This place is so cute! Had a delicious classic bubble tea, loved the different size cups. I would definitely come back and try more things on their menu. read more

Purple Kow - Classic B1 bubble tea. - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

A lot less crowded compared to the SF place, early closing time, I wonder why don't they shift their business hours. We came in around noon, and it wasn't busy at all, I doubt if this place ever gets a queue out of the shop.. A few tables up stairs, modern design. read more

Me and my boyfriend had a little quarrel about him joking too much so I was absolutely upset. Good thing my friends took me to Purple Kow in Berkeley. I really don't know the best ones so I just get what my friends get: D3 Caramel and boba 75% sweet. One sip and my dopamine levels shot up in a SNAP! I fell in love with it!! It was so obvious that my whole face lits up! And my boyfriend thinks I'm mood-crazy because I got from being upset into being super excited because of the D3 haha! THANKS PURPLE KOW@BERKELEY!!! Defiantly coming here again! read more

I actually started to like this place. D3 is my order that never fails. Their drinks are on the slightly sweet side so I usually go for 80% sweetness. The line tends to be long at times but it moves fairly quickly so do not worry too much when you see a long line. Overall decent drink shop that is popping up all around the bay. Hit one up to try it out. read more

On the pricey side but at least the quality isn't shabby. I think if they would lower prices by even 50 cents, they'd do better. Not all college students can afford a $4-5 drink too often. I've ordered the fruit tea things and there's always a severe LACK OF FRUIT in it. Literally, maybe 10 little pieces of diced mango (not exaggerating!) I understand that's probably how the owners want their staff to make drinks (read: thrift and cheap) but COME ON. if I'm paying near $5 for your fancy drink, I expect it to at least come close to looking like how it does in the lovely pictures menu. Kthx. read more

I like how they let you customize the amount of sugar in your drink. I prefer 50% sugar even though I probably should ask for 25% sugar. They use high quality tea for their tea drinks and the flavors are great. The stamp card is another reason that brings me back to purple kow - it feels good to finally earn that free drink! Staff are friendly, the line can get long and wait time can exceed 15 minutes, but a good boba drink is worth the money and time. read more

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Not sure what the hype is. The milk teas are so watery and the boba is not chewy at all. Way too many other options in the area for me to go back. read more

At first, I was really happy that Berkeley was finally getting purple kow because I read up yelp review for the SF location. But... (here it comes) this place never really lived up to the hype. I would just tell you to save your $4+ and go to Share Tea on Bancroft or other places. Purple kow's boba is on the softer side and I'm not a fan of it. The milk tea part of most of the drinks is slightly better than overage because it's not powdery or anything like that. Purple Kow errs on the side of sweet and I mean SWEET. I can definitely resonate with the rest of the comments that say it's too sweet to a fault. The drink that caused me to dislike this place was the mango green tea with the actual small mango chunks. Those things are really disgusting. I got a bunch of really grainy mango chunks that caused the entire drink to be chunky. The green tea itself was really bitter itself so the drink was offensive on multiple fronts. Any ways, stay away from that and you'll generally be okay here. I recommend the oolong milk tea. read more

It was hot, 90°, I wanted something to cool down, and sharetea had at least 20 people in line, so I decided to give Purple Know a second try after two years ago when I didn't have such a great experience at the SF store. I ordered the Purple Kow milk tea with black tea and boba. What I can say is, I don't think there will be a third. I aimed for the black milk tea because I expect it to be stronger than the others. Boy was that not true. The tea had a weak flavor and it left a bitter aftertaste on the tongue. Like my previous experience, it was more milky than tea. The location isn't bad if you're willing to settle though. They have an upper level for lounging. The service wasn't too slow here either which is a plus after the experience at the SF store. As I have mentioned before, there will not be a third time, even if my group all decides to stop by here. I'll take the extra trek over to sharetea. read more

Stopped here for some boba fix after pizza from drinks and pizza at Sliver a few feet down. I've always been to the SF location, so it was pretty cool to come back to my alma mater and get Purple Kow. I didn't order anything tonight, but my friends did! One of my friends ordered the Oolong Tea with Boba and another one ordered the Oolong Milk Tea with Boba. Both were very delicious, but I have to say my favorite is the one without milk, haha. The service was very fast--probably because it was a Sunday night. read more

