Drive Thru Boba

Can’t believe this was my first time trying Drive Thru Boba. I must say, this is the best milk tea in the pacific northwest! I judge tea places on their black milk tea so I can compare them across the board. I got the house blend milk tea, 75% sugar, no toppings (only because I was so ridiculously full after stuffing my face at Din Tai Fung). It has the perfect balance of milk and tea. I love being able to actually taste the tea in milk tea. This is my new favorite milk tea place (and I live within walking distance of ShareTea). I’m definitely going to be making the drive to Bellevue just for some DTB.
Bonus: they sell a DTB tumblr for $ 12 (with a boba straw!). But the discount is not that great. only 10 cents off your drink.

Note: This is not actually a drive thru boba. We circled the block numerous times trying to find a drive thru boba joint.
The matcha tea was good and extremely flavorful, however, the jasmine green milk tea tasted more like just basic milk tea. I could barely taste any hint of the jasmine tea in there, which was a bit disappointing.
The boba itself was soft and chewy
This place is cute inside but keep in mind orders may take some time to go through. They do everything in front of you.

Always a great drink. I love the specials that occur everyday. One of the best drinks is the Barley Milk Tea. It is is crafted with skill and delights the palette. A lot of folks recognize that this is the best boba in the east side, so be prepared to wait.

A moment of silence for some seriously delicious milk tea.
1) The matcha milk tea is seriously DELICIOUS. I get it at 100% sugar since the matcha bitterness needs the extra sweetness. It’s smooth and has an almost creamy texture. Pretty much every sip had me awing with contentment. My boyfriend was visiting from out of town and I brought him here for this and he wouldn’t stop raving about it for the whole weekend.
2) You need to park on the street (there isn’t much within 100 ft radius) so I usually park at Chipotle (oops) or in the Safeway parking lot.
3) The house blend is good too but not really something I’d ever crave.
Bottom line, this place has only a handful of flavors but all the teas are brewed FRESH and the boba is cooked perfectly (chewy but not undercooked). They have some weird hours so check it first before driving over there and being let down.

First off, the name is a little misleading. Drive Thru Boba started as a drive thru business a few years ago and is currently situated in downtown Bellevue with its own storefront. Walking in, I assumed it was a super new place. The decors are minimalist but air on the side of barren. There’s not a lot of seating and it didn’t feel like the kind of place you’d wanna hang out or work at. The menu is about as simple as it gets but can be limiting for those looking for more variety with their order. I got the Matcha Green Milk Tea with boba at 50% sweet and it was real tasty. The boba was sparse and lumped together at the bottom but the milk tea itself was delightfully thick and earthy. Service felt a little amateurish and definitely needs improvement. The young fella taking my order didn’t show me my final bill and the older gentleman making my drink, who I can only assume is the owner, kept talking over him and repeatedly asked if I was aware of how bitter matcha tastes. I was also a bit taken aback by the handwriting of my order on the cup… Glad their penmanship didn’t reflect the quality of my drink!

A misleading name (not a drive-​thru) yet I really like the boba here! The menu is somewhat limited in which you can only choose between several types of teas, but I usually prefer milk tea when it comes to boba so it wasn’t a problem for me. I like how you can choose the level of sweetness that you want in your boba (25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%). I chose the popular house blend milk tea with 75% sweetness, and it was very good! The tapioca tasted very delicious and still slightly warm, which meant that it was freshly made.
The interior is small with not a lot of seating, but clean. Parking might be difficult since there’s limited parking in the lot. Be prepared to wait a bit when it gets busy!

Drive Thru Boba did not live up to the hype for me. I’ve heard a lot of great things about this place and so I set some pretty high expectations for it.
First, this place has a pretty limited menu, unlike a lot of other bubble tea establishments. This is both a pro and a con. In my case, I wasn’t expecting such a limited menu so I was thrown off a bit. I ended up ordering the house blend milk tea. I appreciate that they offer you the opportunity customize the sugar level for your drinks.
They ran out of tapioca and said that it would take 10 – 15 minutes. I didn’t mind waiting for it but as more customers came into the store wanting tapioca for their drinks as well, the shop got packed and a little uncomfortable. I also noticed that in general, it just took them longer to make the bubble tea drinks. Average wait time (for drinks w/​o tapioca) seemed to be 5 – 7 minutes.
My house blend milk tea was good, but when I factor in the wait time, it’s just not worth going for me. I’d rather stick to the bubble tea in Seattle.

