I used to go to Gong Cha all the time because it was right near my work, and it was always my go-to spot for my Earl Grey tea with creme brûlée. Lately, though, it's been a huge disappointment. My drink tasted awful and didn't even come close to what I used to enjoy. The tea tasted very watery and the workers didn't even torch the creme brûlée topping. Also they kept the lights off in the store?It's frustrating because I really loved this place before. I'm not sure what's happened, but unless they make some serious improvements, I won't be coming back. read more

The interior decoration are really cute and unique compared to other Gong Cha locations I've been to. Indoor seating isn't allowed. (Me and my friends were sitting at the bench inside talking, but they asked us to leave.) The plaza itself is very fancy and lit up at night, but it's extremely difficult to find parking! When me and my friends came in, there were no other customers inside. The employee seemed really unhappy/impatient while me and my friends were ordering. I ordered a QQ Passionfruit Green Tea w/ less ice and no boba. The drink was served quickly and it was ok. Nothing special but not bad. My friend ordered a strawberry passionfruit tea drink (I didn't catch the exact name), and it was overly sweet (imagine drinking strawberry syrup). She asked for another drink instead and ended up throwing away the strawberry one. My favorite part of this Gong Cha location was the decorations and photo op with the bench and neon lights. It's pretty far from where I live though, so I probably won't be back any time soon. read more

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I'm not big on boba, but I had a good experience visiting Gong Cha for the first time on a quiet Wed afternoon. I got the crispy chocolate hojicha latte (cold) with minimal ice and sweetness, and it was made perfectly. It was refreshing with just the right hint of chocolate to please my tastebuds. And the sweetness allowed for me to finish the whole thing, which I typically don't if a drink is too sugary. My partner got the passionfruit green tea, 50% sweetness and 100% ice, and he really liked his drink as well. The customer service was good, the employee helping us was patient with my questions about the menu items and beverage details. We were the only customers at the time, so the wait was pretty standard and satisfactory. The place was small, clean, but no indoor seating, just a few tables outside. It was raining a bit, so we decided to take a walk as we enjoyed our drinks. Parking is easy, there's parking right out front (marked for one hour but seemingly not monitored) and a huge parking lot in the back, in the Santa Clara Square Marketplace plaza shared with Whole Foods and other businesses. read more

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Fourth time or so here. They have a new Strawberry Milk tea made with Earl Grey tea i had to try! She suggested 0% sweet if i didn't want too sweet and that ended up being perfect. Subtle strawberry taste.. tea tastes a bit watered down but can't complain. Only a 2 min walk from my place! read more

Gong cha - New Strawberry Earl Grey Milk Tea 0% sweet is perfect for me - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Drinks here are good as always. I love their wintermelon milk with boba. I came during lunch time and it wasn't too busy

Easy parking for a Sat. Walked up to the door. Placed order. Out in 5 min. Brown milk tea 50% sweet perfection Mango green tea 50% sweet perfection Nomnom. read more

Gong cha - No seating . Covid life - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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One of the first times I threw away the rest of my boba we ordered a taro milk tea with 70% sweetness and the Royal Thai tea which didn't allow me to choose a sweetness (at least on the door dash app). Both the drinks were WAY too sweet. So if you normally get normal sweetness, I would recommend getting at most 50%. I also wouldn't recommend the white boba at all - it was more jelly like than boba. Overall, we both didn't finish our drinks because it was too sweet and the boba wasn't as good :( read more

Gong cha - Royal Thai tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Yay for Gong cha opening up in this plaza! Seriously my newest favorite boba spot!! There's not many good boba spots in Santa Clara, a few scattered here and there but nothing hits the spot like Gong cha. Strawberry milk tea w/ pearls, panda milk tea (pearls+white pearls), and passion fruit tea (pearls+coconut jelly) They were all really good but I'm sold on the panda milk tea because of the white pearls. First time having their white pearls and it became my favorite topping. For non-milk option, the passion fruit tea was really refreshing! The coconut jelly's were a good topping as well. They are offering take out and online ordering. Did the online ordering for the first time last week and it's so convenient and it was ready before the time that was set for pick up. Good customer service the times I've went, their drinks are addicting as heck and yes, I would love a nice cold drink in the winter 25% ice and 50% sweetness please! read more

