$6.33 for a small Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea. Boba was nice and chewy, and the tea was decently strong. Only qualm is with the price: we had to order on the kiosk and they charge a 4% transaction fee, resulting in this being rather expensive for a small cup of boba. read more

Elitea - Small Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea ($6.33) - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We were ordering food from the stall next door and when I saw their beautiful teas, I had to try. I had the strawberry matcha tea with no ice and less sugar. It was still pretty sweet. It is also quite creamy and rich and felt like lots of calories. Definitely felt like the richness and calories of a whole meal in one drink. Sat in my stomach for a while. The strawberries are all mashed up without any chunks, so I couldn't judge whether there were any real strawberries in there. It felt artificially flavored to me. The place was very busy with online orders, so it took like 20min to get our tea. I had better tea drinks. read more

Elitea - Strawberry Matcha Latte - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

As the other reviews said, Elitea is located in the basement at the end of the strip mall, in a food court. It can be weird to find but worth a visit! I ordered their brown sugar milk tea because I wanted to taste the classic. I usually get drinks 50% sweet so I did the same here. I regret not listening to the other reviews that said their drinks aren't too sweet at all! Had I believed them, I would have gotten 75 or 100% sweet because 50% tasted nearly unsweetened. The milk tea had a robust tea flavor and was extremely creamy. I would rank it one of the top milk teas in Chinatown once I got the sweetness level right. read more

Just a side note: I hate walking down to this dinky basement of a food court. It smells awful and I always half expect to walk in on a group of old Chinese men furiously smoking and yelling while playing mahjong in white tank tops. Besides the location, (seriously, it smells like something fierce) the tea here is worth the hefty price. I ordered the green tea with cheese top and it came out pretty perfect with my personal adjustment of sweetness. I love the attention to detail. From the quality of tea to the actual cup it came in, I was really impressed and would totally recommend trying this place at least once. As a Taiwanese American, I take my bubble tea/milk tea seriously. I'm glad this place did the popular drink justice. read more

Elitea - Matcha with cheese top - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Glad that we found this milk tea place! A friend who is a foodie recommended it to us, so we could not wait to give it a try. Real milk (instead of milk powder) + freshly brewed good tea + chewy, good quality bubbles = good bubble tea. Nice environment and pretty cups would be extra points. They got everything except for the environment due to its location. Not a big deal at all! We got regular sugar, cold cheese oolong tea and sugar free, hot cheese rose Tieguanyin. They both tasted great. Actually the regular sugar was not over sweet. My sugar free one tasted kind of plain, but the cheese top was delicious and the tea was of good quality. Next time I might just get a regular or less sugar one. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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after looking on yelp for the best boba in chinatown, i decided to try elitea because of its good reviews and more importantly price. elitea is in the basement floor of a shopping center so it's kind of a hidden gem. the basement made me feel like i was back in china because all of the little shops and restaurants. you can order online or order in person. we got the signature milk tea with boba, less ice and 50% sweet. i think the drink is $4.35 + boba which is way better price than other boba places in the area that come out to $7+! they use real milk, black tea, and brown sugar as the sweetener. i like that the tea is a really strong flavor and the boba was really good texture. 50% sweet was also good because the tea itself is a little bitter so the brown sugar balances it out. service is a little slow but understandable since it's a small shop. would definitely come back next time i visit chicago! read more

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Used to like this place until I found a roach in my drink. There is complete lack of hygiene in all the shops in that basement but this one surprised me... read more