The workers here are eager to serve and are super patient, loved the service. I got the peach green tea, half sweet. I love that the sizes are huge but the width of the cups are very.... Inconvenient... But how else are you going to fit everything? :p also pretty pleased with the cleanliness of the store. However much I enjoyed purple kow, I've never really been the type of person to enjoy the floating chunkies of fruit in my drinks.. Haha... Maybe I'll try another PK drink without them! read more

This place is decent, but nothing too special. Ordered the honey lemon black tea w aloe, and the aloe had kind of weirder texture than what I'm used to. But I got it half sweet, so it was perfect as far as sweetness level goes. Service was a little slow, even though there was no line. read more

Purple Kow - Honey lemon black tea w aloe - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

I thought they used to be good. Something about them is just off now. 1) super super sweet. even if you get it 50% sweet, it was still too much and I couldn't even finish half my drink 2) no dairy alternatives--their default is whole milk for fresh milk tea drinks and soy creamer for regular milk tea drinks (no I don't consider soy creamer as a proper dairy alternative) 3) they're always out of something. My sisters fiancé has been here a couple of times asking for honeydew slushy and they were out of honeydew every single time. If you're not gonna have it on stock consistently why even bother putting it on your menu? 4) don't have hot drinks 5) cups don't fit in your car and they're just too much in general There are so many other boba places in Berkeley. Purple Kow needs to step it up. read more

the guy who was taking orders didn't even know what drinks they had on the menu. Sucky customer service compared to the one in the city. He didn't know they served chocolate milk iced tea. Why work here if you don't know anything read more

I LOVE MILK TEA. This location use to be my all time favorite. For the past year to year and half, things seem to have changed. They don't give as much as they use to anymore But besides giving less, purple kow is still an awesome place took to for milk tea/dessert. The milk tea portions of purple kow tend to be on the sweeter side. If you're the type to not like your drinks so sweet, be sure to ask for less sugar or half sugar. Their popcorn chicken is the best I've had in the area so far, so a big plus for that! read more

Back in the day, the line for PK in San Francisco would be 10-20 people out the door. I remember I once waited 1 hour for a drink at PK. I think part of it too was that they took their sweet time making the drinks; also the menu was really small and customers didn't know what they wanted until they got to the front of the line so it just took literally forever. Was in Berkeley for a basketball tournament and yelping this location, I of course decided to come and try it out. The place is pretty cute; it has good lighting and there is seating in the front and also upstairs. It connects to the food place next door. Overall it seems like a good place to come. However the tea is not as good as their SF location. I remember the first time I got a peach green tea at PK in San Francisco; it had little bits of fruit in this refreshing, but not bitter green tea drink. At this location, it tasted differently, mostly like bland tea and fruit flavoring or syrup. It was ok; on the level of a normal boba place. My wife got a milk tea. The milk tea was also just bland, yet sweet at the same time. Does that even make sense? Good milk tea should have good tea flavor without bitterness; sweet but not too sweet. It was alright I guess, but if you knew PK like I knew PK, it was a letdown. I know there's lots of choices for boba in Berkeley so if you are nearby, maybe you can try it out. But I wouldn't want to circle the block looking for parking just to visit. read more

The food is pretty good, though expensive. The milk teas are average and very expensive. Side note: they over-package everything in plastic. So much unnecessary waste. I'll avoid this place read more

I've been getting boba for years but when I walked into this place I felt a little confused. There was no one behind me in line so I thought I could take my time but I was rushed. I felt annoyed so I just decided to go with Almond Milk Tea because that's a very simple drink I figured nothing could go wrong. I don't remember if I ended getting half or micro sugar but I know I didn't get the full amount. Anyways it just wasn't good, it seemed like they used way too much of the almond flavoring. It cost me more than $4 which seems overpriced but to be fair the cup was extremely large. Then again I didn't care to have so much considering I genuinely did not like what I got lol. Customer service wasn't great at all but they weren't really rude. I don't plan on coming back but it's not because of the staff, just because I was let down by the drink! In the end that is kind of what matters the most, I wish I could say they were rude but at least the drink was good haha. My friend is in love with this place's Lychee Boba so if I do ever go back I'll try it, because really you can't go wrong with Lychee (in my opinion)!! read more

