Chatime

My drink took FOREVER to be made and there was literally no one else in the store. It ended up warm and bland… Both of which milk tea with boba are not supposed to be. Would not waste my money here… It’s basically $ 5 for a small shitty drink.

First time coming here and with a friend, we were both disappointed in lack of friendly service (no smiles, greetings, etc). Same lacking service was shown towards a customer who asked about the pearls/​boba and was answered with a bored face «Well, you didn’t order it and we’re out». Ordered a tea that was advertised, not available (at least put a sign that it’s out).
My friend got a coconut mango smoothie with lychee jelly since they were out of regular pearls (again, cover the item if it’s out), half the cup was jelly, the rest, no taste of the coconut due to the excess jelly & mango was just a drizzle on top. I had the dulce de leche smoothie and it was passable. I did notice that the «smoothies» are loaded with ice, way too much that you end up with ice on every sip.
I dunno where they got the recipe, but I’ve never had a smoothie so watery. It felt almost like a snow cone. To add, the place could use some sprucing up, seemed a bit desolate. And the bathroom needed some cleaning. Sadly, bad first impression, I’ve had way better service, smoothies & atmosphere at other shops.

Compared to its nearby competitor, Kung Fu, Chatime wins out. The flavor of the tea is stronger here, whereas Kung Fu’s milk tea tends to taste more like cream. FYI, entrance is hard to find. Go down the stairs like you are about to get a haircut from the salon next door.
A great place to study or grab a drink and talk– tables and outlets are availablr. Staff members are quick, service is great & there are plenty of toppings to choose from. Unlike the Newbury St Chatime, this place almost never runs out of boba!
5 stars for milk tea, but 4 stars overall. Their smoothies are terrible. Never get them. Powder is used instead of real produce.
I always recommend half sugar.

I went around 9 pm with a friend after going to the MFA. We decided to go because we figured out where the entrance is. I wanted to get a chai drink, but they were sold out of it. I ordered a strawberry rose cooler with boba which came out to be approx $ 5. It tasted more like artificial strawberry more than rose, but it wasn’t bad. The décor is like a modern tea house with a wannabe hipster vibe. The tables were a little sticky from other people’s drinks, but in general it was a pleasant experience. I prefer TeaDo over this though

I came here to try the Matcha Mousse drink. It’s an iced matcha drink with heavy cream on top. It’s really thick so I’m not the biggest fan. You do taste a lot of the matcha though which is awesome.
I’ve tried a few of their other drinks before and they’re not great compared to some of the other tea places in Boston. Also I was especially disappointed during this visit because:
1. The boba sucks. It’s chewy but really tasteless. I was expecting it to be a bit sweet.
2. The menu said that a large Matcha Mouse is $ 5 but I got charged $ 5.50. I mean it’s only a 50 cent difference but I was surprised as to why I was being charged over $ 6 for a drink

1.5÷2 stars.
The first time I came here, I really liked it. The boba was good, the milk tea was good and on top of that its only a couple blocks away from my apartment — super convenient. You could say I was very satisfied. But the couple of times after I was SO disappointed. Compared to Tea Do and Kung Fu Tea, this place is SO overpriced and NOT as good. Today I got an oolong milk tea and asked for less ice, but as you can tell from the photo there is 0 ice. It also just tastes like normal milk tea and it’s very watered down. The boba is ok but nothing special.
Here’s my advice: If you like good boba, you’re better off going to Tea Do or Kung Fu Tea.

Honestly terrible service. It took forever to get drinks and they weren’t apologetic about it at all. Then they actually forgot to make my order, then started to make it and then told me they were out of tapioca. They then refused to give me a refund for it, as they were «already making it». Highly recommend choosing another store for bubble tea.

I was here yesterday and they served us drinks in Xmas cups. I am not sure if they are doing well. why oh why chatime, the interior is so dingy and plain. It’s honestly quite boring. There is so much that you can do besides cheap decorations around the cashier and window area. You have a ton of space that could be used to make the place-​oh i dont know– more appealing ?
The drinks here are pretty meh, everything tastes a bit weird and the tea flavors are not up to par with other tea shops in boston and not even on the sample pedestal as bubble tea shops in chinatown.
The one thing about this location that makes me give it more than 1 star is that its quiet enough to do work because not many people seem to venture here.

pretty bad drinks, and I’m not picky with boba. They make everything EXTREMELY sweet and when I asked them if they could remake it without sugar both of them just looked at me dumbfounded as if I was from Mars. They kept pointing at the sign saying the drinks are sweet (my drink was just named «green tea»).
I finally just ordered another tea this time specifically stating I wanted no sugar. It was served at room temperature.
Not sure how they are still in business with all the bad reviews.
The wifi is super spotty so I wouldn’t come here to study if you need reliable wifi.

Typical bubble tea shop; no real wow factor. Go here if it’s convenient, otherwise don’t bother. Service is also super slow. I would suggest avoiding 12−3pm times as a lot of Northeastern students come here to take advantage of the buy 1 get one 50% off deal.

I’ve been here a couple of times and the line is always pretty bearable. I’ve always gotten served by the girl with the ombré hair and she’s always super friendly and helpful. Drinks come out pretty fast since they make it right after they take your order. I recommend the lychee green tea, but get less sugar with any drink since they tend to be on the sweeter side. :) Definitely prefer this place over kung fu tea although it’s a little pricier.

