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ChaTime
Categories: Food Coffee & Tea Nightlife Karaoke Coffee & Tea, Karaoke
251 9th St(between Harrison St & Alice St)
Oakland, CA 94607
Neighbourhoods: Oakland Chinatown, Lake Merritt
(510) 268-1688
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sat-Sun 11 am - 2 am
Fri 11 am - 3 am
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Price Range:
-
$
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Music:
- Karaoke
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
93 reviews for ChaTime
Review Highlights
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"I'd recommend the Roasted Milk Tea." In 9 reviews -
"The boba was perfect- not too hard and was very chewy." In 17 reviews -
"...the easy to find private parking lot right next to it." In 7 reviews
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93 reviews in English
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Review from Cyndi G.
5/24/2012 5 Check-ins Here
Yes, you pay a premium for drinks here and yes, you have to wait a little longer but it's worth it. Each drink is individually made upon order.
My friend recommended the Roasted Milk Tea - Iced and I've been hooked from the first sip. I like that the milk tea is not too sweet and I pair it with grass jelly. The grass jelly is not the kind that comes chopped up and out of a can so it's soft and silky. When I really want to splurge, I'll add grass jelly AND pudding. (Okay, fine - I'm a fatty.)
The fact that they have their own parking lot is a plus because most times, the lack of parking discourages me from shopping or dining in Chinatown. -
Review from Cinderella T.
Fremont, CA
5/21/2012
Love that this place has its own parking lot. Anyone who drives in Oakland Chinatown knows what a pain it is to find a parking space and then hope that you will be done in time before the meter maid makes their rounds.
I would give this place a 3.5 stars. The teas are quite good and definitely does not taste powdery like other tea places in the area. I have tried their roasted mike teas as well as a few fruit ones. Since they have messed up my order on more than one occasion, I have to take out a star. One day, I wanted no caffeine in my drink and they told me to get a red bean drink. When it came out, it was made with green tea and they said that tea does not have caffeine and only coffee does. Hmmmmm.....no caffeine in tea huh. Another star is taken off for not letting you know that every drink you order is size LARGE! We didn't realize it until we paid for our drinks and got it. What ever happened to the option of upgrading. I guess you have to ask them for a regular size when you order. What the heck?!?!?! As if the drinks are not on the higher end already. Now you want to add more and make us get large drinks as well.
Overall, the place is spacious. It does get packed and could take forever to get your drink. Sometimes the music is way too loud where you can hardly hear the person you are sitting across. -
Review from Linny P.
Berkeley, CA
5/16/2012
Like everyone mentioned, roasted milk tea with grass jelly was really good! Not as heavy and sweet as regular milk tea, which is a plus. Grass jelly was in large chunks, so it was hard to drink with the milk tea at times. Very spacious setting, but music was really loud.
My sister said the servers got her order wrong once, so I'm taking off a star. -
Review from Susy C.
5/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
A couple of my friends have been hyping this place up for quite some time.. On top of that, they just rub it in my face whenever they have roasted milk tea here.
I finally made it out here (I was in Oakland anyway) and yeah.... Didn't live up to the hype.
Roasted milk tea is decent. Has a slight barley taste to it (I guess that's the roasted?). Although many reviewers have said the milk tea is fresh, something about it still tastes artificial to me.
The boba was not thoroughly cooked. It was still a little too hard towards the center. Also definitely not enough ice. My drink became warm extremely fast. I should have known to order extra ice..
Still, it's decent but I wouldn't come out of my way to come here again. -
Review from Jenn B.
Updated - 4/30/2012 3 Check-ins Here
I've been back a few times. The drinks are still my favorite in the bay, but not the best I ever had. They taste like the boba drinks I had while vacationing in Singapore and Vietnam, not overly sugary like at other boba joints in the bay. The roasted milk tea is delicious. I think I may slightly prefer it over the brown rice green milk tea.
I like how they have a separate parking lot, because we all know parking in Chinatown can be a hassle. They did get my order wrong once but I didn't notice until I got home. Grass jelly is so different than coffee jelly, so I don't know how that mix up occurred. At least the grass jelly was good.
