Of all the milk tea places, I think this one is the best because I can actually taste the strong tea flavor. You can never miss with getting the signature milk tea or oolong milk tea. I like their signature milk tea with Panna cotta as well; last time, I got 30% sugar and I can taste the strong tea flavor and mixing the Panna cotta with milk tea was perfect as the Panna cotta was sweet. read more

Elitea offers solid bubble tea. They're the kind of place that let's you adjust the amount of ice and sugar in your drink. They have smoothies, tea, milk tea, fruit tea, and lattes. Their cups are also sleek and cute, so your Instagram pics will get likes. Some of those drinks can be ordered hot as well. Elitea came to play ball! Now, here's where Elitea sets themselves apart: they have cheese tops for their drinks! It's definitely a gimmick, but you might like it. The cheese top is a creamy, cheesy foam on top of your drink. If you have had the Hokkaido cheese tart from 85 C, know that it tastes like the filling from that. Mixing it in will make your drink taste like cheesecake. I liked it, but my fianceé did not. read more

As of Feb 5, 2020, it is the best bubble tea in Chicago (only bubble tea). Bingo tea reigns supreme for fruit tea. The tea taste is on point. I usually drink my bubble tea with no sugar and ice and am pretty particular to the tea. Moreover, if you are a fan of HK style milk tea, their milk tea leans toward that. Their special teas are subpar so avoid those and you will be Gucci. Compared to the other tea shops, their wait time can be long, which is a food indicator of their quality. Go try it and let me know if you agree. read more

While it's far if you're a Northwestern student, making the trek to Elitea is definitely worth it if you're craving some high quality boba. I got the mango smoothie and my boyfriend got the brown sugar milk tea. The drinks weren't cheap but both were absolutely delicious and very authentic, just like something I would get in Taiwan. The tea tasted really fresh and wasn't overly sweet which was nice. The drinks also come in these aesthetic, sturdy plastic cups, which is definitely a nice touch. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Attention everyone: Do not come to this place!!! Or you will be killed. Look at the picture, can you believe there's a sharp piece of plastic inside the milk tea? If I couldn't feel it in my mouth, it would go through my throat which will cause anywhere inside the body got injured. Does anybody knows any department to investigate the safety workplace environment? read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I got the Peach black tea with cheese cap and the Rose tie guanyin. I am totally in love with it. It tastes so good with a really nice, strong scent. And the cheese cap is also awesome. I lived in California and Texas before, and also worked at a bubble tea shop for a year. I can't remember how many bubble tea places I have been to. But this is absolutely the best tea I've ever had. read more

I like there milk tea. The bubble is yummy and Sweet. Ps if you never to try the Chinese tea you should come here and you will get surprised！ read more

This place is ok and satisfies the boba craving. It's definitely not as sweet as other boba places I've been too. I got the brown sugar milk tea and it wasn't great but it wasn't bad. Didn't really taste the brown sugar, but the milk tea was ok and the boba was soft and chewy. My friend got the litchi with mango and strawberry jelly and I think that drink was a lot better and refreshing. read more

This is a quaint, teeny tiny stall in a basement of a building on a street corner, and is kind of hard to find but when you do, you get rewarded with one of the best boba teas ever! I love how you can pick the sweetness, and the bubbles were just the right kind of chewy. I thought they were a bit pricey and there was too much ice, but otherwise it's worth a visit when Chinatown. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Their drink is a BOMB!! I got the brown sugar milk tea with cheese foam is hella good !! I also tried the signature milk tea and it was delicious too! However, their service is slow, the waiting time is over 30 mins. read more

Elitea - Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Cheese Foam. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here for the first time tonight and one sip made me a believer that I've found the best new bubble tea in town! Don't be fooled by the fact that this place is in the basement food court of Chinatown, their bubble tea has a pure tea flavor beneath the various flavors they layer on. My favorite is the signature milk tea with honey red bean. The tea is reminiscent of Hong Kong style milk tea - a quality that I've had a hard time finding in Chicago. I asked for half sweet and light ice to help bring out the natural tea flavor and not dilute the drink too much (I'd highly suggest light ice for everyone unless you plan to drink to chug this down quickly). The Kyoto matcha latte was too watered down by melting ice by the time I got to it, but it didn't seem to be very heavy on matcha making it barely distinguishable that it was a matcha drink if not for the light green coloring. I think Elitea should go a bit heavier on the matcha ratio to milk tea on this one. A favorite they suggested was the brown sugar bubble tea - solid choice as well but the boba inside the bubble tea was not the right consistency. I'm hoping its because we came at the end of night 5 minutes before closing (not that it's a good excuse why their boba shouldn't be great...). Overall, their tea is legit good and I'll be coming back and hoping that their tea stays consistently tasty and they have better boba next time to up my review to 5 stars. read more

