Excellent service the minute you walk in the door. Several yummy drinks to choose so we went with tropical fruit tea ( I really wanted the mui one but next time). You can choose the sweetness-we chose 25% with green tea. I can taste the lychee, mango and pineapple. Refreshing! Cant wait to go back. read more

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The teas were delicious! The Winterberry was sweet and unexpected. The lemon also had strong flavor and just the right sweetness. The guys who worked there were so nice. They could tell we had never been there before and asked all the appropriate questions to make sure we got exactly what we wanted. They allow you to personalize the level of sweetness, which serves a variety of people, so this place is great for everyone. The shop is small, but there are places to sit down and enjoy your drink. They also have a few light few food choices. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Entrance - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I like the Okinawa Black Milk Tea at 50% sweet. Sizes are big, bigger than most places. The taste is good but it isn't quite "top". The combo though, good flavor and big size, means that this is a good, efficient regular spot for local regulars. read more

Cozy boba spot tucked around the corner of a Subway. Ample parking because of the entire plaza. Seating is available but no restrooms. We snagged a plethora of drinks but most notably, the ube trifecta. Ube Black Milk Tea w/ Boba - milk tea was light but very refreshing. The ube mixed alright but as ube is a subtle flavor, the overall taste didn't change much. Definitely more aesthetic but I'd opt for another ube option or a classic milk tea. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Ube Milk, Ube Taro Milk Tea, and Ube Black Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Came here on Feb. 18th because I was really craving boba so I got 1 for me & 1 for my grandma and its still the absolute best for both of us and she genuinely gets so excited when I ask her if she wants a drink too because she hardly ever comes to this side of the island unless she absolutely has to for something health related so definitely will continue to come here! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - 2 medium sized Brown Sugar Tiger Milk drinks with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This t-shirt might be hard to find but if you look for the Times Supermarket and nice day Chinese restaurant it's just around the corner. A huge assortment of drinks to choose from which you can vary the sugar and Ice level which I appreciate. They also have dairy Alternatives which I definitely appreciate! I got the Ube Taro milk tea with pudding soy milk light ice and zero sugar. My friend got the brown sugar milk tea with boba. The bobaristas were friendly, our drinks came out fast and tasted great! There are some tables outside so you could sit and enjoy your drink and it looks like they also offer a small menu of food but we didn't get any. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Brown sugar and Ube Taro - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Hard to find boba spots with so many options! The Tea was so flavorful and we enjoyed all the drinks. I recommend this spot read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Jasmine milk tea with Oreo - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Amazing once again. Everytime I go, I love their drinks. My absolute favorite is the Strawberry Black Milk Tea, half sweet. read more

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I started drafting this review three years ago but somehow never got around to finishing it. All I had in my draft was that I enjoy their Lemon Kumquat Green Tea and Lavender Latte. Today, I ordered the Rose Green Milk Tea with pudding and boba. Because I've already had rose green milk tea that I enjoyed elsewhere, it might have not met my expectations as much as I have wanted to. But I personally think that it still satisfied my cravings. The place is very accessible. It is located in Liliha Square, so parking is available. It is also located along many major bus lines in the area. read more

Located around the corner of Times this unassuming shop is my boyfriend's favorite place to get an iced americano. They offer a variety of drinks and desserts and have a few tables inside where you can sit and enjoy their offerings. We're always greeted with a smile and enjoy their service even if it's brief. On our last visit we got to try their egg tarts, they were freshly baked so we tried our best to let them cool before sinking our teeth in them and they were so yummy. Not too sweet & the crust was light & flaky, just how we like them. They participate in Five Stars so make sure you always put your number in to rack up those rewards! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Egg tarts & my Iced Americano - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I came here with a group of my former coworkers from almost 20 years ago. One suggested to meet at the boba tea shop at Liliha Square. She didn't tell me the name. I had to coordinate with my other coworkers. She finally revealed the name when she arrived at Top Tea + Espresso next to Subway. I normally research the restaurants before I get there. So, I would know what to order from reading the reviews from everyone local. This time, I did a quick glance at the pictures people posted. There were too many to choose from. I ended up getting my usual Honeydew with tapioca balls aka boba. The drink tasted ok and the price was really reasonable. I was complaining about the weak straw until my local friend told me it was because they used biodegradable straws. Ah ok. It cracked all over the directions. I couldn't use it to suck up the boba. I had to use a spoon to scoop them out. The location is kind of funky. We sat at the concrete table on the walkway. There were transients walking toward the public restroom. Quite a scene that busy night. Oh. One more thing. Don't be mistaken this "Top Tea" with "Tea Top", which is an international franchise from Taiwan and the mainland. This is definitely a locally owned and operated restaurant on Oahu. read more

