ViVi Bubble Tea

Cute. Good tea. Fresh tapioca pearls. I am a fan. I love the sealed tops! Prices are not great, but the product is tasty.

Tried the yakult (small yogurt type drink) green tea and it tasted like my childhood. The bubbles here are pretty good. Soft and chewy. Its along the busy 14^th street, but pretty hard to miss with their bright colors. This location also serves hot food/​snacks.
There are a few seats inside along the walls, but overall, pretty tiny. If you have your school ID, you can get a free upgrade to a large (works for any school ID!).
You can use credit card at this location, but there is a minimum purchase.

Now, bring your school ID and they will boost up your medium bubble tea to a large one. If you do not mind getting fat or you are like me doing cheat meal everyday, go ahead.
Location: ViVi is close to the new Gongcha. I never want to come to ViVi because I am a hardcore CoCo fan. Nevertheless, my friend told me that their popcorn chicken is great. I was like, okay, lemme try. This place is interesting, very Asian. The cute design and weird logo, way to go, babe. The line is really quickly, looks like everyone knew what they want? I went with bubble tea without sugar, without ice. And popcorn chicken and omg fried oreo.
I did not try fried oreo since the calories behind it would be insane. I would just watch people eat instead of letting myself stuck in the fat hole. But I did try popcorn chicken. Delish! It tasted exactly what I had back in middle school. I cannot describe, but it was with emotion in it. LOL, I just want to emphasize how good it tasted.
Bubble tea is average but bubble is very good.
Overall: a 3.5 experience. And I usually do not write review for beverage shop, this one is so good that I decided to write something. Although rate is not high, I recommend people to try bubble tea and popcorn chicken here. Better than Gongcha for sure tho

I know milk tea is super subjective, but this is my favorite milk tea in the city. I always get the milk black tea with 30% sweetness and no ice, and it’s always consistent. I like how the tea flavor comes through without being overpowering, and whatever dairy they use makes it creamy but not too rich.
Hopefully ViVi will branch out to SF — otherwise I’ll have to wait until my next NYC trip!

I’ve been here more times than I can count.
Alright, Vivi does not top my list but does the trick. Sometimes this is what you want when all your go-​to places are closed or closing for the night. When I’ve ordered from here though, service is prompt and gets the order right every single time.
I don’t venture beyond the usual suspects like (black) milk tea or passionfruit/​mango QQ. QQ typically includes tapioca pearls, and some other jellies like coconut or rainbow. Never a disappointment, this place is a reliable alternative to the other business blend tea players in Chinatown.

Vivi’s is an interesting franchise for the high level of freedom each outpost gets. This is likely the best one — it’s nicely decorated, clean, the tea is good, and the two servers I see there all the time are very friendly and helpful. :)

I love VIVI! They have great flavor sand fast service.
I usually get the bubble tea with the boba & pudding in it. It’s also nice that they have Lactaid options for those who can’t handle regular dairy. Overall, this place is consistent & will always have good options since it’s a franchise.
I’ll be back!

Came in to buy something after seeing their promotion. I had a few questions and the lady behind the counter was upset because I wanted to clarify a few things. No need to be so rude just because of a few questions.
Ordered the peach ice jelly (times 2) for $ 4. Make sure to state all the changes you want to make or else they will give you a lot of ice by default.
I don’t think I will be coming back to this particular location.

One of the few bubble tea places in the area, so it’s convenient! I got the taro ice tea and it was $ 3.75.

It’s a good place to grab milk tea with bubbles. I got the ginger milk tea. If you like the taste of ginger, you can definitely taste it in this. It is really strong in the drink that I got. It’s nice to have on a nice, fall day which in that case, I should’ve gotten something a little sweeter instead of spicy.

I’m a big fan of the ViVi chain, particularly their black milk tea with boba and either herb/​grass jelly or custard; sometimes I get the Q3 which includes all three options. This location is as good as the others, which I’ve reviewed. However, the only big difference is that the seating setup doesn’t seem great to me. I don’t recall there being more than one or possibly two tables; it was mostly just a bench along one side of the store. However, the staff was friendly, the music was good, and the bubble tea tasted just like it does at other locations.

Bubble tea on fleek! I imagine that’s how youngin’s talk. Am I using this «on fleek» term correctly? I hope so.
I almost always get the Fruit Tea Aloe with basil seeds. It’s light, refreshing and pleasant. My friend said it tasted like how I would taste if I were a bubble tea flavor.
Never had their boba. I’m a total boba snob, having worked at such a place in my teens. I only like them fresh when it still has that «Q» texture you hear Taiwanese people talking about. It’s a snappy, chewy, bouncy texture that fresh boba is all about. Boba that’s been sitting for a few hours in a warm pot loses that Q.
Anyhow, visit Vivi and try all the different flavors.

