Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Seattle Best Tea

    4.1 (51 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 10:00 PM

    Order Seattle Best Tea Takeout or Delivery

    Seattle Best Tea Photos

    Business Info

    You might also consider

    More like Seattle Best Tea

    Recommended Reviews - Seattle Best Tea

    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

    Green tea kiwi with lychee
    Diana C.

    The kiwi green tea with lychee was awesome! The server was helpful in answering questions and they were very speedy in preparing drinks. They have lots of tables if you want to sit down and have your drink too.

    Ice Cream Flavors
    Albert T.

    I visited the Seattle Best Tea's CID location a couple months ago and left thoroughly unimpressed, with my drink tasting entirely of creamer and with the boba being exceptionally undercooked, hard, and lumpy. To that end, I was a bit hesitant at visiting the UW location, but I decided to give them a try anyways. This location has some of the markings of an older-style boba establishment, like one that's been converted over from primarily a tea shop to a boba shop. Unlike the other location, this one even has ice cream in stock with some very interesting flavors. I asked the cashier and she said that while the ice cream isn't made in house, it comes from a local ice cream maker who specifically makes it for Seattle Best Tea. Sounds pretty intriguing to me! I didn't have the stomach space for ice cream on this visit, so that's something I'll have to try in the future. Heavy Oolong Milk Tea, 50% Sweet, Less Ice w/ Boba ($6.35) - The milk tea is pretty good and a big improvement over the CID location. No longer does the creamer completely overwhelm the tea flavor, instead I get a slightly earthy fragrance that's pretty nice on the tongue. Still, the flavor is covered up a bit by the sugar, which at 50% is too much for me. The ice level is okay at half, allowing the drink to be completely cooled, but still leaving larger chips floating on top. They don't fill the drinks to the top of the cup - my drink had a sizable gap. The boba is small and hard... hard enough to make the jaw hurt while trying to chew through it. Basically no bounce, almost like a hard pebble in the center. Very undercooked. Milk Tea Rating: 4/5 Boba Rating: 2/5 I would probably come back to try the ice cream at Seattle Best Tea, but the boba is a skip for me. Note: They charge a 10 cent fee for credit card transactions.

    Menu
    Sharon K.

    We were looking for a different bubble tea in the area but we couldn't find it. We saw this location and decided to try it because it looked really busy. I figure if it's busy, it must be pretty good. When you come in, it is quite clean and nice. They have benches to sit on while you sit for your order, which is nice. We ordered the coffee smoothie with coffee jelly, mango-passion smoothie with Boba, a mango tea, and lychee smoothie with Boba. They allow for adjusting the sweetness and ice. They were really nice and polite and thankful for us waiting. We got our drinks and they nicely put it in a carrier for us. We all had our drinks and it was really good. We all enjoyed our drinks. I'm definitely marking this as a favorite. Thank you! We'll be back!

    Outside sign
    Shannon T.

    Thirsty for bubble tea? Easy walk from the university. I highly enjoyed the Passion fruit with peach. Yum!

    Ube and matcha ice cream
    Sarah H.

    My go to ice cream on the Ave! I'm always so happy when they have Ube and matcha flavors available, it's the best combo. I would also recommend the coffee flavor. The employees have always been quick and friendly. The atmosphere is always enjoyable and there is typically a place to sit. It's a great casual place to grab ice cream or boba with some friends.

    a cup of bubble tea
    Naomi J.

    It's unique to see a boba shop with free toppings (especially unique when you can get multiple free toppings!). Seattle Best Tea also has more varieties of tea than most boba shops do in Seattle. Otherwise, I didn't find anything noteworthy about the drinks they serve. My friend said the tea was "amazing" last time she came and this time was "good" (4/5 stars) but neither of us were particularly impressed with the boba (3/5 stars). The service was good (5/5 stars) and the ambiance is "leftover furniture that I got from my parent's house" (5/5 stars because that doesn't bother me).

    Best tea ice cream

    My favorite tea spot in Seattle! Friendly staff, peaceful and aesthetic vibe, and their milk tea ice cream is amazing. Highly recommend!

    Jiaxin G.

    Friendly and cute place for a good cup of milk tea treat. They also sell loose leave tea we bought some sample tea bags here in our first visit. I love their heavy oolong milk tea with 50% of sugar. I prefer my milk tea is heavy on the tea so this is perfect for me. Rich and smooth, the flavor and texture of the milk tea is well balanced. Boba is flavored too, perfect sweetness. Sad it was a bit too far from me otherwise I could come here more often, but I just found out they have another spot in U district.

