I love strong flavors and mangos are typically a strong fruity flavor I tend to gravitate towards. Once I saw the mango milk tea on the menu, I knew it was a done deal. I was happy to see my order was made very quick despite the shop being busy. Once I got the drink, I was all too eager; however, I was met with disappointment. The mango flavor was very flat and dull to my liking. Perhaps mango and milk tea aren't just made to be. Regardless, I'm willing to try a different drink from this location in the future read more

Boba Bar - Mango Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

My go to place for a good boba. Nutella boba and Crème brûlée boba is a must must have. The place is pretty nice to chill and the service is pretty fast. read more

Boba Bar - Nutella Milk Tea & Creme Brulee Boba Latte - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Line was crowded and hella long on a Saturday night at Fanime. Long as in it probably took about 20 minutes to half an hour from standing at the doorway before placing your order at the counter. On the flip side, it did move a lot more quickly on a Sunday afternoon. The first time I was here on a Saturday night, they got my order wrong. I had ordered kimchi fries, not plain fries. Thankfully, they quickly swapped it out. Food is good, though very heavy. Drinks are great! My favorite here is the taro boba. It has that perfect sweetness of taro, with deliciously smooth milky consistency of my ideal milk tea. Green tea is also good, but rather generic, like I can find it at other boba places in the Bay Area. My boyfriend really enjoys the peach boba drinks that he gets here. I've tried it, and it's rather sweet for my taste, but it is very good. Certainly the best boba and Asian snack and food shop to come to when you're here for the convention center! read more

See all

Decent boba, the chicken was very unusual couldn't decide if it was bad or just poor tasting chicken. Staff were nice. Great shop

When you are looking to unwind with a group of friends in a homely setting, Boba Bar will surely complement your stay. Just be mindful of your food and drink options there, and you should be suave. I got myself the Classic Black Milk Tea ($4.25) and the Popcorn Chicken ($6.25). The Classic Black Milk Tea was suggested at 50% sweetness and less ice. The Popcorn Chicken was suggested with the Dynamite Sauce dipping sauce. The Classic Black Milk Tea is tolerable to the point where you won't mind the drink, but you might pass it up for other places. I describe it as light and to-the-point, almost comparable to Ten Ren's milk tea. For certain, I would probably not get it large. Good boba chew. A point of interest (or concern depending on how you spin it) is that my drink was ready before I even finished my purchase. I don't know whether my drink was prepared to order, or waiting around for someone like me to nab it. I doubt it was the latter. Your mileage may vary. The Popcorn Chicken does seem kind of dejected, as if it had no personality to it. Well, it's battered as all hell, I'll give it that! I don't think spicy seasoning is going to save this snack from being lifeless because it not only tastes weird, but it smells weird too. The Dynamite Sauce paired nicely with the chicken with its slight creamy kick, but I would still opt for something else. Speaking of which, go with the Kimchi Fries instead. For a few bucks more, there is going to be a huge difference in quality, effort, and presentation. A vital strength to Boba Bar is its atmosphere. I love the attention to detail with making the place feel like your own kitchen and patio like the wall decos and cat symbolism. Best for afternoons, really. I did not take a picture of the interior or exterior, but please take my word for it. I think the overall setup for this place alone can make this a worthwhile hangout spot. There are also many seats available. I came on Wednesday evening and did not have to wait in line. The staff are okay--could be friendlier. Wifi provided. As aforementioned, extremely quick service on the drink (at least for my particular case) and 3 minute waittime for popcorn chicken. At this point of the review, I realize that I might be doing this (and many other places) a disservice by only going for the recommended drink and snack, and not one of their specialty items or bowls. There is still hope for Boba Bar. I will be openminded to try some of their other items. read more

Boba Bar - Popcorn Chicken - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

The classic spot to grab food and tea, everything that I've had here has been great. With it being walking distance from SJSU, I would come here to pick up food and study in their outdoor seating area. The chicken wings and the curry bowl are my two favorite foods here! Their minty fruit teas/lemonades are pretty good, definitely on the sweeter side but I don't mind that. The wait time for the food isn't that bad either, usually 10-20 minutes at most! Parking can be a hassle sometimes so just plan accordingly. If you're an SJSU student it's just a walk across the street from campus which is an easy bonus. read more

