Wake Cup

Like all boba places, I HAVE to judge the place on their Thai iced tea. Perfect balance of vanilla, sweet, and a touch of smoky that doesn’t make it taste like a cigarette. Boba pearls were good as well, not too squishy or tough.
The interior of the place is pretty! And we got our drinks relatively quick. All in all, good boba for a good price.

IV tries with boba. that’s until Wake Cup made its way to the top of the chain! Their drinks are reasonably priced and their boba pearls are ok (they arn’t as sweet as HK, but the texture is great and chewy). My favorite is the Honey Milk Black Tea, which is like their original Milk Tea with a hint of honey flavor. PLUS their popcorn chicken is soooo good. I just dont advise you to eat a whole order at once or you will feel gross the next morning. Great job, Wake Cup!

Arguably the best boba spot in Isla Vista! With the widest variety of bobas/​add-​ons, drink quality and most reasonable pricing amongst the other boba places here in IV, Wake Cup is on on top!
Did I mention they also have popcorn chicken for only $ 5.50? The music is also always on point when I come in as well!
Pretty much, if you like high quality boba drinks, make your way down Pardall and WAKE CUP!

A great boba place if you live in IV. Quality and selection is the same as Hana kitchen but a lot cheaper.

I am surprised I haven’t reviewed Wake Cup yet as I go there quite often. Of course it cannot be compared to places in the 626 area or SF Chinatown, but it is the best boba joint in IV, heck, Santa Barbara County for the moment.
They offer a good amount of smoothie, milk tea, flavored tea, and specialty drinks. I am not adventurous enough to have tried anything from the specialty drinks menu but I have tried a lot of their milk and flavored tea. Depending on the barista, the amount of ice can range from meh to quite a bit. But the drinks have tasted fine every time.
They also have a variety of toppings to choose from for 25 cents extra. Toppings range from different flavored boba to assorted jellies. Do keep in mind that they frequently run out of toppings. They would put up these handwritten janky signs that says «Sorry, out of Lychee Jelly.»
They only have 1 snack — popcorn chicken, which, let’s be honest, is the only snack you need at a boba place. The popcorn chicken is not bad, it is not overly salty or bland. However, they can be quite stingy with the portion. Also, the pieces can be very small, which is unusual and hard to pick up with the stick.

It’s alright… The boba is very tasty and chewy but the drink part is just okay. Try the highway karaōke place next to phamous and L&L if you want AUTHENTIC delicious milk tea

Compare to all the other boba place in IV this one probably the best. However that is not saying much because it’s IV. I say get the brown sugar because it taste similar to iced milk from half and half.

Finally!!! Attention UCSB boba lovers (including myself)!!! This is the place for all of us~~~~I’ve been waiting and expecting a place like this for a long long time! Thumbs up for their drinks~(reasonable price as well) haven’t tried their food yet tho~ this is way better than (Hana kitchen, ice milk company, high way KTV… etc~)

Whoa! After trying a few different mediocre boba places in the area, I was glad that a new friend showed me Wake Cup. Being a staple of most college towns, I was surprised that, for the longest time, there was a distinct lack of boba variety in IV. Not anymore!
Wake Cup’s boba is definitely more firm than most, something that I really value of the boba in my drink. There’s a nice variety of different flavors here so you won’t get bored quickly. I’ve now had both taro and almond milk tea, and they were both excellent. I wish they had barley milk tea, but you can’t get everything.
Seriously, as everything manages to get hotter, I know I’ll be coming back to Wake Cup a lot more in the coming months.

Best boba place everrr~
One of their worker is so pretty and nice. She makes a very good boba. I would come here everyday if i went to ucsb. Highly recommended. Good service and good beverage:)

Boba’s been the latest trend in IV. You know how there’s about a million faceless sandwich shops, Mexican eateries, and pizza places? Boba’s the next thing.
Your options are Hana Kitchen, Naan Stop, Phở Bistro, Spudnuts, Fire & Ice, and Wake Cup. I definitely flip-​flop between the latter two depending on what I’m in the mood for, and I genuinely think this place has the best boba you can’t find when you’re in the San Gabriel Valley or Bay Area. The boba is almost at that perfectly chewy yet firm texture, and you’ll never be stuck trying to slurp up the last of the tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup at the end of your drink.
My go-​to order here is the honeydew milk tea with boba and lychee jelly, and popcorn chicken. Unfortunately, the chicken’s the only thing on their menu as far as food goes, but it’s amazing — it’s meaty, dropped fresh in the fryer when you order it, and you can dump as much chili powder as you want on it. They have a lot of different toppings to go in your drink, such as grass jelly and popping boba.
What’s keeping it from being perfect is the lack of expansion on their menu, and the fact that you have to pay extra for each topping. Another big problem is their atmosphere — it’s your typical top 40 and EDM, blasting so loud it’s difficult to have a conversation, complete with neon flashing lights. Take your order to go.

