Vivi Bubble Tea in New Haven is just not very good, plain and simple. I've been drinking bubble tea my entire life and view it as kind of a comfort meal, so I come here solely when I'm seriously craving boba. If you've ever had a decent boba in your life, you will immediately know that Vivi's is not up to par. The first thing I look for when evaluating bubble tea are the bobas themselves. Vivi's bobas are WAY soft and MUCH too small, and they're extremely chewy. I don't know if this has happened to anyone else, but I often bite accidentally onto the wall of my inner cheek when chomping on Vivi's bobas because they're just too small, and that subtle, slight "resistance" just isn't there. Bobas should be perfectly round and fill up the circumference of the wide boba straw. Their texture should be slightly soft, with just the right chew resistance. They should be lightly sweetened/soaked in some kind of honey sugar mixture. The bobas here are absolutely tasteless. Second, the balance between the dairy and the tea is so off. The tea is not strong and the dairy is too overpowering. It tastes like I'm drinking lightly sweetened milk!! Please steep your teas longer, or source better tea leaves. Third, sugar levels are inconsistent; I always ask for 30% but sometimes it's overly sweet, and other times, they don't put any sugar at all, so I've resolved to simply order 0% sugar so I know what to expect. Service can be slow, especially when there's a backlog of Snackpass orders. The boba is pricy ($5.50+ for a large bubble milk oolong /specialty tea, and I think $5+ for their regular bubble milk teas.) This is the same price as Boba Guys/Ten Ren/Kung Fu Tea but Finally, the ambience is always rambunctious, with outdated pop music and strange flashing lights. I would not come here to catch up with friends, because I always feel like I have to shout above the music to be heard. I really hope the Vivi Bubble Tea team reads this review and takes this feedback into consideration, because there is a ton of potential, and I truly want them to succeed and deliver great bubble teas. read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Bubble milk green tea (jasmine tea) and their regular bubble milk black tea. - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I absolutely LOVE this place. Their bubble teas are so good. My go-to is the honey dew milk tea. Delicious read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

After frequenting this place a bit now, I have a few issues with how it's run. A few vignettes: 1. One time my friend bought two drinks, and one slipped out of her hand. The seal burst and the drink spilled on the ground. The staff was courteous and came over to help clean it up. My friend asked, "Can I get another one?" "Sure." After they made her new drink, they asked her to pay for it, saying "there's no insurance for when you drop your drink." After this incident, I no longer really wanted to come here because I did not like the way they treated their customers; but of course I kept coming back because its the only real boba place in town. 2. After coming here nearly 10 times or so, they started giving out those rewards cards. Buy ten drinks and get your 11th medium size for free. $1 to upsize to large. This is already somewhat petty of them to even ask for the extra dollar, but whatever. Anyways, what is ridiculous is that when you buy multiple drinks on the same receipt, you'll still only get one stamp. One time I argued for my stamps, saying that I could have easily just paid separate times now that they've finally gotten rid of their silly credit card limit. "Okay fine." 3. So my friend completed his ten stamps on his reward card today, and was super excited to get his 3Q milk tea. But whaddaya know, you can only use the reward card for a medium black tea or green tea milk tea. Really? You're gonna argue with the customer over a few cents? This is just so petty. This place just goes about every way it can to cut corners and skimp. If anyone wants my stamp card, you can have it. No longer supporting this place. Goodbye mayorship, dukedom, whatever. read more

Lots of good options and choices! I got the peach oolong tea with no sugar and boba. The boba was super fresh and still warm. The tea has some sweetness to it but not overly sweet. The lady was super friendly and helped me navigate the menu. read more

Best boba in CT, hands down! This place a massive menu with food dessert and tea. I recommend the Flaming Brown Sugar iced drink with pudding and boba. read more