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Lately, price of boba is climbing and quality is declining. But Top Tea knows how to make a perfect bubble tea, and their prices are more than reasonable! I'm not in the Kalihi area often but when I am, I stop by Top Tea + Espresso because (1) Their teas and smoothies taste fresh! (2) Their boba is perfectly sweetened and the texture is delightfully chewy. (3) Customer service is excellent. The staff is always kind, friendly and happy! Today, I enjoyed a large mango green tea, 50% sweetness with boba. It was exactly what I wanted. Craving satisfied! My boyfriend enjoyed his mango peach smoothie with boba. Tip: You cannot adjust sweetness for smoothies. Also, you can choose up to 2 flavors! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Menu (1/3) as of March 2024 - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Great service and great breakfast choices. I enjoy the convenience of the location and the fact you can bring your furry friends.

Very neat store and it make the drink in decent time. Is another hidden gem that you don't want to missed it. This is another place you can get nice drink and they also offer ice cream too. read more

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Very friendly. They do such a good job at making the drinks customizable and always correctly. They are courteous and work quickly. I've never had to wait long for my drinks. Everything I've had tastes delicious too! read more

Takeout place with teas. I think they use artificial flavorings, but the taste is not bad.

This is our other go to place for boba smoothie. Been here a few times the last 2 weeks and it was great! Small little place on Liliha in same complex as Times supermarket. Wish had more lighting around as it gets creepy at night which we visited a few times before they close. Service is good. Kind of a little longer wait but can't help we order 3-4 smoothies. It's a small shop so be prepared to wait outside as it can get crowded with just a few people. We tried the Taro, Honeydew and Mocha Smoothies with Boba. All were delicious and large boba somehow was pretty good and not bland. We came back because we really enjoyed them. Service is great, pleasant guy. Price is pretty decent too compared to other boba shops. Definitely worth trying out. read more

Patient, kind service. Delicious. Refreshing. Small venue; 4 tables inside; seats about 16. Milk options include whole, almond, and soy. We sat outside tables; posted sign says limited to 1 hour. read more

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so-so, milk tea suck, but fruit tea is fine. Do better next time, I rather choose tiger sugar instead

The amount of ice they put is unbelievable, it fills almost the entire cup and leaves very little actual drink. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This Place HORRIBLE SERVICE THE Chinese girl with glasses rushing keep asking anything else there is 3 of us and we are looking at the menu is this how you talk to your customers rushing them I mean come on do better and smile at leasT no smile nothing just felt rush and not valued as a customer if I have to say hold on we still looking at the menu that's bad so we left and didn't order anything DO BETTER TOP TEA SMILE AND WAIT FOR YOUR CUSTOMER don't rush them. read more

open decently late and drinks are okay. I got the ube black milk tea and the fresh ube is a nice addition but my straw was so cheap and thin that I cracked it while stirring the drink. I think the black tea could be a little stronger. it's pretty tho! opinions were mixed between drinks being too sweet and just right with the adjustments. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - ube black milk tea and black milk tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Exceptional customer service w/such friendly smiley staff Teas, smoothies all very tasty and refreshing !

The mango smoothie is very sour. It's hard to explain because it doesn't taste like it contains any real fruit. I don't know how a smoothie with only syrup for flavor would end up being such a sourpuss. Aside from that, the boba is on the firmer side, not a good or bad thing, just info for those tapioca connoisseurs that prefer a certain texture of boba. The location is on the side of the building with Times. Staff was fine, but the straw wrapper had some milk on it. I might go back and try a milk tea drink, but as for the smoothies, which are my normal go-to drink, never again from here. read more

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I was shopping at Times Supermarket in Liiliha, and afterwards I had a craving for bubble tea. I referred to Yelp to find the nearest bubble tea place and right around the corner was Top Tea + Espresso. This was a first visit and I was not disappointed. I ordered the Brown Sugar Tiger Milk with boba, almond milk and 25% sweetness. It was sweeter than I expected so maybe next time I'll add zero sweetness. Yes I want to return! The service was great and the menu has a variety of bobas and teas. The reviews were also positive. Parking is not a problem and there is indoor seating if you choose to sit and enjoy your drink. A great start to my summer break! read more

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I got the peach green tea 50% sweet with jelly. I think because of the jelly it was still sweet for me personally but the drink itself was very refreshing. The cashier was super kind and there were many tables for you and your friends to sit at and enjoy a nice drink. read more

I found out about this place from the Five Stars app and they gave 20% off a drink. I tried the lychee green tea. It was good, but not super special. I might have to go back to try one of the heavier drinks that looked good but I wasn't in the mood for at the time like the ube milk. They are not cheap, but not too expensive, but the parking is kinda crazy in that lot! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Lychee tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