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I've been to a few Gong Cha locations and this one is definitely my favorite because they are very consistent. The service is always pleasant when I go and they make your drink really fast. My go to is their regular milk tea with boba or the brown sugar milk tea with boba. I always adjust my sweetness to 50 percent and regular ice, sometimes a little more so it doesn't get lukewarm after a few sips. Their fruit teas are also pretty good if you're in the mood for something more refreshing. I recommend chatting with the baristas since they've been helpful when I want to try something new. Overall, I definitely recommend giving this location a try if you're in the area! read more

Ordered a drink for pickup via Doordash. Even though the ready estimate was in about 35 minutes, I decided it wouldn't hurt to show up a little early just in case they finished beforetime. Parking was readily available in front of the shop strip when I got there around 1pm on a weekday. At the doorway of this Gong Cha, there are two small tables. One housed a napkins box while the other was home to the menu. There was only one girl who was preparing the drinks and dealing with customers when I arrived. I noticed that she had a few drinks waiting in the back counter, so I assume that's where pick-up orders are left until the customer shows up to get them. After letting her know that I was here for pickup, she quickly found my drink and the placed it on the napkin table for me to grab. Easy in and out. Wintermelon Tea was ~$4.75 on Doordash. Unfortunately you aren't able to control the sweetness level for this, although you can choose how much ice to include. This drink is very sweet. Once home, I opted to cook and add my own boba. I also ended up brewing some black tea...then created my own milk tea concoction of black tea + wintermelon tea + fresh milk + freshly cooked boba. The black tea and milk definitely helped reduce the overpowering sweetness of the wintermelon tea, so I'm glad that combination worked out. Next time I'll probably try another drink vs the wintermelon. read more

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Mango marble tea (50% sugar): awesome. Both me and wife loved this. Look my older review where I have mentioned that I lived Pearl Milk tea. read more

Gong cha - Mango marble tea (50% sugar): awesome. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Gongcha is a staple boba place, with decent drinks. I came to this location after dinner since we were in the area. We saw the seasonal drinks were mint chocolate flavored, which we thought would be weird but why not try it. We got the Mint Choco Milk Tea with Pearls, but they ran out of pearls at this point, which was unfortunate since it was still around 2 hours before closing. At least I think they discounted the cost of the boba. The boba took a while to come out, since I think only one person was working and a few people ordered before us. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the drink! It mainly tasted like mint, but there was a faint taste of chocolate and tea. It was nice and creamy, like a McDonald's Shamrock Shake but with a little chocolate and tea taste and having the consistency of milk tea. I think I would have preferred it with boba. I don't know if I would get it again, but it wasn't bad! read more

Gong cha - Mint Choco Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

very nice service from young lady at register but the older women with very short hair helping her was soon mean not even a smile in her face. probably wouldn't go back to the Santa Clara location again. just not very welcoming atmosphere and they probably don't care because it's a good location with probably lots of business anyway. read more

Just got my tea today at this place but I was very hesitate to come back again because of the way the owner or the store manager treated the young new employee. He had a heavy face and rude attitude toward the employee that we all could see it. If you are not happy with the employee at least you should be friendly to the customers. We don't want to see your grouchy face. read more

Used to frequent Gong Cha a lot, but it's my first time at this location. They have a convenient online ordering system that I suggest using so you don't have to wait or pay in person during Covid period. Got one of the new drinks: Creme Brûlée Strawberry Milk Tea ($5) with 0% sugar. Didn't expect strawberry and torched sugar to taste good, but wow it was nice. I enjoyed the strawberry purée and black milk tea together and I am really glad I got 0% sweetness since the strawberry was already sweet. The torched sugar was pleasant and toasty, but the cream part of the creme brûlée was just satisfactory. I think I found my new favorite drink at Gong Cha- strawberry milk tea (only with creme brûlée topping IF I want some caramelized sugar flavor) read more

Gong cha - Creme brûlée strawberry milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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I just moved here at Santa Clara so I have been exploring the city and it brought me here to Gong Cha. I have already been to a different Gong Cha here in the Bay Area, so I had an idea of what to get. Crème Brûlée Milk Foam Tea size L for $6 Brown Sugar London Fog Milk Tea size L for $5.75 Fruity Mango Honey Green Tea *new fruity milk tea series I like how they always change up their menu, so there's always a "new series" to check out. When they had the brown sugar London fog milk tea series, I really liked it because I like the brown sugar and it's the reason that it's my go to drink moving forward. read more