Super fast and convenient. It's literally a block away from the SJSU campus. I got the kimchi fries with steak and it hit the spot. It was not spicy at all and the fries were fresh and crispy. The service was great, they have a kiosk to take orders which gave me a lot of time to decided what I wanted to get. The ambiance of the location was nice, I love the outside patio seating. read more

Great spot to hit up when you want some boba and small snack bites. I did not order food but saw a few customers who got some of the small food items plus boba. I ordered the mango milk tea with boba. The drink itself was sweet and very mangoey tasting. However, the boba tasted a bit bland for me. The boba is described as honey boba on the menu but there was no hint of sweetness or honey to it. If you feel like your drink will be ruined if you don't like the boba than I recommend getting a different topping. There are a few tables inside and outside. There is a claw machine and I won a prize! Ordering my drink and getting it was fast and easy. They have a tablet to order your items as well but it was out of order. read more

See all

stopped in here during Fanime and it was poppin! it was super lively and bright in here and there were so many people here and for good reason! the service is fast and everything is good quality. got the crème brûlée boba which comes with tapioca pearls. also got an order of pop corn chicken & an order of kim cheese fries and added the steak. the popcorn chicken was crisp, hot, and came with a sauce of your choice. the kim cheese fries were HUGE! lots of kimchi to offset the heaviness of the cheese and fries and the steak was tender and flavored like bulgogi. both are great choices for a quick, sharable snack! tl;dr - if you're in the neighborhood and in the mood for a quick drink/snack, stop by! prices aren't bad and the flavors are delicious read more

See all

I got the Strawberry Milk Tea with some strawberry chunks which was amazing! The strawberries were a bit sour but together with the sweet milk tea it tied all up. The service was good and quick. It was also a very cute place to sit and enjoy your drink :) read more

Boba Bar - Strawberry Milk Tea with Strawberry chunks - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Got the Creme Brulee boba tea and loved it! Had a crunchy top layer of sugar and chewy boba perfect to taste. Although on a more sweeter side. Highly recommend !! read more

Boba Bar - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

**UPDATE** Went here again the second time and the boba was good. I went when they Just opened and the boba did seem fresh. this place is pretty good I would recommend coming here! This Vietnamese coffee was super good 10/10!!! The only reason why I am rating Boba Bar with 4 stars is that the boba tasted really old and soggy when I had this drink. The service was also not up to par as I was waiting at the register for like 5 minutes, so I ended up ordering at the kiosk. After ordering, Boba was done within 3 minutes. Overall, I was satisfied with my drink, just not my boba. I would definitely come here again to get the Vietnamese iced coffee! read more

Boba Bar - Vietnamese Iced Coffee w/Boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Came by for a Thai Tea with Pearls the other day and both the drink and pearls were decent as the pearls were chewy and the tea was strong but not too sweet. Their business practices are questionable with milk tea pricing at $3.75 and perhaps some microscopic writing about a 20 cent surcharge for Thai Tea?!? At least FiveStar was working this time, but no one credited my account... bizarre... They do take credit cards read more

Boba Bar - Thai Tea with Pearls - $4.45 - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Needing to kill a bit of time before heading to a free art event at the Hyatt, we decided to find boba since we didn't have our usual Friday boba day. Since a lot of spots were not open until 11:30am or noon and usually boba isn't ready to go until 20-30 minutes after opening which I still don't get, but I digress...we were glad that Boba Bar was open. In short, I do hope downtown SJ has other better boba spots because this is not the place to go for it...travel the extra few miles to other boba places. L O C A T I O N Boba Bar is located on Third Street and E San Carlos. There's options for parking on the street and garage. I would suggest parking a few blocks away and walking as parking a garage to just pick up boba and go isn't cost effective. The place is located in a house on the first floor, which is quite cute. I N T E R I O R As mentioned this spot is on the first floor of a small home. There's seating outside and inside. There's a wall that I'm sure is for your Instagramming pleasure. They were playing some 90s rap which I'm into but maybe not suited for kids as they were not radio friendly lyrics. I was singing to Forgot About Dre while we were waiting for our drinks. M E N U They have a fairly standard menu. They have both standard black/green tea options and fruity tea options, lemonades, coffees, and specialty drinks. On the back side of the menu they had food options which we didn't really dig into as we were focused on getting drinks. Costs between regular and large size drinks was $0.75. We opted to get the standard black milk tea and jasmine green milk tea with no sugar and no ice as a baseline. Both of the drinks had over steeped tea, too much milk to tea ratio, boba felt like a mixture of old boba and newly cooked boba and plastic lids instead of sealed ones which I'm not a big fan of. I did appreciate that you can add a simple sugar mix on your own on the side counter. After drinking half of our drinks, we ended mixing the two together and it was magic. S E R V I C E There were two folks behind the counter. Ordering was a breeze but getting the drinks was not fast. No one ordered before us. For two standard drinks, it should have come out pretty quickly but as I said, I was singing to Forgot About Dre and it went to another song...waiting...until we finally got our drinks. They do have FiveStar which is convenient and they accept your standard payments of cash and credit. O V E R A L L I will not be back. There's just so many other better options in a 5-10 mile radius that it doesn't make sense to go here unless it's the only boba option for you or maybe they have great food and a good place to study for those SJSU students. But you will not see me back here unless I'm somehow brought here by others. read more