Chatime is one of those places where you just go «meh» if people mention it or if you pass by it on the way home or something. There isn’t anything exciting about this place. The drinks are not exciting and the location is kind of meh too. I find their drinks to be below average compared to other shops like Kung Fu Tea or Teado. Their drinks are fruity, but that’s about it. At the end it just tastes like a crapload of sugar rather than something magical. I’m not saying the drinks are bad. It’s just not good enough for me to go «wow, I really want some Chatime right now». I’d rather go to Teado for their delicious fruity drinks or KFT for their yogurt green tea. Every time I come here, they are always out of yogurt! It’s been like that for MONTHS. And that is honestly what I only order when I come here.
Other than the drinks, the place is pretty spacious and the staff are really nice. They have free wifi so that’s always a good place. It looks like a nice place for students to study because they have a lot of tables as well. It’s really hard to find chatime though because it’s not obvious as to where it is. I always end up going down the wrong stairs, haha.

It’s not bad… But the extensive menu was a bit overwhelming for me. There are too many specifications to order. You have to order your drink, choose hot or cold, specify the amount of sugar and ice, and choose your drink topping. I commend the workers for having to remember to ask for each detail of your order.
It’s nice to have many options, but in this case, it was definitely a minus rather than a plus for me. On the bright side, they don’t have a minimum credit card charge fee!

This place is nothing compared toKung Fu Tea down the street. Seriously just walk the extra 2 blocks. Every time I ask for no ice I get ice and they charge you extra…
They also never have banana milk tea even though it’s on their menu. They said they didn’t plan on getting more.

Accessible via T (if you’re not on the Northeastern campus), reasonably priced ($ 4+ for regular, $ 5+ for large), varied drink options – yes in my book! The exterior and basement-​like feel of the actual shop is a little sketchy. They could definitely work on interior decorating and creating a more welcoming feel. There is seating in the back, but not really a place to study.
The drinks – there are many options to explore. Included are milk teas, smoothies, coffee, fruit teas. The pearls seem fresh to me – chewy and soft, not at all plastic-​y. Toppings are only an additional 50 cents. You can order your tea with as much sweetener as you like (0−100%), which is definitely a healthier-​option plus.
My personal go-​to is the Thai milk tea with pearls. Creamy, slightly fruity, cold yummy-​ness with chewy pearls :)
Ambiance – ehh. Drinks – absolutely recommend!

With so many options available for boba or any of the drinks they offer, Chatime doesn’t really differentiate itself. Yes, it’s closer and homier than Kung Fu Tea, but I’d say it’s not much better (if it even is better).
I got the matcha red bean with 30% sugar, no ice, and added grass jelly in. It was decent tasting. You could taste the matcha. The grass jelly was bigger than I would’ve liked and the red bean mushier than I would’ve liked, but nothing about the drink was terrible. I haven’t had the matcha red bean at Kung Fu so I can’t compare, but the one thing I can compare is the service. The people at Kung Fu Tea were way friendlier and the people here are not unfriendly per se, but definitely not inviting. I mean, coming from a bubble tea place that’s only to be expected, but still.
I’ve also tried some of my friend’s taro «milk tea,» which doesn’t actually contain any tea. We both liked how you can feel chunks of taro because it means it wasn’t just made with taro powder (some reviewers didn’t like this, so it’s personal preference I guess), but it didn’t taste like taro at all. It just tasted like milk.
A good place for studying if you don’t feel like going to the library.

Chatime has ok drinks but suffers from stiff competition from kung fu tea and caffe Bene around the corner.
While the drinks here were made with pretty good ingredients such as the taro milk tea having a real taro flavor and texture and he matcha red bean tea having good beans in the drink, I think they lacked the depth of flavor that you get at the other stores nearby. By 9:30pm on a Saturday they had run out of the pearl milk tea which should be standard fare.
I think the real downside is that the space that this store has taken up is meant to be large and host multiple groups as a hang out spot, but the inside really looks like an asian frathouse basement. Small details like a dirty gray floor, no outside view with windows totally covered and barren walls without much decoration add up to a sad looking inside. It’s not a place I would spend a lot of time in given the local competition with other cafes.

Located next to Northeastern University, this new Cha-​time seems to be a haven for the late-​night student studier. It has plenty of space and seating and amazing lighting. My only concern was that their music seems to be played from Bluetooth or using Wifi, and it tends to lag=a most terrible and annoying experience.
As for their drinks, I ordered the jasmine milk tea with tapioca at a 80% sugar. For me, it was a little on the bland side. I usually enjoy my drinks to be creamier and for the tea to be more potent. The drink just seemed kind of watered down. However, the tapioca pearls were a great texture and consistency.

I love this place! Fave tea chain in Boston so far.
Their tea flavours are always on point!
I tend to go «1÷3 Sugar» or less.
Hot drinks are great for winter!

A great selection of teas made only more amazing by adding delicious boba! My favorites are the pearl milk tea and the brown rice green tea. When the tea is spot on — which is most times — it’s amazing, but I have had a few experiences with tea that must not have steeped long enough and tasted a bit weak. I’ve only ever had their tea cold/​iced, so I can’t speak for their hot beverages.
A block away from the Northeastern University stop on the Green Line!