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Got my drink and ordered on the self kiosk. Im not sure if the workers were arguing with each other, but it sounded like it. Maybe the one getting yelled at was a new worker and she was doing something wrong, but I don't think its professional to yell at your staff when there are customers in the store. When I got my pearl milk tea, there was not enough tea flavor and it just tasted like straight milk. read more

One of my favorite boba places. Friendly staff clean store front and delicious boba. I usually order the panda milk tea which is milk tea with crystal and honey boba. My kid gets a strawberry marble which they enjoy. read more

It's boba, if you've had it once you've had it lol But their tea is tasty and the service was fast! The location is in a busy area, new build like everything else this side of the bay.... And nice shops to venture in, parking can be a bear but there are 15 min spots right in front that if people respect, or... you can wait for.... Are convenient. Inside is super small not a sit down and drink join for sure.... read more

Maybe they're still working out the kinks, but I ordered a QQ Passionfruit Green tea at 30% sugar and it was INSANELY sweet. This place is very new, so the workers are still getting the hang of things. The signs marking the shop aren't up yet so it can be hard to find, but it's by the Corepower Yoga and there's a table and chairs outside. No plum green tea here unfortunately :( BTW green milk tea = jasmine here! However toppings were really tasty, boba was perfectly chewy. Gong cha has always been pricier than other places by around $0.25-$0.50 probably. My medium drink was $4.75. Overall not bad and I'm excited to see them grow! It's great having a boba place close to work. read more

Gong cha - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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This shop is right across my workplace so I frequent this place very often. The staff is friendly and they fix drinks real quick. They have a wide selection and also run BOGO specials on their menu, which is a nice way to try out new drinks. I've tried most of their specialty drinks but my favorite has to be the blueberry milk tea (in the picture attached). 10/10 would go back again! PSA: They recently started using sugarcane fiber straws with paper covers! read more

I've been to several Gong Cha locations in the Bay Area and this one is just okay. Their menu mentions a "Crème brûlée milk foam tea" and I asked for that but the cashier told me that it's only "Crème brûlée tea" or "Milk foam tea" and not both. I was confused since it's listed at the first/top drink on their menu. I decided to order the "Crème brûlée tea" and picked Earl Grey. It tasted mostly like over-brewed tea and I've had much better drinks from other boba shops. read more

Gong cha - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Nice tiny shop located in a almost hidden area of the plaza. It's across the eye exam store. This place gets a steady amount of foot traffic even on a Friday close to 5pm. I ordered my favorite tea...Oolong. I went with the lychee option. First sip and got a good flavor of lychee then Oolong after taste. 30% sugar is great enough for anyone. Pretty nice balance of course. Come by for a tea fix after eating at a local Italian restaurant here in the plaza. The staff are friendly and helpful. Will be back when I'm in the area. read more

Gong cha - Lychee Oolong Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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First time ordered boba here on our way home. Three drinks: passion fruit green tea with boba, Panda boba, Thai tea with boba. Great service and drinks! read more

The people who work here really have no desire to to actually serve their customers, and do the service part of customer service. First of all, the place is largely sectioned off. Customers are only allowed immediately inside the entrance. There is a clear sign stating that customers should get out as soon as they place their order, and just wait outside. The drinks themselves tend to be fairly bland and lacking in strong flavor. I'd recommend just going down to the Starbucks at the corner. read more

Can always rely on Gong Cha to have great milk teas and bobas! This one is a bit smaller for indoor seating, I only saw three two-seater tables. I tried the Brown Sugar Cloud under the fresh milk section and it tastes DIVINE. Almost like liquid Biscoff drink! This might be my new favorite drink! read more

