I had a lovely experience at Boba Friend (Monrovia). I ordered the Taro Ube Milk Tea ($6.50 - Large) and a Surprise Cup ($4.50 - Contains a Random Mini Stuffed Plushy). The Taro Ube Milk Tea is DELICIOUS! Its boba is also bouncy, playful, and soft. YUM!! I arrived at Boba Friend (Monrovia) on Sunday (around 6:30PM). Parking is easy. The lot is big; however, there were a few stumbling, unfortunate homeless people. Customers order at counter; there's no self-service kiosk. Cash and card are accepted. Staff is professional, friendly, and hard working. Staff politely answered all my questions. My drink took about one minute and twenty seconds. Very fast!! As mentioned, I enjoyed the Taro Ube Milk Tea ($6.50 - Large). There's a bold sweetness with fresh taro, and it's creamy & thirst-quenching. The accompanying boba are also good quality. These boba pearls are fresh, bouncy, and delicious. YUM!! The Surprise Cup ($4.50) is also very FUN! If you break open the side, a random mini plushy pops out. I received an adorable tiny dog/bear plushy. "I now have a new Boba Friend!" Regarding ambiance, Boba Friend (Monrovia) is comfortable and functional. There's customer internet with password; details are on a very tiny sign on the counter's glass. There's also about four electrical outlets. Customers also have access to an unmarked/hidden restroom in the back. The location also felt relatively clean and spacious. There's about six interior tables. There's also very extremely soft music, but I disliked how this music also played intermittent advertisements/commercials. However, it was somewhat spooky how the back area was so dimly lit. Overall, I found unexpected happiness and joy at Boba Friend (Monrovia). The boba is delicious; the drinks are flavorful & well-crafted; and the atmosphere has very adorable moments. If you enjoy boba, this is an easy recommendation. 4.9 out of 5! read more

See all

I came to Boba Friend with my friend on a Monday afternoon. While there were a few customers that came in the time that were catching up, we virtually had the place to ourselves, which I didn't mind. The staff was pleasant and left us to ourselves and some music played overhead to keep it from feeling too quiet. I ordered the jasmine green milk tea with boba and I was glad to find it wasn't overly sweet or overly floral, a refreshing drink for a warm day. Their boba was decent as well. They also have punch cards, but for some reason they didn't originally offer it until I asked, and then didn't stamp it for me, which I thought was weird . read more

See all

I came here on my way back to LA from the IE. The menu item that drew me in was their Royal Milk Tea. It was very sweet and didn't taste like RMT, but it was good. Their prices are reasonable (it was $6.50 for a 24oz drink with boba). They have a "surprise cup" add on for $4.50, which can be fun if you had your kid with you (or for your inner child). It's nice that they display all of the week's surprise options on the board so you have an idea of what you might get. Parking is easy in the shared lot of the plaza. They accept Apple Pay and you can bring your own cup! read more

went on Sunday night 1 hr before closing. Dim lights and initially thought it might be closed because staff was in back even with the neon open light lit. Girl working was helpful and nice. She quickly made out drinks and offered to change toy if too small. Drinks were good! read more

See all

Recently moved to this area and needed a quick fix after working on the move. This place came up as an option and decided to give it a try, mostly due to my SO wanting those blind box style trinkets that come with your drink. It's an extra 5$ for the "surprise" cup which comes with a random trinket. There's a wall showing the possibilities when you walk in. Ended getting a peachy lychee fruit tea and the mango melody speciality. Enjoyed them both and glad you can adjust sugar or sweetness level! Service was very good and they were patient with all the questions we had being our first time. They also have a stamp card where it currently looks to be 8 drinks to get 9th free. Overall the vibes are also very relaxing and calming especially if you happen to be the only ones or very few others as it's quiet and there's a bit of background music that isn't pumped too loud so studying seems to be viable here. I also wanted to point out they have a little kids table area where looks like there's crayons set up to color/draw. read more

Boba Friend - For the little people (kids) - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