It's FINALLY open!! I'm not sure how long the storefront has been around (months? years?!), but the anticipation and hype has certainly been building for the opening. Prior to Vivi's, the bubble tea scene was sub-par; some of the bubble tea elsewhere around town may be good, but lacked the customizability (and boba quality) that specialty bubble tea stores offer. ATMOSPHERE: 5/5 It feels sort of like a brightly-lit club: there was hip electronic music playing and color-changing lights rotating through the colors of the rainbow. A large screen TV in the back was silently playing Chinese music videos - points for authenticity. The hiring sign that was previously on the door before the official opening was in Chinese, so it made sense that the staff appeared to all be Mandarin-speaking, if that happens to be important to you! SERVICE: The staff overall were nice, helpful, and patient. The line moved slowly, but since it's opening day, I'll save passing any judgement here for now. SELECTION: 5/5 In my opinion, the best thing about having a *real* bubble tea store is that the drinks are customizable. At Vivi's, they offer several sugar options: 30%, 50%, 70%, "regular", or extra. In addition, you can choose to have more or less ice (or none at all!) The drink options are all available to peruse on their website - in short, they're plentiful and there's something for everyone! Tapioca is available to add for free, and other add-ins (i.e. jelly, red bean) are 50 cents. DRINKS: 5/5 We enjoyed the black tea bubble milk tea (70% sugar) and the taro milk tea with tapioca (50% sugar). Both were delicious, and for us, it was the perfect amount of sugar. The tapioca was soft and delicious - and most importantly, well made - AKA not the type that hardens after 5 seconds of being in your drink! FOOD: 4/5 We ordered the popcorn chicken, pepper salt flavor (there are 5 available flavors, including spicy, garlic, basil, and curry.) It was pretty delicious, albeit quite salty. It was a good-sized snack to be shared by two. I think it was all dark meat, which is not my preferred, but I would probably get it again if I were hungry and here anyway! BRIEFLY: The BEST milk tea in New Haven; will definitely return to try more drink options! read more

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If Vivi is not yet your new go-to hangout spot in town, you're missing out. Garden style couches in the back are perfect for catching up with friends. There are also 9 - 10 tables. I assume the outlets at every table implies that you may study here if your work venue of choice includes loud high energy level music (think EDM and Top 40). I was in here studying for 6 hours and there was a steady stream of people (some staying to hanging out, some ordering stuff to-go). In addition to the outlets, they have a nice, clean bathroom in the back and free wi-fi. If you appreciate the quiet solitude of the library, this may not be a viable study space for you. DRINKS I've had the Milk Green Tea with tapioca (30% and 50%), Taro Milk Tea (50%), and Thai Tea (regular), and was satisfied with the tapioca (soft, yet chewy). I'm partial towards the Milk Green Tea with Tapioca (50% sugar, no ice) as the flavored drinks are still a little powdery to me, but unlike some other questionable milk tea locations in New Haven, they actually use real green/black tea. They have an extensive menu and customizable options for drinks. Options of "regular", 70%, 50%, 30%, and "no sugar" for sugar conscious folks. And customizable ice levels for those who don't like their drink drowning in ice. Prices are reasonable given the lack of competitive boba shops in the area (ie. ~$3.75 for Medium and ~$4.75 for Large), and include tapioca pearls. Additional toppings like pudding, jelly, etc. will cost you 50 pretty pennies (aka 50 cents lol). SNACKS They sell popcorn chicken ($4). Perfect chicken-to-breading ratio and great to satisfy any savory cravings and complement the sugary drink. Two thumbs up, would recommend! I'm also excited to try their Taiwanese sausages (1 for $2.50, 3 for $7) and macarons (3 for $6) in the future. MISCELLANEOUS They have great hours for the college campus. Open until 11 pm on week nights (as of right now). Peak hours were 4 pm and 8 pm. There's a $7 minimum for cards! Stamp cards coming soon! Overall verdict: It's very good for New Haven. Looking forward to forcing my friends to get non-alcoholic drinks with me LOL read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Popcorn Chicken ($4... Comes out to $4.25 with tax! Bring cash if it's the only thing you're ordering because there's a $7 card minimum) - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

They are running at a pretty high volume, tapioca boba is usually hot and fresh. The blended tend to be super sweet and syrupy. The regular tea is a vaguely bitter tea base with fruit added which is nicely balanced. read more

