Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    RareTea

    4.5 (43 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

    Order RareTea Takeout or Delivery

    RareTea Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - RareTea

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Trinh V.

    We stopped by here on our way back home from Luray Caverns! This boba shop was in a really nice outdoor mall with lots of shops from LOFT to Smash Burger! There were a ton of cool shops and places to eat that I'd love to try the next time we're in the area. This boba shop was clean and decorated with modern, refreshing plants, marble and wood furniture, and cute aesthetic stuffed animals on their shelves and counters. They even have a very pristine looking bathroom that's available for customers! I wanted to give a shout-out to Dannie who helped us on 6/26/2024 in the afternoon/evening. Dannie was so sweet and helpful, and gave us bags to carry our drinks easier on our road trip. Her coworkers were kind and friendly, too, but we had most of our interactions with her at the cash register :) Would give her individually 5 stars if I could! The drinks themselves were also really good, ranging from $5.50-6.50 per drink before toppings, which is pretty standard. I ordered the Strawberry Berry Snow Cream drink with lychee jelly and it really hit the spot! We also ordered Thai Tea, Mango Smoothie, and Mango Green Tea. The boba was chewy and freshly made, and the crystal boba was good as well. We even bought a couple cute pins they had in a display case next to the cashier. For $0.50 topping add-on, they give sooo much, which felt really worth it. They also have such a wide variety of drinks (milk teas, fruit teas, smoothies, etc -- there's something for everyone!), snacks, desserts, and even merchandise! All in all, I really loved that we were able to give RareTea a try and hopefully we can come by again the next time we're in town! I'm picky with my boba shops and I thought this one was very well worth it with the bonus of being served by super friendly staff and being in a clean, aesthetically pleasing boba shop near other fun shops to explore :)

    JC R.

    Refreshing! It was a haute day when I stopped in. Staff were nice, nice outdoor shops in Gainesville Gateway. Tea I had was not too sweet and had too many(much) boba inapposite to my liking but taste wise-simple and clean. I like it! Perfect for hot weather!

    Inside cute decor/quote
    Ashley K.

    Soo happy that there is a boba tea place out in Gainesville! The inside of RareTea is really cute and the staff there is helpful as well if you have any questions. You can either order at a kiosk or order at the counter if you want a more personable experience! We really enjoyed the boba as it was chewy and not hard as a rock like it has been at other boba places. The kiwi fruit tea is a little sour and not too sweet.. would definitely want to go back and try more drinks on the menu!

    Menu as of October 2022
    Katherine S.

    TL;DR: Great new boba place in Gainesville! FINALLY, a good/dedicated boba shop in Gainesville. So glad this spot opened up! This is located in the shopping center near the movie theater. Nice spot to stop by after grabbing lunch or dinner. The inside is nice, spacious, and very clean. Lots of seating options indoor and outdoor (as weather permits). You can order at the counter after looking at the menu above, but they also have a tablet you can order and pay from. DRINKS: ~Mango Green Tea (5/5): Good mango and tea flavor, and boba was perfectly chewy ~Grapefruit Green Tea (5/5): I got zero sugar, and it was perfect with the boba. Nice and tart. Definitely a great addition! Hopefully one day, they will add some snacks to their menu :)

    strawberry fruit tea
    Khoa P.

    RareTea is now open in Gainesville! I stopped by today to check out the opening of RareTea - a new boba tea shop in Gainesville. There was a line of ~25 people around the grand opening (12PM), but it moved really quickly. The staff did a great job taking orders and clarifying when needed (for example - the strawberry tea comes in milk tea or fruit tea). They were super careful to make sure your order was correct; great attention to detail! I ordered the brown sugar milk tea and the kiwi fruit tea with aiyu jelly. Both were delicious and the boba was so fresh. My friend got the strawberry fruit tea and a mango green tea; his were really good as well. The inside of the store is super modern, clean, and would be a great place to hang out for a little while enjoying your drink. There are tables and chairs outside as well. Overall, this is an awesome addition to the boba scene in Gainesville. When I'm in the area and feeling like having boba, I'll be sure to stop by.

    Christine H.

    Super excited a new tea place opened at VA Gateway in Gainesville. The grand opening today is bogo tea until 6pm. I first tried Rare Tea through my friend who ordered their DIY products online. There was a line, but they had plenty of staff to help the line move. There are so many different tea options on their menu so I had a hard time deciding what to get. I ended up ordering a Mango Milk Tea, Thai Milk Tea and Passion Orange & Grapefruit Tea. Mango milk tea had fresh mango puree which was such a delight. Their boba is soft and chewy. The Thai Milk Tea was a perfect blend of sweet and creamy. I really enjoy how the tea flavor stands out even under all the flavors and sweetness. The Passion Orange & Grapefruit Tea was very refreshing. I will definitely be back to try the other flavors!