See all

Came to try boba friend from a recommendation, and it's located in a small shopping area behind a Burger King. Parking can be tricky but wasn't that bad. Ordered the mango slushie. Very sweet so I'd probably ask them to do like 50% if that's a possibility next time. Very refreshing drink. Lady who helped was nice. Decorated nicely with artwork of the bobas and kids drawings, they have a boba blind drink but price is different from posted price. So that was kind of a bummer wanted to try it out. read more

See all

I wasn't feeling that well and decided to get boba to feel better. I got the Jasmine green milk tea with boba. It was delicious. I wanted to get the blind box option but decided not to get it because on the sign it says $4.50 but the employee said it was a price increase to $5.00. They should have honored the sign they had up. It was very clean and had nice art work. read more

See all

Came back again for their happy hour!! Boba has been super expensive and has been a habit i unfortunately had to cut down as a frequent treat. I don't even get super customized drinks or the fancy ones, I just like to enjoy the usual milk tea or Thai tea options. Despite cutting down on boba drinks for various reasons, this place definitely makes it affordable and at a great time! From 4-8pm you can choose from 6 different drinks for a buy one get one free deal! Inside was pretty empty and as usual really clean, I love seeing the decorations of plushies and drawings! Makes the place so adorable. Although empty at first, once we ordered a bunch of people came in! But luckily we got our drinks ready in just a few minutes before the line formed. For the price of one large drink, I got two: half sweetened brown sugar milk tea with boba and Thai milk tea with boba (large is $6.10). No additional price added to the menu price as tax is already included! Don't forget to tip the wonderful staff and the place for providing a great deal on drinks! read more

See all

Made it in time for a bogo during their happy hour. A little limited on what the free one is for the bogo. It doesn't really matter since it's everything I like. I was trying to get all technical and be like "can I get that one and get the bogo" the staff humored me and pointed at the fine print on sign. The inside is kinda cute, it's like and on going trend that all boba shops must have a post it note board and quote lines from an anime on there I got the brown sugar green milk tea half sugar, And Thai tea half sugar. It was pretty good, I'm just glad they only half the Sweetness level and not water down the whole drink read more

See all

Cute little spot. Large parking lot. The surprise cups are always a great treat. They have BOGO during the week! read more

This is a nice boba shop out here in Monrovia. We were in the city looking for some boba and Boba Friend was close by. The shop is nice and quiet. A good place to chill and have a drink. The pricing on some of drinks are pretty affordable too which makes it's one to consider in the area. The staff here were kind and drinks were made quickly. We ordered a large Matcha Latte which was good for the price point. They charge extra for milk substitutes just FYI. Overall, based off the quiet laid back ambiance of the location and affordable priced drinks. I'd come by again for another drink and give Boba Friend my recommendation. Check em out! read more

See all

Cute boba shop with surprise cups! You don't have to get the surprise cups but they do come with a random small toy. The toys change from time to time and it's cute to get when you're feeling extra. They also have happy hour weekdays after 4pm where some drinks are BOGO! I like to get their flavored green teas and two large drinks with toppings usually come out to be $6ish. Can't really be beat nowadays! I wouldn't say it's the best boba/tea shop but I definitely feel like it's a step up from Quicklys. No complaints given the happy hour price and cute plushies. Service is always quick and efficient. The drinks come out really fast so you're in and out really quick. read more