Has anyone else noticed that the employees' name tags don't have names, but numbers? Seeing a bunch of young Asian girls wearing tags with numbers seems oppressive, but maybe that's the law student in me talking.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/19/2012
My friend dropped off a cup of their brown rice green tea with boba, so I can't comment on the… Read more »
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Review from Bernice C.
Irvine, CA
5/1/2012
mmm hello Roasted Milk Tea with grass jelly, come to mama!
I came here all ready to get my boba fix on, but trust me, the grass jelly pairs VERY well with the rich taste of the roasted milk tea. My only complaint is the amount of time it took to get my drink. There were only 7 people in the store, TOPS, yet I had to wait more than ten minutes. The place itself is so spacious, with a mini stage to the side if you want to get your Whitney Houston on. -
Review from Amberlene W.
San Francisco, CA
4/30/2012
I have a very mixed feeling about this places, first visit I was really happy with the drinks. Second visit I was super disappointed with my drink. I don't know its at a 50/50 right now.
The environment looks like a great hang out area, but it could use more excitement. -
Review from Troy M.
Sacramento, CA
5/2/2012
Good milk tea even though tonight the error prone waitress gave me my wrong order twice with the Fattitude. First time I see her here.
Will go back and get abused again if need be. I simply enjoy the drinks too much and will tolerate more Fattitude. -
Review from Esther Y.
4/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Large teahouse in Chinatown, just a stone's throw away from Shooting Star Cafe. I would probably say ChaTime's selection of drinks is more tea-based and perhaps higher quality. The Roasted Milk Tea is their signature drink and does not disappoint. They also have many other tea drinks that look really good...I liked their grass jelly milk drink.
The place is large with pretty colors and has widely spaced large tables and chairs. There's also a stage at one end of the room. Loud Chinese music playing. Free wi-fi (password given on the receipt, it probably changes everyday or something). Seems like a pretty good place to hang out with friends and play games.
They even have their own parking lot, a welcome thing in Chinatown.
As Esther R. said, default size is large (50 cents extra), so if that's not what you want, be proactive and let them know. Boba and other fillings (e.g. aloe, pudding, etc) are also 50 cents extra. -
Review from Annissa H.
San Jose, CA
4/9/2012
I always liked milk tea and never really had a memorable or terrible milk tea before so I was really surprised at how much i liked the roasted milk tea!
It's hard to explain the roasted taste, but it's similar to a roasted coffee. But damn, I am craving some!
I also had the hawaiian/island (forgot the name, but it's on the list of top selling drinks) and it was so good! Not too sweet or heavy to the taste, and so refreshing.
Tapioca plus karaoke?! Uhm, what could be a better combo?! i haven't been karaoke'ing here but I'd be down to, esp if i can sip on some roasted milk tea! -
Review from Lily Y.
4/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
Brown rice green milk tea - wanted to try it because it was unique.. but tasted ok.. a bit watered down..
Free Wi-Fi with purchase! There is a code that's given on the receipt to access their Wi-Fi..
Lots of parking on the street and they have a parking lot
Tables and chairs for seating/studying/chatting
I think they also have a karaoke machine? And a quiet room with comfy couches -
Review from Stacey W.
Alameda, CA
4/4/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Roasted Milk Tea w Grass Jelly and Mango Green Tea = *****
The drinks lived up to their hype, from seeing many of my friends posting pictures of their drinks on Instagram.
The service is not so friendly or amazing, but that's ok.
They have their own parking lot!! In the Chinatown area, you can consider this unhead of.
oh and they OPEN LATE like everyday, so you can get your Cha Time ON -
Review from J X.
Berkeley, CA
4/11/2012 9 Check-ins Here
WARNING: This place does NOT serve boba until 2am, despite the hours posted here!
Came here at 12am and the cafe was empty, the employee cleaning up. I was heartbroken. Sad-George-Michael-walked back to the car.
Looks like a 5 year old girl threw up in here, everything is pink and purple, which is fine by me. Tables are super spaced out. Chinese music blasting. Coolcoolcool.