I’m writing a 5 star review as I stand in their usual 20 minute Saturday afternoon line for boba tea. Yes — it’s 19 minutes longer than you’d wait at any other establishment — and at any other establishment such a wait would be immediate 2 star territory!
Why? Because it’s the best tea, best boba and best service you can get on the west coast. There is no competition.
The menu is small — and the focus brings perfection. Each drink is hand crafted to order — to the desired level of sweetness — even the right shape and size of ice cubes to keep it cool (if you want). The boba is made fresh every few hours — and you can taste that it was made with love and has benefitted from many years of iteration to find the recipe that results in the right level of chewy perfection.
Alex and Karen have built this place up from its original «drive thru» days by pouring their hearts into their drink cups and their regular customers. Without saying anything, they will greet me with a smile, write my name on the cup and know exactly what I want. When they have a new special they think I will like, I’m offered a quick taste that’s usually spot on. If I’m a little under the weather, I even get a little message wishing me well.
So, yes I will gladly wait in line for 20 minutes for a cup of their delicious, perfected boba tea and show them nothing but a smile, wave and credit card number in return. Every time I will choose to do this over the no wait garbage alternatives that aren’t worth the minute or the calories. I hope everyone else does the same!

NEW (April 2016):
It’s a sunny Saturday, so the demand of bubble tea is high. Had to wait about 20 minutes to get a fresh batch of the house blend tea. I would assume by now Drive Thru boba wouldn’t be running out of tea and would be able to predict how much they’d need to make. It gets really annoying for the customers to have to wait in another line for more than 10+ minutes on top of the amount of time they’ve already waited.
To the managers: Now that it’s spring and the sun will be out more. PLEASE guesstimate your inventory better. You wouldn’t want annoyed customers. The menu is already so small that you’d assume you wouldn’t run out of items.

Their boba is perfect in every way!!! As a Taiwanese, I am picky about my boba drinks.
The menu is simple but the quality is strict. I try their house blend milk tea with 25% sugar and boba as well as matcha milk tea with pudding. I preferred the first one. It is an option of 25, 50, 75 and 100 sugar that you can choose from. Because there are only two staff, owners, there, the line is always long. They always close on Mondays and Tuesday.
I am glad to find this new spot for my craving!

Consistently wonderful boba!
I’m here with my coworkers at least x2 times a week — we actually got one of our directors addicted to the milk tea & we’re now known as the bubble tea girls around our office LOL
This place is crazy busy right when they open! If you can wait, I would suggest coming after the mad rush BUT don’t come too late as they might run out of boba or the special. Everyone buys multiple drinks, I’m always carrying back and extra or two but I have to say, the drinks here is superior compared to other places.
What makes it so good? First of all, customization is a thumbs up! You can adjust the sugar to your liking — i usually go for half if I can but some of the specials you can only do 75% or 100%. Your drinks are hand shaken by Alex, he’s a master of his craft. No chalky residue, you can get a really smooth sip every time! We made a huge mistake the other day. It was so rainy and windy, we got milk tea from Blank Space Café and it was seriously gritty and made us super regretful. Don’t have any regrets, just come to DTB for your fixes!
I usually don’t get boba as I’m cheating on my diet as is when I get my fix BUT the tapioca is soft and nicely flavored. Texture is perfect, not hard and not bland. The aloe is my favorite — it doesn’t have much flavor but the texture is really interesting and it doesn’t overpower the milk tea taste.
Check their Facebook to be informed of their specials! My favorite special is black sugar milk tea — it comes around once in a while but the richness of the sugar is the ultimate combination. Earl grey was also a hit amongst our office, but you can’t go wrong with the house blend which is pretty fantastic. For you matcha lovers, they really have a phenomenal matcha option. You get punched in the mouth with matcha flavor, which isn’t for everyone but their teas are of high quality. I really love the matcha, the bitterness is actually refreshing to me, I go for 50% which is more bitter than what others get but all of their drinks are good in different ways!