Elitea - Bug in my drink - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

If you want to buy milk tea in bulk...this is your place!! lol. As I was scrolling through the tablet menu, I noticed they sold milk tea by the gallon (?) or half gallon (?). Just an FYI, in case you want to stock up before the winter :P So I didn't order in bulk but I did get the peach oolong milk tea. The peach chunks at the bottom tasted like real peach! Overall the flavor was just right--both fruity and I could still taste the tea. LOCATION: So this place is in the food court at the end of the chinatown square plaza area. You walk through some sliding doors and then go downstairs or down the elevator and get to a small food court. You'll find Elitea to the left. Overall vibe is...Chinatown food court vibe! Simple, low key, and delicious. Take your milk tea to go and walk around the plaza, or walk to Ping Tom Park and sit by the river for some amazing skyline views and see all the happy people on boats floating by. COVID info: workers were masked and it's contactless ordering and payment as there there are 2 tablets in front. The area was not crowded on a Saturday afternoon. I'd come again to try their other drinks! read more

The brown sugar milk tea was the perfect dessert! There are a lot of topping options to choose from and the boba was really soft and tasty. You can choose how much ice and sweetness level. We circled China town because I never realized there was an entrance to additional shops in the basement. There are automatic sliding doors that we noticed after others were leaving. read more

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

Many options for bubble tea here. It's located in the basement of the Richland Center. I got a rose oolong milk tea and fruit tea but one was too sweet and the other wasn't sweet enough despite the fact that I got both at 50% sweetness level....would definitely recommend asking the store workers about what sweetness level to get for their different drinks! read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Dropped by here to try out their milk tea. I honestly had such a hard time figuring out where this was since it's like in the basement of a building that I wasn't expecting to have a basement foodcourt. I got the custard milk tea in the super cute container. It tasted like a regular milk tea to me and their custard was smooth and had a light flavor to it. I would say that it is one of the better common milk teas I've tried, but the container it was in made it marginally harder to drink out of since it had such a small opening. Overall, I enjoyed it! read more

The service was okay. The drink itself is not the best, we got the taro milk black tea and it seemed like there was cookies inside of the drink. The consistency of it wasn't the best, the taro wasn't blended enough. Do not recommend read more

Accidentally stumbled upon this place when I went to Richland Center in search of Hello Jasmine. At first I was pretty disturbed & confused by the idea of cheese topped tea - but boy am I glad I ventured out of my comfort zone and tried it. I got the iced Jasmine green tea w/ cheese top + boba and I can confidently say that it was one of the best tea drinks I have EVER had (definitely the best in Chicago Chinatown). The cheese top was kind of like a cream cheese cold foam kinda thing that's pretty sweet but I always get 50% sugar in my teas so it balanced out really well. I would highly recommend trying if you haven't before! This is going to be my new go-to boba spot in Chicago. Tip: they do not take card here - but they do take Venmo. read more

Elitea - Jasmine pekoe green tea with cheese top + boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Find your delicious tea downstairs in the food court on the outside corner of Chinatown. Really good selection of tea and fruit drinks. Boba is super tasty. Will 100% be back to try more tea flavors. read more

Elitea - Order touch screen - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Everyone that left reviews said good things so I was excited to have another boba place open up near me. I was surprised to see it literally a booth/unit down from Hello Jasmine. After spending time trying to make boba at home, I've come to realize it's tough when you're making big batches. But why offer/sell something you can't make well? In other words, the boba was less than mediocre. They were literally melted together as in you couldn't even pull them apart. There was more than just one clump stuck together. With that being said. The tea was really good. I ordered the grapefruit tea, half sugar, and half ice. I was satisfied with the sweetness level and that there was just the slightest tartness to it. Service was average. We did wait quite a while but then again there were a good amount of people waiting. I will say that the cashier took our questions with patience. She clarified that they use real fruits and not just fruit syrup. Would love to return just because of the convenience of the location. Would give the boba another chance but if it's the same I'd probably just not order boba there. Would for sure come back for the tea! read more