Their boba is decent, better than most places in the bay area (sorry, nothing compares after SGV milk tea). Got the Roasted Milk Tea that everyone is raving about and it is very good.
Their food is not bad. Also tried their popcorn chicken ($5) and their beef with black pepper sauce over rice ($6.50). Beef was tender, chicken was crunchy. Yum yum. Main dishes seem to be more worth your money though.
Have yet to try their KTV...
Can definitely see myself making frequent trips here in the future. Maybe I'll even figure out what their mysterious closing time actually is one day... -
Review from Jennie P.
Fresh and yummy teas with fresh and yummy tapioca!
So my friend.. let's call her "Elaine" always posts pictures up of ChaTime drinks and I'm like.. what's with the ChaTime? And she tells me it's the spot she hits up for her tapioca fix.
One random evening, I'm like.. "ouuu, I want tapioca!" and immediately think of ChaTime. Not sure if this place is open late (I think it was around 8pm) but by the time I parked across the street at Lincoln School, I see a girl stacking the chairs on the table and mopping the floor. OHHH NOOO.. they can't be closed! So, determined to get my tapioca fix, I walk up to the front door anyway and THEY'RE OPEN UNTIL 2am! WHOOOOOO HOOOO!
Fast forward, I ordered their green milk tea and brown rice milk tea and both were delicious! The menu isn't as extensive as Tapioca Express and Quicklys. There's like a strip of tea dispensers behind the registers (so at least we know they don't use that nasty powder stuff) and the tapiocas are nice and chewy the whole way through. I'm more of a lychee jelly girl, but I'll settle for tapioca if it's the only thing available.
GOOOOOOOOOOD STUFF! -
Review from Jason C.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2012
The drinks here themselves are pretty good...just the service could be better. The employees seem a bit rude. I came here with a friend to buy a drink, and my friend had some outside food. The employee told us both to leave, and not in a nice way. Oh well the atmosphere is nice there though, and very modern.
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Review from Kathleen L.
Alameda, CA
5/2/2012
i just found out about this place last week and now i absolutely love this place!
i ordered a hot roasted milk tea and it was really good. i can't really describe it....it does not taste powdery and it had a really rich milky flavor to it. just REALLY REALLY GOOD. i got their signature grass jelly with fresh milk and that is my absolute favorite! i will definitely come back here again.
note: don't get the lychee milk tea. i tried it once and it just wasn't as good as the roasted milk tea or fresh milk. -
Review from Lina L.
San Leandro, CA
3/24/2012
Pros:
1. This is the place to go if you want really good taiwanese style milk tea.
2. I love love love their roast milk tea. It's basically the only thing i get there.
Cons:
1. They do take a while to make the drink.
2. And they give you a large if you don't specify a size. (I felt tricked)
3. Cash only (but that's expected from most places in chinatown) -
Review from Phuong V.
Alameda, CA
3/5/2012
This is a decent boba place for Oakland.
I usually get passion fruit or peach green tea. My friends tell me their roast milk tea is pretty delicious. Maybe I'll try that next time I am in the area. I also had a sip of my friend's Red Bean Milk Tea, it was mighty delicious also!!
DISCLAIMER: they automatically give you a large and charge you for a large if you do not let them you want a medium. How weird..
I got a large by accident and I was bloated by the end of the day! -
Review from Vashelle T.
San Francisco, CA
2/12/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Crapppppy asss service! Dont be rude!
The brown rice green milk tea is good though.
Still crappy ass service! -
Review from Patrick H.
Oakland, CA
3/30/2012
All right kids, it is now my job to teach you why I think God exists. Oh boy!
Now I for one, think ChaTime is a bunch of BULLCRAP. It was thought up by an individual who obviously wanted to be among the highest ranks in the boba industry and their story went something like this: In the beginning there was only one milk tea boba story. Okay? It swam around in the water and then one day a couple of stores had mentally challenged babies, and then one day the mentally challenged babies crawled out of the ocean with its mutant fish hands and it had buttsex with a squirrel store or something and made a mentally challenged frog squirrel and then that had a mentally challenged baby which was a mentally challenged boba fish frog store and then this mentally challenged boba fish frog store had buttsex with another milk tea station and then that tea station had a terrible bad karaoke store that screwed another tea station and then that made this horrible horrible place called ChaTime.
