Kung Fu Tea – Gainesville

Kung Fu Tea is my favorite place to get tea. The taste is ON POINT. It’s tastes authentic, never artificial. I’ve had a lot of boba, but their boba is the perfect consistency of chewiness. Their herbal jelly is my absolute favorite and it has lots of flavor. I’ve had their matcha milk, white gourd milk, oolong milk, winter melon milk, green tea slush with red bean, and I honestly would just recommend anything on the menu.
They offer stamp cards for your drinks. They also have snacks and other food items on their menu now, which I have yet to try.
I like studying here, but it gets a bit warm. They have free wifi which makes it a great study place. However, I feel like there aren’t enough outlets for my electronic devices. Also, some of their outlets are broken! If you’re not studying, Kung Fu Tea is also a great place to hang out. They also have a few board games.

I love this place! I don’t like my milk tea too sweet and they customize to perfection. The boba is soft and the drinks are shaken well. The customer service is on point. I prefer this place over Lollicup hands down any day.

KungFu Tea is one of those go to hangout spots for people in Gainesville. Always buzzing, people go there for the teas and to play board games. If you like teas with good tea flavor, come here!

I am in LOVE/​ADDICTED TO the white gourd (aka wintermelon) iced tea! It’s so good & refreshing. I am not a fan of the tapioca pearls/​boba here, as I prefer Lollicup’s boba texture (KFT’s is much squishier) but I do like their nata jelly topping. The atmosphere is much more relaxed and mature than Lollicup’s, and usually the tables are filled with students studying. They do also have games and 2 sofas but for the most part, it’s more of a coffeehouse vibe rather than Lollicup’s fun & games vibe (I mention Lollicup so much bc it’s only a block away and very similar in offerings).
THE WOW MILK DRINKS ARE DISGUSTING THOUGH I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM. I can only recommend the classics.

In the past couple months KFT has really improved in the taste of their beverages as well as customer service. They now offer various games and the atmosphere is a lot warmer and more inviting.
Kung Fu Tea reminds me of the boba stores back in Taiwan, where boba teas originated. The drinks are not overly sweet and taste more like tea. In comparison, I feel as if Lollicup’s drinks are very Americanized and artificial. The boba at KFT is also consistently soft and chewy; they’re definitely some of the best boba in Florida. At times the servers can be a bit hard to understand since english for many of them is not their first language, but they are really nice and quick to accommodate your needs.
My favorite drink here, so far, is the Taro Green Milk Tea. I highly recommend anyone to try the green milk teas rather than just getting black milk tea all the time; it is a very different and delicious experience. The Oolong milk tea base is also a good option. Oolong is a weaker tasting tea and so your drink will not be as powerful than if you were to select some of the other milk tea bases. The iced signature coffee is another favorite of mine when I’m expecting a long night of studying. I wouldn’t say it’s a stand out in flavor but it’s very strong and does its job.
The pudding here is also very yummy for when I get a little bit tired from eating boba.
KFT is considered more of a «study place» whereas Lollicup is a «hangout place». While this is fairly accurate, it is very difficult to study at KFT especially due to their increasing popularity. First off, it’s difficult to obtain a table at certain times of the day; the store is small and there are only about 5 or 6 tables. Secondly, KFT is usually swarmed with students in the evening since a lot of social clubs come here to hang out. I’ve tried to study here a few times, but have been very distracted all of those times.
Otherwise, KFT is my favorite place to come to in Gainesville. It’s quickly overcoming some of my favorite boba drink places in the world. While, KFT is still fairly new and has some kinks to work out, it’s a definite «need to try» in this town.

I’m not a big fan of milk teas, but kungfu tea makes a good one for sure. they do indeed have the best boba in town! the service is bad, and the atmosphere is ok. Still if you want a nice drink (tea). while studying, please come here!

YOU should try their oolong bubble tea ! I absolutely love to chill and socialize with my Asian friends. The place is very clean and promotes social vibes. You’ll realize that most of the people there are Asians. There are also board games and TV to spend time with your friends.

