Sozo Coffee & Bubble Tea

Hands down the best bubble tea in town! I get the lemonade and strawberry bubble tea all the time, it’s delicious it’s real strawberries and real lemonade! The coffee served is Stumptown nuff said!

This place reminds me of Tapioca Express from home (Bay Area). Well, I actually might like Tapioca Express a little bit more (that’s saying a lot because I really don’t like TapEx at all).
I had a Passion fruit green tea that was supposedly made with «fresh» passion fruit. I doubt that was true. It’s decent if you’re really craving boba or some slushy type drink. I’m very particular about ingredients and high quality tea so this place is just not for me.

I came in around the 9pm and my group had ordered 3 drinks and we had to wait 15 – 20 minutes for our drinks. There was only one employee working so I understand why it took so long, but it was way too long to wait for a milk tea drink.
I ordered the strawberry milk tea and wasn’t very pleased. The boba kept getting stuck in the straw and were stuck together. Not very sweet.
Ambiance in the room was a little too laid back for me. The lighting was poor and made me feel like I had to strain my eyes.

Ordered the passion fruit green tea with bubbles. It’s a bit underwhelming. The flavor just isn’t there and the bubbles aren’t sweet.
Seems like a relax hangout spot for groups.

A nice local place to enjoy a nice cold drink. With wifi and a private room, I can either stop by to get a drink on the go or stop in to get my work done or bring in a group of friends to savor a nice cold drink.
As for the drinks, they have a good variety of powder-​mixed drinks, such as my favorite taro milk tea with coffee jelly, real fruit smoothies including the popular avocado and my personal favorite durian with rainbow jelly. Be forewarned though that durian isn’t for everybody as you’ll find out the scent can be offensive to some. But if you don’t have a problem with the scent, then this smoothie is highly recommended. Also, for the avocado enthusiasts, they now have a dessert that’s mashed avocado with shaved ice. A must-​try for the avocado enthusiasts out there!
So whether you’re looking for a nice cold drink on the go or want to settle in with some friends, Sozo your go-​to destination!

This is my first time trying the smoothie here. I tried the jackfruit and taro with the bubble smoothie. They are reasonably priced and I really liked the jackfruit smoothie because they put in real jackfruits, not from the can, and they put in a lot too, the flavor is wonderful and it comes in a completely sealed plastic cup for freshness and sanitation. It is reasonably priced and I will come back again.

Based on reviews, I though I would give this bubble tea place a try, but the place turned out to be pretty sketchy.
Atmosphere:
Upon walking in, my ears were treated to the sound of static buzzing loudly over the speakers, no music, just static.
A sign warning you (on the door leading to the creepy hallway to the always locked bathrooms), stating «Due to increased crime, the police will be making regular walk-​throughs of Sozo Café». It was creepy.
The lines of ants marching neatly on the floor were very pleasant.
Also, there is no large screen to play games on. The big NES controller is still there but it is just kind of dusty and not connected to anything. I think that the other reviews are either fake or outdated.
My girlfriend and I felt like we were in a scene from the movie «Taken» (AKA about to be kidnapped and sold).
Drinks:
The peach smoothie and green tea smoothie themselves were good, but the boba was completely tasteless. Also, way too much boba (the ratio was not ideal since the boba itself tasted like absolutely nothing).
Would not recommend unless you are some kind of crime fighter or entomologist.

Best boba tea I’ve ever had. I got the avocado smoothie with tapioca pearls and was thoroughly impressed.
The shop is also inviting and playfully decorated and a generally pleasant place to sit down and enjoy delicious bubble tea. I will be coming back!

The service was very friendly
The durian smoothie was «on point» according to the Asian person in our group. As far as I can smell, it was authentic too.

Worst service in Portland. My husband and I stood at the counter for over 5 minutes and none of the 3 ladies behind the counter deemed us fit enough to look up to, speak to us or take our order. Not even to say ‘please give us a minute, we’ll be there with you in a bit’. They obviously didn’t want to serve us. So we walked out. We were astonished, we have never faced this before.