Part of every restaurant experience is not just the quality of the food, but service provided. Yes, their boba tea is good, however of the 6 times I have gone this 2016 new year, I have been disappointed every time with their lack of inventory. As a business you should be properly managing your inventory you have on hand, not constantly saying, «hey sorry guys, we don’t have any more boba till… sorry guys, we don’t have any of these 3 tea’s today… sorry guys we are short staff today so wait times will be long.» Of the 6 times i have gone this year, all 5 experiences have yielded one of those phrases. As a customer, you can only deal with this so many times before you move on to the next best. Especially with the growth of the boba tea businesses in the Bellevue area, if they do not fix this constant issue, they will not last. Humble beginnings as a drive through does not mean that once you have a brick and mortar facility to maintain the status quo you once had. Highly recommend hiring a supply chain consulting analyst or capture the historical data yourself to better manage inventory if you plan on growing.

Best milk tea place in town! My favorite is House Blend Milk Tea 100% sweet with Caramel Pudding. I don’t really like the taste of Matcha Milk Tea because it’s bitter. Nice customer service and I love how they write everything on the cup.

I admit it — I have a boba addiction.
Boba milk tea or pearl milk tea is my drink of choice. Any time I see a boba place I need to try it out. Let me say — this is one of the best places I’ve been to.
DTB’s milk tea with boba is compatible to milk teas I’ve had in Taiwan (my barometer for great milk tea). Their boba is chewy, sweet and not soggy. For some reason this seems to be the hardest thing to get right for most boba places. Their teas are also actual tea — not from powder (they do use powdered milk — which is how it’s made in Taiwan).
Now as the other reviews have said — the hours are a bit funny, they sometimes seem to close on a whim, they run out of boba and tea — this is all true. However I’m willing to take a little bit of inconvenience (just look for updates on their Facebook before going) for amazing boba tea.
Their prices are higher than other places (one of their special drinks with boba can run you $ 5 + tax) but I think the price reflects the quality. I also like to support smaller local shops (similar to going to the farmers market) so I don’t mind paying more to support the local economy — and rent in Bellevue isn’t cheap!
Bonus– they have free parking in the Safeway parking lot.

The staff are well versed & passionate about the milk tea.
They put a lot of effort into making sure the customer enjoys the drink and gives good recommendations.
The bubble tea is a bit pricier than other places, but given they make both the tea+boba in-​house each day it seems worth the price for the better taste.
One star off given– small store and often runs out of bubble tea towards the end of the day– which is the only time I can stop by :(

«This place has the best milk tea.» — my cousin
I mean. maybe. But I didn’t get to try it, unfortunately.
Here’s my experience at Drive Thru, on a random Wednesday afternoon.
1. We get there. Line is snaking around inside. Maybe 10 – 20 people in front of us. I think to myself, «why is this called Drive Thru? There’s no drive-​thru window. Oh well.»
2. I look at the menu. There are 5 drinks to choose from. One of them is sold out (at 3PM?). I read the others but it’s hard to read because the font is so tiny on their screens. My drink is probably going to be about $ 5. That’s fine.
3. We wait for about 10 minutes. The line doesn’t move. We see a lady get her order of like 8 drinks. Well, okay. The line should move now since they finished her order.
4. The cashier lady takes the orders for the two guys at the front of the line. The two people in front of me leave because it’s taking too long. Yay, I finally moved up in the line!
5. I see the guy making the drinks. Imagine a sloth making a milk tea. That’s how fast he was going. There’s like 20 people waiting in line and there’s literally no sense of urgency whatsoever. He makes two drinks in about 5 minutes, where he slowly stirs the drink with his spoon. Unsure what he’s doing, but he keeps rotating the shaker about 45 degrees and stirring something. The drinks that he eventually finishes get sent out to two customers who have probably been waiting for 20 minutes off to the side.
6. 30 minutes in, my group has maybe moved up 5 spots in line. My cousin remarks that they’ll never make any money if they are this slow and that more people are probably going to leave, just like the couple in front of us did.
7. They announce that they «have no more tapioca right now» and that «it will take 40 minutes for more to be made». Considering that this is a popular boba place, why isn’t boba being made constantly?
8. We leave without any milk tea. We go to another milk tea place instead. My cousin was correct.
Really unsure how they are still in business, honestly. I understand that it’s probably a small, family-​owned business. but come on.