For a place to specialize in bubble tea, I was expecting better combinations. They wouldn't blend the black tea for me (it only comes iced) and add boba. They have a blender and would be able to make other smoothies and add boba... But not black tea. Mmmm....ok. the guy was not very helpful. The drink was also very bland, not much taste. They were very fast with the order, though. Barely had a wait. read more

I'm a first timer trying this place and the type of drink. I knew what I came for I just didn't know how to order it lol. They were so patient with me trying to get me to understand!! I seen them make my drink in front of me with all of these cool little machines. The cups are so so cute!! Highly recommend and I definitely will go here again! the drinks/this place is my new obsession!! :) read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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I'm a Bubble Tea lover and the Bubble tea was amazing. Fresh Boba pearls and it was soooo good. Can't wait to go back for more.

Finally, New Haven has a bubble tea place of its own! This place is cute and trendy. The service was fast, and there are many options of bubble tea. There is a seating area to sit and enjoy the tea there, or you can take it to go. read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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I got their red bean matcha and it tasted like drinking water while eating red bean. There was basically no matcha flavor at all. Very disappointed, and it's not cheap at $4.79 it's tax. Don't get that here! read more

super duper cute place in the middle of new haven. bustling w a bunch young hip yale college kids and out-of-towners w a craving for bubble tea the bubble tea was good and cheap! i got the milk tea w boba and jelly. boba was cooked rly well and a good texture, jelly is always a good choice too. the one problem i had with this place though was the macaroons. they're 3 for $8 and had a variety of flavors but 2/3 of them were very dry and hard to eat. i still recommend this place for some good ole bubble tea :) read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Lg black milk tea and smoll matcha green tea! - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I am a huge bubble tea drinker and from what friends said had to try this place. I always get the same drink at every bubble tea place because it's my favorite flavor and allows me to compare amongst all the places I've tried. I got a large coconut milk tea with tapioca as usual. The tea wasn't that great, it didn't have enough coconut flavor. The drink was fairly priced and the overall appearance of the store was cute. I will probably go back and try a different flavor, but it wasn't anything special from this specific experience. read more

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As good as it gets in New Haven for bubble tea. Been here twice in one week. I enjoyed my taro pearl milk tea very much. I got a large size and it was delicious ($4.75). Then tonight I had the passion fruit tea for $3.45. These are really quite reasonable prices for bubble tea, much better price points than Chatime and better value for money. The front line staff are also quite polite. We stayed past 11pm and they didn't quite throw us out til about 11.20pm, haha. Hopefully they upkeep the service and standards. Looking forward to getting my weekly (daily?!) tea fix here! read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Large taro milk tea with pearl - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Ah, Vivi's, you have so much potential...but you're doing just fine. Vivi Bubble Tea has a nice central location in New Haven, right next to the Green. A great place to stop by after class, or a place to casually do homework while chatting with your friends. The atmosphere is very cute, with couches (warning: not soft), and adorable tables and chairs made of slatted wood. There are various decorations and designs too. The drinks are decent. I recommend the Earl Grey Float or the Matcha Milk Tea. My biggest qualm with this place would probably be the staff. They're not particularly warm and are a bit short with their responses to questions. For the bathroom, ask for the key! read more

The person delivered our drinks was sweet. The drinks were good. The store manger was nice and solved all the problems. Will recommend

Decided to sample this ViVi bubble tea as our go to in Providence is ViVi. This ViVi had more options for food, as well as a few more drink options. Bubble tea was good, as expected. We also tried the macarons. We got three, one rose lychee, one coconut, and one matcha. For flavor, the lychee and the coconut were very good; the matcha was good, just a tad bitter (which I guess can be expected for strong matcha). The texture of the coconut macaron was airy and soft, with a nice filling. The matcha and rose lychee, on the other hand, were not soft. Rather, they were crunchy and kind of tough. At 3 macarons for $8, these should be much better. Overall, go for the bubble tea (which they are known for). I wouldn't indulge in the macarons again. read more

My friend took me here to try bubble tea for the first time and it was amazing. I tried the Flaming Brown Sugar (which is non-dairy), and he tried Tiramisu with coffee boba/jelly. Both were amazing! We ordered from DoorDash and the wait wasn't too long. Would go back in a heartbeat!!! read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Flaming Brown Sugar (non-dairy) & Tiramisu with Coffee jelly/boba - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Love this place very nice clean and they make sure you have a mask on or no service and overall a great atmosphere.