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Elitea is my place to go, very flavorful and just the right amount to curb my milktea craving! The quality dipped in the midst of coronavirus hectic in the summer time, but they quickly picked up their game and continue to uphold their quality pre-covid. read more

Another Bubble Tea place in Chinatown. Newly opened in the basement of Richland Center, I knew I had to try it out. I had the Brown Sugar Milk Tea and my wife had the Mango Smoothie. We ordered the Brown Sugar with less sweet and was just okay. We also had regular sweet with the Mango Smoothie and this was actually a lot better than my drink. With that said, I will most likely come back and order more to give it another try. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We got the Brown Sugar Milk Tea and Mango Smoothie. Both drinks were very good and quite fresh, though the brown sugar was a bit too sweet, so i'd probably get it at less sugar next time. They also ran out of boba when we went, and even though it was closer to their closing time, I still expected that they'd still have enough of such a basic topping. Will definitely be back to try their other drinks and would highly recommend if you're in Chinatown. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Had a bit of trouble looking for the place but once we found it, the menu was easy to read. We had the mango latte with coconut pudding which is the best I've ever had. read more

Elitea - Mango latte with coconut pudding & matcha latte with cheese top - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

It's not in the best location as it's in the basement but the stall itself is pretty cute and clean. I really good tea! The brown sugar tea latte and the taro latte with coconut pudding are my favorites. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place is a hidden gem,The Boba is superb really good and not too sweet!! I will totally come here again on my next trip to Chicago!!

We have been coming here on a regular basis since they opened. They offer a great variety drinks from cheese covered drink, fruit tea and Milk tea. They claim to use one tea bag per drink, however that wasn't the case. We ordered 2 of the Fruit combo green tea, same exact sugar and ice level. 1st drink came out to be as expected, refreshing, strong tea taste, however our second one turns out to be very light, color and taste wise. I think they reused the tea bag that was used to brew our first drink. read more

This was my first time trying the cheese foam in any bubble tea. The cheese foam was slightly salty and felt like a melted cheesecake on top of my drink. I didn't like the cheese foam too much, but the tea itself was very good! I got the rose tea at 50% sugar and 50% ice and it was the perfect combo. It would have been perfect with just regular milk and not cheese foam. The establishment itself was amazing, but I just didn't pick the best flavor. read more

Elitea - Cheese foam in rose tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Tea was ok, but the service not so much. Wasn't sure what the line situation was, as I was standing at the bar waiting for one person to finish taking another order while two others were standing around chatting. But then another customer who arrived after me just walked up and placed her order before I was even acknowledged. Finally get to place my order and I felt as though the workers gave me an attitude because I had questions - when I didn't use the correct "terminology", we went round and round with semantics. My friend wanted a tea latte (non- caffeine) because she has a heart condition and cannot drink caffeine. I was told there was no decaf over and over again while I was staring at a whole wall of herbal tea. But because I said "decaf" instead of "without caffeine" we kept playing this game, while I'm pressed for time to get to an event for my friend. Finally, after being corrected with a lecture on the difference between decaf and non caffeinated which made me feel like I was back in grade school, I just shut my mouth and tried to conjure up a drink for her on my own, as I still could not get anyone to give me a recommendation for a "non-caffeinated" tea latte. I can't ever recall a time when ordering tea was so complicated. read more

Located in a dingey basement foodcourt in Chinatown, but don't let appearances fool you because the boba is quite delicious. I ordered the Pineapple Orange Green Tea with boba and the drink was refreshing and sweet without overpowering the green tea flavor. Also, the true test of a boba shop is the quality of the boba itself and these are chewy and sweet and were still warm when I got my drink which is a testament to its freshness. I tried some of my friends drinks and the Matcha with Cheese top and Ceylon Black Tea with Cheese top were creamy and sweet with a slight tang from the cheese topping. read more

