I heard about CHICHA being the best boba in the Seattle area and decided to make a special trip down to Bellevue just to try it out. This was on a Sunday afternoon, and at this point, there was a 30 minute wait with the building being completely packed with patrons. As I learned later, you can order online to avoid the wait. Otherwise, in the store you can order at the kiosk or in person. It's unclear to me if you can skip the line to order at the kiosk or if it's just one of the two options at the end point (so they don't need to man another register). I'll have to clarify the next time I visit. Regardless of order method, when you make it to the front, the cashier gives you a sample - today it was the Dingdong Oolong + cream + grass jelly. The entire store gives an air of efficiency and yet some of it seems to be a bit fake and pretentious. They carefully weigh out all individual ingredients, which helps to make the drinks very consistent, but for some reason, they choose to do this right in front of the customer, packing something like 8 employees in a very small space behind the counter. I saw they had an extra espresso/tea brewing machine in the back, and they could easily have had someone there making drinks to increase throughput. It seems like they are trying to be the Apple of boba with their styling and price premium. There's even a self-published book about their tea making process and descriptions of the drinks, just like a fine catalog. Every couple of minutes the entire employee pool repeats some kind of cult-like mantra (it's in Chinese, but I could not understand it given the noise levels in the building). At any rate, because each drink is made to order, with the tea infusion taking the longest, long lines are to be expected. Green Tea, Cream, Perfect Sugar, Less Ice w/ Boba ($8) - On my first sip: wow, this green tea is so grassy, so fragrant, one of the best green milk teas I've ever had at a boba shop. Perfect sugar level is actually the perfect sweetness level - not too sweet, which allows the flavor of the tea to really shine. The cream adds body to the drink but doesn't cover up any of the taste. the boba is pretty much perfect for a non honey-soaked boba. Just the right amount of chew throughout and very consistent from pearl to pearl. The boba is a bit larger than most other shops which just stands to extend the fantastic qq elements. Drink Rating: 5/5 Boba Rating: 5/5 Black Tea, Cream, Perfect Sugar, Less Ice w/ Boba ($8) - Honestly not much I can add about this drink. Fragrant, perfect sweetness and ingredient ratio. Delicious. Drink Rating: 5/5 Boba Rating: 5/5 If there was one thing I would complain about it would be the price, which is buoyed up by a bunch of extraneous fluff that adds to the cost, but doesn't actually contribute anything to the drink. This includes the piece of tape on the lid, the cupholder and string, and the specialty sippy lid. All of this adds cost to the cup so you're paying $8 for a small drink that would be more like $6 at other places. With that being said, CHICHA serves some fantastic boba and has probably entered in my top 10, pending further visits to determine consistency. Bathrooms - Single all gender in the back near the online order pickup area. Overall rating of the drinks this visit: 5/5

Ordered the same bubble volcano as last time, but today's free samples were "dongding tea with cream and boba" and I want to get that next time, I was impressed! Similarly, I arrived at 2:53pm, ordered at 2:57pm, and my drink was ready at 3:04pm which is VERY impressive considering there were about 30-35 people in the shop without their order. Most people grab their drink and go because the shop is so crowded!

Hailed as an establishment creating boba on the equivalent level of Michelin restaurants, I was keep to visit the Seattle location to see if it lives up to the hype. Don't get me wrong, the tea was good, but it really didn't feel like it lived up to the hype (especially when it's $8-9/drink). I liked how the tea was extracted like an espresso, definitely gives it a different taste. Can't say I'd be a regular if I lived close by though..

The line was lonnngggg. Which I knew that beforehand but wow the hype is hyped for this place. The tea was good but I wasn't wowed with flavor. I'm a huge tea fan and this definitely had really great tea taste, it's not overly sweet, definitely less sweet than other boba places. Overall a good tea but I was expecting to be blown away upon the first sip and that just didn't happen for me.

