Chatime

I love the roasted milk tea here! Definitely the best BBT downtown.
Staff/​line-​ups are slow during peak times.

If the owner see this. Please provide more training to your staff, especially the cashier. You are one of the more popular bubble tea stops, and no doubt I like your drinks. But you have the worst customer service. I just left your location after 30+min wait in line empty handed. Why? Because it’s still not my turn yet. Yes, it’s busy and packed. But why is that? Because your staff keeps messing up orders. Missing Orders, Missing Pearls and toppings .
It’s Ridiculous!

Roasted. Green. Milk. Tea.
Why does no one else serve this? You get that toasted rice flavor perfectly melded with the cream and traditional green tea. It’s amazing and I wish I could have some this very moment.
The location is prime and the hours are better than most (they stay open pretty late by Vancouver standards). However, the space is small, with few tables and it always seems pretty crowded. Service is quick and curt, though not so friendly. Next time I’ll have to try it with boba.
Thank you, Chatime, for thoroughly satisfying my milk tea craving and exceeding expectations.
Unilocal 100 Challenge — 2016 [15/​100]

I was actually surprised that there was a Chatime in Canada! I’m from San Francisco and I see these here and there.
Finally, after almost a week without boba, I was able to order the regular milk tea. It was interesting too how they call tapioca «pearls» instead of boba in Canada.
We waited about 5 minutes to get our drinks and my drink was satisfying enough for my boba withdrawals.

The line-​up can be a pain, but for good boba it’s worth it.
I tried the Hawaiian fruit green tea with pearls at 50% sweetness and less ice. It was the perfect dose of refreshing bubble tea for me. The pearls had a nice texture — chewy, soft (but not too soft), and not too sweet.

Came back here a 2^nd time and ordered my milk tea one level down from the half sweet (30%), which was just right. I would say their version of half sweet is the equivalent of regular sweetness everywhere else. A-​OK!

After being disappointed by the «fake» Chatime at Aberdeen Centre, I decided to finally try out one of the authentic Chatime shops, situated in the heart of downtown Vancouver.
To make things fair, I ordered the roasted milk tea again, with pearls and… it was okay. First of all, I had ordered 50% sugar, but I still felt like I was drinking a cup of liquid diabetes. The pearls however, were of great consistency and they gave me the perfect amount! Even though I did enjoy the chewy experience, I still prefer the pearls from Peanuts at Richmond Public Market.
The worst part about the drink is the after-​taste. The residue from the drink in my mouth was practically a film of unpleasant milk powder, which I could not wash away. I ended up purchasing mints to get rid of the after-​taste. Honestly, I think the Bubble World shop a few minutes away is much better.

Great spot to hang for a while, chat, and generally pass some time. Drinks are pretty good with prices somewhat above average. I have tried reading or getting work done here, it’s not the place for it (very noisy, sometimes smelly, floor sticky, chairs not comfortable, limited outlets). I appreciate that I don’t need to carry the loyalty card with me. Now if only they could also get the redemption feature available without the card too…

Chatime is an extremely popular BBT franchise in Toronto and I was so happy to see that it had made its way over to Vancouver. A friend and I frequented Chatime when we were in the 6ix so it was fitting for us to go together.
First impressions — the counter is small, décor is kind of tacky, seating is limited
Ordered the original milk tea (50% sweet). No ice ‘cuz I opted for the warm version… it was chilly outside! It was just as I remembered it. Pearls were chewy and milk tea tasted like milk tea. But I’m only giving it 3 stars. I don’t know what it is but something felt a bit off. This is just me comparing it to Chatime in Toronto.
Btw, the staff were super friendly and there was free wifi (of course!)
Will be visiting Chatime again in the future but maybe a different location.

I’m a sucker for a good boba drink, and Chatime delivers. Sure, you might have to wait, and the ambience isn’t anything special, but what I’m really interested in is what’s in the cup.
I love their brown rice green milk tea for something a little different, but their regular milk tea is really good – tons of flavor. The boba are legit, too – slightly sweet, a bit chewy (but not too chewy).
The menu is extensive, so if you’re looking for something different, you’ll have lots of options.
You can customize the sweetness (80% is plenty of a treat for me) and ice, or order your milk tea hot (because I’m not into iced drinks when it’s 28° out, but maybe that’s just cementing my status as an LA girl).

