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    The Whale Tea Columbia

    4.2 (16 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Order The Whale Tea Columbia Takeout or Delivery

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    Inside looking out
    Jingwen Z.

    The Whale Tea at Columbia is operating where Mellow Tea, another bubble tea shop, used to be. It remains a takeout-only location, with no seating inside. They have electronic kiosks where you can explore the menu and order, as well as laminated physical menus. Since they are a chain, I wanted to see if their quality was similar to other locations'. I ordered a peach oolong tea, one of my favorite summer/light fruit teas, with tapioca. For some of the drinks, there is only one size available (large), and it wa $5.75 for this fruit tea. Toppings cost extra. It's somewhat pricey, but within the range of other semi-fancy boba shops in New York. The peach oolong tea itself was excellent, with both the fruit and tea flavors coming out strongly. However, the picture in the menu depicted real fruit chunks, which were not in my drink. The tapioca were of a good, firm but not hard texture, but a little bit lacking in taste. While these two points weren't ideal, overall the drink was good and I would go again. I'm glad they opened on this campus that is surprisingly lacking in good bubble tea options.

    16 oz Peach Fruit Tea
    Stacie J.

    Ordered from here twice (yesterday and today, don't judge LOL) as an addition to my DoorDash food order. Yesterday I tried the lychee fruit tea (no additions), no ice, and 50% sugar. Loved the flavoring and sugar ratio so it was not too sweet. Today I chose the peach fruit tea, no ice, 70% sugar, and no additions. Two thumbs up!

    Classic
    Sally W.

    Pretty typical bubble tea place with a kiosk to order. I thought mellow tea closed but glad that whale tea just took over so there's still a neighborhood bubble tea place in the area. I was in and out within 5 minutes so super speedy. Convenient location and moderately priced like all over bubble tea shops.

    Lychee Fruit Tea with boba
    Andrea C.

    Stopped by here and ughhhh it's so good! Probably one of the best boba places in the area. I ordered the lychee fruit tea with boba (30% sugar), and it was delicious - the lychee fruit bits and sweet, chewy boba went well with the slightly sweetened tea. Everything tasted so fresh. Coming from the SGV in LA, I have tried so many great boba places, and my experience with the Whale Tea definitely exceeded my expectations. I also order delivery from here a lot. I will definitely be back!

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    9 months ago

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    11 months ago

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    4 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Love love love- such a great place! The whale tea is amazing, and they always are so kind

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    5/5 stars. Got the iced brown sugar boba in a pick-up order, and it was absolutely scrumptious.

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    Gong Cha

    Gong Cha

    3.8
    (455 reviews)
    4.3 mi
    $

    Good place for boba. Simple ordering process thru their kiosk. Lots of selection. I chose the black…read moretea with boba. Drunk came out fast. No real interaction with the staff but they are efficient. Place is clean with some space for seating. Funny conversation to eavesdrop on but a couple was on a date and the girl was talking about her psychedelic experience doing mushrooms and an alien god judging her about her network of friends...I normally don't eavesdrop but couldn't help it in such a small sitting area

    I returned to another Gong Cha bubble tea chain which this is located at 38th Street between 5th…read moreand 6th Avenues, Midtown West, Manhattan, NYC. This location is accessible via A train at 42nd Street Port Authority. Upon arriving there was a woman in front of me arguing with the staff persistently haggling the price to be lowered, but to no avail. Woman, no means no! There are other bubble tea businesses within the locale that may appease your needs, but not this particular Gong Cha whom apologized for the inconvenience of the inability to lower the price on the product ordered. As I waited patiently, I took photos of this business' environment. The staff stated the cash register is not working and currently unable to accept either credit or debit cards, but cash only payments. Ergo, I was unable to obtain a sales receipt nor a drink label printed. I wonder if the staff reboot the register or check their internet connection to be offline as the cause of non-functioning O/O/O. [1] Customer service is average. Well... if the staff can lower the price for one customer why not lower it for ALL customers? Surely, why not make my drink order as inclusion for lowering the price, please? Hell no, of course not! The conclusion was ironclad. In the real world, this cannot happen. As I stood on line waiting for this woman to let go and walk away from her argument I had shrunk to my own gnawing thoughts. I took photos of the atmospheric environment. There is a cute signage: "Bubble tea where refreshment meets creativity." The pink metal water bottle is very adorably cute which is something that I would certainly purchase. Peach green tea, medium $7.25 My favorite default topping grass jelly (aka herbal jelly) loeng4 fan2 涼粉 is my standard request for $0.75 which was good, but not served chilled. At 30% sugar level request, it was slightly higher in sugar content. Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg would shake his head at me in disbelief with disapproval and disappointment for consuming this excessively sugary drink. The peach green tea was not the cause of the sweetness but a man-made sugar embed measurement error. Nevertheless, this Gong Cha satisfied my bubble tea fix as it is now my addiction - in addition to my other addiction, writing. [1] O/O/O = Out Of Order

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    Gong Cha
    Gong Cha
    Gong Cha

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    Ho Ho Té

    Ho Ho Té

    4.0
    (204 reviews)
    3.7 mi

    Staffs were friendly. There are bubble tea, and food you can order from here. I ordered a regular…read moreKorean Hot Dog which was $4.99. There are tables and seats where you can sit and enjoy your meal here. Service: 4/5 Food: 4/5 Ambience: 4/5

    My bubble tea crawl continues throughout NYC attaining my favorite default grass jelly loeng4 fan2…read more涼粉 choice topping. Ahh, grass jelly loeng4 fan2 涼粉 is my childhood favorite dessert and summons nostalgia! It is my mission to search for bubble tea businesses that offers grass jelly as a topping for my primary reason to patronize. It was abundant which filled one quarter of my medium sized drink. The grass jelly topping is New York City standard priced at $0.50 at least there is sustainability and a sense of normalcy. I requested regular ice, but the entire ice dispensed disappointedly melted and the drink became room temperate. Heat wave medium $6.00 Passionfruit green tea with grass jelly, 50%, light sugar. The drink alone was good quality. While scanning the electronic menu the drink names appear very comical and not business appropriate as well as this bubble tea business name Ho Ho Te. The sound speakers is boisterously loud blasting music directly at my face by the ordering counter. The cashier associate was 90% inaudible of her customer service questions due to the boisterously loud blasting music as I had to fight loud vs. loud by blurting loudly several times: "WHAT?" Why would a business intentionally place sound speakers in front of a ordering counter station where customers must communicate their food/drink orders? How can customers place their drinks orders with clear specific description/instructions only for the cashier associate to inadvertently obfuscate by misinformation because the message conveyed was utterly misinterpreted? Communication is vital for ordering and order fulfillment accuracy in the food service industry! The cardboard paper straws available are environmentally sustainable friendly for biodegradable and compostable. However, these cardboard straws taste AWFULl!! The drink selection is very limited menu compared with other bubble tea competitors. Disappointedly there is no Jasmine green tea on the menu. There are some food items. Takeout menus are available for grabs. Loyalty card is available which also serve as business card where the back is printed in gold foil. This business is very accessible by MTA NYC Transit at Port Authority 42nd Street's A, C, E trains and buses near the peripheral of Times Square.

    Photos
    Summer Special: Slushes~ Mango, Lychee, Dragon Fruit and Strawberry, free cream cap!
    Summer Special: Slushes~ Mango, Lychee, Dragon Fruit and Strawberry, free cream cap!
    Black milk tea ft papee straw!
    Black milk tea ft papee straw!
    Matcha soft serve with red bean

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    Matcha soft serve with red bean

    The Whale Tea Columbia - bubbletea - Updated July 2026

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