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    The Alley

    4.2 (55 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM

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    Mango Green Milk Tea and Lychee Yogurt Smoothie
    Chantal T.

    The Alley makes some of the best and affordable boba! It's always not too sweet and just tastes like fresh regular boba. The inside is bright with some seating inside. Staff is chill and drinks came out pretty quick. Got the lychee yogurt smoothie and mango green milk tea. Both were great!

    Ube Brown Sugar Boba Crme Brulee Milk (Boba Included)
    Hannah J.

    For the Chinatown International District food walk, The Alley had their Ube Brown Sugar Boba Creme Brulee Milk with boba. They had both counter and virtual service with very sweet staff. The drink had pudding inside which was okay to my liking but it had the perfect amount of sweetness.

    Mango coconut smoothie
    Louise F.

    Honestly I'd written off the alley as super mid-tier boba years ago but we came here after a frisbee match and a nice cold fruity smoothie just sounded so nice. And it was. The drink was really fresh not to mention so refreshing too. Mixed with coconut cream and I really found my tropical happiness.

    Demon slayer collab
    Diane C.

    Came in with my friends for our annual Christmas gift exchange and had such a cute experience. The girls working were adorable and super sweet. The boba was soft and chewy, and the tea had a nice strong flavor--not watery at all. Honestly, pretty good for a chain boba spot! It's reliable, consistent, and you always know what you're going to get. Plus, they're open later than most boba shops in the area, which is a big bonus.

    Linh N.

    I bought milk tea here and found a bug in my drink. I'm not sure if it's a fly, but it made me feel sick and disgusted. I almost threw up

    Top 12
    Albert T.

    I visited The Alley as my second to last stop during the recent LNY Food Walk. I really enjoy the location in Lynnwood, so I figured this one would have the same quality of drinks. Be warned that they have a set Food Walk menu of several Milk Teas and Brown Sugar drinks for $6. Some of these drinks are actually cheaper on the normal menu (E.g. the Garden Milk Tea is $5.95 normally). They add all the Food Walk items in a special section on the kiosk, so ordering is fast and easy. Ube Taro Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk, 50% Ice ($6 Food Walk pricing, $7.25 normally) - I usually get milk teas, but most of them but I figured for the same price, I could get something I don't normally get. This drink is quite good. It's rich with an ube earthiness, combined with taro paste on the bottom that still has some very tender small bits of taro mixed in. The sweetness can't be adjusted, but I didn't find the drink too cloyingly sweet at all since it's mellowed out by all the earthy elements. Half ice is good; it cools down the drink with some ice chips left over, but not enough to dilute the drink down too much further. There's a thick creaminess to the milk that comprises the drink, with some foaminess on top. This drink comes with Deerioca/Boba. The boba served at The Alley is almost perfect. It's perhaps just the teeniest bit on the softer side, but it's exhibits a very good bounce and chew. There's a soft coating on the outside from the sugar soak that gives a good flavorful bite. Drink Rating: 4.5/5 Boba Rating 4.5/5 The Alley definitely serves some very solid drinks. I will definitely be returning in the future. Bathrooms - One unisex room that requires a code

    Hannah P.

    Staff is super friendly and helped me choose my drink. They use real lychee in your drinks so it tastes so silky and soft. The location is right on Jackson so it's really convenient to go by my job, and they have a ton of options if you're looking for boba or just a gift for a friend!

    Assam Black Milk Tea
    Mary J.

    Very modern, stylish, and clean little tea shop with high-quality and well-flavored tea and a no-sugar option. Maybe a bit pricey. They use the self-sealing lids, which makes the drinks more portable. The staff were friendly and kindly answered my questions about the differ options. Worth a stop if you are looking for a while in the International District.

    Emily T.

    Great boba spot! First had The Alley in the OC/LA area so it's nice to see it make its way up to Seattle! Got the brown sugar deerioca fresh milk boba and it was so good! Boba comes a bit hot at the bottom, but its cooked really nicely with the perfect amount of sweetness. My husband got the taro milk boba and loved his! Service is friendly and there's a few tables inside for seating but overall its a small location. Parking in the area isn't the greatest.

    Minimalistic interior throughout (7/7/24)
    Marie B.