Boba Friend - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

See all

My mom and siblings wanted boba, so I stopped by here otw. Tip: Take advantage of their deals! They offer BOGO free on their lemonades, fun surprise cups, and happy hour drinks! Parking: Free parking lot. Ambiance/Environment: They have a medium sized space with a decent amount of indoor seating. It's clean inside with cheesy yet cute decor on the walls. They also have a kids area with small chairs and tables. Service: There were two female workers, and they were courteous, quick, & efficient! Drinks: 1. Oreo Mocha Cream Smoothie - My sister ordered this bc she really wanted a surprise cup. She got a purple and blue reversible octopus plushie. The cup itself was easy to open. The drink tasted as it sounds. The Oreo flavor was more strong. 2. Super Lemon Tea - This is a green tea lemonade. Very refreshing! Perfect for a hot day. 3. Tiramisu Latte w/ boba - This is one of their newer series! I love tiramisu. This wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. You get a good balance of the coffee and tiramisu. I just wished they had a different lid since there's foam on top. I heavily mixed it though lol. 4. Calamansi Citrus Refresher - Such a colorful drink! The drink itself and the toppings are very refreshing! Pricing: Average prices for boba drinks. We'll be back to try their other drinks! read more

See all

This establishment sets the standard of what a top tier boba shop in the SGV should look like. One day I was just looking for boba near where I live and I finally decided to try this place I passed by a few times. I walk in and too my surprise I find out that they have a BOGO happy hour menu Monday-Friday from 4pm-8pm for select drinks. I order two Royal Milk teas with boba. The cashier was nice and the time to serve the order was not long even though there was a large party ahead of me. There is bench seating with some chairs and tables and even though the shop isn't too big it by no means feels claustrophobic. Now typically I am very skeptical of these BOGO offers because when tea shops usually do this, they are selling you a lesser quality product in line with the value of the promotion. This brings me to my next point detailing why Boba Friend gets 5 stars: the quality of their drinks was superb. The taste of the tea and boba pearls were high quality making the deal well worth it. Every sip was as flavorful as the last and the texture of the boba was just right. I'll be a happy hour regular from now on! read more

Tried this place for the first time since I was in the area. Got a brown sugar milk tea with boba. The tea was good and not too sweet. Boba was nice and chewy. I like that I was able to order online and just pick it up. Would come back here again! read more

Boba Friend - brown sugar milk tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

Boba Friend is one of our local boba spots. We love to have little hang outs for our kids and friends because they have little seating for the kids to draw. Everything we've had has been pretty tasty here. The only thing I have not liked is their new green Thai tea. Bonus points for offering B1G1 free for weekday happy hour between 4pm-8pm. Customer service is usually pretty good, but one time my son dropped his drink that was not even opened yet and they were so short staffed (literally one person making drinks & cleaning up the mess). I didn't have the heart to ask that worker if it'd be possible to remake it. But if a young kid drops a drink you'd think a business would be understanding enough to replace it. read more

This place is super cute! I was stuck in traffic on my way home and needed a boba fix, so I searched for the closest spot, and I'm so glad I (and Yelp) found this one. As soon as I walked in, I got a good vibe. The staff were super friendly and patient since I can never decide what to order at a new boba place (I always want to try everything!). I ended up going with my go-to, taro milk tea with boba, and it did not disappoint. Perfect level of sweetness, just the right amount of ice, and the boba was soft and chewy. It was so good! I wish this place was closer to home, but I'll definitely be stopping by anytime I'm in the area. Oh, and there's plenty of parking, which is always a plus! read more

See all

This is the only place that I have found near me that has the surprise Boba cups. And am I so grateful that they do! It brings me so much joy every time I get my little surprise. And the drinks here are really good and the staff is super kind. read more

The drinks are good, the BOGO deal is nice. But why is there always a huge gap of air. This is after all the ice melted too. read more

Boba Friend - This was after all the ice melted too. So much air gap. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

Very cute inside. Drink made very quickly. Love that boba comes with the drink. Very sweet cashier/bobarista. They also are giving small keychains for a pic post on social media (including Yelp)! But the drink itself was gross. Or at least my drink was gross. Took two sips and couldn't finish it. Brown sugar matcha latte - don't think brown sugar pairs well with matcha read more