So there you go. ChaTime is the horrible concoction created by God of other successful business having buttsex with a fish squirrel. Congratulations!
You know how God creates things that he hates? ChaTime is one of them.
I tried to come here two days in a row but no more boba for me to try out! Business tips for you guys Tea Time: If you're gonna keep this place open for that long, then at least have a huge sign telling your damn customers when you're going to stop making drinks. If I see the business hours close at 2AM, I'm going to come at 1:50AM for my boba cravings.
But noooooo. 12:30AM and you're already done making boba! Doesn't this place close at 2AM?
Fine. I'm going to study my lines that I have for a Culture Night I have to do. But nooooo, we get kicked out at 1:15AM! Um, sir? Doesn't this place close at 2AM? Follow your business hours man. The fuck is wrong with this place.
This place is considered the new "hangout" place. But God is obviously trying to not let me drink the tea here for some reason. I will listen to God and will never drink these drinks. I went to 7-Eleven instead and got a slushee. Now that is amazing.
Suck it, Tea Time. And you can run and tell that. Homeboy.
If my friends call me up and ask me to go to Tea Time, I'm going to slap them and yell at them, "the fuck is wrong with you." and then probably defriend them. -
Review from Esther R.
2/21/2012 7 Check-ins Here
In a nutshell: really good boba drinks, not-so-great service.
I really like ChaTime tea - the Roasted Milk Tea is delicious. Just the perfect balance of creamy milk tea yumminess with the extra roasted-flavor kick that makes it different than other milk teas. I know, that's probably not the most articulate description, but if you're not sure what to get, just try it!! It's pretty much their signature drink. I've also had their regular milk tea which was fine but it left something to be desired (ie, the roasted flavor!!). I've also tried the hazelnut milk tea and it was just way too sweet for my taste. And it tasted more like that artificial/syrupy hazelnut flavor, so not my thing. Their boba is really chewy and tasty, just the perfect texture every time.
So what's the big deal about the service?
Seriously, every time I'm here, it takes forever to get my order. I hesitate to take too many stars off for service because it's hard to penalize a place for being so good/popular and having too many customers that they have slow service. I guess that's kind of a good sign? Still, I'm not a fan of their service, and frankly, I think they could care less. I'm never greeted with a smile and even if there's 3 people working behind the counter making drinks, it doesn't seem like they're doing it very efficiently. Oh well.
Also, if you want the regular-sized boba, SPEAK UP. Their default order is the large size and that's an extra 50 cents. It's not a big deal, but that seems a little weird to me. Oh well - now you know. Boba is an add-on option for 50 cents. (The regular-sized Roasted Milk Tea drink with pearls is $3 plus tax.)
They have a small lot next door and there's a lot of street parking available. In general, I haven't had too much trouble finding a nearby place to park. I think there's also wi-fi available upon request at the counter (but haven't used it before so don't know how reliable it is).
And don't forget - cash only!! -
Review from Allen C.
San Francisco, CA
3/31/2012
As a regular, many of my imaginary friends would ask me to describe my experience at ChaTime. I guess the easiest way to put it is: Imagine 100 Victoria Secret Models locked up in a room with just you after their annual holiday fashion show, and they were all making out (cause you know, that's what supermodels do after a hard day of work). Okay, ChaTime is almost just like that, but you throw in all your favorite Playboy centerfolds. Okay, obviously that is an exaggeration, but you kind of get the feel of the AWESOMENESS of ChaTime.
They are establishment that really cares about their customers. If their closing time is at 2 AM, they will definitely not kick me out at ooohhhh say... 1:15 AM. There's this one time where I came in at like around 12:30 AM, and I thought they would stop making Boba at that time since it was getting late. That's completely understandable because it does take some time for a business to clean up before closing. I wouldn't think it's misleading if they stop making drinks at 12:30 AM if their closing time is at 2 AM.