Nice variety of drinks! Couldn’t decide but my friend has tried their rose milk tea and he liked it a lot, like a lot a lot. Even the pickiest guy likes it? Okay i guess I’ll try that.
Hmm definitely the best I’ve ever tasted. I’ve had rose milk tea elsewhere before but they all had some sort of weird taste. Ones from wake cup aren’t too sweet, not too bland either. Perfection.
Will definitely visit this place again and try their popcorn chicken, honeydew milk tea and coffee boba.

This is my new boba spot in IV! Reasonable prices and they have the basic flavors but also crazy flavors (Oreo cookie smoothie with boba??)! I am a loyal boba pearl fan but I like how they have a lot of toppings available — like pudding and aloe.
I’ve only tasted the Thai tea and Jasmine Milk teas but they were done in a beautiful ratio (not too sweet, not too bland) with perfectly chewy boba!
Prices are reasonable. The space is kind of small but very chic. The employees were very nice too.
This place beats the boba drinks at Hana Kitchen, Naan Stop, and Phở Bistro for sure.
Note: I have not tried the popcorn chicken.

Love this!!! They recently opened and have a limited but delicious menu. We had the popcorn chicken which was served in a bowl. We also ordered the Milk tea with boba. I’m sort of particular with textures with boba, but they cook theirs really yummy and has a perfect density.

Got the rose milk tea, bf got jasmine milk tea with regular boba. My milk tea is pretty good, rose taste is not too strong which I like. Bf says boba in the drink didn’t taste fresh, jasmine tea itself tasted pretty good, not too perfumy like at some places. A lot of choices for tea and boba toppings. Will be back to try other milk teas.

The best boba milk tea in Santa Barbara! Try to order jasmine green tea with aloe! Tastes good and their popcorn chicken is also the best!

My friends and I came to Santa Barbara for the weekend. On Saturday, we decided to go to this new boba place that opened up.
One of my friend got the Jasmine Milk Tea with boba and that shit came with all the bobas clumped together. He tried sucking it through the straw but it was a struggle. He says the drink was good, but the boba… We complained to the worker and he just says «yeah, I fucked up the boba today.» I was like ??? If you knew you fucked up, you shouldn’t even be serving that shit. Ayy go remake your boba next time if that ever happens again cus that is just bad service.
I ordered the white chocolate smoothie with coffee boba. It was ok and the boba luckily didn’t come out all stuck together like my friend’s.

I’ve been waiting for a legit boba shop to open in SB for a quite a long time. Actually I wanted to open one myself. I wish they had better interior like a legit café. Right now it just seems like a cafeteria for office workers. I wasnt 100% content with the taste (but that’s because my family owns boba stores in LA that taste much better) but I did enjoy the fact that we finally have on in IV.
I ordered the Honey Milk Tea with Coffee Boba and Pudding because that would be similar to the famous HALF&HALF in the valley. I mean I would get it again but just not great enough in taste. My friend got the Rose Milk Tea and she said she would give it a ⁴⁄₅.
TIP: the coffee boba i order comes in squares. Yes it’s a boba but nothing like you tried before. I thought it would be a circular boba coffee flavored but its like square and little more towards jelly than boba.
Heres my overall rating:
Boba: ⁴⁄₅
Interior: ²⁄₅
But it’s in IV: ⁵⁄₅

Best boba in IV! They have a pretty nice variety or drinks and additions too like aloe and flavored boba.
I tried the rose milk green tea w/​aloe and the jasmine milk tea w/​lychee jelly. The rose was so yummy and the aloe pieces were a good size with great texture. For some reason the jasmine milk tea tasted super watered down, but I’m hoping that was just a mistake.
The popcorn chicken was tasty but it’s not crunchy at all, so if you like crispy popcorn chicken, you may not like the chicken here.
I’d still definitely come back for more drinks, and when the food menu is complete I’ll be sure to check out those items too!

I have to say, that their Honeydew Milk Tea was probably one of my favorites I’ve had in a while, and is pretty superior to anything Hana Kitchen has. As far as my taste buds can tell, they didn’t use any syrups. One major downside is that they did not have any boba once I got there, so I can’t comment on that. But ayy finally a legit place to get milk tea in SB/​IV.
Update on January 16, 2016
Today they had Boba, and it was pretty legit. Not at all like Hana Kitchen Boba which I’m happy about. The popcorn chicken was popcorn chicken. Nothing amazing. However, I wish they had dipping sauce for it and not just chili powder (which is delicious by the way). If you want Boba, skip the line at Hana and come over here. Honeydew milk tea for life.