See all

Such a cute, cozy boba shop! We came here after seeing a TikTok post, and were NOT disappointed (and I'm not just blinded by joy from getting the surprise plushie I wanted HAHA) The drinks were refreshing and delicious. I got the Very Strawberry Yakult and my bf got Strawberry Matcha Latte. The perfect amount of sweet and caffeinated! Service was amazing! Prompt, efficient, and friendly. I also suspect they may have overheard that I really wanted a specific plushie, because I somehow ended up getting it despite the very slim chance. Thank you guys! The cafe itself was lively with pop/r&b music playing at a decent volume. The decorations were cute- a lot of plushies, some tiny tables, and custom paintings! A good amount of seating (but the chairs are stiff if you're planning to study or hangout for long). We unfortunately live pretty far, but we wouldn't mind making the commute to stop by again! read more

See all

Tge idea is super cute and staff was very friendly and helpful I think the drinks need at least 50% sugar level but overall Pretty good and fun read more

See all

Service is always quick and friendly. I come during their happy hour cause I love the royal milk tea and Thai ice tea. I usually also get a regular drink for a friend. read more

See all

Glad to find this cute little boba place. We were heading to a playdate with a few friends and thought it'd be nice to get a few drinks for us. I ordered 2 Oreo Brulee Thai Milk Tea, Dreamy Strawberry, Taro Cookie Tornado, and Mango Melody from their new specialty menu. I love my Taro Cookie Tornado. The Mango Melody comes with mango jelly in star shape which is so cute! They don't just look nice and presentable but taste pretty good too. I asked for all the drinks to be 50% sugar and to me it just hits the spot. We'll be back to try other drinks when I'm in the area. read more

See all

Hannah S. is my Boba Friend... She got ROTD here - that's Review Of The Day. Hannah told me that this place in Monrovia, California, had those special cups with cute plushies hidden inside a secret compartment! How could I resist? I bought many drinks... too many to count! I wanted a bunny plushie and kept getting more secret compartment cups until I had a large collection of plushies! LOL! Thanks, Hannah! ...and CONGRATULATIONS again on your ROTD for Boba Friend in Monrovia! We enjoyed all of the refreshing beverages here! read more

See all

What a deal for their BOGO deal on weekdays! We've tried the Green Thai Tea, the Green MT and the Royal MT so far with boba and all were delicious. Also love that it's a neighborhood spot and not a franchised chain. read more

Boba drinks with a mini surprise plush. I ordered their jasmine green tea and oreo thai tea. The drinks were decent. The price is high if you get the drinks with the surprise plush. It has to be a large size. 2 drinks came out to $20 and change with tax. Be careful with the drinks as the cup is top heavy. Of course the plushies they have for sale is adorable and whatever they hung that can be a surprise is cute. The ones you receive it so so. If you post a photo on yelp you receive a sanrio key chain. It's tiny but cute. read more

Boba Friend - Drinks w plushies - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

A cute little boba shop with the cutest name in Monrovia! My husband and I finally stopped by Boba Friend today after passing by many times on the way to Trader Joe's. The shop is located in a plaza with Baja Cali Tacos, Girasol, and a huge grocery store all sharing a large parking lot. The store itself is cute, has a lot of little kawaii toys, signage, and decor. The walls were a bit dirty from shoe marks, not sure if they are redoing some things or rearranging their tables as they were closer to the back of the store. The cashier who helped us today was nice and offered some insight into their popular items like the Brown Sugar Boba and Mango slush. Today I opted for the Oreo Brulee Thai tea which was really good, not too sweet surprisingly and my husband got a Matcha with milk foam and egg custard added. His drink was a lot less sweet and a little bitter for my taste even though neither of us adjusted our sugar levels. Overall it's a cute spot, and they have some surprise cup options with a small stuffed toy and sanrio themed drinks as well which we might try next time. read more

See all

Soooo cute! This is a very refreshing boba spot tucked away in the larger Baja supermarket plaza in Monrovia. There is plenty of parking in the supermarket plaza, and everything about this place is so intentional, adorable, and relaxing: from the "upgraded drinks" option where you can get a drink with a plushie inside the bottom secret compartment of the cup (!!!), to the bright windows with toys everywhere inside the store, it's just a very happy place to be. We ordered the Chamango Mango and Peachy Lychee Fruit Tea. I've never had a Mango Tajin drink in an Asian boba store before - what a fusion of flavors and culture! I love getting fruit with tajin on it so the Chamango was perfect (and not too sweet/sour either - the tea made the flavor perfectly balanced). My friend also loved their Peach Lychee drink. We will definitely be back! read more