See all

Stopped by here after a Saturday afternoon at the Children's Discovery Museum. The drinks and food came out fast. The crème brûlée latte boba was delicious! The matcha latte boba, and caramel boba were delicious too! The mojito was too floral not enough mint, so we'll stay away from that one next time. It wasn't bad, but we didn't like the after taste. read more

Boba Bar - Kim Cheese Fries Soooooooo good! Have them while they're hot! - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

This is located right next to Iguanas across the street from San Jose state. The shop is super cute and it's a nice place to hang out. It also has a patio for outdoor seating. This place offers a variety of classic tea and milk tea with many boba options. On top of that, they have snacks and meals you can order from. I ordered a Thai milk tea with boba and garlic noodles. The drink was sweet and very good. The garlic noodles were extremely good and not overpowering at all. It is a shareable plate, but there was no sharing on my end. Overall, a chic place with many options to choose from. read more

Boba Bar - Thai tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

I come here once in a while for BTS cupsleeve fan events and the drinks are pretty average. My last order was a taro milk tea and it was okay. It was a bit watered down, but it wasn't terrible. Prices generally aren't too expensive and there wasn't a line when I visited. I'd come back here for cupsleeve events, but not for the drinks themselves. read more

Boba Bar - Taro Milk Tea - 3/5 - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

I got the creme brulee boba drink and it was yummy! The top layer is crunchy and when you mix it around, you get chewy and crunchy! I really enjoyed the texture and the drink was okay, a little too sweet for my palate but i'll be sure to ask for lighter sweetness. read more

Boba Bar - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

I was looking to get my team some tea as a "pick me up" so I did a quick yelp search and found Boba Bar. I loved that they were close to my final destination and you could order in advance via a Yelp link. When I arrived at the store my order was ready with in a few moments and was ready before the time the app promised. I just made it a bit faster than expected, so had I ordered appropriately I would not have had to wait for my order. The tea quality was superb. They got my order correct, including the hard to find "special instructions". Boba Bar will be on my very short list to enjoy Boba Tea. read more

the dirty thai is so good especially with coffee jelly and i love there little claw machines

I was late to the party in realizing that Hydration no longer exists and hasn't existed for a few years. Well, at least there's still a boba spot in its place. I stopped by Boba Bar before running an errand at FedEx across the street. Customer service could use improvement. I felt that the employee at the register, who also prepared my drink, was short with me and didn't want to carry a conversation as I asked her questions about their menu and new establishment. The menu at Boba Bar was super limited especially when it came down to their drinks. You'd also think that a place like Boba Bar would specialize in creative and innovative specialty boba drinks. Nope! I didn't find the beverage section of the menu to be particularly appealing, and there wasn't any drink that stood out for me. I ended up settling for a caramel milk tea with boba. The caramel milk tea was fine, but Boba Bar's actual boba were not good. I thought the boba were mushy AF. They lacked firmness, bite, and chewiness. I've been noticing more boba places misleading customers on the cup sizing and pricing. What's up with 12oz cups being called "regular"-sized and 16oz cups being called "large"? I know damn well that at Starbucks a 12oz cup (tall) = small and a 16oz cup (grande) = medium. COME ON! Who you fooling?! read more

Boba Bar - Caramel milk tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

Stopped in for a honeydew smoothie & a disappointment. Consistency is not that of a smoothie & flavor is minimal. The color isn't even at least like honeydew! I will have to stick to The Nest that is right next door. read more