Gong cha - Menu - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. Note this is NOT the place to go to if you're looking for ample indoor space to sit. They have a couple tables and a small bench (without a table) inside, that's about it. There are a couple outdoor seats, but nothing that can accommodate a large group. It's perfect to grab and go! Service was great (and quick) as were the selection of drinks. The biggest obstacle was finding parking (even at 3pm on a Saturday). Fortunately, the turnover for Whole Foods shoppers is quite fast, so you can eventually find a spot if you hang around the area long enough. I ordered the taro milk tea with white boba. At 50% sugar, it was still too sweet for me. My wife ordered the Panda, and at 50% sugar, her drink was perfect! It wasn't far off enough for me to knock off a star. The white boba is crunchier, I would say the regular black pearls (my wife had that) are more my style. In fact, the black pearls were perfectly chewy and had a great overall consistency. The flavors tasted authentic, not like some of the powder or "fake" flavoring that comes out in other boba places. I really enjoyed all the Instagram and picture worthy areas inside the small shop. I also like how thoroughly everything was explained, from the different types of boba to how you order. I hadn't been to Gong cha before, but I will be back! Also, for the $0.50 extra, go for the large! You will not regret it! :) read more

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Thanks for Yelp Elite Event for introducing me and my +1 to this place. I've been to a couple of GongCha locations and I'm glad to know there is one in this area. It is a tad hard to find this place so check out one of the corners. Drinks are great. I've been to several boba places and I like that their menu is not overwhelming. Friendly service. read more

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I was ecstatic when I found out there was a Gong Cha just 1.5 miles away from me. I don't think the locations in the US are as good as the Taiwan branches, but this specific location I think has room for improvement. Though we finished our drinks and they're pretty good overall, they're extremely sweet compared to all the other Gong Chas I've been to. For the milk foam drinks, I like having a strong green tea flavor to help balance out the foam, but the flavors tasted like it all blended together and I couldn't taste any tea flavor. I noticed that other reviewers also agreed that the tea quality is lacking. The foam itself tastes ok, but doesn't have as strong of a flavor as I was expecting. It was more light and milky than creamy/cheesy. As for the QQ passion fruit, it tastes ok but has a strong syrupy taste to it. It's extremely sweet, but I like sweet so that wasn't what bothered me. The strong syrup taste is what disappointed me. Hopefully the tea quality improves and the sweetness levels are corrected. But you should give this place a try and maybe order one sweetness level below what you would typically order. read more

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Located at Santa Clara Square! I have to say this location is really small.. seating area was closed off for probably good reasons but the ordering & waiting area is little to none. I recommend just going outside to wait for your drinks. Ordered the: * Brown Sugar Milk Tea - Kind of bland, no brown sugar glaze * Matcha Milk Tea - OK, decent matcha It's closeby but such an awkward setup & drinks are medicore :/ I'll try something else if I want quick boba. read more

Gong cha - Brown Sugar Milk Tea & Match Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Let me get this out of the way: the parking lot is horrible and despite how large it is, there is not enough spots to the horrible masses of people who come. I circled for a long time, and sometimes you're just stuck because it's gridlocked by all the other cars looking for parking. Ok now to Gong Cha: Drinks are not consistent with other Gong Chas. While my Strawberry Milk Tea was right in taste, my friend's Jasmine Milk Tea was very light almost no flavor. The pearls however were cooked well and brought sweetness to the Jasmine Milk Tea, but you could not ignore the lack of jasmine flavor. Service was great! Friendly staff who enjoyed talking about reusable cups. Interior is really small. Not a sit down and drink Gong Cha. However they have a cute IG wall I recommend. Overall, once they get their drinks down, it'll be a good Gong Cha. read more

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I read reviews about how terribly sweet this place's drinks were, so I made sure to get 30% sugar when I was ordering. However, I guess no matter what percent sugar you put, it won't help if the people making your drinks don't read your customization! There is no way that was 30% sugar. It was syrupy sweet in the worst way possible. I went there a second time (dumb decision on my part), and got a classic milk tea with 50% sugar. Again, there's no way that was 50% sugar. I swear to god... read more

I just had to try the mochi waffle after seeing it advertised on Instagram. The "Waffle" didn't seem super fresh, but it was nonetheless quite good with the custard and boba, which came in its own separate to-go cup. The business has it's register right at the front door as so many places do and I felt a bit uncomfortable that rather than take my card, they had me read out the numbers to them even with people standing nearby. They also told me they had the boba keychain that I've been seeing all over Instagram, but alas they only had their regular drink keychain, which was a bit of a bummer after the drive out. It was only $2 as they allowed me just to buy it as I guess they usually use their FiveStars points system to redeem it. Overall positive experience otherwise. read more