    The IG reels caught my attention, so I made the effort to make the trek on a Sunday to arrive before it opened at 12noon (7/7/24). Lucked out with nearly free street parking on S Jackson. It's located across the street from Joyale Seafood Restaurant. I joined the line at 1155am. Observations: limited onsite seating, cards only - no cash accepted as payment, minimalistic interior, and bad internet connection. Various beverages on menu. Saw some croffles in a case. Probably would be more efficient if menus were posted or made available the entrance. Like myself, there's an extensive pause at the cashier stand placing one's customized order. Kind of dour person at the register and very focused staff dealing with the incoming orders. I randomly ordered The Alley Trio Milk Tea ($6.95) w/ 50% ice, regular sweetness. Came with chewy boba pearls and aloe rectangles. With tax and tip, it was a little over $9. It was okay, this experience was not remarkable over other similar businesses in the CID or greater Seattle area. It was a 3.5 rounded to a 4 star experience.

    Ube brown sugar deerioca creme brulee milk
    Vinh M.

    I went here with friends on a Friday night around 30 minutes before closing, and there was a line as you get inside. The walls and floors are pretty much new since the place opened several weeks ago, and there are bouquets of flowers placed around the seating near the windows. Seating itself is very limited, and outside parking or public transportation is advised here since the place doesn't have its own parking lot and sits right on S Jackson St. Throughout our stay, the line got increasingly long even when it was 10 minutes till closing time. I ordered The Alley Trio milk tea, and my friends each got the ube brown sugar deerioca creme brulee milk. We all requested ours with 50% sugar. I have gotten the ube creme brulee milk on a previous visit, and that was one of the best drinks I've tasted in a while though it can be overwhelmingly sweet if you choose it with more than 50% sugar. My Alley Trio included boba, lychee jelly and rainbow jelly, all of which added a decent amount of sweetness to the drink but wasn't anything too special. For my drink I was told that the creamer they use is non-dairy, so I didn't have to request oat milk this time around even if it was provided as an option. Nice place to get milk tea and another great addition to Chinatown, though be prepared for some decently long lines for a while!

    The Alley Trio Milk Tea
    Sharon L.

    The Alley has recently opened in Seattle, so I stopped by to try it out. There is a touchscreen kiosk to order your drink, where you can scroll through the menu items and customize them to your liking. Unfortunately, the images of each drink are not available on the screen, but there is a printed menu to refer to for reference photos. I ordered the Alley Trio Milk tea, which is milk tea with tapioca, pineapple jelly, and rainbow jelly. There are a few seats and tables inside where you can enjoy your tea. Overall the tea was good, service was quick and friendly, would stop by again if I'm in the area.

    Carolyn D.

    The Alley's opening in Seattle seemed highly anticipated and there was so much praise for the chain overall. Maybe I had higher expectations after hearing people talk about how good it is, but I was disappointed when I tried it. I tried their most popular drink - the ube brown sugar deerioca creme brulee milk. It is a drink that is able to be "less sweet" but the staff let me know that the brown sugar makes it sweet but they were able to make other parts of the drink less sweet. Even at the less sweet option, I felt that the drink was still super sweet. I knew when ordering this drink that it would be on the sweeter side since it was not a tea, but upon taking a sip (after mixing) it felt like I was just drinking sugar. I could barely taste the ube flavor in the drink. I felt that the milk and creme overpowered the ube. The boba was very good though - very yummy brown sugar flavor and chewy. Overall, for a number one drink, it fell flat. The lighting in the store is very bright. However there is limited seating. I think I would come back again to try their tea drinks, but I don't think I would go out of my way to try it. There's other places in the International District where you can go to get boba that I would rather go to.