Boba Bar - Watery smoothie - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

I guess I'm not having any luck in San Jose. I walked to a Boba place located not far from my hotel and ordered a Thai Milk Tea and the tea was very bitter and the Boba was a bit undercooked. I asked the young man at the register if he could perhaps add some more milk or sweetener to adjust the taste and he did however when he returned my drink it was worse than before. I asked if he could make me another one and he refused. So I tossed it and I'm out of $6. Definitely wouldn't recommend. Really poor customer service experience. read more

I've gone here since I was in college in the area. We'd make the 20 minute drive for the boba and nice rice bowls. One of the few places that does both the tea and food well. read more

Great convenient and tasty location for boba and meals. Location is nearby SJSU and the convention center. Prices is absolutely fair for quality and amount of food, especially at this small establishment. We got the garlic noodles (with steak) and teriyaki bowl. Teriyaki bowl was saucy and flavorful; chicken was juicy and rice was steaming soft. Garlic noodles didn't look like it had a lot of sauce, but was so flavorful. It was the perfect meal after walking around the con all day. Not pictured was a strawberry green tea drink. Not too sweet and boba was really chewy! Would definitely come here again read more

Boba Bar - Teriyaki Chicken Bowl - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

We went mid afternoon on a weekend, and there was practically no line. This made service really quick which was nice! I got the Peach Milk Tea, and the first thing I noticed was how mushy the pearls were. Super overcooked and felt like they had been sitting in the pot for a longgg time. I took my time drinking the tea though, and towards the end, the pearls had firmed up more. The Peach Milk Tea was too sweet for me even at 25%, and the flavoring was quite artificial and strong. Personally wouldn't recommend at all. My friend got the Jasmine Milk Tea, and although it had the same issue with mushy pearls, the tea flavor was quite authentic and strong. It was quite a bit better than my drink, and even at 50% sweetness, was quite well balanced! Overall wouldn't recommend driving more than 5-10 minutes here considering that there are options all over San Jose that I would prefer over it! read more

Boba Bar - Peach Milk Tea, Jasmine Green Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Just tried to get a boba tea and the guy behind the counter was not wearing a mask and coughed into his shirt. Very irresponsible, left without collecting my paid for drink. read more

Boba Bar - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Awesome location! Love the exterior and street. It's a bunch of homes converted to restaurants which was beautiful. = +3stars The drinks on the other hand need help. The drinks were not as tasty. It actually leaves an interesting taste in your mouth. Their drinks are a bit more tart then what I'd care for. The mango yogurt did not taste like mango and it wasn't a yogurt. It was more like a smoothie = -1star The staff could probably do better. For instance offer me my receipt instead of hitting no on the screen. Hmmm...= -1star Parking in the area is tough. Although we got lucky and parked at the end of the block. It's all street metered parking. Should you come at lunch or dinner time it may be hard to find parking. They offer outdoor seating, but be prepared to clean it off. read more

See all

DoorDashed the steak and kimchi bowl and it was so tender with the perfect balance of saltiness and sweetness. They gave you a lot of kimchi which added great tangy flavour to the rice. I walk downtown every weekend and will be sure to stop by and try the rest of their dishes. Very good quality and value. read more

While the food and drinks here are pretty okay, they've recently installed a self service kiosk for orders. I don't mind using these but they have the kiosk set to automatically add on a small tip to whatever you buy. If you order a $6 drink, your total is $7.05 because a tip is added on (& tax, of course). You don't get to see that the tip is added until the receipt is emailed to you. I'm not against tipping for good service but I am against the lack of transparency and having the tip automatically added when using their kiosk. It's sneaky for a business to do this. read more

This place's got some interesting boba flavors not commonly seen in other shops. They also offer some snack choices and there's space in the shop if you feel like sitting & hanging out with your friends. I tried the peach milk tea and was pleasantly surprised by the choice. I was not used to the taste in the beginning but more I drank the more it grew on me. By the time I finished the drink I was craving for more... That being said, I would love to try some other items such as the Nutella milk tea next time. read more