In my opinion it’s the best milk tear that you’re going to get in the greater Seattle area. Owner and staff take great detail and put effort into making every drink up to a certain standard.
Only downside is that he store does have odd hours. Isn’t open 7 days a week and isn’t open for very many hours each day. This boba shop is not a chain and is very obviously family owned.
Store tries to create an family like atmosphere with their Facebook page and treats their employees with respect. Would recommend anyone come here even if it is a little pricier and you may have to check if it’s open or not before heading over.

Disclaimer: as a Californian, my taste buds and I might be spoiled. However, everything that Drive Thru Boba offers is pretty standard for a typical boba place in CA, from selecting what add-​ons you want to customizing the amount of sugar used. Also, this place’s name is definitely a misnomer; unless you want to drive thru the front door, there’s no drive thru option.
The first time I came here, they were actually out of boba (not sure why it’s not being constantly made as it’s being used; boba IS what they’re known for, right?). The second time I came here, I tried both the matcha green milk tea and the jasmine green milk tea. You’ll definitely want to add some more sugar to balance the bitter matcha; I’d recommend full 100% or 75%. The jasmine milk green is mediocre. Thankfully, they didn’t run out of boba at this visit: it’s not hard or mushy, but it’s nothing to rave about.
Final verdict: DTB might be one of the better boba places in WA, but unfortunately, I don’t think WA is known for having good boba in general.

Wonderful bubble tea. I like that they are in downtown bellevue. Trendy and nice seating inside but not much space so better to take it to go.
Sugar level customizable which is great. Pretty legit bubble tea overall!

Drive Thru Boba is not a drive thru. It’s a shop located in Downtown Bellevue in the same building complex as Safeway across the street from Chipotle which I think most people use that parking lot to grab a drink here since there’s limited parking in Downtown Bellevue. The reason for the confusing name is because the old location was indeed a drive thru stand in Factoria. I was excited to try this place because of all the hype that I’ve heard about forcing this establishment to relocate to expand.
A couple cool things about Drive Thru Boba is that you can customize your percentage of sugar according to your personal taste. Normal sugar level is 100% and from there you can decrease the increments by 25% if it’s too sweet. I rather have my drink taste like something so I go with the full 100%. You can also control the amount of ice, too much work for a simple drink. Unfortunately, the variety in drinks are not like most typical boba or bubble tea shops. They literally only have «tea» choices so milk tea, Thai Tea, black tea, maybe green tea. Don’t expect to come here being able to order a fruity flavor slush or any smoothies to add the black balls with.
Tell me about your experience if you’ve been here or is going to after reading this review:)

It’s good. Just really expensive for bubble tea. Expect to pay $ 6+ for something that is normally half the price.
You won’t find the boba pearls prepared any better than here.

You’re more likely to find onions sprouting out of my ass than to find Drive Thru Boba committing to their hours.
They have been closed all three times I have attempted to stop by around 6 PM. Their excuses for closing up shop ranges from short staff to sore feet. Their Facebook reads like a portfolio of unadulterated bullshit excuses a child would use to get out of class. This is a business you’re trying to run, and as a business owner, you have think of strategies to make business happen.
Keeping things in stock ought to be the highest priority for management right now, especially for a store with such a scanty menu. It is unacceptable to be running out of ingredients on the daily that make up the bedrock of the product. Now after a couple of years, even after having read these same complaints, they still refuse to set-​up a system in which the business can run at 100 percent and full efficiency.
They take their sweet ass time with every drink, forever unable to act upon a sense of urgency, as though the act of combining milk and tea is a scientific feat at which to marvel. It does not take a logarithmic equation to create a good cup of milk tea.
So their house blend is boring and mediocre. It came deliciously diluted with hardly any tea flavor present and only 90 percent filled because we asked for no ice. They couldn’t spare an ounce or two of brewed water. That’s fine. I’m afraid if they had put any more water in, it would be just like snacking on flavorless, glutinous balls.
How anyone tolerates this place is beyond me. I wouldn’t drink another beverage from here even if you gave it to me free.