    A jasmine milk tea with lychee, strawberry milk tea
    Matthew W.

    The drinks I ordered we made the way I asked and in a faster time than expected. I would recommend this as a great sweet treat after dinner

    menu 1/2
    Generous Y.

    Excited to welcome Seattle Best Tea to the UW area! I wish it opened when I was at U-District but it's a great addition for the college community. Though there's also five other boba spots within two minutes of walking. Seattle Best Tea is the unique spot that sells ice cream and sticks to fairly basic flavors while excelling. I think they excel at the ice cream more and the drinks can be outshone by other spots on the Ave though. Price here is fair though, especially when matched against the new expensive options on the Ave. FYIs for the ice cream. They seem to have 8 flavors available at a time despite the menu showing all possible options. At the grand opening, they did not have dragonfruit. It seems that if you order a double scoop, it's only for one flavor. Two flavors makes it two single scoops. Happened to me and another person who came out seemingly confused and thinking there was miscommunication. Maybe an error, maybe not. Jasmine Tea Ice Cream - pretty sweet with the floral taste from jasmine. The tea itself is fairly mild and outshone by the sweetness. It's a light aftertaste. Pleasant ice cream but I think other flavors are richer. Taro Ice Cream - rich taro ice cream that I highly recommend. There's even mashed up taro merged inside which enhances the richness and gives a variety of nutty, vanilla-like flavors from mild to strong throughout the ice cream which I think is fantastic. Black Milk Tea w/ Boba - a classic house milk tea. Nothing special but satisfies cravings and at a fair price (in comparison to other shops). Boba is sweet and fairly chewy, though closer to the undercooked side. Heavy Oolong Milk Tea w/ Boba - this is their number one recommendation and it's a strong oolong tea. Nothing absurd but a good choice for those who prefer the tea taste in their milk tea, as it is stronger than the creaminess. Wintermelon Milk Tea w/ Boba - typical wintermelon, sweet and rich but creamy. Oat milk subbed so also nutty (they do have milk substitutes). Like many other drinks, nothing special or different, just a timeless classic. Strawberry Milk Tea - this was probably the outlier from being "basic." There's a faint strawberry taste which fades into tea. Goes to show how they focus on brewing tea and use rich tea. Not sure if I liked the taste though because it felt like two flavors battling to impress taste buds. Wasn't bad, just felt conflicted. Matcha Milk Tea w/ Boba - light matcha but not powdery which is good. Didn't think it was particularly strong, more creamy with more milk than any tea. I'd probably skip the matcha here unless it's ice cream.

    Taro milk tea with boba
    Brittany D.

    I've been to Seattle Best Tea twice now and ordered the taro milk tea with boba both times. The first time, I accidentally forgot to adjust my sweetness so it was good but too sweet and this time I tried 50% which was not as sweet as I was hoping, so in the future I'll get 75%. For the taro drink overall, I am more used to having chunks of taro in my drinks. I think this taro is made with taro powder, which is okay but different from what I would prefer. The boba is chewy, and it has a nice balance between being too hard and too soft. I got my drink pretty quickly both times, and the company has a stamp card (buy 10, get one free) which is much appreciated. I went in the late evening, and there were a few other customers there. It feels like a nice place to catch up with friends and drink boba. Overall, I would recommend this place!

    coconut milk tea
    Emma S.

    This is one of my favorite bubble tea places in Seattle. This location is conveniently located on the Ave, by UW. It is clean and quiet inside, and the staff are friendly and helpful. I think their flavors are natural tasting, and their boba is fresh. My favorite is their coconut milk tea, and is the only place I've found with this flavor. The best part is that toppings are free!

    Store front

    See all

    5 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    I had a mango tea with aloe Vera. It was good. Still little sweet but good. The tea was overpowered by the mango juice

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 2
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Anthony C.
    57
    229
    11

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    7 months 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 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0

    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

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of D R.
    0
    10
    0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of C B.
    0
    32
    34

    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

    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
    Photo of Alex N.
    208
    2407
    5156

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Michele R.
    0
    144
    159

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Sage Y.
    0
    16
    26

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Zari S.
    6
    33
    20

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Very friendly staff and great tasting bubble tea. Also very efficient. What more could one ask.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 2

    Seattle Best Tea Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Seattle Best Tea