I was satisfied with my order but the girl that took the order was straight up rude to my sister. My sister was trying to look up the menu as it was her first time trying it but she was annoyed with that fact maybe but please learn how to be polite and respectful to the customers atleast. It doesn't hurt to be respectful at all. I hope you don't get the same treatment as you give to others. Please don't work in that kind of field if you can't handle people with respec. read more

Textbook bad service from a gross place. There were four people working behind the counter and somehow three of them were in training. As a result, they prepared the drink incorrectly (it cost $9 too). I took a sip and it was disgusting. I politely told the manager and he got aggressive and told me there were no refunds and told me nobody had ever complained. Sure... read more

Love their taro slushies with brown sugar & bubble!!! They make it the best I've had in a while.

This is my happy place. Prices aren't the worst but I do find them very slightly expensive, maybe a dollar cheaper would be nice, but they always do a great job and there's so much to choose from! I don't know as I'll ever run out of new options to try. Make sure to ask for their rewards card to collect stamps for a free drink! :) My favorites are the float series with fruity popping boba read more

Bubble tea here is pretty good, and the pearls are usually fresh and warm, which is always nice. You're able to choose the flavor, the sugar level (100, 70, 30, 0) and ice level (normal, less, and none). I'm a fan of the original, coconut, and thai milk tea flavors with 30% sugar and less ice, although I wouldn't recommend them in the hot tea versions, even on the coldest day. The coconut can be watery at times, but I've still found it enjoyable. I've also heard good things from friends about the green tea and taro flavors, although the taro flavor is a little too sweet for me, even at 30% sugar. Prices can seem a little high, a medium is 4.50 ish with pearls added, but quality is pretty constant and good, so can't complain. read more

Good tea, but long waits. Love that you can choose your own sweetness level (I usually get the lowest amount), because bubble tea can sometimes get too sweet. read more

This place certainly has a monopoly on bubble tea. I would not rank it up there with the greats like Cocos, Tenren or Gong Cha. However, it could be so much worse for us Yale students. So I thank them for opening up a location in New Haven, a place which otherwise would be a dead zone for milk tea. Their boba is pretty good: not chewy or gross, it has a nice consistency to it. If you're not feeling that heaviness of the pearls you can opt for some mixed jelly which I enjoy. I usually go for the classic Vivi Milk Green/Black Tea with pearls which I have grown fond of. The tea isn't too sweet or powdery which is always a plus. On days when I'm not feeling the milk or extra dose of caffeine I go for the Mango Yakult which is very refreshing for the warmer days. Maybe one day I'll really treat myself and try the Mango Slushie. The cashiers are always so sullen, but your interaction with them is quick so don't let that deter you from trying this place. read more

Love the tea and the service. The order was done correctly without any errors. The delivery was earlier than expected. Will order again.

I appreciate that they have this bubble tea place in New Haven. Unless you're in New York City or Boston, good authentic Asian places are hard to come by. The tea is light and not too sweet. The tapioca balls are chewy and just right. I like that I don't taste the "powdered flavor" drink you get in other so-called bubble tea shops in the state. This is the second time I've been here and I don't come often because I don't go to New Haven often. So it's a treat for good bubble tea fix. As for the "greasy" smell others are complaining about, this is exactly how they smell like in Asia! read more

This place has good bubble tea and good macarons most of the time. There have been times when the macaron was a bit stale. This is pretty much the best and only bubble tea available in Downtown New Haven, and it suffices. They also have a lot of desserts and some hot food like fried chicken on a stick. read more

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Nice cute place with a great amount of room towards the back to sit and enjoy your boba drink with or without snacks. They have pretty great options and you should take it seriously. The boba bubbles are amazing and have the perfect consistency. Not too chewy and not mush. They make the bubbles in house which I find amazing and makes the place that more of an attraction to try the boba drinks. We ordered ahead of time but we waited awhile not knowing that they had made the drinks. They finally asked us and we got our drinks. Great taste and usually are busy as the place fills up fast and the wait time gets longer. Although this does happen, give it a try because the taste and flavors are that good! read more

I've walked by this place a bunch of times, and I was excited to finally try it! I got a green milk tea and my boyfriend got a thai iced tea. The tapioca pearls were at the perfect consistency, which was excellent- I hate when the pearls are WAY too chewy or too soft. The teas were delicious, and there was a cute little lounge area. The service was lacking though- the cashier looked miserable to be there, and she rang up our teas while my boyfriend and I were talking to each other about what we wanted, not waiting until we actually gave her our orders... like she wanted us out of there as soon as possible. Also, it wasn't until I read the reviews on here that they have a loyalty reward card and let you specify the sweetness level of the tea. I would go here again since it's the best boba I've had in the area, so I would have loved the chance for a reward card. read more

I am so happy I decided to order! Everything is delicious and the macarons are divine. My ordered thai milk tea with regular sugar, I will definitely be getting extra next time. read more

Vivi Bubble Tea - Bubble Tea Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

When this place first opened up a few years back, I could not be more excited. It was New Haven's first bubble tea shop, after all. No more bubble tea from random Asian restaurants. This was the real thing. But very quickly it became clear that Vivi's wasn't in the same league as staples like Chatime and Gong Cha, or even Coco, and I stopped going. A few months back, I decided to try their bubble tea again, and was surprised that they had improved considerably. Before, the bubbles were either too hard or too soft. Now they were perfect. The tea could do with some work, but at least we were back in business! All this I found out from the incredibly friendly staff who now worked there. However, a week ago I went to the west coast, and tried a number of bubble tea shops, and was blown away by their craft and flavor, and upon my return, my only wish is that something like what I tasted in the west coast would come to New Haven. Then the frozen Thai ice cream shop opened up next to where I work, and I soon discovered that their bubble tea tastes better than Vivi's, though not by much, simply because they use half-and-half instead of milk powder. And competition is good! I haven't been back here since, but I would like to. So you may continue to use cheap ingredients and charge less, but I know there is a market for more premium bubble tea (real tea, real milk, honey soaked bubbles), and I know many of us will pay for it. Here's to hoping! read more

Exactly like bubble tea I got in Taiwan. Great boba and great tea. I stick with the basics (red or green milk tea with boba) and it is consistently good every time. Parking is a bit of a pain but to me it's worth it. read more

Extremely expensive and my food stale and inedible. They refunded plus perk. All set but not ordering again

I really loved the tapioca here! It was so good and soft! The tea was amazing as well! (Lychee Green Tea) There were Macarons available for purchase but they were not my favorite... I enjoyed the Nutella ones though but the others were filled with butter in the middle. read more

Doesn't taste genuine and has a powdery consistency. The oolong black tea was sweet water and the boba was basically mushy. Tried it a few times but still tasted similar. read more

I am very grateful that there is a legit bubble tea place here in New Haven near the busy part of Chapel Street. Vivi has a neat little lounge area, which I believe offers WiFi, along with a decent-sized seating area. Since I have been pampered by the bubble tea places on the West Coast, I cannot say the bubble tea is great, but the quality is good. One great thing is that they add a lot of Boba to their drinks, which is awesome! The Boba itself isn't too chewy or soft, which should make most people happy--the Boba definitely tasted fresh. I ordered the Lychee flavor, which was good, but there was no pulp or actual fruit in it. Not a big problem, though, especially considering the very reasonable price. One notable item is the customer service, which could use some work. The cashier isn't too friendly or communicative about one's order, so it does hurt the ambience a bit. Not a deal breaker, but something that could be improved. Overall, I am happy with this place. I like the ambience and the lounge/seating area. I hope that the area is culturally competent enough to keep this place going! New Haven is a tough market and a business cannot subsist on Yale students alone! read more