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    Ask the Community - The Alley

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    Seattle Best Tea - Wintermelon Milk Tea

    Seattle Best Tea

    4.5(692 reviews)
    0.3 miChinatown, Chinatown International District
    $

    this place is solid. i have good memories of it. this is the first place i ever got boba when i…read moremoved to seattle 9 years ago, and i go back occasionally every few years or so. i just want to leave a review specifically for the little stand they had at the recent u district street fair. after a long 1.5 hours there, i was on my way back to my car, and i saw the booth with no line this time that i passed. they had all my fav flavors, including oolong. i was so tired but i was like, ok, i bought my son some things that he wanted, i should just get something nice for myself, too. my son (3 y/o) protested bc he just wanted to go home. at first, i gave in and said yeah, i already spent too much money at this festival. but after i walked away, i thought, no, i'm tired and hot and i worked hard and i came all this way--i should get boba if i want it!! so i came back to the stand and said, "can i have an oolong tea?" and the very nice person at the stand looked me straight and steady in the eyes and said, "yes." she was very supportive and insistent that i have the tea for myself even if my 3 y/o insisted on just wanting to go home. it was arguably a small gesture, but it felt really good to have someone so confident and encouraging that i should do this nice, fun thing for myself. i drank the boba on the way home as my son fell asleep thank you!!!

    Refreshing beverage in Seattle, Washington…read more.. We were walking around when we saw this boba shop near the Large Gate at the entrance to Chinatown. My niece suggested that we see if this place was actually Seattle Best Tea. The interior was crowded, so we thought that it must be a popular place. There were people standing in line and a small group sitting in the back of the shop. Service was efficient and polite. I was told that wintermelon tea cannot be served hot. That's ok... I can drink it with less ice on a chilly, cloudy afternoon. Since toppings were free, I got rainbow jelly. Yay! Thank you! We'll be back if we're in the area again!

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    Seattle Best Tea - Heavy oolong milk tea with boba and red bean

    Heavy oolong milk tea with boba and red bean

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    Cones

    Seattle Best Tea

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    Young Tea - T2. Assam Black Tea

    Young Tea

    4.4(85 reviews)
    4.4 miWallingford

    Came here the other day, and we were pleasantly surprised! The service was great and they were…read morepatient with us. They had a lot of tea options, so we had to make sure we're getting the right one. My gf is obsessed with milk tea, and been on the hunt for the phoenix oolong. So far this is the only place she's been able to find in Seattle that sells it. I ordered the Rock milk tea, and it had a strong tea flavor and a good dark aroma. It's exactly the way I like my milk tea! I feel this place to be authentic with their tea leaves, and they seem to be really knowledgeable about their menu. So if you're really specific with your tea flavors, or just want to try something different than your usual black or green tea, then I recommend this.

    It doesn't seem this place is adequately staffed. The only staff was working his bones off and the…read moreline kept growing! Luckily everyone was patient and can clearly see he was working hard, and he did let us know that it might take a while. He was a hard worker. The boba place is very tea forward with a variety of options. There were a handful of drinks that had an interesting name, such as, Iron Buddha, but I wish there was a description of what the drink was. I didn't want to ask too many questions given the growing line. I don't think any of the drinks included toppings, so that's an additional charge. I guess it's been a while since I had boba cause the average price was $7-8 without any toppings! The drink was great and tasted delicious, but the operation itself can be better.

    Photos
    Young Tea - M17. Hojicha Latte

    M17. Hojicha Latte

    Young Tea - M18. Genmaicha Latte with red bean

    M18. Genmaicha Latte with red bean

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    Inside

    Heytea - :D

    Heytea

    3.7(105 reviews)
    1.7 miSouth Lake Union
    $$

    I visited twice and tried two different drinks on separate days: the Mango Coconut Tea and the…read morePistachio Tea. Unfortunately, neither one was for me, but I can definitely see why they're popular with younger customers. The staff were incredibly friendly, welcoming, and very fast with preparing the drinks. The shop itself is quite small, so I wouldn't plan on staying to sit for long.

    I've previously had HeyTea in their Bellevue location, so I expected more or less the same when I…read moregot to this one on a hot, sweaty Tuesday evening around 5:40pm. Because it was hot and sweaty, a big sea of people were waiting both outside and inside this place, and I saw only about 5 or so staff members making all the drinks. There's only two tables and two benches to sit at on the right-hand side of the place; otherwise, the rest of the space is behind the counter where all the drinks are made and the strong aromatic aroma of tea fills the interior. From my visit here, I think you can only place orders either through their lone kiosk to the left-hand side of the entrance near a corner, or by scanning the QR code at the front of the entrance and following prompts on your phone. Staff was too busy making drinks to take orders at the front counter when I was inside. Either way, you have to use the HeyTea app to scan a QR code (on the receipt you get after placing your order) if you want to see an estimate on when your drink(s) will be ready. By the time I signed up for an account and downloaded the app using the slow 5G, my estimated time was 25 minutes; however, the wait for my triple supreme matcha latte (with extra matcha, less sugar and all other things in their recommended settings) ended up being more than 45 minutes as I walked around the perimeter and waited inside and outside this location as well. It was really chaotic trying to get my drink once it was ready; people were cutting in front of me and others to show staff their receipt and pick up their orders even though I was in front of the line. Taste wise though, the matcha is a strong ceremonial blend with grassy tones that actually caught me by surprise. That's because they have a matcha cheese cloud which I thought would have dulled the matcha taste but it didn't! There's also matcha mochi and what tasted like matcha jelly on the bottom which further strengthened the earthy tones. Probably because it was really hot as of this writing, the ice melted much fasted than usual so that's out of this place's control and therefor doesn't detract from my experience itself. Wait here was really long for just one drink but I'm thankful there's something you can use to see when your drinks are ready - in this case, their HeyTea app. I would probably only come back if I was around the area, though wait times for drinks might deter me from doing so altogether.

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    Heytea - :D

    :D

    Heytea - Cloud Coconut Blue Matcha

    Cloud Coconut Blue Matcha

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    Mango Coconut blue

    CHICHA San Chen - TV could be a good spot to indicate preparing orders & ready for pick up orders.

    CHICHA San Chen

    4.4(575 reviews)
    5.6 mi
    $$$

    Love the Chicha here!…read more They tasted better than the Chicha in Singapore!! SERVICE 5/5 Staff was so earnest, kind and attentive. The two times I was there, they gave me samples of tea to try. AMBIANCE 5/5 Very limited seatings but if you were lucky like me, you will enjoy sipping tea here. Bright, clean and very lively esp on weekends (meaning long line! lol). DRINKS 5/5 The first time I had the "Osmanthus Mango" (did not quite remember the name) and the 2nd time "Bee My Plum". Both drinks were excellent. Funnily, this ChiCha and a couple of other places would be something I miss in Bellevue.

    Since Chicha San Chen opened its Bellevue Square location, I have stopped by a couple times. While…read morethey serve some of the best boba, the tea flavor tastes a bit diluted compared to what I noted in my previous review. Because they brew each cup on order, I expected the tea to be more apparent, but in every drink I've tried it takes a backseat to other flavors. + DONG DING OOLONG TEA LATTE: I opted for light sugar and light ice. Despite being one of the most popular drinks, the tea flavor was weak and the cream dominated. It had a smooth consistency with subtle caramel notes, so it still tasted good, but I would have loved for the tea to shine more. At least the $1 addition of boba is pretty generous and I had enough for every sip! It was perfectly cooked with that nice chewy bounce. Since the boba itself is sweetened, going to 0% sweetness would probably be just sweet enough for me. + OSMANTHUS TEA w/ PASSIONFRUIT: Again, this leaned heavily toward the passionfruit rather than delivering a distinct tea flavor. (Side note: At the register, I received a sample of the High Mountain Pouchong Tea with Mango. This was sweet, super fruity and reminded me of mango nectar. It's really delicious, but only had a tiny hint of green tea.) + OSMANTHUS OOLONG HONEY TEA: I selected light sugar and light ice without toppings, hoping to taste the pure tea. I picked up the floral notes of the Osmanthus and the tea flavor came through a wee bit more than the other drinks, though still wasn't the dominant flavor. The amount of honey was on the verge of being too sweet, but the drink overall was refreshing and crisp. The new location in Bellevue Square is very clean with a few tables for two along the wall. It is consistently busy, so just be prepared for a wait. However, there are multiple employees preparing the drinks, so while the line appears long, they churn out orders pretty quickly without getting flustered. It's impressive! Given the steep pricing for the cup size and the weak tea flavor, Chicha San Chen wouldn't be my go-to spot considering all the other boba tea options in Bellevue.

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    CHICHA San Chen - Classia milk tea and high mountain tea

    Classia milk tea and high mountain tea

    CHICHA San Chen - Pick up counter

    Pick up counter

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