Bobabia

After being here several times, I can only say the drinks are okay. With a great location (downtown san mateo), I feel like a place like this has much more potential than what they are putting out. They have a great seating area for studying and lounging. I feel like their flavors in their tea are somewhat decent. Last time I got the lemon tea and I must say, it needs a lot of work. On the other hand, the boba is made with a good consistency so that is a plus. Overall, 3 stars rates this place perfectly.

I am super impressed with this boba shop as this is no typical boba place. Their menu includes a wide variety of unique drinks such as English Breakfast Milk Tea, Rose Jasmine Green Milk Tea, Bobabia Coconut Milk Tea, and so much more. I want to go back and try all their items on their Specials Menu.
Here is a quick list of pros and cons about this place:
Pros:
— drink variety
— environmentally friendly
–tables to sit, chill, and drink boba with friends/​family
— big drink size (only one size is offered but it’s a generous size)
— VERY friendly staff!
— clean facilities
Cons:
— no AC on a very hot day (it felt really stuffy in there!)
— slightly on the pricy side as the cheapest drink costed $ 3.50
Despite the cons, I highly recommend this place! :)

Great spot off the beaten path in San Mateo with better-​than-​usual parking and really nice ambiance and space.
Traditional menu, but they have 2 stores worth of space, so lots of room to sit and chill. Dude behind the counter was really personable and friendly and super fast at making drinks.
Have been back here a couple of times and definitely make it a stop when I’m downtown in SM.

I didn’t see that the check in offer was Monday only, but the guy at the cashier (the owner?) chuckled and gave it to me anyways. Wow a full 50 cent!!!
I got the lavender earl grey drink with lychee jelly. It was very fragrant — definitely an interesting mix of flavors. It’s kind of a strange one but I can’t say I don’t like it.
Also I love the little circle the cap has for straw poking it’s actually genius. Every boba shop should have that!!!

Love this place! It’s a few blocks away from the main drag in San Mateo, which means you can actually park if you have a car. They have great options for teas and their boba is the perfect consistency! Favorite is their rose jasmine green milk tea. I always want to try the lavender earl grey too, but inevitably go back to the jasmine. They will customize if you ask (I always ask for less sugar because their tea is really good on its own). One of my favorite boba shops in the area.

This place is hella cute! Got the earl gray milk tea with pudding but it was just aight. Kinda lacking the richness of a milk tea and they only do large drinks.

Found this place on «accident». I typically go to another boba place down the street but there was no parking anywhere. I was waiting at the light and this little gem popped out at me.
Walking in and I heard beautiful piano music. Made me forget I was there to order boba because it was so relaxing!
Free wifi is always a plus when I have work to do so I’ll keep that in mind when I come here.
The gentleman working was very pleasant. Even popped his head out from behind the door to say he would be right with me. (He was making drinks for the other people there)
Took my order and I was waiting patiently (writing this review) and to my surprise he walked right out from behind the counter to hand me my drink. Talk about great customer service!
Simple menu to order from which makes ordering easy! Rather than other places that have a whole wall of a menu, which then makes it hard to make a choice. So glad I found this place!

SO GOOD and organic! Organic tea + organic boba… in my mind, this equals healthy. Who says you can’t indulge and feel good about it. :)
Try the Rose Jasmine Green Tea. It’s a customer favorite (including mine). Like most other boba tea joins these days, you can choose your level of sweetness (I typically do 50% sweetness).
P. S. If you’re also looking for a place to host a baby shower, there is a room you can rent out to have a Bobabia baby shower!

This place was nestled on the perimeter of the hustle and bustle of downtown San Mateo. Unilocal lit the yellow brick road to this boba mecca after dinner at Himwari. Big plus for opening late until 11pm. It’s aesthetically green and has cute décor from wall vanity mirrors to lights and cute animé trinkets. Upon entering, there’s the bright ambiance (where order is taken and drinks/​food received) and on the other side there’s a dimmed out area that’s great for low-​key hang outs to studious boba die-​hard fans. They offer small bites which I didn’t get a chance to try, but will next time around.
We ordered the rose jasmine green milk tea w/​boba and their classic milk tea w/​boba. Around $ 9 total. The employee surprisingly marked the no tip option from their ipad POS system. I absolutely appreciate that he’s not trying to trick people into a «necessary tip» where it’s preprogrammed like the rest of the universe. Because of that gesture, I appreciate his sincerity and his lack-​of-​self-​entitlement syndrome. Their milk tea is as my other half states «as good as it gets». He was puzzled into how perfect it came out to be without the usual option of other boba establishments of 0−50% optional range of sugar and/​or ice. It was just perfect in every way without alterations. My drink was nicely mild to slightly strong rose tea. Although I don’t normally get that flavor, I was pleasantly surprised how balanced it was.
I love the vibe here because not only can you get small bites to delicious boba, the employee was very nice. As the terminator puts it «I’ll be back».