Boba Bar - Peach Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Maybe it was just a bad day but when I ordered boba from here on Friday I was a little disappointed. The boba was sticky I believe it might have been overcooked. It was my first time going so it might just have been a bad coincidence given that it has a lot of good reviews. They had a wide variety of options to choose from, I ordered the vanilla chocolate with boba. We were able to get our drinks very quickly and there was plenty of seating. We parked in the 4th street parking garage and walked. They have indoor and outdoor seating. read more

They have pretty good service here and even better drinks! I asked for a cold brew and wanted some sweetness shortly after, and the girl behind the counter offered to throw in some coffee jelly which made the drink so much better! Also, I highly recommend a dirty Thai smoothie with boba! Their smoothies aren't overly sweet and it's all super refreshing stuff with perfectly chewy boba. Good stuff here - I can't wait to try their snax read more

So disappointed.... I order a matcha smoothies and there version of a smoothie is watered down milk tea.... No thick consistency at alll!!!!!!! I asked for extra sweet and it was bitter. I had high expectations. I'd recommend going anywhere else for boba. read more

Boba Bar - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

This is one of my go-to places to stop by near campus as an SJSU student if I'm craving for boba. I've been going here for quite a few times, but my experience from yesterday made me want to NEVER come here again. My boyfriend and I were planning to dine in at The Nest, which was right next door, but they were sadly, closed. My boyfriend asked the worker multiple simple questions, but she responded to him not once, but several times in a rude tone (I am talking about the cashier girl who wears colored contact lenses). I'm pretty sure the Fanime convention from last weekend gave them EXTREME burnout (which I understand), but really on a Thursday???? I got the black milk tea, no toppings, regular sweetness, light ice, just how I like it. I usually like my milk tea with a strong tea flavor and this exceptionally satisfied my tastebuds. Other than their milk teas, their snacks (I'm talking about popcorn chicken, wings, fries, or even more) are REALLY bland. Thankfully, I asked for sauces, but the seasonings WERE DEFINITELY NOT there. I would rather wait long lines and eat at the Student Union, rather than here that overcharges everything on their menu and provides TERRIBLE customer service. I will never come back here again read more

2/5 for customer service, the male cashier pretty rude Was walking with my sister looking for food around 7 pm and found this place was open. Boba bar is located in an older-looking house, and is cutely decorated. We ordered garlic eggplant tofu, garlic noodles, and braised pork belly. I love how garlicky the noodles were, probably my favorite dish. The other dishes are pretty standard, though a little too salty for my taste. As a dedicated strawberry smoothie connoisseur, this definitely one of the better ones I have had. Not too sweet or artificial tasting. I also like their more unique variety of toppings, and was able to add some mango bits as well. Currently there's no indoor seating and a plastic sheet separating the cashier from the customer. Compared to other businesses I've been to in LA County, I thought it was interesting that there was no hand sanitizer and I don't recall them having tape on the ground to indicate 6ft, but San Jose is much more chill about wearing masks and such. Additionally, when paying you still have to touch the chip reader, which probably should be disinfected with use. If you are worried about social distancing, don't come during busy hours. read more

See all

Great service, had dropped a boba and was given a new one for free. Very friendly and loved the ambience. Would definitely come back!! read more

Boba Bar - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

Boba Bar offers quality meals for hungry students and even better quality milk tea. They were the first milk tear bar I've ever tried and will always hold a soft spot in my heart but over the years I have left the lack of love from the staff, especially during the pandemic. I understand the stress of college students but maintaining proper hygiene is incredibly important, specifically when working in the food industry. From employees touching their hair, face, scratching their exposed skin, to touching their phones and surfaces, please be more careful. Not every staff member does this but my last couple visits to Boba Bar have left me with concerns. I hope Boba Bar can come back from the decline of business during the pandemic to the student hotspot it is known for at SJSU. No bad vibes here, just a concerned boba fan. read more

Boba Bar - Strawberry Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Jose, California

I came here for an after dinner dessert, and I really enjoyed my drink. I had the peach ginger with boba, and it was so refreshing. I tried my bf's mango yogurt drink, and that was also delicious. I appreciated all of the outdoor tables here, too. read more

Arrived at 330 on a Saturday afternoon fanimecon weekend (end of May). Pretty long wait but worth it! Saw someone order a strawberry mint tea and had to try it. Cashier recommended it with Mango bits. Highly recommended! Pros: -Only waited 5 mins for drinks -variety of drinks and food items -plenty of tables -photo backdrop -consistent quality for drinks read more

See all