Elitea - Grapefruit tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I heard the hype about cheese tea and was eating nearby so stopped in here. It's in the basement food court and at 8pm was one of the few things open. It also had a healthy line. The stars are for the experience, but I can say I'm not a cheese tea lover. Ordering is prompt, but note they charge 4% more for using a credit card. Our regular size basic cheese tea with no add on was $6 with tax! Starbucks has nothing on these guys. The drinks come out cool looking, but the single counter gal in the front was swamped so we didn't exactly know if we were supposed to shake it up, get a straw or what. A quick Google and we learned you drink it from the cup, no straw. It tasted like lightly salty cream in your tea. Umm, not for us. Cheers to those who love it - there were a lot of people waiting - but we will stick with regular bubble tea. read more

Elitea - Lines and a wait while your drink is made - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Due to COVID-19, this location was pick or delivery only. I happen to stumble upon this location and there was a board that directed me to call the location to place an order. If you were paying in cash, make sure you have exact change or the amount you want to give (plus tips) or they will ask you to tell them your card number over the phone, so they can process the payment. Once you finish ordering, you can either let them know you're at the pick up location or if you're on the way, make sure you call them and let them know you have arrived. I ordered the brown sugar milk tea with boba; I was really disappointed of the quality from the tea and the boba texture. The tea was very strong like it was brewed too long or have been sitting there for a long time (steep too long). There was no brown sugar taste at all. The boba was too hard and wasn't sweet at all. I definitely won't be coming back to this location unfortunately. read more

Elitea is my favorite boba place in Chicago. The brown sugar boba is amazing. I order at 100% sugar, which surprisingly is not too sweet at all, but the perfect amount of sugar for me, which is interesting because I don't like very rich things. Something to keep in mind when ordering the sweetness level. I always get less ice as well. The location is not the most ideal, which is why I knocked off a star. I try to give a holistic view when reviewing a restaurant. It is located in the basement that is a food court in Chinatown. There is space to sit and drink but the environment is not the most aesthetic or has the best ambiance, so be aware of that. Typically though, when I order boba I just take it to go. read more

Elitea - Brown Sugar Bubble Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Whenever I go to a new boba tea place, I never know what to order. I went up to the server and ordered one of the most popular drinks -- the signature milk tea with oreo cheese top. I really liked my drink with the cheese top because of the sweet and savory combination. This drink is pretty interesting because they of the oreo sprinkles texture on top. Next time I will order the drink with regular sugar instead of 50%! read more

Elitea - Iced Signature Milk Tea with Oreo Cheese Top - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Our usual go-to drink is the signature milk tea with 30% sugar, easy on ice, and boba. We have been over half a dozen times and they have yet to fail us. There is a strong tea flavor and the boba is soft but chewy. read more

I got that brown sugar milk tea with boba that everyone claymores about. For a large it costs me about $7. In my head it should taste like the delicious aftermath of the leftover milk after eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It didn't taste that sweet. It had a tiny bit of bitterness/aftertaste that coffee does...not that its bad but I expected AMAZING like everyone said. It was ok but I won't order it again. I'll try the mango smoothie next time I'm around. Ummm what's the cheese thing? read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Yum! The passion fruit lemon fruit tea with tapioca is so good! The green tea flavor is very subtle, but the fruit flavors come through nicely. I love that they use fresh fruit in the drink. Plus, I love the flavor + chewiness of the tapioca. A really refreshing drink on a warm summer day! read more

Elitea - Passion Fruit with Lemon - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Hands down, this is one of my personal top pics for bubble tea in Chinatown. I love the strength of their milk teas which a strong tea flavor not overly sweet flavor profile. They're popular for their brown sugar milk tea which you can't go wrong with. Their matcha lattes aren't too bad which isn't something I say for most places. It's in the basement at Chinatown so it's hard to find. But it's well worth it when you find it read more