Boba Friend - Chamango Mango and Peachy Lychee Fruit Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

See all

This place was pretty disappointing. We came in on a rainy day. There was a girl with thick eyeliner and pigtails helping us take our order. The girl helping us was pretty rude. I get if someone was having a bad day but she was specifically mean to me, my husband, and my friends and nice to everyone else who came in. She had an attitude that left a bad taste. As for the boba, my jasmine green milk tea and my friend's mango lychee refresher was EXTREMELY sweet. I did not want to say anything though because I was so off putted by this girl's attitude and I ended up just throwing it away. Will not be recommending this place to anyone. read more

I give Boba Friend five stars. I really like how Rachel helps us customers. She is very friendly and professional even though she gets very busy, she carries a smile on her face. She sees you walk in and doesn't ignore you no matter how busy she can be. I wish businesses would have more employees like her. She is the best. read more

Fast service, cute and open inside. The drinks are a little sweet, I totally forgot to say half sweet. My kids obviously loved it though. The strawberry was good, but I wished the matcha came in more. read more

Boba Friend - Peachy lychee, Strawberry Matcha Latte - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

My friend and I were in the area for lunch and some shopping. We found Boba Friend, and decided to come here for a boba break. They are located in a plaza with Baja Ranch Market and Home 99 Goods. Parking was tight, so we parked a little further to avoid getting the car dinged in a tight space. The primary appeal at this business to me is their Surprise Cup. This add on option can be added to any large 24 oz drinks, and there is a surprise trinket tucked in on the bottom of the cup. A novelty, but we were convinced. My friend had the Taro Ube Milk ($5.65/large) with the Surprise Cup ($3.95) and I had the Jasmine Milk Tea ($5.65/large) and Egg Pudding ($0.70) with the Surprise Cup ($3.95). We sat down and waited at one of their small tables in the back. It could use a wipe down. The drinks were made pretty quickly. All of the other customers we saw also got the surprise cup option. Wow! Seems like a good revenue enhancer for the business. As for our drinks, my friend and I both enjoyed it. I got my drink 70% sweet but it was still too sweet for me so in the future I would go down to 50% if we came back. I did not like their version of the egg pudding at all, so I would skip that. With our Surprise trinkets, we opened the perforated lines and freed them. My friend liked her prize. I think they look like super cheap quality junk. The one I got wasn't even on the wall of potential prizes so it might be stuff from a prior batch. Who knows. Also these surprise cups are taller, and you cant remove the additional length after you're done opening it. It doesn't fit in standard cupholders without tipping. Good thing my friend was driving, cause I had to hold my drink to prevent spilling. I would come back if my friend wanted to come back, but I'm not personally in a hurry to come back... and no more surprise cups for me. A regular cup is fine. I experienced it once, that's enough. read more

See all

Really really want to rate this 5*. I mean, it's basically my dream boba shop! I looove cute things. The plushie area is so cute and I was so tempted to purchase some plushies. I ordered the surprise plushie drink (extra $4) and got the rare plushie I wanted, which I was very happy about! We happened to go during happy hour so the drinks were buy 1 get 1 free. The Sanrio drinks are also sooo cute, my friend ordered one and I'd like to come back and try it. I was disappointed because they made me the wrong drink at first. Not a big deal, I told them and they fixed it for me. But the surprise cup lid is taped down to the cup and super leaky. It dripped all over the table and my clothes, and the entire time I was walking with it until I drank enough that it wasn't filled so close to the top. There aren't any napkins available to grab either so I felt bad that I had to keep bothering the employees. The drink itself wasn't bad, I wouldn't say it's exceptional but I'd come back for the store concept and cuteness alone. However, I think I was only able to drink half or less of the tapioca pearls in my drink itself because I had been given a huge clump of boba that was pretty inedible. read more