Why was my drink not as sweet as all the other reviewers said it was...? I don't know.. but i loved it! *Fresh milk tea with boba(B9): it was subtly sweet and you could actually taste the tea!! yay (you can adjust the sweetness level too!) I hate when milk tea cafes make their milk teas soo sweet that all you can taste is creamy sugary sweetness...no. nooo thank you. My friend got the Roast oolong milk tea with boba but it tasted exactly like mine.....? weird. One of my favorite parts besides the icantastethetea part, is the boba! I feel like it's a smaller size than normal sized boba? idk. It reminded me a lot of Half and Halfs boba in socal! Gooey outside with a chewy center! WEEEEE i felt like i was chewing on baby cheeks. wut. I was SO FULL from finishing 1/3 of my drink but i couldn't stop drinking! Poor belly...Def don't eat before you come here. The drinks will fillllllll you up. I can easily finish a large size at any milk tea place, but i struggled to finish the normal sized fat cups at purple kow. Service is on the slower side. but great customer service! Even tho the line was pretty long and there was only one cashier, she took the time to explain the difference in the drinks and everything to me and my friend because we were first timers. The interior is very clean and nice! Additional seating upstairs but the temperature was uncomfortably warm when my friend and i went... so maybe not a place to chill with friends during the summer, unless you sit downstairs. My drink was really good and i'm really curious as to what the popular drinks taste like. Definitely will be back for more! ^__^ read more

***NOTE: I'd actually give this place a 2.5 out of 5, but I'm going to round up to 3. One of my housemates, who's from Cupertino, LOOOOOVES Purple Kow. Every time we talk about boba (or "pearl milk tea" as she calls it), she raves about this place. For our 3 day weekend, we took a mini roadtrip to Berkeley/SF, so I figured, why not try what's supposedly "the best boba in NorCal" + IMPRESSIONS: The storefront is kind of confusing. It shares a lot with TopDog next door, so the line on the right is for TopDog, but the line on the left is for Purple Kow. When we got there, there wasn't a railing delineating the two lines so it was kind of awkwaaaaard standing around the front of the store, looking confused. Also it was kind of annoying because we were at Purple Kow by 12:15ish (Saturday), and they still weren't ready, despite having their store hours for 12. Although the store-front itself was small, the interior is quite lovely and modern. Similar to a loft, there's an upstairs (which has both cons & pros, read on to find out why!) + SERVICE (1.5/5): As the store finally opened, a girl pulled up the chain to open the giant, sliding glass door. There were already a few parties waiting, but it wasn't like we were all swarmed around the cash register, screaming, "TAKE MY MONEY!" My friend politely asked her if they had a bathroom (since we had been on a 2hour car ride) and the girl replied yes, with an indifferent tone and without even making eye contact. Then my friend asked where it was, but the girl ignored her and walked back to the register to start taking orders. I understand you're busy with opening the store, but it doesn't mean you have to be rude, especially when all you had to say was "the restroom's in the back of the store." As we ordered, the girl looked dazed and frantic. It was only the first 5 minutes, with ONLY 5 parties ordering too, so I'd be concerned if it was rush hour with the line trailing out of the door. Ordering was pretty slow as well, so I wasn't really happy about that. + DRINKS (2.5/5): I'm from SoCal, where the giant boba cups first came from Half & Half, so I really wanted to see if Purple Kow lived up to it. My friend directed me to their "popular drinks" poster that was near the register and it was refreshing to see that they had a multitude of drinks, other than just iced milk + boba combinations. I ordered two D4s (one was for my sister since I was seeing her later), which was iced milk with grass jelly and boba. I thought it'd be a change from the typical iced milk + pudding/boba I always order. The cashier did make note to tell us that the boba would take 20 minutes to cook, but we were fine with it. Since there are only 2 tables downstairs, and both are awkwardly located suffocatingly close to the entrance, we opted to go upstairs to sit. The upstairs was spacious, clean, modernly/well-decorated, and the natural light through the windows was perfect for a fun adventure in Berkeley. HOWEVER, the downside to sitting upstairs is that it's pretty hard to hear your order being called. I'm not blaming this on the cashier, who was belting orders from the top of her lungs, but because of the normal traffic in/out Purple Kow, it gets really loud, really fast. So sitting upstairs required vigilance about your order and possibly running up/down the stairs multiple times to check if your order was ready. Once I got my drink, it was rather... mediocre? I know it's an iced milk drink, but it was really creamy and basically tasted like coffee creamer to me. It was way too sweet (even at 75% sweetness) and too rich (but not in a good, decadent way) for me. The boba wasn't soft, and was annoyingly overchewy. It was pretty mediocre for something that everyone raved about so often. I did appreciate the grass jelly though, and thought it gave a nice brown sugar taste to the overwhelmingly creamer drink. + OVERALL: I'd probably go again, but order the milk teas. The special D4 I ordered was too creamy, even for an iced milk drink, which tends to be blended more smoothly. Service was lacking, and if you know you've got lots of people that like Purple Kow, possibly hire an extra staff member, to make things go more smoothly. The store itself was pretty large for a small exterior, but I'd suggest investing in some type of PA system to alert customers upstairs of what orders are ready (something many boba places in SoCal have, Half & Half, Factory Tea Bar, etc.) read more