But that's not the case, they were very accommodating and made my Boba in a TIMELY manner because it's in their name (lame joke, don't throw your tomatoes). They even offered me more boba with my Kiwi Milk Tea. I was like: "No, that's perfectly fine. I'm just here to drink some Boba while I rehearse my lines for this culture night play I signed up for. The owner sympathize with me and said "Oh, that must be very stressful". I told her "No, not really. It's a small performance that will probably have an audience of 0 attendees. But what is stressful is developing my acting skills because my acting skills are at par with Kristen Stewart from the Twilight Series." The point is, the owner really shows that he/she cares. She offered me unicorn blood in my Kiwi Milk Tea for an energy boost. I declined, so she asked "Maybe a 5'8", 120 lb female supermodel that works in the back?" I gracefully declined because I'm a Christian and I'm saving myself for someone special. That's was my promise to God, and I cherish that promise with a purity ring.
I feel like ChaTime is a present from our savior Jesus Christ. It's a humble place that very little people know about because Pat Robertson is not preaching about this place on his show, "The 700 Clubs". I really don't know what I would have done if I didn't find this place. I simply can't describe this place, but with the words: AMAZING and AWESOME.
I feel that if I were to introduce this place to my friend/roommate Patrick H., he would enjoy it also because he's a big fan of Boba. -
Review from shel n.
2/10/2012 6 Check-ins Here
Really poor business ethic.
What is the point of having business hours if you can't follow it. You shouldn't tell your customers that you guys are closed when it's 20 minutes before closing time.
PS. Your basic jasmine and roasted milk tea tastes like SHITTTTT. -
Review from Ha N.
1/14/2012
After hearing a bunch of my friends rave about this place, I recently decided to give it a try. This place looks likes a pepto bismol threw up in there (definitely my kind of place) and the workers wear the cutest pink polos!
The drinks here are definitely a step up from Quickly's and Tapioca Express drinks. I think they actually use real tea and real fruits unlike some places who use nothing but syrup and powders. Try the roasted hazelnut milk tea! It's soo good, it's like a milky, watered down Nutella!
give it a try guys! -
Review from Eileen Z.
1/29/2012 1 Check-in Here
DRINKS:
NOT bad....I always get the same drink, Jasmine Milk tea, and the ones they have here is actually really really good! The boba is made the way I like it, chewy- not too soft-not too hard.
AMBIANCE:
very spacious and bonus points for free WIFI that's printed on the receipt...although the connection can get pretty sucky.
There are karaoke rooms in the back I have yet to try.
I think I'll start becoming a regular here. I need to try some of the other drinks....any good recommendations? hehe -
Review from Jowin C.
4/9/2012
My friend told me to check this place out and try their "roasted milk tea". Yes, my initial reaction was, what you can roast tea? So this roasted milk tea consist of really fragrant milk tea with layer of egg pudding at the bottom. I thought the egg pudding was a nice twist to this milk tea. I recommend getting it in "less sugar" because it can be really sweet.
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Review from Katy N.
Lake Forest, CA
1/25/2012 1 Check-in Here
Yum yum yum. Made fresh not powder!
...so far I have tried kumquat green tea with pearls and coconut jelly - yum! Try to avoid drinking this concoction late night cuz you'll be wired from the FRESH TEA :P
Taro milk tea - acquired taste & again fresh not powdered taro.
Mango green tea with pearls, aloe vera and grass jelly - yum :)
Grass jelly milk tea with pearls - not bad when I feel like I need the extra calcium!
Now my all-time favorite - Mango green tea with pearls and grass jelly!
Yes I'm addicted to this place & WISH they would open earlier rather than 11am :'( -
Review from Jasmine T.
Pinole, CA
1/24/2012
Not bad! This place is clean and the food here is good! FRIED CHICKEN WINGS!! Their milk tea is also very good!!
The karaoke system isnt very special, it's just a normal touch screen song selecting menu.
Their playlist is pretty up to date. There is music video most of the time.
Not much to say, good price, good food, okay sound systems. -
Review from Sam T.
