Craved boba at work and NEEDED it to cool off during this heat. I had it delivered and it was 20 minutes EARLY! I had the 50% sweet thai tea with boba. Absolutely perfect and the boba was fresh! I always love a perfectly made boba and WILL be returning! read more

RareTea - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Mateo, California

I really wish I had a photo to share but unfortunately, every time I go there, I inhale the boba too quickly and forget to take a picture. If that's not an indication of how good it is, I don't know what is. First time here, I tried the mango mango with boba and 30% sugar and also the strawberry berry ice blend with boba and 30% sugar, both of which are on their specialties drinks section. Both are SO delicious!!! Full of fresh fruit and such a refreshing drink. The boba itself is delicious too - sweet and chewy, just the way boba should be. I've been here every other day in the past week to get my go-to order which is now the mango mango drink. If I can ever get away from my go-to, I would be really interested to try their taro boba! read more

I know this place used to be Sharetea and sometimes when you're changing the brand it's not difficult to change a letter...or two! But the strawberry drink here is an unbelievable wow. They told me there is no sugar added - if that's so, I don't know how they get the drink so sweet (they say it's the strawberries they add). Every time I go to target I'll drop by here. They also have, you know, boba. This place is great. They also have some candies for whatever reason if you need more sugar. read more

Really like that there's a boba spot in this location. I default with the Passionfruit, Orange, & Grapefruit Tea with boba. It's reasonably priced at a solid $5. All fruit flavors come through nicely; at 0% sugar, it's slightly sweeter than I want, but still like it. Definitely want to try the default milk tea and their smoothies some time. read more

Very good mango shake with salt cream topping. Pleasant staff.

Get the Cajun waffle fries! I can't stop eating them. So delicious!! And very friendly staff.

i ordered ceylon black milk tea zero sugar. My bf told me to order the least amount as it would be too sweet for me since I don't really like my drinks sweet. my drink ended up too bland and I asked the staff if they can give me a sugar packet or some kind of sweetener on the side. They were able to give me a liquid sweetener on the side which made my drink taste a lot better. I am grateful the staff were able to accommodate my request.~ I came in today 04/22/2022 around 7 15 pm. read more

The drinks were ok. Nothing special compared to my usual go tos (ShareTea, Boba Guys). Ordering was easy. They also have ordering online which makes it convenient. The setting was a bit strange. It was open and had plenty of space for social distancing, but there were a lot of people there that weren't ordering. Maybe they were friends of the owners or the owners themselves. But I find it strange to wait and see a bunch of people sitting there, singing along to the music, looking on their phones, no drinks in hand, and not looking like they order or will order. read more

I'm so glad there's a boba tea place closer to my house! It's so convenient to get to since it's right off the freeway and there's plenty of parking! I also appreciate their efforts in complying with the COVID rules. They also have the option to order ahead and just pick u at the window--will have to try that next time. It's my first time trying this place and I'm so glad I did! I even splurged on the calories and went for the boba, which was well worth the extra calories because it had a chewy texture I liked. I tried their strawberry Palmer, 80% sweet, which had plenty of strawberry fruit and just the right amount of sweetness. I'm all about fresh fruit teas (and frown upon sites that only have flavor syrup). I'll definitely try this place again...it's on the right track of being my favorite boba tea place so far! Wish there were more tasty food options in that mall so I can make it a one-stop shop, but this place isn't really too out of the way for me to stop by! read more

Oh my god, the popcorn chicken I just take thrown away. I have never such a terrible popcorn chicken before. Taste Very dry, no basil, very small pieces , can only be eaten with a spoon. The drink can only be made with a bunch of syrup, not good. read more

Tea was delicious. Boba was perfectly cooked! Sweetness was good and ice was alright. Our popcorn chicken was over cooked and dry- it even looked dark. But the flavor I could tell was good. I'll try again ... read more

If you need a quick fix this is the spot! If your looking for a late night quick grab and need to keep the kids happy or your wife satisfied. You can't go wrong here. read more

Great for fried snacks (not always consistent though) but quick and delicious. Online order ahead is great.

Very good and affordable as well. Would highly recommend!! I go there almost every time in San Mateo and always has great service plus it's fast! read more

Little gem in our neighborhood. Now we don't have to drive to downtown to get boba drinks. Their taro milk is made of fresh taro. Strawberry milk is very good. read more

The location is not so great. Fast service. Tea seems ok and so as the boba. Nothing special.

Fresher and great options at RareTea! It has become a go-to with my daughters. So happy to see they opened up in San Mateo!

My family and I have been waiting for a boba tea spot to open up in this area and RareTea finally came and DELIVERED. This place has exceptional quality tea, incredible customer service, and is very efficient with their management and delivering a delicious product. My family and I will continue to support RareTea & the lovely local establishment. Last, the staff here are so sweet and always happy to serve their customers. I'd highly recommend to anyone! read more

Their quality of tea is great!! I like how easy it is to order online. The employees are very friendly and nice! It's dangerously close to my work that it's easy to grab a drink during break read more

I wanted to give this place 2 chances prior to rating, but my opinion remains the same, unfortunately. Both times i got the honey milk tea w boba. I definitely like my milk tea on the sweeter side but i think that isn't really their style, which is fine. The milk tea was ok, super milky. Boba was tough and had no flavor. I think i would rather make the extra effort to drive to tpumps. A regular size w boba here is 5.25, tpumps has 32 oz w 1 free topping for $5, it's about 5 mins away. Probably won't come back unless i'm really craving boba since i live down the street. Sad bc i really wanted to like this place, just not my preference :( read more

Found our new Tea Spot! Had the mango mango drink with Lychee Jelly! So good, definitely coming back

Ordered their classic black milk tea with boba and egg pudding online. The online ordering process was easy. You can adjust your preference for sugar and ice levels on there too. The drink was pretty mediocre. I prefer my milk tea to have a stronger tea flavor, and their black milk tea was kind of bland. The boba was overcooked and didn't have any flavor at all. The egg pudding was all right. Probably won't come back again. read more

I tried the Thai tea this past weekend and it was great. Tasty tea and super fast service! Will be back again to order.

Easy at window ordering. We got the watermelon Palmer and the strawberry Palmer. There were almost no fruit chunks in the drink but it was still refreshing. The boba could have been sweeter read more

Delicious drinks, perfectly soft yet chewy boba, convenient ordering and pickup at window during Covid, and friendly service Perfect experience for me and my family! read more

Love this place! I enjoy the Okinawa drink with aloe or coffee jelly with popcorn chicken. The chicken is not overly greasy.

I was disappointed. I found this place cause of ratings on Yelp. Definitely not 4.5. Just a boba tea as anywhere else. Soft and slippy boba not in my taste at all. read more

Ordered online for bubble teas. Right on time and nicely packaged. Nice experience..

Great drinks. The snacks are very good. Really like the popcorn chicken. Good value on the food for what you get.

This place is so good! Best boba shop in San Mateo ! Highly recommend this place make sure to order extra boba and extra large ! Because you will want more and more. I wish there was a 10 star option read more

Glad to see a boba place way up here on top of the hill. I've tried 2 flavors so far, the okinawa milk tea and taro milk tea. Both were outstanding! The employees were also very helpful and cheerful. My next drink to try will be the strawberry palmer. read more

Their roasted oolong teaspresso really took me by surprise (in the best way possible). The flavor is bold but not bitter and absolutely delicious. My sister got the jasmine green teaspresso with oat milk and it was also very very good. read more

RareTea - Bubble Tea Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Been coming here at least once a week for a couple months now. Theres a large variety of milk teas, which are all good, and my wife loves the strawberry milk! read more

Very delicious tea place, the creamer is the best in Bay Area. The favorite is strawberry berry and strawberry Palmer.