Try the House Blend Milk tea wit 75% sweet! I got that for my first time and it was really good!
The reason why it’s only a 4 star is because their hours are a bit a tricky. Numerous times I’ve gone at like 7PM (an hour before they close) and a sign outside their door saying they’re closed because they ran out of Boba… But I mean, I didn’t want boba though, so what about those customers? You will have to check their facebook page to see if they’re suddenly closed/​sold out from a busy day.
I am definitely a fan of their bubble teas and I support local business owners who work their butt off, but the hours there are really inconsistent. Wish they had a phone line there so customers can call them to preorder or to see if the shop is open for their boba fixes.

I love the boba here. It always tastes super fresh, and you can tell that the owners really care about the quality of their product. I love that they have daily specials, because it always feels like you’re getting a treat when you get a special you really love. *cough* black sugar milk *cough*
I was never able to make it to the location when they were literally a drive through stand. It surprises me a bit because it does seem like they had more variety when they had a smaller capacity than they do now. For example, they offered more smoothie specials, ice creams, and the curry fish balls. Those were things I was looking forward to when the new location opened up, and while I’ve NOT been disappointed by the things I’ve had, I am a little disappointed at the things they don’t have. I have also been at the location when they’ve ran out of toppings, or drink flavors. I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to have a WEEKLY drink special instead, to maybe ease up on the pressure of a daily special.
What really makes this place special is the owners. I love how much attention to detail they give to every drink, and how they really try to get to know their regular customers. I love that they show true passion for their product, and the quality of it. It’s so admirable in a time that’s more more more, faster faster faster.

I want to be really clear about why I gave this place 3 stars: (1) The bubble tea is really really delicious, completely customizable, and well-​made; BUT (2) they often run out of the key ingredients required to make bubble tea.
There have been several times that I have come here and they have run out of boba or tea. Those are the two primary ingredients in bubble tea, and for a place that only makes bubble tea, there is just never a reason to run out of bubbles or tea.
I would like to give it 3.5 stars though because the tea is so delicious and the employees are very friendly.

I guess I’m not too familiar with the boba culture in Seattle yet but, if mixing the milk tea when ordered is a norm, its a definite plus from me. And Drive Thru Boba’s martini shake method is pretty great.
I came a few days ago for a quick drink. I ordered the house milk tea at 50% sweetness. They have levels of sweetness and, being my first time at a Drive Thru Boba, the cashier recommended their most popular (75%). I would suspect that it was the owner of the branch, but the person making the drinks offered to make the 50% and, if not sweet enough, would add more sugar. It was a nice offer, but the 50% was good enough for me.
The place is rather small and I suppose it should be as its business name suggests it as a to go place. I’m giving this business a ⁴⁄₅ for its great customer service and pretty decent milk tea.

I think that I’ve come here enough times to say that this is the best boba place that you can come across to in Washington. I am always satisfy with my drink at Drive Thru Boba because it’s always consistent. Although this place closes on Monday and Tuesday, an argument for that is, this place focuses on quality than quantity.
If it’s your first time here, to get boba, you have to decide on how much sugar you want (25%-100%) and your toppings. Since I usually drink my coffee dark, I get the 50% house blend milk tea. The taste of the boba is extravagant, you get a balanced taste of both the tea and the milk.
How do they make it? Imagine yourself at a bar, they make boba like they make drinks with their shakers.
What’s special about this place is they so daily specials (black sugar milk tea with grass jelly, sea salt cream ice coffee, black sugar milk, ETC)
Those drink are limited and you can found out what the special is by looking through Facebook
The black sugar milk tea with grass jelly is an awesome drink. The texture of the grass jelly and the taste of the drink can make a person down their drink. If this drink is the special, get it because I rarely see it as a special now a days!
The sea salt cream coffee might sound risky but it’s such a great risk! If you’ve had creamas at boba shops, then you would love this drink. The sweetness of the coffee and taste of sea salt is great!
The black sugar milk is probably the most unique drink I’ve had here (since it just released today). There isn’t any tea in the drink and it just made of sweeten milk and black sugar (NO CAFFEINE).
The milk reminds me of a Carmel candy and the sweetness is perfect no matter what you get it at! It’s seriously someone you have to try and great for those with a sweet tooth.
Anyways, this place will forever be the best in the Washington because Alex and his crew know how to handle their business.
Best boba, best service.