Elitea - Pineapple Orange Green Tea with Boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is definitely hidden and not where I expected to be, but it did not disappoint! There is an extensive menu so it was hard making a decision but ultimately, I went with the strawberry matcha tea with cheese topping. I loved it! It wasn't too sweet and the tea tasted fresh. I would come back if I was in the area! read more

This is so far the best place to get milk tea and fruit drinks! My personal favorite is the brown sugar bubble tea. The boba has an awesome texture to it and I enjoy eating it a lot. Their peach green tea is bomb as well! It's extremely refreshing! I highly recommend this place! read more

This is an extremely popular bubble / milk tea place located in the Chinatown area. It can be a little tricky to find but you have to walk in through the sliding doors and take the stairs down to the food court in the basement. There are many small stores there that serve chinese food. This is one of the first stores you'll see when you walk in but it is a tiny store so look for the Elitea sign! read more

This is the best boba milk tea shop in Chicago!! I love to drink their brown sugar bubble milk tea soooooo much! Always my top 1 choice! read more

Elitea - Brown sugar bubble milk tea! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I had minor issues trying to find the location at first because it wasn't in plain sight like most places are, but eventually I had found out it's located below a chinese building that was filled with different restaurants as well. it was my first time coming to elitea and i mainly was hoping to order a bunch of drinks but just ended up buying their brown sugar milk tea, which was delicious and the boba was tasty. Compared to all of the other milk tea places that I have tried elitea is one of those places to get a quick drink but nothing really spectacular. read more

Elitea - brown sugar milk tea with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Best boba tea in this area. I like the rose tie guanyin tea

Barely review and give only 1 star. Just want to say, I finally know why this place not recommended by friends! The do have good milk tea but not the service! read more

Lived in Japan for 2 years and thought I could never get good boba tea like that again. Let's just say this brings back the boba memories! Amazing tea! read more

I was expecting a strong strawberry flavor. To my disappointment, this drink tasted like regular milk. For its price (over $5), there should have been a more generous strawberry purée to milk ratio. The coconut pudding was a good addition. read more

Elitea - Strawberry Latte with Coconut Pudding. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

One of the best milk tea in Chinatown. Great selection of boba and fruit drinks! - Signature milk tea is yummy, but it's a little heavy by after a couple sips. There were also times that the boba are harder than expected (not fresh) but it only happened a couple of times. - Taro milk with coconut pudding is the best drink! Taro is very creamy, the coconut puddings are just icing on top! This is a must try! - Mango milk coconut pudding looks just like the taro milk but it's yellow cuz of the mango. It's also very pretty but it's not as tasty as the taro. The mango taste is kind of blend. I would not recommend this drink but a lot of people like it. They also have a lot of pretty seasonal drinks! The seasonal Flamingo drink is my all time favorite. It contains water melon and passionfruit, such a great combination. It's really good! I think they only sell it in the summer because they use fresh fruits. I also had the strawberry matcha one time, it's just like Boba Guys! It's a good combination and it's also very pretty. However, there are times when strawberries are not too fresh. read more

Best tea place in Chinatown I bought Brown sugar bubble milk tea. The bubbles that were placed into the drinks were also warm and were soft and fresh and had a good chew. The tea had the strongest tea flavor, and its quality is better than most places in Chinatown. I also noticed that the fruit combo green tea. There was lots of fruit inside the cup which was a plus, and you can eat the fresh fruit inside! I absolutely will come back and try it! Especially, they cups have a cute design! I really love it! I think it is worth every dollar. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I like their tea, simple and straight to the point. It has tea flavor more than fruit. The only down side is it closes at 9pm, earlier than other tea places. read more