The bubble teas here are hYUGE. And the flavors are interesting and delicious. I think I sort of fked up with the Lychee slush + Cheese foam special cause the cheese foam was just TOO INTENSE. LIke i tried to get both the fruity sweet tea and savory cheese foam combined in one sip but I just kept getting mouthfuls of the salty foam and the weirdest thing was the cheese foam was GROWING??? Dark magic. So then I tried to mix the cheese foam with the lychee slush with a spoon (manual work) which I then learned that the two apparently don't mix... like oil and water - the two would repel against eachother. Anyways, science gone wrong I guess. So I just flushed it down a toilet cause I was afraid too many weird things have happened and I needed to rid it forever. The pineapple yakult and fruit medley teas are def must-gets though. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Looking for a new bubble tea place in Chicago, I stumbled upon Elitea and was intrigued. My friend and I came from out of town to try Elitea's bubble tea and my honest opinion was that Elitea's bubble tea was underwhelming. First off, the bubble tea is extremely overpriced. My large brown sugar boba was $7. Yes, $7. That's the most I've ever spent on boba. They charge a 4% credit card fee without disclosing the information to you. Second, the boba. Honestly, it was ok? The presentation was nice but it tasted just ok and I felt that my drink wasn't as sweet as the average brown sugar boba drinks. The service was good, and the decor is nice. In my honest opinion, I would not go out of my way to have Elitea's boba. read more

Elitea - Store front - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We recently got a one gallon of the beloved milk tea, to be able to enjoy multiple glasses of milk tea at home. We got the signature milk tea. The gallon sized bag is incredibly durable, no worries there of it breaking or ripping on your drive home nor leaking while being stored in the fridge. read more

This is the best boba I've had in the world - and I've tried them across Asia. The location is hidden away in a Chinatown food court. 1. They use fresh fruit 2. Not too much surgar 3. The boba texture is soft and chewy, and served warm and fresh. (Boba shouldn't be hard) 4. The presentation is beautiful read more

Elitea - Fresh fruit mango slush with boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Good place to have bubble tea. It is located in Chinatown building underground. It is so good. I have rose milk tea 80% sugar. It is still sweet. Next time I try something else. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Nice little bubbletea & smoothie place in a place only locals (or people who know) will find. I had a mango smoothie and enjoyed it. Not super sweet and a nice size. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Favorite place to get bubble tea in Chinatown! I first came here to get the brown sugar milk tea because I was told that this was the best place to get it. I ordered it and while it's good, it's probably not something I would order regularly. Their "special" this summer was peach oolong tea. I tried it in both a latte and with the cheese foam. The cheese foam here is so good!! 5/5 for the cheese foam. Perfectly rich, thick, and not too salty or too sweet. I also generally don't get tapioca pearls in my drinks but the ones here are really good! I would recommend their cheese foam in a drink over the brown sugar milk tea if you're looking for something "different" to try. Prices here are okay but I do think the product is worth it -- good tea taste and not too sweet (of course you can also adjust the sugar and ice level.) Most of the times I've been here there has been a line but it usually won't take more than 5 minutes to get your drink. read more

Elitea - peach oolong! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I was craving for some cheese foam and had to look up some in the area. This place just opened and the photos looked good; so I went to give it a try. It's located in the food court of a building and we were lost at first looking for it, but eventually found it. I ordered a STRAWBERRY GREEN TEA WITH CHEESE TOP and I was pretty disappointed. I liked the strawberry pieces and that it didn't taste artificially flavored overall. The green tea was too light and I could barely taste it. The most disappointing thing was the cheese top. The consistency was too thin and also it was too bland. I wouldn't order a drink with cheese top again. I wouldn't necessarily come back and try another drink either. I might venture around and try other places before coming back here. read more

Elitea - strawberry green tea with cheese top - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

it was kinda difficult to find the place becuz it's part of a plaza in the basement of the mall. the drinks did take a while, but the boba was very chewy and the milk tea was good. read more

Elitea - Brown Sugar Bubble Milk - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Yummy authentic boba shop! There I've had a hard time finding Boba shops in Chicago that remotely compare to LA and I finally found the place! Elitea is in a underground food court that is honestly hard to find but it's worth the search for boba this good! I just got the regular milk tea and I was in love! The prices are also better than other boba places in Chicago so far! I believe it was $4.50 for my boba. read more