Purple Kow - Two number D4's (~$8.80) - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

The boba's good -- chewy and soft, just perfect -- but the teas/actual drinks are sickly sweet. My default is microsugar (1/4 sugar), and it's still crazy sweet. The go-to drink is the iced milk drink with pudding and boba. I usually get this with no sugar and it's still more than sweet enough. Comparing this with Half and Half from socal, I'd say this is 5x creamier and 10x sweeter (if you get full sugar), but with better boba (Half and Half's isn't as soft). Side note, I once made the mistake of getting their matcha milk tea/latte thing because I got confused with Asha so close by, I thought it might be decent. It's not. Super sweet and nowhere near Asha's drinkability. I do not recommend it. They take card! No minimum. read more

I was walking near by and decided "why not?" :) and went to this place because I've read many good reviews. It was lunch time so a little bit crowded. I ordered caramel milk tea with boba. They have just one "huge" size (I prefer regular size). And they gave me receipt with number... I don't want to tell anything bad, but I think asking your name is more polite than "number 26 you order is ready" :) and you can't see how they are making your tea... P.s I like milk tea a lot, but this size even to me was more than enough... read more

Worth a trip if you are craving Milk Tea! First time at this location for us. We've been to the Balboa location before and was disappointed with the wait and taste but had to give it a second chance when we stopped by this location on our last trip to Berkeley. We shared the Double QQ Milk tea (egg custard and grass jelly) - 50% sweetness - without ice. The custard/jelly was fresh and tasted like it was made in-house. Definitely the highlight of the drink. The tea had a nice flavor. The super cup was perfect for sharing. And, conveniently it was next door to Top Dog :) read more

Well. Finding parking can be hard. There is always a line (of course at a bubble tea spot). Slightly higher price... But their size is bigger than normal. They also offer some foods, but everyone goes for the drinks. I personally get the Green Apple fruit slush. Being that this place is busy, expect to wait a few extra minutes... especially if there is a big group ordering at once!. Definitely another cool spot to check out! read more