Most of my friends know that I have an unhealthy obsession with Chatime, so it pains me to take off a few stars from my original review from April. But seriously, the wait times at this location are ridiculous. I’m used to waiting a while for Chatime back in Toronto because the lines are crazy on weekend evenings, but this location is SO slow, even on weekday afternoons. There’s been numerous times that I’ve spent upwards of half an hour waiting for my drink to be made. Sometimes there’s only one guy taking orders and making drinks at the same time. As a basic rule, there should always be at least one person dedicated to making the drinks. At other locations, there are usually at least three people making drinks. The insane wait times have made Chatime a no-​go for breaks during the workday, despite being just a few blocks from my workplace.
Chatime’s Grass Jelly Roasted Milk Tea (half sugar, half ice) remains my staple drink. Chatime has the best grass jelly I’ve ever had at a bubble tea joint, and the pudding is awesome too. However, Chatime is not the only game in town if you’re willing to travel a bit. Dragon Ball Tea House (King Edward/​Oak) and Shiny Tea (Aberdeen) are both really good and give Chatime a run for its money when it comes to milk tea. Even Bubble World a block away on Robson isn’t bad when you consider their drinks are about $ 2 cheaper than Chatime.
Don’t forget to get a Chatime card to collect a point with every drink you buy! Every ten points is a free drink. If you already have a Vicinity Rewards card from another store, you can just use that instead of a Chatime branded card, though the Chatime employees will try to tell you otherwise (FYI I’ve been using my purple Chatime card from Ontario without any issue). Unfortunately for any visiting Torontonians, the points at Chatime’s Vancouver locations are not linked to the points from Chatime’s Ontario locations, which is too bad if you’ve earned a gold Chatime Elite card.

Came by for some bubble tea after hearing some buzz about the chain.
Parking is available along the the streets, as well as metered spots on Robson.
The interior is basic but classy, with checkered floor tiles and black tables and chairs. There’s also a nice purple park bench against the back wall that would be great for wedding photo shoots. The place looks like there’s an upstairs seating area, but that’s actually for staff only.
Staff were friendly.
What’s nice about this place is that there are several tiers for ice and sugar. For sugar there are 0÷70÷100÷120, and for sugar there are 0÷30÷50÷70÷100÷120. Most place just have 0÷50÷100, so this was a nice touch.
Unfortunately they got my order wrong (plain milk tea instead of strawberry) so I can’t really judge the place using my standard benchmark. The plain one tasted fine. For some reason I think they used soy milk instead of regular milk though (not sure about this). The grass jelly is quite generous. They use syrup here.

Ambiance & Service ³⁄₅ nothing special. Fast service eventhough there was a line — got our order within 5 minutes of ordering. It’s a cafeteria style where you order and pay then wait for them to call your number.
Food/​drinks ⁵⁄₅ one of the best bubble teas in Vancouver. We tried their top 3 selection that included their roasted milk tea — great flavour and a must try if you’re a milk tea fan. Can’t speak for their other slushy style drinks but I don’t think I’ll be changing my order anytime soon.
Location ³⁄₅ Meter parking all around but like any other store on robson, hard to find cheap parking. You can walk from burrard skytrain but it will take about 10 – 15 minutes. Nice location if you’re already headed to robson for shopping or there post lunch.
Price ³⁄₅. On par with other bubble tea places.
Overall 4 because their bbt is just that damn good. No wonder they’re a huge franchise in Taiwan.

Chatime now serves Thai Milk Tea! This flavour was always a staple for me whenever I visit California and definitely to see this being introduced to bubble tea spots in Vancouver!
I ordered mine half sweet with easy ice, and with half orders of pearls & pudding jelly. Slightly disappointed with my decision though as the egg pudding did not do the tea any justice. For next times reference, I’d probably order it 70% sweet, with regular ice and pearls only.
I definitely wish this location was bigger and had more seating as the space looks slightly underutilized. Nonetheless, Chatime is still my favourite place in town to pick up a cup of authentic bubble tea!

The grass jelly roasted milk tea was awesome! I’ve had grass jelly before but I didn’t really know what to expect but I was very genuinely surprised and impressed. It comes with full recommendations from me.
I’m from Seattle so I am not used to multiple sugar and ice options or at least I’ve never been a place here with those and I liked that you can make those choices as sometimes my biggest issue with bubble tea is how sweet it can get.
The location is cute and the worker was pretty nice and friendly. Normally I would give this type of location a 3 stars for doing a solid job but I was honestly just really happy with my drink so I’m upping my rating.