12/14/2011
Taiwanese style boba tea in Oakland. Tea quality is higher than those around. Having lived in San Gabriel Valley for a few years I can actually taste the difference now. Outside of TeaStation in Newark and TenRen in SF/Richmond this would go in my top ranks for Milk Tea in Norcal.
Food:
Drinks were pretty good. Ordered a green milk tea. A tad milkier than I'd like but good nevertheless. Was given a brown rice jasmine tea to sample. Delicious.
Service:
Prompt. Typical boba joint.
Environment:
Cold, dark, decor lacking taste and a weird echo surrounds the interior. Apparently this is a karaoke joint too. I would love to sit in here and utilize their free wifi but it's just too uncomfortable to do so.
Price:
For good quality drinks it's decently priced.
Tips to owner:
1. Add some lights
2. Turn on some TVs
3. Add some couches and nicer seats/tables
4. Turn the freaking heat on!
Drinks: 5
Service: 4
Environment: 1
Price: 3
Will be back for to go purchases only. -
Review from Brenda L.
1/30/2012
I love this place and wish that they had a location closer to my home in San Jose. I tried the match green tea latte which was aesthetically pleasing because it had two layers, one of the green tea and one of milk. I love that kind of thing.
I also tried the hazelnut chocolate milk tea which definitely made me happy sine I went the entire day without caffeine until 10 PM when I went to get this drink. That's another reason why I like this place: they open late!!
Not to mention, they have karaoke! Tea and karaoke are a killer combo and this place needs to relocate or branch out to San Jose- because it'd be a hit here.
I am really looking forward to trying more of their flavors. -
Review from Maria H.
Oakland, CA
12/10/2011 8 Check-ins Here
They should change the pricing for this to $$$$, adjusting for the norms of boba prices.
Drinks for a family of 4 might just set you back $20, and that's a lot for some milk and tea.
Problem with this place: It's delicious. It ruins boba places like Quickly's & TapEx for you. (Haven't been back there since ChaTime) Reason why it's bad? You spend a sh*t ton of money on boba here. It almost becomes a luxury to drink boba now! I shouldn't be spending $30 a week on boba anyways!
Good drinks to try:
- ChaTime roasted milk tea
- Oolong Milk Tea
Effin' Yummers.Listed in: Town Bidnizz
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Review from Janice W.
12/22/2011 11 Check-ins Here
My favorite place for tea ever since Cafe Zen (Fremont) closed.
It is a bit expensive for what you get, but I love their teas and their hours! I frequent this place at LEAST once a week, if not more, and I usually order a large jasmine green tea (awesome because it's flavored just right - not too sweet, great balance of jasmine flavor) or any of their flavored green teas. I've also recently become addicted to their milk tea w/ grass jelly... what a combo!!!
The WIFI password is printed onto their receipts, and I believe they change it daily.
They usually close up the drinks section (the back is for karaoke) by 1am, despite the posted closing times of 2am/3am. I have tried studying here once on a Friday, but it was incredibly hard to focus from the combination of people there and unnecessarily loud music, but it's fine if you plug in some headphones on a day where they're less busy, for example, Sunday-Thursday. Despite this, I still prefer to study here rather than at Starbucks because the tables are larger and I never leave with the smoky burning smell of coffee beans that I hate. If you come here past 10, be prepared to order a drink that may not be what you originally intended to have... I've seen them run out of milk tea, jasmine green tea, or boba at late hours.Listed in: Best Tapioca
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Review from Lisa Q.
11/25/2011 7 Check-ins Here
Bomb milk tea. Authentic and bright flavors, the staff is great and there's an insane karaoke party lounge in the back.
I really love the taro milk tea with bobbah you actually get little pieces of taro inside the drink. Make sure to specify what chunky goodness you want in your drink! -
Review from Jennifer W.
Oakland, CA
12/6/2011 70 Check-ins Here
This place is better than Quickly's. They use real tea in their tapioca milk tea which is the whole point of milk tea part. Make sure you specify what size you want or else they gonna assume you want large and charge you for that, which is about 0.50 cents different.
Friendly staff. They have the drink menu right in front of the register, which is kinda nice considering I'm pretty much blind and don't feel like squinting my eyes just to order.