Elitea - Milk tea! - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I really wish this place were located in a better location so that more people knew about it. It's located in a food court downstairs in the chinatown square. The building looks empty from the outside but there's plenty of stands. The boba was perfect, fresh and chewy. The drinks were flavorful and not too sweet. I had the taro matcha which was such an interesting combination that worked. Definitely deserves much more attention. read more

For a change of pace, if you like bubble tea like I do, this is slightly different from the traditional bubble tea you can get at Joy Yee's. Most are from Northern China and they all speak Mandarin fluently so it was hard at first to ask questions about their menu because I didn't always grab the right words she tried to communicate. They do sell tapioca pearls, but they had this coconut pudding concoction that had me curious and they blend it with taro milk tea served hot or cold and large (+0.80) or small ($4.55) so I didn't order the tapioca because I figured the coconut pudding was going to be like the other texture and I am so glad I didn't because this Taro milk tea with coconut pudding was fantastic, hot or cold. I've ordered from them twice and I have another favorite drink. You just have to realize this place is in the basement so when you are looking for the address 2002 S Wentworth and you see the place boarded up, it is not the real place and you have to go to the basement to the food court to check out Elitea. read more

Elitea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Ordered brown sugar bubble milk at the counter. They gave me brown sugar bubble milk TEA. Upon realizing after tasting it since they print the label in Chinese, I asked the girl at the counter to give me the right order. She took it to the back and they brought out my "correct drink" in the same cup with the same label on (I could tell because the order number was the same). There was no brown sugar syrup at the bottom, and tea between my boba, so I knew they had just poured out the tea and put milk in instead. How an establishment can give so little effort into what they serve is beyond me. If I wanted a half-assed beverage, I would have just gone to Dunkin's. For +$6 for a large drink, save your money and go to Bingo Tea or Kungfu Tea instead. read more

Elitea - The first drink they gave me, same label as the "correct drink" because they just poured it out and put milk in instead. - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Favorite boba place in Chicago. When it comes to determining how good a boba place is, it comes down to 3 things for me: price point, bubbles/tapioca pearls, and tea. Price point is a wash for me-- Elitea's prices are fair, fairly standard for what you're getting. Elitea has the best tapioca pearls in Chinatown (although Kung Fu tea is up there as well), especially because they're drenched in brown sugar-- delicious! Lastly, Elitea has some of the best tea I've had as well. I have a huge sweet tooth, but the tea here is so good that honestly I don't mind drinking plain oolong tea with no sugar added. Other things that are tasty on the menu are the oolong latte, signature milk tea, and brown sugar milk tea. Upgrade to a large for $0.80. Other toppings like the jelly/puddings they have are tasty and worth a try as well. read more

I wish Elitea was closer to my house so I could try the entire menu. Their offerings are reminiscent of bubble tea shops in Taiwan and I wish I could go back now. Elitea is located inside what looks like a shopping building next to the long plaza with restaurants and shops. It is in the basement with other tea shops and restaurants. Their brown sugar bubble milk tea was so delicious with a caramelized brown sugar taste and their tapioca was yummy too! I was torn between that and their combo fruit tea, which my friend ended up getting and I had a sip...divine! Prices range from $4-$6. Worth it IMO. read more

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Found a cockroach in the boba tea, got an apology and refund. Never again, pretty dirty venue. read more

Elitea - Cockroach in tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

As a boba enthusiast, I came in with the expectation of a mediocre drink. But, Elitea exceeded my expectations. I ordered the brown sugar milk tea, and it tasted surprisingly authentic. They do not skimp out on the tea flavor like many other boba places do. With one sip, I tasted the strong tea and rich milk flavors. The sweetness level was adjusted with the perfect amount of sugar. The boba could be a bit chewier, but it was still good. read more

Elitea - Brown Sugar Milk Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois