shangra La (brewed) | Good |
Strange flowery taste. Fresh lemon slices are available most of the time. Caution: The Burger King at McClintock & Broadway, Tempe serves Nestea instant from syrup. |
| C Fu Gormet | Nestea (instant from syrup) | Poor | Undrinkable without massive quantities of sugar and lemon to disguise the bitter artificial taste. Incredibly, this beverage is being served at a sit-down restaurant with fresh brewed hot tea. Suggestion: Order hot tea with a glass of ice and chill it yourself. |
| Harkins Centerpoint | China Mist (brewed) | Excellent | "Real Lemon" packets of lemon juice from concentrate. |
| Houlihan's | Celestial Seasonings (brewed) | Excellent | Just what you'd expect from a quality restaurant. Served with lemon slices. |
| Islands | Nestea (instant from syrup) | Poor | The menu says fresh brewed but the wait explained the awful taste results from the recent switch to instant from concentrate. Flavored fresh brewed tea is apparently still available. |
| Jack in the Box | Lipton (brewed) | Excellent | Fresh lemon sliced in generous wedges are usually available. |
| McDonald's | Nestea (instant from syrup) | Poor | Undrinkable without massive quantities of sugar and lemon to disguise the bitter artificial taste. Fresh lemon wedges are usually available, but why bother? Go for the Coke. Better yet, go to Rubio's. |
| Rally's | Nestea (instant from syrup) | Poor | Rally follows McDonald's lead. Fresh lemon wedges usually available. |
| Rubio's Baja Grill | China Mist (brewed) | Excellent | Best in the valley! Stronger than most; fresh lemon sliced in generous wedges always available. |
| Sushi On Mill | China Mist (brewed) | Excellent | Fresh lemon sliced very thinly; difficult to squeeze. Tiny cocktail straws. |
| Taco Bell | Lipton (instant from syrup) | Poor | Ever so slightly better than Nestea. Undrinkable without lots of sugar and lemon to disguise the bitter artificial taste. Unfortunately their lemon is also from concentrate. |
| Tomato's (Scottsdale Fashion Square) | China Mist (brewed) | Excellent | Fresh lemon slices always available. |
| Volcano Grill | China Mist (brewed) | Excellent | Fresh lemon slices always available. |
| Wendy's | Lipton (brewed) | Excellent | Tiny fresh lemon slices are usually available. |