Complete and utter flop. This is just bad milk tea. I came with a small group and we ordered about 5 different drinks, which included the standard green milk tea and black milk tea. We also tried specialty flavors (which I forget, but I remember the awful part). Each and every one was a flop. It wasn't even just "not" to our liking, but when compared to properly made boba milk tea, this is just bad. When you get a milk tea and you taste it, and you know it's just IMPROPERLY made--can't even be classified as innovative new flavor or even "personal" preference-- well, Kow takes the cake. They win for the worst milk tea, probably tied with Tea Pumps. But then again, I don't consider Tea Pumps even in the running as makers of milk tea. Having tried so much milk tea in my lifetime, and being right there for the dawn of milk tea in Irving St of San Francisco, I can tell you this.... Tea Pumps is not milk tea. Purple Kow is just disgusting and an offense. Boba Guys is hype. At this point, I'd settle for one of the GOOD Quickly's owned and operated by a Taiwanese or Chinese dude that knows his milk tea. I do NOT know why people still go to Purple Kow. But then again, people still go to Olive Garden and Sbarro's for what they call "Italian" food. So it's understandable.. I guess. read more

Pleased with the mango + boba + red bean drink. Pleasant staff. read more

We placed our order. Was informed they could not make that item. Err, it's on the menu? Person from kitchen came to confirm---indeed. Waited. Was informed, sorry, you can not order a split (2 teas) for that item. OK, fine, can they cancel our order? Sure, but you'll have to wait in line again. Seriously? The tea is OK here, but pricy compared to U Cha or Happy Lemon just down the road, where we will buy from now on. read more

Had my go to strawberry green tea, lightly sweet with a quarter ice. They did a solid job and so far my favorite over the usual suspects of Itea and Sharetea. Like their choice of container over a normal boba cup. read more

So I hear a lot of people talking about Purple Kow in Sf or Berkeley and I wanted to see for myself what was so popular about it. I came in and ask what is the most popular drink and they said it would be the original purple kow... which is just your regular milk tea. I decided to skip that and ordered the roasted oolong milk tea, normal sweet, and with aloe Vera. After I took my first sip, I was very disappointed, I ask for normal sweet but it was more "light sweet" and you can barely taste the roasted ooIong. I definitely recommend other boba places in other cities besides Berkeley. It is just not worth it. They do not compare to boba places in SJ at all. T4 makes roasted oolong milk tea 5 times better than this place . This place would be a last minute resort if no other options were available. Sorry but I won't be coming back. I can see why they only have a 3.5 star now. I gave it 2 stars since the worker there was nice and answered my questions regarding the certain toppings they have and offered me recommendations. read more

Slow service, terrifyingly sweet drinks. Maybe it was opening week kinks, but I didn't have a good experience. The wait to get in was really long. I came first on a weekday around 4:45 and saw that the line was too long. I told myself I'd come back later. At 5:30, I came back and saw that their hours were 11-5. Boo. I came back a few days later at around 4 PM on a weekday and stuck out the line. It took about 25 minutes to order. The wait for the actual drink wasn't long at all, but getting to the register was just a bit much. I tried the "purple kow milk drink" with pudding, pearls and caramel because it was on their "most popular drinks" poster. I couldn't finish it because it was way too sweet, and the "milk drink" label made me think about how little milk or milk product was probably in the drink. I definitely don't recommend it. I might come back once the hype dies down/they have more hours to try one of the fruit teas. They looked slightly more promising. Extras: Prices include tax, so you pay what you see. Cups are kind of obese. They don't fit in car cup holders. You can order by letter-number pair. read more

Not to bad actually. The prices are a bit high... but the size of their drinks makes up for it.. To a degree.. Although i wish they had taro and more classic drinks their drinks are pretty good and their boba is amazingly sweet and they give you a good amount of it. The staff is really nice... read more

I've heard about this place from one of my good friends and she said they have a puple kow in San Francisco that is so popular that the line is an hour wait. This puple kow opened maybe a few months ago. Decided to stop in this evening and I was happy to find that there was no one in line except for a few college students waiting for their milk teas that they already ordered. I decided to get the green milk tea with boba. The cashier was super friendly and really really nice. I was pleased to find that they ask you how much sugar you want in your drink. Since I am trying to cut down on refined sugar, I decided to try my drink with no sugar at all. My green milk tea was refreshing and the boba tasted great although next time if I come back, I may add a little sugar. The drink comes in a HUGE cup and they do charge a bit more than other boba places. They also seem to have really strong tea here. I drank this tea about two hours ago, and I kind of feel like I am on a caffeine overload. Overall, I liked this place. I was mostly impressed by the how friendly the cashier was. read more