    Mango Milk Tea
    Mia S.

    It's rare that I say this about a boba spot but THIS PLACE IS DELICIOUS (see what I did there)! This has to be my #1 spot now for bubble tea in the area. It's located in Gainesville, VA which is 45 minutes away from me (this makes me very sad) but I'll definitely visit here whenever I'm in area. I ordered the Mango Milk Tea (they use non-dairy milk for milk teas) and it tasted like a mango creamsicle. They use mango purée and not the powdered packets which makes the drink fresh and no preservatives. The boba pearls were soft and chewy! I finished my drink in 5 minutes, it didn't even make it to the MD border. The staff were friendly and quick to make my drink. I will definitely be back very soon!

    Lychee tea, coffee milk tea, and black milk tea
    Cam H.

    This is probably on my top 3 of fav boba spots! The tea smells so good! Tastes natural and doesn't taste like it's made from powder. The milk actually tastes fresh and refreshing. If you like your milk tea with a strong tea flavor/scent then this is the place for you. I often reduce my sugar for other spots, but for this place, I order 100% sweet and it turns out perfect. My personal fav would be the jasmine milk tea (not pictured here). The place is smol, nothing special inside. Service is always good here.

    Front entrance
    Dennis R.

    Nice clean place to get any drink from smoothies to tea base. Service is good. My choice of drink is frozen mango. Simple good average price ranging from $5.75 to $6.00. No food all drinks. 0verall 4/5

    a coffee cup with a straw on a table
    Michael C.

    I love bubble tea and have tried a decent number of places, so very happy to see another shop open up in the area! and I love it! The bubble tea is delicious! Personally find the regular sugar to be just right here, not overly sweet. One thing I love is the ice, they use the small chip pieces so most of your drink is actually drink, not ice! The cups are also made of the nice hard plastic. And the straws are very durable too! Weird things but they stand out to me. I of course had to get my favorite, Thai milk tea, in order to compare to other shops and it is great! I also tried their signature Okinawa milk tea and it's also very good! Will be back very often!

    See all

    3 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 month ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of john b.
    2
    220
    7

    4 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of JC R.
    81
    758
    3822

    2 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ashley K.
    758
    12
    18

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mia S.
    204
    533
    1526

    3 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 1
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Ari H.
    1
    38
    3

    1 year ago

    Horrible customer service! Their service and food quality has declined! If i could, i'd give it 0 stars. Save your money!!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of HK H.
    0
    124
    133

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Nice place to go with friends in your free time. It's a little pricey but, that's ok.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Great new spot! My son and I really enjoyed it and the staff was knowledgeable about everything.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dani P.
    1
    43
    66

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Priya G.
    121
    17
    0

    4 years ago

    The staff is super sweet and the drinks are so great! So excited to have something different close by!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Favorite Boba Tea ever! Their Rose Spring Tea is amazing and tastes like rose petals.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Azam S.
    118
    9
    2

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Super nice staff + amazingly tasty drinks! Drink was made fast and efficiently. Also had a wife variety of options.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - RareTea

    You might also consider

    Kung Fu Tea

    Kung Fu Tea

    (73 reviews)

    $

    I have gone to this KFT for years but will not go anymore. Ever since they hired one particular…read moreyoung man, the drinks are never made properly. As a customer, I am ordering the exact same drinks over a long period which means those drinks are being made by many employees who come and go. The drinks stay the same. There are recipes. This guy is not making the drinks correctly and if you tell him the drink doesn't look right, he wants to argue with you instead of remaking the drink. My first encounter with him I ordered a peach oolong. Dark tea with peach syrup and peach fruit. He made a milk based tea. Clearly this will look much different and I knew that was not how the drink is made. He argued with me and I had to tell him the ingredients don't call for milk powder. Next time (months later), I ordered a tropical punch online for my husband to pick up on his way home. The tropical punch is a mix of juices but the color of the finished drink is reddish. My tropical punch came home orange looking. I asked my husband "was there a young (description) man making the drinks?" He said yes. I immediately knew it because the drink (totally different from the first time) looked wrong. Before this young man came to work there, my orders were NEVER made wrong. I will drive to Haymarket from now on. Smh.

    Very good tasting drink, you can actually taste the green tea in the Winter melon green tea drink I…read moregot. I added two toppings herbal jelly and aloe jelly. Both great if you want a sweet and sour earthy taste. The person who helped us out at the front was very kind and helpful through all the questions we had and even recommendations. Keeping it honest about what drink would be very sweet or not, and made fun conversation.