This was a pit stop while I was traveling in New York. My friend really wanted boba so we went in to get some drinks.
We found the check in offer that upgrades a medium drink to a large but the two workers misunderstood us and gave us one free drink with one order. We were a bit confused at first but we realized the miscommunication and thanked them.

GET THE POPCORN CHICKEN. It takes a while for them to make it, but it’s pretty authentic. I would get the pepper salt flavor (more traditional). The basil is too salty for my liking.
The bubble tea here is decent, nothing that you can’t get elsewhere.
BUT DAT POPCORN CHICKEN DOE…

Worst bubble tea ever. :(
I got their «black moo milk» which is supposed to be grass jelly and bubbles in sweet milk. I asked them to make it 50% sweet and they told me that the milk was already sweet so they can’t make it less sweet. I said OK. I got my drink and it wasn’t sweet at all. It was literally just plain milk. On top of that, there were hardly any bubbles or grass jelly. I’ve had this drink at other places such as CoCo (thumbs up) and they always make it sweet.
This is my second bad experience at ViVi. I would not recommend!

Vivi’s is definitely my favorite bubble tea spot in the entire city. The shop itself may be tiny but it is just so cute and colorful (not exactly a requirement but it sure is a plus)! From the lime green table tops to the pink booths to the orange and purple flowery decorations topped off with the adorable kissy skulls, such a fun theme!
They have a wide selection of bubble tea flavors that include milk teas, flavored teas, slushies, ice jellies served both hot and cold. There are options to further customize your drink with two different drink sizes (medium or large) and option of different sugar levels and ice levels. Bubble tea is nothing without the tapioca and unlike many other places tapioca comes free with the drink! If tapioca isn’t your thing they also have different types of jellies, pudding, aloe, red beans or even basil seeds! If you a drink isn’t enough they also have small snacks like their onigiri rice balls and smoked sausages.
My personal favorite is the jasmine milk tea with tapioca and pudding. Just try it!
Some things to keep in mind:
— Check in with Unilocal and get a free upgrade from medium to large (about a 30% difference — so yes its worth it)
— They have a $ 4 credit card minimum but they don’t really enforce it too much as long as you buy a drink.

Solid bubble tea. Everyone needs one every now and then. This is my neighbourhood go-​to. This joint uses lactaid instead of milk. I’m not lactose intolerant but perhaps this helps others in deciding whether to dine here or not.
Bonus: it’s just $ 3.00 for a generous medium-​sized standard bubble milk tea.

I’ve had sooo many bad bubble teas before that sometimes I’m afraid to try new places, but a couple years ago my friend (who I trusted) wanted to get bubble tea and we were in Chinatown (different location than this one) and I got one and it was delicious! The place screams Asians since it’s super «kawaii» but it’s definitely an «in» place for younger Asian people. All the bubble teas they make are delicious and I recommend you get the 3Q Milk Tea if it’s your first time trying it, it’s honestly a favorite of mine, but I got the Green Tea Yakult, which is a light yogurt drink (Also good).
In the past I’ve also gotten the takoyakis before and I’ve tried from «authentic» places before and it’s pretty good if you want to try octopus balls. I know it sounds weird but give it a try, it’s pretty good and perfect for carrying around in the city while on the go.
So to sum it up, you get great bubble teas, pretty decent small snacks and everything is at a decent price!
The one thing I love about this location is that they provide seating, which most ViVi’s don’t and that it’s in a location where there aren’t much bubble tea places around.

Vivi’s has really lost their touch.
Summer 2012 was the summer of Vivi. I was both the duke and mayor (back when Foursquare had mayors), and their BOGO bubble tea deal was the best thing ever. Unfortunately the glory days didn’t last forever.
Fast forward two years and half a dozen more shops, and things are not the same. They spread the Vivi charm out too thin and none of their drinks are up to par anymore. The 14^th st store is the latest example. It’s a great location as there aren’t too many tea shops in the area, but their tea just isn’t good anymore.
I love supporting a Taiwanese business as much as the next guy, but Kung Fu has replaced Vivi as the king of boba. Step it up, I want to believe in the V!

Totally going to ViVi on 14^th Street because of the advertised special of 2 for $ 4 Passion QQ or Peach Ice Jelly drink. I like the Peach Ice Jelly drink.
IF YOU ARE HERE OFTEN, ASK FOR THEIR PUNCH CARD. THEY WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY GIVE YOU A PUNCH CARD UNLESS YOU ASK FOR IT.
Service here is odd. The person at the register doesn’t know what goes in my drink. Kept on telling me boba is in the drink I ordered when it doesn’t. And doesn’t know how to omit the ice out of the cup!!!
If they keep on having this drink special, I’ll keep on visiting.