The is great and reasonable but they must change their straws as it breaks as you sip and than can't slurp the boba or lychee in your mouth. I called them about it and they were good about it and apologized. I just hope they buy sturdier straws that do not crack as you sip your drink because I love your Boba. It's just the strong straws that I have an issue with. read more

I wanna give business to this place mostly because the customer service is so awesome. The bonus is the drink I get tastes pretty good. I've only tried the strawberry milk with boba but it tastes really good, the boba tastes good (but I'm not a boba expert) and definitely can't beat the price. I love it here!! read more

This place the service are not good at all . I come there to buy my favorites tea & milk tea 3 to 4 times a week & every time I buy 3/4 items because I live far away but at only one time the soy milk was sour I told the owner about it he would not replaced me a new milk tea instead of blaming it was my fault maybe I leave it too long & it's not true I bought it all the time I know. Only one replacement of milk tea but he is too cheap to do so not clever at all to do business that way . Customer service should always be good especially it's theirs soy milk is over date or something happening to the soy milk being sour . I will never come back there again ! read more

Was in the mood for boba after dinner but I've found that a lot of boba shops now close early. I'm so happy to have stumbled upon Top Tea through Yelp! They have an extensive menu, ordering process was easy, and our drinks came out quickly. I got a Jasmine Milk Tea with soy and 25% sweetness. Although it's labeled as a Green Milk Tea on their menu. I'm happy Top Tea offers dairy alternatives, as it can be a hit or miss at boba shops. My milk tea was good, not overly sweet nor bitter, and wasn't too heavy. My boyfriend got the Lava Flow with boba which he really enjoyed. I had a sip and it was sweet and creamy. We'll be back if we're in the area. I want to try their ube because all the pictures look amazing! read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Jasmine Milk Tea with Boba (Soy Milk) (Front) and Lava Flow Smoothie with Boba (Back) - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Located in Liliha, this is a nice place to get a milk tea drink in Kalihi! The place is small, but very clean. The people who work here are friendly and their menu has a lot of options, but no real crazy creations. In terms of the drink, I ordered the Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Boba and 75% sugar. I think this was the most well balanced drink ever! It definitely matched my level of sweetness and they don't fill up the drink with too much boba. I really enjoyed my drink and plan to come back for another! read more

I heard this tea place used to be Friends Cafe. I enjoyed their tea and desserts. Glad they returned when Friend Cafe closed. Located next to Times. A lot of parking, My favorite drinks are their flowery tea ones. Rose green milk tea and lavender milk tea are my favorite! Both can taste the tea and the flowery taste. I was able to adjust the sugar level so it's not too sweet. I had the topping of grass jelly with my drink. I loved it! It was cut into cubes so easier to drink into my straw. Flowery milk tea is not very common in tea places here. This place is one of the few that has. Highly recommend it. read more

Top Tea + Espresso - Bubble Tea Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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The drinks were refreshing. My fav is a green milk tea 50% sweetened with no toppings. They make it perfect. They have good biodegradable straws. Clean store that's located around the corner of Subway. read more

Top Tea is located around the corner in Liliha by Times Supermarket and Nice Day Restaurant. They have menus on nice big screens upon entry. We ordered the Wintermelon tea, Brown sugar milk tea, Brown sugar tiger milk, and Espresso milk tea. My Tiger milk drink was customized with soy milk as it was an option. I'm glad that I got it unsweetened as the brown sugar tiger milk was so sweet by itself. All our drinks were really good, though. Boba was great too! If you want to upgrade to their cute Top Tea souvenir "milk box" or can container (both plastic), you can do that for an additional fee. Open for takeout only. 15 minute parking right in front if available. read more

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Thank you Top Tea for the 10% off :) We sincerely understand that times are challenging now with covid and we are pleased to see you folks are open for business. Hopefully doing well and grateful that you're offering this new ube flavor! It is so yummy! read more