One of my favorite bubble tea places! They’ve come a long way since opening their kiosk in Factoria in Bellevue… My summary of them:
Pros:
1) Bubble tea tastes delicious.
2) They don’t overload the drinks with tons of ice.
3) They give plenty of boba in each drink.
4) Now that they’ve moved into a store, no more waiting in long lines in your car.
Cons:
1) They still run out of ingredients (I’ve actually personally never had this issue since they’ve moved into a store but I’ve had to wait for boba a couple times).
2) This isn’t a huge deal, but I wish their drinks came in larger cup sizes like most other bubble tea places offer.
DTB is still one of my favorite bubble tea places, and I make it a point to stop by here whenever I’m back in town in Bellevue. Looking forward to getting DTB bbt again sometime very soon!

You know this place is god, but not as good as everybody else said it was. I had their milk tea with 87.5% sugar (they call it the «Kent» special, so just say that and they’ll know what you mean!) and it was good. What I liked was that it definitely didn’t taste watered down and was better than all the other boba shops on the Ave in University District. The milk tea is a good balance of milk and tea! It doesn’t completely take me back and make me reminisce about my 626 boba but it’s pretty darn close. Plus, it’s not extremely expensive and the service was pretty good.
Though I have to say, the line was extremely long. Also, this place isn’t a good place to study at, since they only have a 4 tables at most.

— Sadly the only okay place to get bbt in Bellevue, but nothing special here —
Drink: 3 stars
Price: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Ambiance: 3 stars
Overall: 3 stars
Drink:
The drink is alright, but nothing special. The taste of drinks aren’t bad, but seriously. You can choose the sweetness level of your drink in almost all bubble tea stores now! It’s REALLY not a big deal! I’ve been doing that to all of the bubble tea stores that I’ve been to, so I’m not sure why people praise them for it. Also, I’ve been choosing the sweetness level of my drinks in Taiwan ever since 15 years ago, so… yah.
btw, I think the regular milk tea with boba with 75% sugar is already very sweet.
Price:
Meh, it’s Bellevue. what do you expect? haha. close to $ 5 for a drink. you can purchase their punch card when it’s out.
Service:
I wasn’t really paying attention to the menu, so I didn’t realize you cannot get hot thai tea (well, duh. it’s thai ICED tea lol). Anyways, I had to change my order and cashier interrupted us and said she’ll be back (see below for explanation). I guess she was kind of pissed that the mom didn’t do what she’s suppose to (ie, educate her kid), but I think she was also kind annoyed that I had to change my order, lol. It’s fine, I’m blind once in a while O. O
Ambiance:
They tried really hard to make it a relaxing spot to drink your tea, but it’s not working. First of all, the place is small and there are at most seats to sit 10 ppl (or was that 8? lol). Second of all, the spacing between tables is small and you can hear everyone else really clearly.
When I was there, a mom «parked» her stroller in the middle of two seats, so my friend kicked her stroller to get through. She obviously didn’t care or didn’t see, or else there would have been a fight lol. She enjoyed her conversation with another women so much that she totally didn’t care that her son was pulling the curtain at the window next to her. The cashier had to walk over and tell the kid to stop doing that in the middle of our conversation when we were ordering… Well, EDUCATION cannot wait, parents!
Anyways, the ambiance depends a lot on the customers who sits around you and how annoying they are. There, I said it.
Overall:
Everything is mediocre, but nowhere else in Bellevue offers better. Actually I think Boiling Point has better/​more authentic bbt, but then again it’s not a bbt shop.

Was visiting Bellevue and a friend recommended me to come here for their bubble tea. Man oh man… this is definitely my favourite place when I visit because they actually use fresh tea and not powder like a lot of bubble tea places in Vancouver.
We arrived right when they opened. There were a few people waiting outside already. The line moved very quickly. We ordered a Thai Iced Milk Tea and Earl Grey Milk tea with 75% sweetness and both with pearls. Both drinks were delicious and fresh. The sweetness was perfect. I like how you can decide how sweet you want your drink to be because normally when I think of bubble tea, I think of the sugar!
We managed to find 15 minute parking on the side near Chipotle.
Tip: arrive early because they tend to run out of tea/​pearls etc.
I’m craving for more but too bad I don’t live in the area :(.will be back soon!