This was a popular boba place. Depending on when you go, the line can be out the door. I love that when I walked in, I could smell the fragrant tea wafting through the air. They also offer samples every time I've been here so you get to try different tea flavors. Their tea was not very sweet which I like. I got the normal sweet level here instead of my usual 75% sweetness at other places. * Dong Ding Oolong Tea Latte 4.5/5 - I wasn't sure what to get and got a sample of this. It was a very good organic milk tea so I got it as a drink with taro balls. The taro balls were warm, chewy, and tasty. * Green Milk Tea w/ Cream, Taro Paste, and Taro Balls 4/5 - The drink was surprisingly not very sweet at full sweetness. It was more like 50% so you could really taste the tea. That's fine, but I usually want a little more sweetness. The taro paste was not bad, a bit grainy. I think I also like organic/fresh milk better than cream. * High Mountain Pouchong Tea w/ Cream 3/5 - I tried a sample of this another time and it was alright. Kind of a weird tasting tea. I didn't really like it.

Good but pretty expensive boba tea. They have a long line usually and a very small interior. If you want to avoid the lines, come at off hours, like 2pm on a tuesday. Their tea flavour is always great. They make their tea like an espresso. I always get the cheese foam here because it imparts a nice salty and sweet flavour to the tea. They do have some non caffeinated options that are milk only too.

Wait: Upon arriving, there was a short line. Line moved at a relatively good pace. Upon getting to the register, there is a cashier taking orders and orders that can be submitted directly via a screen. The screen is a bit hard to see, but helps move the line quickly when people use it to order. While in line and getting to the register, they offer customers small samples of a drink of the day. I haven't seen this before at over boba places and it's definitely a nice treat! Order: I ended up ordering the Bubble Volcano based off someone else's review on Yelp. I ordered the drink as is with less ice. The milk tea portion of the drink was really yummy. I wasn't too much of a fan of the boba and the brown sugar (it was overly sweet). Next time, I would consider possibly ordering a different drink like the Bubble Milk Tea and possibly less boba or no boba at all. The space is pretty tight given the amount of people that order here. Overall, I definitely would recommend this place. I think for me, I didn't feel completely satisfied with my order, but I am certain when I visit again, I will order something I am pleased with.

I've been noticing Chicha san chen on my social media for a while and have been meaning to try it out. When I arrived with two other young ladies, we were there 10 minutes before opening, yet we still had to wait around 15 minutes each for our orders. The cashier greeted me warmly with a smile, and I found the price to be quite reasonable for the area in my opinion, overpriced for a Boba drink, but reasonable for the area and the hype it has. Both drinks i ordered i found pretty tasty for the most part, my only complaint is not a strong enough tea flavor. If they were stronger, it would have been a perfect 10. I will certainly revisit and request a longer tea steeping next time. The charming shop features a bright white aesthetic, modern decor, and inviting seating, creating a fun and welcoming atmosphere. I do recommend at least checking out once.

After much anticipation, I'm excited to say that I've finally tried a tea from CHICHA San Chen! This location is always extremely busy and the day I visited was no exception. We thought we were going to beat the crowd by arriving a little before they opened at 12:00, but by the time we got there, a line had already started to form outside. While waiting, one employee kindly brought out little samples of their Cassia Black tea with cream, which was delightful and tasted like it had a hint of spice to it. Once inside, the line to order moved along fairly quickly. You can order with the employee at the counter or at the self-ordering screen. The defining factor of CHICHA San Chen is how they brew the tea for each drink on the spot. Considering this, I thought the wait time for our drinks would have been longer, but they were actually ready in just several minutes. + BUBBLE MILK TEA ($8): Simplicity at its best, this drink is purely black tea with cream and boba. The use of cream (as opposed to milk) made a noticeable difference as the drink was so smooth and richer than a typical milk tea elsewhere. The flavor of the black tea was perfectly balanced and seemed to have some caramelly notes. I was impressed by their boba, which was one of the best I've had in a while... bouncy, chewy and slightly sweet. For me, ordering this drink with 0% sweetness and light ice was the ideal combination. + PASSION FRUIT OOLONG w/ boba ($8): I tried just a sip of this one and loved it. The passion fruit flavor was vibrant and added a natural sweetness without overpowering the tea itself. It also had actual passion fruit seeds at the bottom for added texture. I would definitely order this next time. As much as I enjoyed the tea, I wouldn't necessarily say the $8 price is fully justified. Each cup is placed in a holder with a string, which might look cute, but just doesn't seem practical. I can't imagine that many people hold their tea by the string, yet this complex design is likely feeding the price point. Additionally, we noticed that the plastic cup lids were not tight, which must explain why employees had to put a sticker over one side of every lid to secure it. Note: The parking area is very small and compact. I'd recommend just parking at Bellevue Square and walking over. 4.25 stars.