    You might also consider

    Nana’s Green Tea

    Nana’s Green Tea

    4.3
    (1.7k reviews)
    3.3 mi
    $$

    Love love love!! When we arrived 30 mins before closing and…read morethere's about 40-50 ppl here with a line out the door, you know it's going to be good!!! We got a matcha float with mochi and a hojicha float with mochi. We love the hojicha better. The matcha is prob one of the better I've tasted, but not often you can find hojicha ice cream and milk tea. It was creamy and mildly sweet. So good, refreshing and satisfying! The mochi were ok. It was very bland and not sweet at all. I do prefer my mochi to have a little sweetness to them, like a sweet bite. This was like chewing a bigger non sweet boba ball. So I'd pass on the mochi here and maybe do all ice cream. If ever we're in Seattle would visit again. Update: we came here a few yrs later. The drinks were still good as ever. My husband got a frappe and loved it. We had a salmon bowl which was decent. Not something I would order again here but we were so hungry from traveling and meeting friends, we needed some food. This time no line out the door. We got a seat inside. We came in June this yr, nice weather outside but inside was super hot as they did not run the AC. They had the windows/doors open but no breeze and mosquitos were inside attacking. I can't imagine a good breeze when the cafe is wedged btw two huge buildings. It made our visit this time very stifling.

    I've had the soft serve from here before, which was pretty good, so I got the matcha parfait this…read moretime. It seems to be what they're known for. This comes in a very large cup, with layers of matcha ice cream, cornflakes, vanilla whippedd cream, and mochi at the bottom. I'll be honest that the matcha ice cream wasn't my favorite. I'm not a huge fan of matcha in general, but I have had examples where the sweetness balances with the earthiness better - and this felt like it leaned too much into the earthiness side of it. It just tasted off when mixed with everything else. What was exceptional, though, was the second and third layers. Mixing the cornflakes with the vanilla whipped cream/yogurt layer was awesome. The crunchy texture provided with the creamy vanilla flavor really worked - and it felt like what the essence of a parfait is with the textural and flavor contrast. I think I would've liked this a lot more if the top had been vanilla ice cream instead - submitting a request to have that as an option on the menu. This was pretty expensive. It cost 14 dollars for a single parfait. That's just a crazy amount. I know it's pretty big, but it's simply overpriced. Overall, it's a decent but not very practical dessert. 5.5/10

    Photos
    Bussing Station and Restroom, Complementary Water
    Bussing Station and Restroom, Complementary Water
    Black Sesame Shiratama Parfait
    Black Sesame Shiratama Parfait
    Matcha + Vanilla

    See all

    Matcha + Vanilla
    Milk Drunk

    Milk Drunk

    4.0
    (499 reviews)
    5.7 mi
    $$

    Streetfront building. Public street parking only from my understanding. Indoor and outdoor seating…read more Order at the register, they give you a number, and bring it to you when ready if you're dining in. Friendly service in a casual atmosphere! We got two chicken sandwiches - original and southern bird (a bit spicy). Both delicious and generous servings, but also be warned they're messy to eat! They cut them in half for us so they were easy to share. Much appreciated. Also got strips (comes with curly fries and your choice of two sauces). And an extra order of curly fries that def wasn't necessary for our fam of 4 (2 adults, 4 yr old, and 2 yr old). I got a white peach sangria slushie, too. Not the biggest serving, but tasty! All that ran me just over $70 including tax and small tip as of July 2026. Not a bad deal, and we came home with leftovers!

    After hearing about Milk Drunk from several people in the last few weeks, we are so glad we checked…read morethis place out! It 100% lives up to the hype- amazing double fried chicken sandwiches and even more amazing ice cream! I love the different variations of chicken sandwiches they have. We tried the original which had their delicious herbaceous green sauce/aioli and the Homer which tasted so fresh with the veggies and whipped garlic sauce that accompany the fried chicken. The curly fries are a must if you're here & looking for a savory snack. The ice cream is a must, too! We particularly loved the seasonal miso caramel and wish it wasn't only seasonal. There was a line out the door when we went on a weeknight, so I imagine a line is to be expected when you come by, but it moves very quickly as you order at the counter. You'll wait for the ice cream at the counter but if dining in, they'll bring the food when it's ready. I personally didn't mind having dessert first! There's some indoor seating and some outdoor seating. Super casual vibes. Service is pretty quick overall. And we love the convenience that it's right by the light rail station.

    Photos
    Interior
    Interior
    Fries are best when theyre curly
    Fries are best when theyre curly
    Kale salad

    See all

    Kale salad

    Seattle Best Tea - bubbletea - Updated August 2026

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