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    Gotcha Tea

    4.2 (631 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

    Order Gotcha Tea Takeout or Delivery

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    Business Info

    GOTCHA TEA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids

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    Inside
    Vivian

    Gotcha Gotcha Tea Cafe is located on Kearny Villa Road in Kearny Mesa. They offer fresh brewed teas, milk teas, smoothies, and coffee drinks. They recently revamped their menu and added more in house specials, so I wanted to see if the quality had improved since my last visit. The shop itself is cute but visually busy. There's some seating available, though not a huge amount. One thing that stands out is the number of claw machines and collectible figurines around the space, including Pop Mart style displays. It gives the shop personality and makes it fun to hang out in, though it can feel a little overstimulating. When we visited, it wasn't too busy. There were two employees working and both were friendly and welcoming. Corn milk tea with boba: I ordered this because it sounded different. I was told it leaned sweet, so I chose half sugar. The drink itself was good, but I didn't get much corn flavor. It tasted more like a roasted black tea or Earl Grey milk tea with a slightly nutty and floral note. It was a solid black milk tea, but if you're expecting a strong corn taste, it may be disappointing. It's possible the corn flavor comes more from the syrup, and choosing half sugar reduced that intensity. The boba itself was excellent. It was sweet, bouncy, and cooked perfectly with a good chewy texture. Brown sugar fresh milk with boba: This drink was very sweet. My husband ordered it at standard sweetness and it was sooooo sweet. The brown sugar flavor was strong, and the boba had that classic caramelized sweetness. The texture of the boba was again very well done. If you order this, I would recommend adjusting the sugar level to half. Both drinks together came out to around $13.60, which felt fair for the quality. Parking here is also much easier compared to boba spots on Convoy. It's less crowded, easier to access, and you don't have to deal with long lines. I think this is a solid spot if you want a good milk tea without the stress of busy parking lots or long waits.

    Matcha Einspanner with boba
    Sydni S.

    The matcha einspanner was delicious and super rich. I got it less sweet which was the perfect level for my tastes. I added boba which was a bit much, but it was still really good. The cream top was super thick and gave almost a milkshake texture. I highly recommend if you're looking for a matcha sweet treat!

    honey kumquat...
    Kartika H.

    nice boba store with many figurines. staff is nice and ambiance is good. for my drink which is honey kumquat: will say the taste of honey is too strong even has put less sweet and cannot even taste the kumquat. may be need to put extra kumquat for the drink...

    Ann V.

    Gotcha Tea House got me hooked! I looove the cuuute Pop Mart themed decor. It has a happy-go-lucky vibe...putting a smile on my face. My inner child thanks you!! I didn't have to wait too long. The service was pretty quick. Their Matcha Latte was sooo fresssh, riiich and deeelish. I have to go back for some more. The Yelp Community gotta go there!!! I gotcha back with this 5-star review.

    jasmine milk tea
    Tracy N.

    Went here bc my cousins heard good things about their matcha but I don't like matcha so I got this jasmine milk tea instead. It tasted watered down so I wasn't really a fan

    Caitlin N.

    I've definitely been in my matcha era over coffee lately and have been wanting to give Gotcha a visit. SO happy we did. The service was super quick and friendly! I got the double matcha with my cousins getting the eispanner and double as well. We preferred the double the most of the two drinks! The eispanner tasted more like milk and cream, we felt the matcha didn't fully come through but the double matcha was 10/10. I'd definitely come back for it!

    Han L.

    peach drink was ok. dont think it was really my style, didnt love the cream top either

    Inside
    Melodee Marie G.

    This place is such a vibe and flex in all the Popmart plushies; gotcha tea more like gotcha labubus. It is such a cute area to hang out or do some homework in. While waiting for your drink, you definitely get distracted by looking at all the decor throughout the small shop. There are also little claw machines that you can spend money on to kill some time. Regarding the drink, it was delicious. I drank the mango smoothie, and it had just enough mango flavor and was not overly sweet. The consistency was super smooth, and you can even modify what type of milk you prefer for the smoothie. I enjoyed the taste of the boba, which is always a make-or-break for me when it comes to a boba shop; it was cooked to perfection. I do think that the service here is pretty slow. I came around 1:30 pm and felt like I left 30 minutes later with only 3 other people ahead of me. This location is nice, right off the freeway and in a shared plaza where you are not fighting for parking.

    Purple Rice Yogurt
    Winn H.

    On the lookout for a new cafe, I stumbled upon Gotcha Tea. Despite being in a smaller plaza, parking was fairly easy to find. The interior is well decorated though a bit polluted with flashy lights - not that anyone is falling asleep in here! Overall, the vibes are cute and tailored (imo) more towards kids. The tables and chairs in general err on the shorter end - and I'm not that tall. For drinks, I had their Purple Rice Yogurt at 25% sugar. Service was average, and it took about 10 minutes for my drink. The Purple Rice Yogurt was well made; the sourness of yogurt could be tasted, and the bits of purple rice that were present was a good topping - wish there was a bit more. Though parking was easy to find, seating is a bit harder here. There is some outdoor seating, but overall this is a smaller spot.

    Kimberly H.

    Cute and decorative cafe. Great for all ages! They have a couple of card games, board games, and claw machines (additional cost). We ordered at the front and our drinks came out in about 10minutes. There was no wait on a Sunday at 12:15pm. We ordered the chocolate boba smoothie, strawberry match, and ube coffee. The strawberry match was the best! The bobas were fresh and had a great flavor and chew.

    vanessa c.

    I had heard about this matcha drink a few different times and finally wanted to try it out. Gotcha tea has such a cute interior with plenty of seating and plushies around to make the atmosphere comforting. They do have a wide selection of boba and tea but I was here for the matcha einspanner It definitely did not disappoint and the taste and quality of the matcha was a perfect midday pick me up! Can't wait to come back and try some boba tea next time

    matcha einspanner
    Angie H.

    This place has the best matcha einspänner I've had so far in San Diego. It's super smooth, rich, and creamy with a beautiful matcha color. It is on the pricier side (around $9 with oat milk), but I think it's worth it for the quality. Their strawberry matcha is really good as well. They have small tables with seating, though I don't think it's the best spot for working or studying. A nice touch is that they always have fresh flowers out, which makes the space feel welcoming. The only con is that there's usually just one person working the front, so they're taking orders AND making drinks at the same time. It can take a bit for drinks to come out, but overall, it's still worth the wait.

    Matcha einspanner
    Liz B.

    I gave this boba shop a try after the line at the coffee shop next door was too long. I ordered the matcha einspanner, and while it looked pretty, the matcha flavor was underwhelming. The cream foam on top also had a nutty flavor which I personally was not a fan of. I also tried some of my friend's gotcha tea, and it was aggressively syrupy and strong, I don't think I would have been able to finish it. Our cashier was nice, but they seemed understaffed for a Sunday morning. There were around 8 people waiting for drinks and it seemed like only one person was working, both taking orders and making drinks. Our drinks took around 20 minutes to come out. The interior has cute decorations and they also have claw machines.

    Corn Milk Tea

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    1 year ago

    This is our go to fruit tea place. They have an amazing selection, the place is cute, and the service is nice.

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    11 months ago

    Amazing matcha einspanner, i love the workers. Kindest people ever. It's very nice and comfy inside

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    Friendly workers and good service! Nice hangout place and boba, tea, fruit drinks are good of course

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    1 year ago

    To go. Wrong order, the mix up drink is water down, sad. They offered refund but I just didn't care to deal with it.

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    5 years ago

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    Page 4 of 16

    Gotcha Tea Reviews in Other Languages

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