This place is one of my favorite tea place in Chinatown. However, I just had a very disappointing experience recently. I went on a Sunday night (maybe a bad time to go before they close), wanted to order a large mountain oolong tea latte with boba. I was told they couldn't do large size or without ice even though I can do that on app for pickup (what I usually do to avoid waiting). What? menu different for app or in store order and you are willing to do more for the orders on app than the customer standing in front of you? Then the tea came out, with no boba. They said they could add boba and remove the cheese top (what is the deal with Chinese places that don't ever want to re-make when they make mistakes? The cost of making one drink is marginal), I let it go out of sanitary reason. The tea was the worst I ever had from here! 15% cheese top, 5% ice, 15% tea, 65% milk. After 3 zips, all I can taste was icy milk! That 4 dollar icy milk made me glad I didn't spend $5 for a large one. I can spend that money to get a half gallon organic milk that tastes way better...I guess I will stay away from them for a while... Take other reviewers' suggestion, stick with the basic milk tea if you choose to go. read more

Tea was tasty and price is reasonable compare to other drink places in the area or Starbucks. The location, though, is inside a foot court in the basement. The food court is cold and chairs not comfy - just a place to get cheap eats in and out. Not a place you want to lounge around with your friends and enjoy a cup of tea. read more

We were too lazy to drive over to our usual boba stop. So we decided to stop by Elitea, due to the high recommendation - however, we were left with disappointment. We ordered the Kyoto Matcha Milk Tea and Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea. The drink itself tasted ... a little bit underwhelming and not satisfying at all. The Kyoto Matcha Milk Tea was more heavy on the milk with barely any matcha in it. The Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea on the other hand tasted a bit bitter and it also had a strong taste in tea (if that's what the bitterness that I am tasting - usually when it's brown sugar it should be on the sweeter side). The boba/bubbles/pearl on the other hand, was on point and had a perfect chew/texture to them - which I find could be a hit or miss. I probably would not order those two drinks again, but maybe something else in the future... or just drive over to our usual spot. read more

Normally, I like getting drinks here. This time, though, I ordered the strawberry matcha with bubbles, 50¢ extra, and got a drink with no bubbles at all. Didn't even make me a new one when I told them. Can't believe it. read more

This has been one of my favorite places for black milk tea. It has an interesting tea flavor and nice creamy texture. The black sugar boba is excellent in flavor and texture (does add sweetness to the drink so consider dialing down your sugar %). For me this is in the top 3 places in Chicagoland for milk tea, the other two being Ma Tea House and Hello Jasmine (unfortunately my number one was Chatime, but it seems to have completely shut down nationally in the past couple years). I should say Kurimu is a close 4th, which has a good strong tea flavor but I've eventually decided I like the flavors of the other three better. At Elitea I usually get their signature milk tea. Honestly took a while to get the courage to try it, but the cheese top is actually pretty good, especially if you like a creamy drink you can easily stir it in. Its flavor is close to a cream cheese but is a very light, airy foam. Their Grapefruit Green Tea is also excellent with real fruit. Service is always quick and friendly. read more

I have been coming to Elitea AT LEAST once a week and I notice their service is getting downward seriously. Their old staffs used to be very nice and friendly. Just now I got my milktea with the cup didn't seal properly, so when I shake it, it spilled all over the place. I thought I was going to finish the drink before going somewhere else so I just poked the straw and drank it. Then we decided to go somewhere else so I came to them and asked the guy to seal it again. He came out with the same plastic lid and he did reseal it in some way. That's okay as long as the drink doesn't spill when I hold it, not a big deal. Then walked back to my table and realized the drink was still spilling and I had to walk gently so it didn't spill on my jacket. So,it's the same hole on the side which did not seal properly. I came back to them and let them know that I just need my cup to seal properly, I did not ask for a new drink because I need to walk to different place and don't want my drink to be a mess. They both gave me a weird annoyed look and I was so confused!!!?? There wasn't that many customers atm and I just needed my cup to reseal .... what's so difficult about it? New plastic lid or old one, it doesn't matter. I don't want to hold a drink with water dripping all over the place. They ended up give me that plastic lid to cover on top of it and of course once the water spilled out, it's dripping all over the place again. I ended up threw the drink away since it's way too troublesome walking around with it ... read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Tea is excellent that's why I keep coming back. But this girl at the front is some piece of work. The whole time I tried to ask her a question or place my order she was on the phone talking. I mean, dude, seriously? And without any surprise she got my order wrong. Alright, I won't come back, you happy now? Plenty other fishes in the sea.:( read more