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I've been to several locations around the Bay Area and they have yet to disappoint. I've tried a variety of drinks and they're always made well! This location was clean and neat and the drinks were made well to my liking. My gf on the other hand didn't like her strawberry tea, wasn't flavorful enough for her. read more

Gong cha - Strawberry tea and QQ passion fruit tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Stopped by on our way to Whole Foods to get some boba. They were following social distancing protocol and we could order at the door and pay via Apple Pay. Drinks were ready in a couple minutes. I ordered the standard Pearl milk tea with 30% sugar, and 25% ice. Got extra boba as it was Friday :-) The tea had great flavor, the sweetness level was perfect for me, I don't like them too sweet. Boba was freshly prepared and tasted great. Perfect Friday afternoon treat! read more

Gong cha - Pearl Milk Tea with extra Pearl - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

The customer service here is horrible. The staff are not friendly. They don't even greet you as you come in. I'm not expecting top service, but every Tea place I've been to actually greeted their customers and made them feel welcomed. I felt like I was having a stare down with the cashier as I walked in. She didn't even care to ask if I had any questions. It was a very uncomfortable experience. On my first visit, I tried asking for a recommendation, but received a sigh as if I was asking for too much. The cashier was very short with her answers when asked a question about their drinks. I was the only one there, so I definitely wasn't holding up the line. I eventually ordered the London fog. I'm a huge fan of earl grey and the drink was good. You will need to ask for the tea lovers to get more of the earl grey notes. I found the drink to be a little watered down by the milk. The boba had good texture. I gave the place a second shot, hoping the first experience with customer service was a fluke. Maybe I caught someone on a bad day. My second time visiting I tried to order the same drink but with more tea, but was denied by the cashier and another lady who seemed to be a manager. They said I could not add more tea to the drink. What's the point of advertising the choice for tea lovers then? Their explanation was the tea was already made. I also ordered a mochi waffle and it is not what I was expecting. The waffle was far from a crunchy outer layer, which is advertised on the screens. I was served a soggy, sloppy, smashed piece. It did not seem fresh. I went back to the counter and showed my waffle and all 3 ladies from the staff said it was supposed to be like that. That did not sit right with me. I have had mochi waffles from other tea shops and it was not soggy or smashed. This was very disappointing. I wouldn't recommend this place based on the bad experience from their customer service. read more

Gong cha - mochi waffle - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Some of my friends live in the adjacent apartment complex, so we decided to stop in for a quick, refreshing drink. They unfortunately were out of the first drink I wanted, but I got some black tea with pearls instead. Super refreshing. Service was quick and friendly as well. This was a couple weeks back, so all staff were observing covid protocols. The shop is a bit on the small side, so you'll probably have to wait outside for your drink, but I do recommend paying a visit. read more

Gong cha - Black tea with pearls. Refreshing! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Poor customer service. Awful, impatient attitude when asked about which drink is better on the menu.

This Gong Cha is located in the Santa Clara Square. There's plenty of parking in the lot, so don't worry! There isn't much seating inside which is like most of the other Gong Chas that I've been to, but there's some seating outside at this location. The interior's nice with a few good spots to snap some pictures of your drinks! I tried a few different drinks, including the marble mango, marble strawberry, matcha milk tea, and milk foam green tea. The marble drinks are pretty aesthetically pleasing, they're a must try at Gong Cha. My favorite had to be the matcha milk tea with boba, it was creamy and had a good balance of the matcha so that it wasn't bitter and more on the sweeter side just like how I like it. read more

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The service was great however the drink I ordered was not. I do truly love Gongcha, but this location does not have the same tea flavor as it's counterparts. I always order an oolong milk tea with either 50% or 75/80% sugar and less ice. The oolong at this location tastes more like a normal black tea slightly roasted, not the usual strong roasted oolong flavor. It also left a slight subtle after taste that wasn't too pleasant. Truly disappointed - maybe I went on an off day since there are so many good reviews? Props on the paper/sustainable straw though! read more

Gong cha - Bubble Tea Near Me - Santa Clara, California