The place is spacious and has good wifi. The customer service was not so good, it took them around 10 minutes to make drinks for my group of 3. There was only 1 person working there so he might’ve had to take the shift by himself.
The had a taro smoothie and it was decent, average. The tapioca balls were soft not chewy.
This place is okay for bubble tea

It’s been a while since coming here and I came for the usual (red bean bubble tea). They use the loyalty program FiveStars here and anytime I’ve come here, all I have had to do was swipe the keychain card to earn points.
It irked me today that I had to provide my phone number (instead of the normal card swipe) in order to gain points for my purchase. Sure, it’s convenient, but I honestly didn’t like the fact that my phone number was being written down and entered in later instead at the time of transaction. That’s personal information and I hate that I would need to say my phone number out loud to the staff and for strangers to hear any time I want to earn points. What sucks is that it was written and probably not properly disposed of afterward. You never know with businesses who could later use it for solicitation.
Now that I’m looking at my account, it’s been six hours and my earned point still has yet to show. Awesome.

The milk tea was so so, not one of the best i had. I ordered milk tea with taro pudding. The texture of the pudding was fine but it was tasteless. Too much ice
The shop looks roomy and cute though, plus the service was pretty good too

$ 3.25 for powdered mix milk tea. This seems to be a normal thing in many bubble tea places so far around here. Overpriced and underwhelming. Next time I’ll pass.

Fresh fruit smoothies! Even if they are not on the actual menu. Also you can customize any way you want. I like to get the fresh pineapple and jackfruit mix. They seem to have those fresh fruits all the time. Avocado is another one always available. Sometimes there are fresh strawberries and mangoes. Can’t go wrong with fresh fruit smoothies! The bubble tea is alright. I just wish bubble tea in Portland could be like ones in Canada, where there is more of a distinct tea flavor then sweet or milky. After all it is called a bubble TEA! The café has internet options in case you want to surf the web or if you have a dinosaur phone that has no internet. There are also nice loungy couches that one could potentially take a nap on.
Bonus: NIce big space to hang out before the movies or after dinner if there’s nothing to do.

Had a taro blended bubble tea the other day and it was delicious! I love the creamy taste and texture of blended teas they have here! I also love that for boba they use a mix of dark and light ones.

I liked it. I swung by while I was at a wedding dinner next door at Wong’s King. Had a warm taro milk tea with pearls and a peach yogurt smoothie tea. The bill together was a little over 7 dollars. Cheaper than most bubble tea places and it was pretty delicious. Only thing is that their bubble: tea ratio was a little off, too many bubbles I think.
Their lounge area is pretty nice, free wifi with computers. Clean bathroom. Nice couches. Very homey. Looks like a cool place to chill with some friends. I’ll probably be back again if I’m on this side of town :)

I went here because it was the only place open after 9PM. I ordered the original milk tea and it was only okay. The flavor could’ve been a little sweeter and the tapioca wasn’t soft. It definitely didn’t satisfy my bubble tea craving.

I was really excited to find a new bubble tea place. However when I asked if any of the bubble teas could be made with an alternative milk or no milk at all, I was told they had none and adding no milk would make it taste bad (??). So I didn’t get to have any bubble tea, as I’m vegan. Other bubble tea places have a lot of vegan options. So I was bummed about that.
Then I went to use the bathroom and it smelled so badly of urine I had to hold my breath. Then when I went to return to the main room, I was locked out and had to leave out the emergency exit to the outside and come back through the front door. Guh. In addition, it doesn’t seem like this would be a great place to bring
kids or sensitive listeners as the music is very loud and has no censoring (so I heard the n-​word, the f word, p*ssy and c*ck). While I don’t mind cuss words in songs, I know a lot of people do. Just not an inclusive atmosphere.
The seating is super comfy, though, and it looks like there’s a separate study room. Also, free wifi and computers. If you do drink dairy I’m sure the bubble tea would taste great!

Stopped by after dinner at Wong King across the lot, this place was recommended by a friend. I like to think of myself as a boba connoisseur of sorts, since I spent my college years trying many different boba shops and tea houses in SoCal and the 626. I ordered the original milk tea with boba (I always judge a place on their milk tea) — the milk tea itself was great, a nice amount of richness, maybe just a tad sweet. The tapioca pearls, however, were too soft and mushy, it was not chewy enough and did not provide their own flavor to the drink. My sister got the blended peach bubble tea with mixed jelly, which was wayyyyy too sweet! Make sure to order half-​sweet for your drinks!
The place was empty, but it may have just been the time of day. The wifi was really fast and the decorations were nice though! Next time I would get my drink without the boba.