Good bubble teas customized your way!
I was being told roasted milk tea at Cha Time is good and fell in love with it. You can choose the amount of ice and sweetness unlike most places. I ordered mine with 30% sweet and less ice. It was good, however price seemed bit expensive in my opinion. I’ll definitely go back and try other flavours one day.

Overall — Average bubble tea especially in light of the 10 min wait at 4pm to order and additional 7 min wait for the drink itself. Lost 2 stars for general quality of taste, misleading signage and poor wait time to staff ratio. Not worth waiting for considering the price of parking on Robson but good in a pinch.
THE DRINKS: We chose two of their recommended drinks (green starred)
1– Grass jelly roasted milk tea (30% sweet, less ice): huge props to their home made grass jelly, always a welcome find in any bubble tea joint. However the tea itself was mediocre (almost diluted tasting) and very milky, no real «roasted» flavor… not comparable at all to the same drink in Taiwan.
2– Hawaiian fruit tea + pearls (50% sweet/​less ice): Nice refreshing fruit tea with a definite hawaiiian fruit flavor (hints of pineapple/​passion fruit/​guava/​hibiscus flavors *those are my best guesses*). It was still quite sweet despite the fact that it should have been 50%, but still drinkable. The pearls were enjoyable, nice and chewy throughout.
OTHER:
— extra 50 cents to either upgrade size or for additional toppings (pearls /​assorted jellies)
— Sparse A/​C seating area but comfortable number of chairs/​tables and some outside seating
— misleading signage: (this irked me a bit — see picture) I can understand that brewing fresh teas takes time and IS well worth waiting for, which was why I waited in line patiently. HOWEVER, having pre-​made containers of different tea bases and mixing them with syrups upon order is NOT the meaning of freshly brewed tea.

After going to the Chatime in Richmond, where I had a fairly unpleasant experience (waited 15 minutes for mediocre bbt), my friend kept insisting the Robson location is much better. So I came here today.
Being in downtown, parking is not as friendly as the Richmond location. I had the «matcha red bean milk tea» with pearls. I was totally surprised they had my order completed before my friend even paid for his. It probably took 1 minute tops. Very impressive compared to the Richmond location.
The «matcha red bean milk tea» with pearls was an odd combination. It is rather difficult to suck the red beans through the straw. I ended up tearing off the plastic to scoop up the red bean with my straw. The drink overall is about what you expect from a bubble tea shop. Your taste buds probably won’t start doing the macarena and you probably won’t get the runs either.
I’m still yet to be convinced with their claim that they are the «world #1 bubble tea». But since every once in a while I get bubble tea cravings, I’ll likely be back.

I have never thrown away any drinks before I came to this chatime.
Wow, just wow. To conclude, skip this place if you want decent bubble tea. Perhaps they are called chatime because you are suppose to chat and not drink…
1: the interior design looked cheap and messy,
2: the menu is confusing … They have mousse bubble tea on the menu… I was excited because it sounded fancy and delicious… After asking the staff for details, I realize it’s just cream float… How is it mousse???
3: I waited ten minutes for my drink when there was only one person ahead of me
4: Before I ordered I asked how sweet they are, they said their drinks are not very sweet, despite that I still went 80% sweet… And it’s so sweet that I felt I was swimming in sugar…
5: to be safe, we ordered stuff from their top ten list…
And they turned out to be disgusting
The taro pudding milk tea was so thick and sweet and it was actually hard to swallow.
The Taiwan mango QQ was like water with intense syrup.

This may be an unfair review as this location *just* opened, but…
1) Wait was very long. Line-​ups are fine, but waiting at least 15−20mins for a drink after standing in line? Maybe this means that they should get more staff on-​duty, especially when running a b1g1 promo;
2) You literally hafta be next to the counter in order to hear your order number. If you’re deeper into the store, the tv’s volume is cranked so high, you hafta raise your voice to hear the conversation, and;
3) My Jasmine Green Tea Latte was very watered down. It tasted like warm, watered down milk, with an essence of Jasmine tea. Quite disappointed especially considering the long wait.
All in all, know what you’re getting into. Maybe it’s just growing pains, but estimate AT LEAST a 30min wait, until you get a drink in your hand, if there are a few ppl in front of you in line.
Note: This location does NOT have their loyalty points card set-​up, so it’s no use here… at least not yet.