It’s a great café to hang out and relax. There are two rooms. One is very bright and green, the other is dark, perhaps more conducive to studying or gaming.
I really like their refreshing tea (jasmine and honey) with boba. Their boba is sweetened and chewy. My boyfriend got their blackberry black tea and that was really refreshing to drink.
Décor is great, very nice clean lines, and some cute terrariums at the entrance.

I would say it’s one of my fav boba places to go to!
The tea is organic, and the sweetness is just right. I ordered Peach Green tea, and Jasmine Milk tea the first time I went, and it was fantastic. The boba I would say is cooked a little on the hard side, but I prefer it that way, since it gets softer as time passes.
The second time I went, I got Passionfruit Green Tea with aloe — honestly, I would recommend this A LOT. It’s not too sweet, it’s not too sour. It’s delicious! And FYI, you can taste the tea.
For those who dig organic tea, and want to keep healthy but want boba, go here. And also, it’s calm and relaxing with lot’s of seats!
I’ll definately comeback.

I’ve been here once before when they first opened and it was good then. I’m not sure why I never wrote a review though.
Well getting to now, I went over the weekend with some friends on a Saturday night and the place was dead. There was people who were inside, but they took their drinks to go. I like how the room is colored in a bright-​ish green color. It makes you want something green lol. I like how they decorated the register area with action figures. They have a couple of Groots there which I love. Lol. This place has a different feel to it also. Like it doesn’t feel like a milk tea place. There’s actually another room where it’s the sitting area. I believe that turns into something since there’s black lights in there, like all the things needed for a dance. Well that didn’t bother me. The lighting in that room is much dimmer than the room where you order your drinks @.
Getting to the drinks. I got the Peach Green Tea with light ice and regular sweet. It was perfect! Refreshing too. My friends liked it too. She said next time she comes back, she will get that. It was super sweet @ the regular sweetness level. I also go to try the Honeydew Green Tea with light ice. It was light and refreshing. Not sweet either. Two drinks that remind me of summertime.
The service was great too. The girl who was helping us was helpful when my BF asked which fruit teas are popular. She was kind and friendly. She also brought out our drinks to us too.
So far there isn’t any minimum to pay with card which is awesome. Oh they also do morning tea session I believe it was called. I forgot to take a picture of the sign, but it’s where you get to have your own tea party. You have to call in and reserve a table for it.
Overall, this place is worth checking out. When I’m ever in San Mateo, this will most likely be my tea place to go to!

I really wanted to like this boba place because of the cute interior décor, but the tea here is just not good. Walking in, the shop is separated into 2 rooms — one for ordering and waiting for your drink and one with large tables and a nice seating area. Coming in on a Saturday afternoon, the shop was mostly empty.
My friend ordered a peach green tea and I ordered their hyped up butter beer (ranked 2 in best sellers). We were both extremely disappointed in the drinks we ordered. My friend’s tea was too sweet and tasted artificial. My drink was way too carbonated and I also wasn’t allowed to mix the drink to even out the cream on the top with the drink on the bottom because the carbonation would «cause the drink to explode.» I am not sure why they would even separate the cream and the drink prior to sealing if we weren’t allowed to mix the 2 together or given ways to drink this drink like a creama. It was terribly sweet as well and just did not taste good.
I can say for sure I am definitely not ordering anything from this place again since the poorly made drinks was pretty overpriced as well.

Butter Beer
Rose Honey Pomelo Jasmine Blossom Tea
Nice décor in a very large floorplan.
Friendly staff but not quite the best boba that I have had.