    Texas Donuts

    Texas Donuts

    (132 reviews)

    $

    Two things made this place a little different. First was the Texas-sized donuts, quite large, like…read morea small steering wheel on streetcar named Diabeetus. An assortment of flavors, from red velvet and sourdough, to cream filled. It was this latter where Texas stands out: they can fill it with a variety of fillings using a machine on every stoners wish list: it injects the donut with flavors. I got two chocolate glazed filled with Bavarian, and whitw creme, and a long john of Bavarian. The cream fillings were great, no trouble there. The donuts were.. different. Donuts have that progression, from air filled Krispy Kreme, to dense cake donuts, and used hockey pucks left over from 1987 Duncan Donuts. I like the airy kind, not so much as Krispy because that's too thin, but something with heft, but air pockets. Texas rides the line between pockets of air and density, and what it tasted like is that they had been airy at one point, but those pockets collapsed on themselves creating a hybrid airy/dense donut. Tasty, but not top of my list. That spot still belongs to Duck Donuts. It's possible the Texas donuts I had were sitting out a bit, or the creme filling caused a collapse of the internal donut structure. I'm not sure but I will go back to try the denser varieties to be sure. Very nice employees, calm and clean interior. Parking is tough, on a hill in tight spots, or down around the hill and climb some stairs.

    This place was Dee-liiiii-shushhhh!!! I know that's the wrong spelling but that's how good it was!…read moreThe donuts were fresh, the staff was very friendly and the inside was decorated in a very cute way and clean. We loved that the filled donuts were filled to order!!! I've never experienced that. The Texas donut was gigantic!!! These donuts were so good we went back again the next day!

    Pho Banh MI 89

    Pho Banh MI 89

    (194 reviews)

    $$

    Food was delicious, fresh and authentic! It was definitely cooked with love!…read more The staff was also very helpful, attentive and kind. If you're looking for some home cooked Vietnamese cuisine, I would definitely recommend!

    First off - the current restaurant at this location - Pho Banh MI 89 - IS NOT owned, managed, or…read moreaffiliated by the owners/managers of the previous Pho restaurant - Viet Flavor. I know - because I asked the restaurant staff when I recently visited in person for some Pho. Why is this important? Because, for some reason - the previous business listing under the "Viet Flavor" name - was simply updated/changed on Yelp to "Pho Banh MI 89" - and of course this keeps all the reviews that were under the the Viet Flavor name. What should have occurred - is that the Viet Flavor business listing is "Closed," and a new business listing created for "Pho Banh MI 89." Until that happens - I have no way to post a review except for here. I visited recently to sample the Pho Ga. The Pho Ga was expensive - I paid around $17 and change for a bowl - seemed a little high. I also ordered the Summer Rolls - which were pretty standard quality-wise. The Pho Ga chicken broth is a bit light for my palate. I'd like to see more depth of flavor and complexity to the chicken broth. As usual, after tasting the broth - I added all the accoutrements: Fresh Basil, lime juice, Jalapeños, and Bean Sprouts. Noodles were not clumped; broth was steaming. Decent bowl of Pho Ga - but not outstanding. The inside of the place was totally gutted during the transition to the new business. Bright, clean, lots of seating. Service was good. Paid with Apple Pay. #PhoBanhMI89

    SoBoL

    SoBoL

    (34 reviews)

    It's time for a review update - this place has become a regular stop for me because it's just that…read moregood! They offer a number of breakfast options, including egg based, as well as variations on their liege waffle which now includes a chocolate chip variety. The açaí bowls are a delicious, healthy option or you can get your bowl on your waffle if you're feeling a little extra. Service is fast and friendly and you can order in advance to pick up. Ambiance is bright and cheerful with a surfer vibe. It's meant to be take away, so there's limited seating inside. If you're looking for a delicious and healthier alternative to the usual fast food places, you should definitely check out So Bol!

    This is hands down one of the best places to get açaí bowls. Even though we've been here multiple…read moretimes, we had questions, which the cashier was very patient in addressing. I'm glad she did because we ended up changing our order and were very happy with the results. At first we wanted the classic açaí bowls with waffles on the side, but changed the order to a mixture of waffle pages and bowls to fit our preferences. For the waffle package you can get it made with the waffle on top of the açaí or you can deconstruct the package and have the waffle on the side. There's an option to eat inside, which is always very tidy and nice or outside of the establishment, which is comfortable either way (or of course, take your order to go). They have a free rewards program that comes in handy for discounts. 10/10 recommend!

    RareTea - bubbletea - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...