I love "PURPLE COW" the BEST ever... All drinks is so good, i try it all but my favorite is CARAMEL WITH PUDDING & BOBA. try it!, you will love it!... The place is better, better than San Francisco purple cow but i give4stars bcoz of the location, parking is so invisible hard to find, side curve parking is always full lucky if you find one but over all impact love it!... read more

Purple Kow - I love "PURPLE COW" the BEST ever... All drinks is so good, i try it all but my favorite is CARAMEL WITH PUDDING & BOBA. - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Huge portion! I tried the B2, with boba. Not too sweet, but definitely filling and satisfying milk tea! It has a nice ambience and a spacious upper lounge too Its definitely a chill place to study and get your asian drank on read more

Purple Kow - HUGE PORTIONS - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

First time I went here, I enjoyed it, but wasn't impressed. I had ordered the mango green tea, and added boba. The boba is delicious, chewy, and sweet, but the mango chunks that came with the drink were so hard and sour! It really ruined the drink for me, so now when I come here I nix the mango. My favorite so far is the Peach Oolong Tea, with boba and green tea jelly, but no mango chunks. It's sweet and flavorful, but the flavor is subtle and not overpowering. It's awesome how you can choose the sweetness level. I also like how their tea is brewed from tea leaves, not made from powder like a lot of places. The prices are a little steep, but the default 'chubby' cup is pretty huge so I guess it makes sense it is more expensive. I really like the ambience and set up of the place, it's really colorful and hip, and there is a lot of seating. If you can't find seats downstairs, there is a nice and pretty roomy upstairs area. I gave Purple Kow 4 stars because so far every time I come in they have a sign up saying they don't have slushies. I can look past that, however last time I went my friends and I ordered food off the menu and AFTER we had paid, the kitchen staff informed me that they don't have any food whatsoever. How does that happen? And why didn't they put up a sign? It took a long time to get refunded the money and it was really disappointing and inconvenient. Other than that little hiccup, the sour/hard mango chunks, steep prices, and never having slushies, I really like this place. Their stamped rewards card also motivates me to return. All in all, this place has quality and consistent products that for the most part taste amazing. You just have to experiment a little to figure out what you like! read more

Trying the Strawberry over chocolate. Usually go to the one in SF and gave time a review. Strawberry over chocolate could do without the chocolate chips. read more

This is my favorite boba place that I have ever tried. When I'm in the area, I make sure to pick up some drinks for me and my friends. The reason why this place is good is their boba. Every time, the boba texture has been consistent. Sweet and chewy, perfectly cooked. There is also sufficient tea flavor in their milk teas, which I prefer. I know some people who prefer watery milk tea, but whatever peels your banana. Also, their boba is honey boba!! However, sometimes I do run into the problem of not enough ice in the cup so it's not cold enough. :( read more

Definitely a great place to go if you want a large amount of milk tea. I'd recommend sharing a regular sized one between at least two people. Service: - Really good service. Sometimes you'll get a funny guy or a friendly person to take your order, so that's always a great thing to have. The drinks: - I really like the roast oolong milk tea with regular boba. I share it with my partner, and it's a great portion for each of us. One thing that annoys me is how they'll put up a sign that says a new drink is available, but in reality when you ask they'll say "oh it's not ready till next week" or "oh we don't have it." It's kind of annoying when you have high hopes to get this new drink that looks great too! It happens from time to time, but I still go here regardless since it is that good. read more

Really tasty milk tea with sweet boba, probably the best boba pearls I've ever had. Great service and good sized proportions, one $4 drink is good for two people. read more

Purple Kow - Roasted oolong milk tea - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

I really love this place. The boba is delicious and there are so many choices on their huge menu. I have been there 3 times and the service is great and I have always enjoyed my boba drinks. I like that you can choose how much sugar goes into your drink as well. I think I would have to go every day for like three months just to try every thing they have. Great place to go with my family. My daughters and I enjoy our trips to Purple Kow. Can't wait to go back. Yum! read more

Purple Kow - Huge menu. Lot's of great choices. - Desserts Near Me - Berkeley, California

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