When t pumps left San Mateo, I thought there wouldn’t be any other good boba places in the area, but bobabia is such a new and refreshing addition to the area and it isn’t as crowded as other boba places in the area!
The ambiance and décor of Bobabia is super inviting and peaceful! With an open area and their free wifi, this place would be great for studying!
In terms of their menu, they offer such a variety of flavors and toppings! Their small is $ 3 and an extra $ 0.5 for toppings. I also love that they have the tea pots on their counter and some of the dry ingredients. It seriously reminds me of an actual tea shop! I ordered the rose tea, honey rose pomelo, and the peach tea. The ROSE TEA is seriously refreshing and a must get! If you want something on the more citrus side, I would suggest getting the pomelo! The peach tea is just okay, but also heard their coffee flavors are super yummy. For an extra price, you can get agar boba.
I was super happy coming here for my first time and would suggest trying this super cool boba place!

teas, teas, more teas, they’re all very refreshing to me.
They have some great snacks here too. Its a great place to just hang and chill.
I sat and chilled in the window sill I even sat back and laid down on the pillows.
I almost felt like napping I was soo relaxed.
I really really like this place.
I like the atmosphere, I love the ambiance, the décor, and the staff is great too.

I really really really wanted to like this place, but it just didn’t do it for me. GREAT, quality Organic tea, but just not tea-​y enough for me.
Very cute green and white themed boba shop. Owned by a very patient and kind guy who was helpful enough to answer all my questions and give me some recommendations. He even let me smell the rose and chamomile that is used in some of the floral teas. Because all drinks are made to order, you can customize sweetness here, which is great!
I ended up getting drinks for myself and my family. I wanted something strong, so took his recommendation and decided on an Earl Grey Milk Tea with pearls since he said this was the strongest. I was pretty disappointed to say the least. The pearls were great, and the sweetness was perfect, but it just fell short for me when it came to flavor. I got my sister the Jasmine Milk Tea with pearls and my brother the Peach Green Tea with lychee jelly and they both said the same. The most flavorful one was the Rose Honey Pomelo Jasmine Tea with aloe vera. This drink was interesting because there were real slices of the pomelo rind inside. I would say of the 4, this was the most flavorful and memorable.
Would I come out of my way to come here again? Probably not. However, it is my favorite spot in San Mateo! If I’m in the area, I might try it again and ask for stronger tea or more tea than milk.
Don’t forget to grab a stamp card! Buy 5 drinks get 1 free topping, and buy 9 drinks and get the 10^th free!
Current San Mateo bobz ranking:
1. Bobabia
2. Eggettes
3. Chatime
4. Gongcha
5. Sharetea

I hate trying new boba places. Just like I hate dating, you’re basically going into a new world when you rather stay comfortable where you are. Haha.
I ordered the passion fruit green tea with boba, and my sister ordered an Avocado lover with boba.
First off, my drink was not sweet enough and the boba doesn’t have enough honey… My sisters drink on the other hand was delicious.
Still would skip on this place since Sharetea is only a couple streets away and consistent.

Got my avocado smoothie fix!
What I ordered:
— Avocado lover with tapioca, agar boba, and chia seeds (yes, I love toppings, don’t judge me)
— Passion Fruit Green Tea with lychee jelly
— Double fries (French Fries & Sweet Potato Fries)
Love going to tapioca places without having the cashier give me a look when I order so many toppings in my drink. Their shop is pretty big because they have their main room and then a second room with tables and more chairs. The cashier was super nice because they brought our food to where we were sitting at too. Hopefully they’ll have popcorn chicken next time!

Despite being overlooked by many drink places in Downtown San Mateo, Bobabia makes some pretty good beverages. Also this is a cozy place to hang out and more serene as oppose to the other drink places.
On my debut, I ordered the Peanut Butter and banana smoothie (no surprise from many of my followers). For $ 5.00, I get a creamy peanut butter, tons of banana and liquid concoction pulverized in one cup. This is a drink that will reincarnate Elvis Presley from the grave and do the «Jailhouse Rock». I really thought the drink has a good balance of the peanut butter and banana. This is a well crafted beverage.
I only go to Asian beverage places for the smoothies. But Bobabia makes some pretty good drinks.