First time was ok. Nothing super special but not bad. Second time tea felt not strong enough and watered down by milk (got four seasons oolong half sweet regular milk lite ice). Boba was good. However the reason Im writing this review is mainly because the cajun waffle fries had no seasoning...I don't even think there was salt. Neither did the popcorn chicken which everyone knows if you get at a boba joint there is SEASONING AND DELICIOUS POWDER FULL OF FLAVORS. however my chicken also had no salt or seasoning. They gave me two tiny side sauces of mae ploy sweet and sour sauce. I felt very sad. Customer service is fine. Sigh. Maybe it was just my order but I do not recommend the food. read more

We had the jasmine milk tea, mango milk tea, and popcorn chicken. Very yummy! And loved the quick and personable service! Will definitely go back and try their other brewed tea varieties. read more

I love thier black boba milk tea and Jasmine milk boba teas. The boba pearls are just the way I like it, perfect bouncy consistency. And the staff are very friendly and quick with my orders too. Definitely my go to spot when I need a boba fix. read more

I'm glad a boba shop finally opened here. Teaspoon and happy lemon are my go-to's but this is pretty comparable and you don't have to deal with downtown parking. The 2 drinks I've tried so far are good (strawberry Palmer crema with aloe and roasted oolong teaspresso with boba). Nice texture and just the right hint of salt in the crema and the oolong was brewed with real tea leaves. BUT my 1 star ratin is for the service. I originally walked out of here very impressed with their friendly service (specifically the guy with the long bangs) and couldn't wait to get home to post a nice review. I even took pictures of the drinks as soon as I got home to get ready to post, then realized they gave me lychee jelly instead of boba in my roasted oolong teaspresso so I drove back to get a replacement... When I got there, I told the short hair girl that they gave me the wrong topping, I ordered boba, so she immediately took my drink and proceeded to make a new one. The other girl (with glasses and long hair) comes over to ask what's wrong, and the short hair girl tells her about the lychee/boba mix up. Glasses girl takes my drink from her and says, "Oh that's easy!". She scoops a new cup of boba, then STICKS HER FINGER and the back of a stirring spoon (which everyone touched) INTO my original drink to try to rip open the lid. Then she begins to pour my drink back into the new cup of boba and I immediately stopped her and asked if she was pouring my original drink back in. She says "yeah." I asked if she could make a new one because I don't want my oolong milk tea tasting like lychee (plus Her nasty finger/spoon touched the drink). She rolls her eyes at me, hurls the cup away, and looks really inconvenienced for having to remake my drink that was WRONG TO BEGIN WITH. And yes I did look at my order before paying, it clearly said "roasted oolong with BOBA". While she proceeds to make my new drink, she comes over and has the audacity to tell me in an extremely rude and condescending tone, "NEXT TIME keep in mind, lychee is JUST a topping and not a flavor!" Excuse me?!?? How dare you! I don't care what it is, I didn't order that!! I've worked in the food industry for a long time - you DO NOT REUSE food that was returned. That's just gross and unsanitary! Especially after she stuck dirty things in there! And for her to come back and speak to a customer like that is SO unacceptable. She clearly needs more training.. I had high hopes for this place and I hope management can train her properly. I would like to return one day because I did like their drinks. I understand they are still in their soft opening. I hope they can work out the kinks and maybe I'll return then. read more

Stopped by here on our way home from a visit to Half Moon Bay last Friday afternoon. The guy who took my order was very nice and patient, when I asked about menu items. I ordered a Strawberry Palmer (fresh strawberries!) with decaf black tea and boba. You know the tea is fresh when it's still slightly warm and the boba was fresh as well. I'll keep this place in mind whenever I'm on the Peninsula. I'm happy to have found a place that has delicious, different drinks and serves decaf tea-that's a plus for me! read more

Really good boba tea! The tea flavor really stands out and its nice and creamy. The boba is just the right chewiness. I'm so glad they opened up in my very own neighborhood!!! read more