If you like tea that tastes like tea, then hopefully you will like Kung Fu as much as me.
Kung Fu Tea and I have a romance. Every shop is consistently delicious. Even walking into the shops, I’m hit with the amazing scent of black tea.
The chain is from Flushing, a place that has brought my life so much comfort during uncomfortable times. When their first Flushing shop opened on Main Street, we gathered in droves for their Wow Milk. That was at least six years ago, so I did not expect to find a Kung Fu shop in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida.
All of their teas are natural tea, served with a true tea base of Oolong, Black Tea, or Jasmine Green Tea. Unless you order a fruit smoothie or Milk Strike drink, you will receive the best quality, strongest tasting teas that you will find anywhere in the world. I’ve never had a bad drink at Kung Fu, even when trying some of the stranger concoctions (like the Honey Tomato Twister).
My main obsession that never fades is their Kung Fu Milk tea; a bergamot infused strong Earl Gray cream tea, requested with less sweetness, with honey coated tapioca pearls cooked to perfection in the bottom. Seriously, I could drink it every day. It is bewitching.
I’ve been to Taiwan (home of bubble tea). Had bubble tea in NYC, Flushing, Japan, South Korea, California, Canada, Atlanta, and everywhere in between. Kung Fu remains my favorite of all the teas that I have had. Just sayin.‘
Ummm. Yeah, if you can’t tell– I really like Kung Fu Tea. But, what do I know. Taste it for yourself.

Nice ambiance and a good place for studying. The chairs and benches aren’t particularly comfortable, but there are some couches available. Not too many options in the snack department, but I’ve tried the coconut milk tea and the taro milk tea and liked both. Can’t wait to explore the fruity-​er side of their menu!

The best milk tea here. I strongly recommend green milk tea, oolong milk tea and peach oolong tea.

This is a nice place to study because the layout is really spacious compared to other bubble tea places in Gainesville, but I’m not a big fan of their actual drinks. I really wanted to like this place but whatever I got just didn’t taste good to me. Their drinks have this underlying floral, herbal taste and I’m just not a fan. Their coffee milk tea doesn’t seem like it has any coffee in it at all, and their wow milk was bland to the point where I ended up throwing it away after a couple sips. Their white gourd tea tasted like straight sugar and water, which was disappointing because it was one of the drinks that was recommended to me the most.
Overall, a nice place to study because they have a lot of tables and let you bring your own food to eat but the drinks are not a place I would recommend unfortunately.

Pros Really great teas, excellent modern space to read a book or get studying done. The boba is the best in Gainesville
Cons: Service Isn’t as friendly as Lollicup’s.
Bottom Line: Kung Fu Tea has best boba in Gainesville which is perfectly chewy and sweet. IF you want somewhere quiet to enjoy your drink stop here, however if you want a great drink and somewhere to chill with friends head down the street to Lollicup instead.
Kung Fu Tea opened up last year in Gainesville to challenge Lollicup for domination over the local boba. I must say that Kung Fu Tea has been pretty successful and is a major competitor. There is no question that Kung Fu Tea has the better boba which consistently seems to be both chewy and flavorful, while I have gotten hard=to-chew bland boba from Lollicup during a few occasions. Nevertheless Lollicup has a greater variety of slush drinks and uses fresh ingredients in a number of these slush options.
While Lollicup has this homely living room feeling, Kung Fu Tea has the ambiance of a sophisticated coffee shop. I can never be productive at Lollicup unless I have a pair of earphones, however Kung Fu Tea is perfect for reading and quiet studying. Unfortunately that means that KFT isn’t a great spot to chill with your friends. In my opinion that’s a good thing though; I go to Lollicup to meet with friends and KFT to focus on myself.
KFT“s royal milk tea is delicious and reflects a more Taiwanese version then Lollcup’s which is much sweeter which masks the black tea taste. KFT embodies more traditional herbal boba drinks such as Oolong milk tea and is a welcome addition to Gainesville. In conclusion while KFT and Lollicup are direct competitors they each have unique strengths that are useful in different circumstances and I encourage you to try out both to find out which you like best.

⁵⁄₅ easily. As an Atlanta native, I wasn’t expecting to get any bubble tea on a trip down to my grandparent’s farm, but I forgot they live close to UF. In passing the university, I spotted the familiar name, groaned a bit (Kung Fu Tea is not a favorite of mine in Atlanta), then realized it was the best I could probably get during this trip and went for it.. . And I’m so glad I did!
The black milk tea had the perfect amount of tea taste (I prefer a decently strong tea taste), soft and flavorful boba, and great grass jelly. I even ventured so far as to get half sugar, and I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
To go a step further, my mother (who isn’t a fan of milk tea) actually liked this one, which I contribute to the stronger, slightly fragrant tea taste). Definitely will return when I’m back to visit family!

Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Drink: ³⁄₅
Mm…another Boba shop. The set up is very student friendly. Ordering is pretty quick and painless. I wish they had more options for additions like Chatime. Like any other tea/​coffee shop, they have their good days and bad days. The first few times I went earlier in the year, the tea was spot on (rich and creamy). The most recent times I went (last week), it was watered down and well… not that great. That’s why I ended up given them 3 stars instead of 4. You have to be consistent for this kind of product because regulars will know the difference.

Another cute place to relax and hang out. Super close to my work, this is the first place I would go to whenever I have a long break :)

The KF Milk tea is my favorite. If you’re a Lollicup native, it is comparable to the Royal Milk tea. I also tried the Chai milk tea and coffee milk tea, which were good as well. I like KF better than most boba places because the milk tea because it has more tea vs. milk and is not as sweet, which is an issue for me because I get headaches sometimes lol
And I like the boba here because it is sweet and flavorful and does not overpower the milk tea. I also like the herbal jelly, though I wish the portion given to me was larger and I wish the jelly pieces were smaller in size.
Overall, a great experience and will be coming back when I visit again’

Updated review. So after my initial poor experience I was contacted by a business manager who offered a voucher for a free drink. So I went back.
You can tell management cares about feedback because the workers were wonderful! My cashier was super friendly and even when I made a mistake with my order she was very empathetic and helpful.
The atmosphere was super busy, but the drinks came out fast. I also like how they now have punch cards and stickers on the drink to reduce confusion during pick up. I’d go back!

White Gourd is the go to tea for me, very sweet fruity tea flavor. Boba here was great though, not too chewy nor mushy. Basically the right consistency for boba. You can also adjust the drinks to your level of ice and sweetness, which is a huge bonus for those that are more picky about their drinks!
White gourd milk also has the same taste as the tea but with a more milk taste. Almond milk tea here is very aromatic reminds me of rose tea. Try the herbal jelly if you are sick of boba! Great customer service here though.
The space is very interesting, I would say there’s plenty of seating but they are so packed, which is a good sign as well. They close at 12am, which is great bonus for a boba run.

Kung Fu which is a chain of milk tea/​boba tea vendors just opened up a shop in Gainesville. It’s not that big but has ample space for patrons to drink their tea in the shop. I do not think they’ll have outdoor seating because their small spot near Crisper’s doesn’t really have any outside patio space, which would have been kinda nice. The interior is expectedly new, clean, and nice but furnished in a bit of a generic manner: some Asian touches but I believe there was a large poster/​print of either NYC or Paris on one wall, which seemed a touch strange. The staff are prompt and friendly.
When I was there, all of the other patrons were Asian kids – all. Which is a great sign, I feel. They have a good selection of different teas and combinations – see their menu on their website for details on that – and a few Asian baked goods from some bakery in Tampa. I had a lemon green tea and a piece of the sponge cake. The baked goods are pre-​packed and I don’t know how fast the turn over is on them, but my cake was good enough, certainly not stale. I’m always a touch leery of such things because if they come from elsewhere, especially out of town, you have to have high volume sales to have rapid replenishment of those sweets. I’m glad Kung Fu is offering something to eat alongside the tea, though.
Overall, it’s well-​done. I like the atmosphere of Lollicup a bit better and love that Lollicup also sells loose-​leaf tea to take home and more variety of desserts. But I’ll visit Kung Fu again, I’m sure, and am glad they have come to Gainesville.

I grew up in HK so I’m very picky with my milk tea. Kung Fu’s is excellent. Last time I had milk tea boba this good was in Atlanta, GA. I believe they brew the ‘cha’ that gets mixed with the boba, though they seem to use some powder as well. They’re still settling in the new location, but I’m sure I’ll be frequenting this place in the future (yes, just for the milk tea). Great, reasonable price, too.
Oh, and great tables for board games. Their selections are limited. Gotta bring your own Monopoly Deal!
Oh, and thanks team, for no longer playing that dreadful Bruno Mars album. Backstreet Boys is where it’s at!