See all

Worst service. No consistency in how they prepare their drinks. Second time they don't have matcha. Then today I paid $26 for two surprise cups and this is how they gave them to me. No explanation. To make matters worse they forgot to add boba to our drinks. My son specifically asked for regular size boba, nothing special. Will be going to baba time from now on. read more

Boba Friend - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

See all

SUPER CUTE BOBA SPOT! Staff was super nice as well, especially when I made an insane buffoon move and spilled my entire 24 oz all over the table, floor, chairs, my belongings, and even on my laptop (which survived by the way!) The lids for the cups are the paper ones that you puncture through not the plastic ones, so they do get soggy and their circular tables aren't the most stable, so when I did something like rest my hand on it and pick something up from the ground it tilted the table and my drink fell over and as the lid was soggy...well you get the rest. The staff mopped everything up, but I just felt really bad...haha. Anyways back to the review. They have those surprise cups here and you can upgrade your drink to a surprise cup for $3.96. You just pop open the perforated bottom paper part of the cup to reveal your blind box prize. They have a ranking systems for rarities too for these goodies, so if you're a gacha addict this may be the place to go. It also is much closer to me than trekking all the way to SoCal's only Ume Tea.. Other than that, they also have a cute shop of small plushies for Sanrio, Rilakkuma, capybara, and food characters that you can purchase. They also have a stamp card system (only 8 stamps to get that free drink!), so make sure you grab one too (also a point system if you punch in your number, I believe). During my trip there, I got the: 1) Peachy Lychee Fruit Tea: -I got less ice and half sweet for this drink. -It's a jasmine green tea with lychee and peach bits. -From the 2 sips I got out of this before spilling the entire thing, it was a nicely refreshing fruit drink with a very very light tea taste to it. More of a fruit juice than anything. -The peach bits are sweet and not bad. 2) Thai Tea Oreo Brulee: -I bought this as a second drink as the floor drank all of my last drink. -Sweet dessert style drink. -It's Thai tea with an Oreo Creme Brulee swirled on the sides of the cup. -Not bad, but I think since I don't have as much of a sweet tooth I have to readjust the sweetness. If you show them your social media post, you can get a free small Sanrio character keychain, but I was so embarrassed with what happened earlier that I just skedaddled away quickly after I was done working on my chekis. I don't mind coming back one day to get that social media post freebie and to try more of their menu. Hopefully this time without any issues. read more

See all

Wanted to try a new spot and found this on yelp. It's definitely a gem and I felt the drinks were very good. As a fan of gacha and RNG, I saw they had a drink addon that gave you a random toy for like $3.50. We ended up getting two drinks, one taro ube milk tea with brown sugar boba (boba was delicious, it seemed fresh, it was still warm) and a mango lychee refresher with the add on toy. Both drinks were delicious and the add on toy is kind of a unique concept. You open the bottom section of the enlarged cup to find a random toy, I ended up getting a rare penguin guy! Overall I enjoyed this new spot. Super cute spot with reasonably priced and good drinks in the Monrovia area. read more

See all

Blind box in a cup! You'd never guess what's in your boba cup! Boba Friend serves quality drinks with a splash of fun, upgrade to their mystery cup for their blind box. It's a pretty cool and interactive experience. read more

Love the place and drinks. Service is good and mostly empty. Usually stop by with my kids and husband for happy hour after work but they just recently changed it to end at 5pm instead of 8pm very disappointed when I got there, pretty expensive to buy 4 drinks we always looked forward to the BOGO. Oh and it's no longer mon-fri it's mon-thurs.... read more

Boba Friend - Bubble Tea Near Me - Monrovia, California

Laura was so so sweet and the boba surprise experience was so much fun! I would highly recommend this place. Great service and really good boba! read more