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Confessions of a self proclaimed boba connoisseur: When I saw Jolene L. Stop by two times in one week, with the load of ube drinks... It just put me in ube mode. I first discovered and fell in love with cheese foam when I tried it at Friend Cafe. I used to have to visit weekly. Make some excuse of why I need to be in town and happen upon the cafe, constantly. By coincidence of course. Since then, the building is no more and I heard the boba shop relocated but I never tried hard enough to follow. I did try the other Friend Cafe location in OHM, but didn't enjoy it as much as the Kapiolani location. Lately with all the buzz about the ube walls and the cute carton shaped containers, people have put two and two together with Friend Cafe and Top Tea! As much as I love cute, branded containers... these just don't look practical enough for me to jump on. Especially now with COVID precautions, no reusable items are to be filled. Just unfortunate for planet Earth, yet understandable for safety reasons. For the ube, I can say the rage is legit. Ube has been around a long time. It's just now it's being used in different, interesting ways and I'm sure we're all here for it. On to the drinks. There were three ube options. Milk tea, ube taro milk tea and ube milk. The ube taro and ube milk are made with non dairy and no caffeine, if I remember correctly. When he said that, I was deeply conflicted. I love my milk tea, but I love non dairy options so much more. Since my eldest wanted the ube taro MT, I decided to go with the MT since I don't like getting doubles. I really wish more places would get on the "dairy alternative" movement. My drink was good. I love the taste of their milk tea. I added cheese foam, like ol' times. Still very good. The ube, I could take it or leave it. It didn't make the drink weird, but it didn't make the drink shine either. I mixed it in, from the walls, then it just sat at the bottom of my cup. My boys had nothing bad to say about their drinks, they were all really good. The location is very different from their old spot. I'm not a huge fan of Kalihi, but I'll put up with it if there's something worth visiting. I haven't visited this area in a long time so I have no idea what the parking is like at all. I completely missed the lot, so we snagged street parking on the street above. Seems like a rare opportunity. Safety precautions are in place here, as much as they can control. Only one party allowed inside at a time, plastic barrier set up, and ground markers to designate "social distancing". For now, the nail salon next door is closed. But when they open back up, who knows what kind of chaos there will be blocking the business. I only encountered the employee manning the register and he was awesome. Could be the owner or manager, either way, you're great! He let me know I could place an order by phone and gave me a menu with all the info. Normally I'm good about those things but since we were traveling some ways, I didn't want to order ahead in case I didn't make it or whatever. When our order was ready (5 drinks), maybe within 5 minutes, he graciously thanked us for coming all the way out and handed our drinks. They were nicely packed in a carrier within a plastic bag. Just this brief interaction was enough for me to say the customer service here is great, I'm sure! Forgot to mention, during this time, our order got 10% off. I can't say if I'll be frequenting this spot as much as the Kapiolani spot, but I know I will be back soon. The tea, boba and the cheese foam here are legit. Worth it, I recommend! read more

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Dessert and Milk Tea in Liliha, Honolulu, Hawaii... After dinner, Jules, Allen, Jessica, and I searched our Yelp app for a dessert place. We found a Hot and New boba tea shop in Liliha Shopping Center (next to Times Supermarket) with FREE parking. We decided to go here because of the 25 percent off of your first drink and the Milk Carton container... The cute Plastic Reusable Milk Carton was just $5.99. They will rinse it out for you so you can bring it back and get 5 percent off of your next drink! It's great for the environment and a nice Customer Loyalty program! Top Tea + Espresso is around the corner from Nice Day Chinese Restaurant, in the hallway near Subway. It's a tidy shop owned by the people that used to run Friend Cafe on Kapiolani Boulevard at the Kenrock Building. Friend Cafe moved to Liliha area to make way for a condo development and changed their name to Top Tea + Espresso to be more specific about their products. Imagine the joy that Jules and I experienced when we realized that Janelle and Kevin were back in business! We had met them on their opening day of Friend Cafe! What a reunion! When Kevin asked us how we found him, we answered, "Yelp". He raised his hands and replied, "Of course!" LOL! Anyway, since there were four of us, we got a slice of each of the desserts: Tiramisu, Strawberry Shortcake, Mango Mousse, and Japanese Cheesecake. They're all yummy goodness from Elvin's Bakery. We also got our own drinks suited to our likes and sweetness levels. I got the Wintermelon (nondairy) Milk Tea with half sweet. It was refreshingly perfect! I can't wait to go back with my reusable container and try another flavor! Congratulations to Kevin and Janelle on your new location! We wish you all the best and see you again soon! Note: get additional discounts with their partnership with the Star Rewards Program! read more

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Friendly, knowledgeable Staff. Explained different options. Drinks were prepared quickly & were delicious. Shrimp chips were also fresh, crispy & very tasty. Perfect compliment to Boba tea drinks. Recommend Top Tea drinks & shrimp chips. read more

There is a famous milk tea shop in Taiwan, the motherland of milk tea. Their number one drink is the brown sugar milk tea with boba and a black sugar brûlée top. Since I can't pop over to Taiwan every time I want a milk tea, Top Tea + Espresso is the next best brown sugar option. If you have a sweet tooth, this is the drink; with its chewy and soft boba and lingering caramelised sweetness. Other unique flavor options include rose, lavender, yuzu and kumquat. I do love rose flavored drinks, but their rose flavoring was on the artificial side. If you'd rather eat your calories, Top Tea + Espresso has gelato and a small selection of desserts including tiramisu, strawberry shortcake, and Japanese cheesecake. Take advantage of free parking and 25% off with your Yelp Check-In! read more

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