They offer a small snack menu (fried chicken wings, tater tots, potstickers, french fries and etc.) I think recently they started the stamp card thing because I just received it after visiting 6 previous times. They offer free wifi and you get the code on your receipt,
They offer a parking lot on the side which I recently found out. This place is cash-only like any other Chinatown shops They have a karaoke section which connects with each other. Not sure what the rates are. But I love how Cha Time opens late so it can satisfies my late-night tapioca cravings! -
Review from Mei X.
San Lorenzo, CA
11/22/2011
As my rating stated. ChaTime receives my 5 star. Why? I dunno, I keep finding myself back to Chatime everytime I crave milk tea instead of the million other places in Chinatown.
When I come here, I always get the Milk Tea with Grass Jelly (LARGE). The combination just works. No doubt about it. I don't care what anyone else says. IT'S GOOD. I taste the MILK and TEA. And that's exactly how it should be. Tad expensive though, but for such amazing quality, I don't mind giving every penny in my wallet.
This place is so good that makes me constantly think of like how I think of my crush back in high school.
Just one con: It's aaaaall the way in Oakland and I live in San Lorenzo. WTHECK. COME NEARER! -
Review from Stella C.
1/5/2012 8 Check-ins Here
A little off the beaten path that is Chinatown, but totally worth venturing out to try. This is now my favorite place to get milk tea!
Their milk tea here is fresh - it's made with actual tea, not powder. Your milk tea is not in a pitcher in the fridge waiting to be poured. Each drink is made to order, measured then hand shaken. Their tapioca pearls are cooked perfectly. There is no grainy or hard center, it's soft all the way through. Even their grass jelly is fresh.
I always find it particularly frustrating walking into a boba store and having to ask if something is fresh or powdered on the menu (ex: strawberry) and find out that the majority of it IS powdered mix, but I don't feel any hesitation when ordering drinks at ChaTime because I know it's all fresh. I appreciate what they do here.
The staff here is nice and the store is clean with plenty of seating.
If you come at night, there is a clean karaoke bar in the back. You can order your snacks/drinks through ChaTime. -
Review from Tina C.
12/31/2011
I had a sample of their bubble tea at the Singtao Expo this year. It was so awesome that I wanted to buy a couple teas on my way out of the expo that afternoon. By that time, they were long sold out and I left a bit sad.
Recently, I passed by Oakland and decided to stop by Cha Time to check out their bubble tea. It doubles as a karaoke joint, but I don't have a lot to say about that portion since I never tried the K services.
There is a decent array of bubble tea selections and they use fresh tea. This is the difference between standard powder boba teas and quality bubble tea (which by the way isn't as sweet in my opinion). The price came out to be $3.75 roughly per tea and I thought it was well worth it. There's a lot of sitting space and since it's on the outskirts of Oakland Chinatown, you can definitely find street parking.
Make sure to also grab their stamp card. I will definitely come back and only wish I had one closer to me!!!
cash only. -
Review from Jen D.
11/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
Ordered a large roasted milk tea that didn't taste roasted at all. It was also completely white in color. Very odd. It was also too sweet, even for my tastes and that's saying something. Boba was ok, but also soaked in a very sweet water bath.
Will not be coming back. -
Review from Seth F.
Oakland, CA
10/30/2011
Chatime is a great alternative to chains like Quickly. They have a vast menu and many fine-tuning options available on their drinks; for example, I love how you can choose your sugar level from 0% to 100%. I'd recommend the Roasted Milk Tea. Also, their boba has great consistency and service is quick and efficient.
Ambiance is great with the wide-open seating and there's always pop music videos playing on the big screens (with lyrics on-screen if you want to sing along, of course). -
Review from Tiff C.
I've never personally been to the store itself but I have had it hand delivered to me and it was good. I liked that it wasn't fake tasting (like made from straight up powder and too sweet). I had the milk tea with grass jelly and appreciate that the grass jelly is not the extremely sweetened one and it went really well with my milk tea, plus they were big pieces. I definitely want some more in the near future.
