Chatime

Hi, my name is Susannah, I am addicted to bubble tea.
(Hi, Susannah.)
Chatime…I’m glad you’re in Dinkytown solely because I can’t stand Dinkytown and try to avoid it like the plague. If you were any closer/​in a more convenient spot/​had a parking lot/weren’t in the middle of yeah college! hell, then I’d really have a problem.
Favorites:
White peach with green tea smoothie with tapioca pearls, no sugar
Lychee with black tea smoothie with tapioca pearls, no sugar
Soooo good. The tapioca pearls are the perfect texture of chewy and soft, not gummy or hard or too dense. The tea itself is SUPER tasty and refreshing (ultimate summer 2015 drink!), and I really like how you can either increase or decrease the amount of sugar in it.
One day I plan on branching out and trying other options on the menu… it’s just so hard when two things are just so damn good!

Visiting Dinkytown in Minneapolis and jonesing for some bubble tea? Well, here’s a good choice. All the bubble tea choices you can imagine are here. I seriously couldn’t think of any other possible combination. Add bubbles to coffee, tea, fruit juice or smoothies… really, what else do you want? They also have other bubble tea toppings and additions. They have latte and espresso drinks. They have Asian snacks, like Pocky.
When you walk into the shop, it smells like a sweet shop. It is so sweet in here! So, be sure to ask to have your sweetness adjusted. No additional sugar necessary to still have some tasty bubble tea or a latte.
So many choices, why not try a different one every time?

I’ve stopped in to Chatime four or five times now, and I’m never disappointed. The coffees and teas are tasty, the staff is friendly, the vibe is perfect, and the shop is always clean and orderly. The level of customization of your drink offered is a nice treat as well. What pushed this shop into 5-​star territory for me was the staff.
The staff are always friendly and helpful, but the last time I was there someone left their sunglasses on the counter. One of the staff noticed that they were very nice sunglasses and made sure they were put safely behind the counter. He told the other folks working the counter about them, explaining that (since they were expensive) the owner will almost certainly be back for them. Sure enough, someone came in a few minutes later to ask after the missing sunglasses.
Now, tea shop staff making sure some lost sunglasses get back to their owner isn’t headline news. Still, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable in the shop, and it makes me feel good about supporting them with my business.

Staff is very friendly. They sell packaged noodles there &you can ask for hot water! That’s awesome for college students! They have quite a variety of pocky sticks as well & my favorite dried mangoes.
They have your teas, green tea flavors, blended flavors, and qq-​which I believe is your flavors on ice. They have a small variety of jellies and mix-​ins though. They have a smaller variety of flavors and mix-​ins to choose from than the other bubble tea shops in the twin Cities.
Stop in if you’re in the area though!

I frequented this location many times when I was in college, and when I’m in the area now, if it’s convenient, I’ll stop by.
Not the world’s best bubble tea, BUT much better than TeaGarden/​Sencha. I’m waiting for a truly amazing bubble tea shop to arrive to the Twin Cities.
My go-to’s are signature milk tea and thai tea.
I stopped by recently and was heartbroken when they informed me that they are out of pudding until September! *shocked face emoji* the barista told me the pudding comes from Taiwan and there were distribution issues for all locations. –_​_​_​_​_​_​_​–

Had the salted caramel coffee boba tea. Delicious. A little pricey at $ 5, but this is a specialty drink. The Zach Efron looking cashier was incredibly nice and informative. Great place to study near the university’s reminded me of being back in Asia.

UPDATED: apparently the business name has changed — it’s now called Chatime, though if memory serves me the interior hasn’t changed much.
Anyway, now that the sun is out I guess I have a new bubble tea habit because I’ve been here 3 times in the past week! I’ve found it hard to branch out because my favorite — coconut milk tea with boba — is soooo good. I may need to try the pudding add-​on soon, though. I love that you can customize how sweet you want your drink to be; I go with 30% because the coconut is sweet on it’s own! And watching the drink-​making process is almost as good as the drinks themselves.

Sig Milk Tea and Thai Tea were really good though at 80% sugar it was still very sweet. When it’s busy, service can be a bit slow. It’s a really nice place to study though, and good taste in music jams ;)

Got a drink here. Matcha tea latte. Tasted like seaweed and didn’t taste anything at all like the one at the chatime at the mall. I got regular sugar and everything and it was bitter and tasted like seaweed.
I asked the guy behind the counter if I could exchange it for another drink or if they could remake it. He told me I could buy another one but they wouldn’t revise the drink they poorly made.
Talk about poor service — never coming back again!!! His attitude and look he gave me was a total put off.

Awesome place. We played Jenga and we built the tower so high that we couldn’t remove any more blocks!
The tea was pretty good too…

Bubble Tea — or boba or milk tea — whatever you call it and/​or came to know about it, I’m a fan of Chatime! There is the competition, *cough* Tea Garden *cough*, but I’ve come to really like Chatime… over time (*laugh damn it*).
Warning — parking on the UMN campus is a nightmare in Dinkytown — you’ve been warned.
This joint is located in the heart of Dinkytown, not too far from Al’s Breakfast and TargetExpress. Right when you walk in, there is limited seating on the left, with the main counter directly ahead. It’s a simply décor insight, with wood or metal seats to lounge around, have a convo or dominate homework.
They have a couple food items available, even ramen and the Pocky sticks you find at the local Asian grocery stores. The bubble tea is classic and Chatime has over 1,000 locations throughout the world — so, you know it’s #legit.
I always go for Signature Milk Tea with pearls — more pearls please — thank you.
I get 100% sweet, I’m too afraid to try anymore than that. I do like how you can choose your sugar in-​take on your bubble tea; maybe you have a tough final the next day and need sugar… go with 110% sweet!
No complaints here… hit up Chatime when you’re in the area!

I’m not old but I still feel hella old every time I walk into Publika, which is often. Being in Dinkytown, it’s natural audience is mostly those who’ve lived less than a quarter century. But I’m willing to feel like an Olds in order to get some delicious bubble tea. My Huong Kitchen’s royal black bubble tea still tops my Twin Citites Bubble Tea List but Publika’s comes to a close second.
You can moderate your sugar level here, and I often take it down to 30% and it’s still sweet enough. My favorite is the milk oolong bubble tea; the slight maltiness of the tea contrasts with the milk and sugar in a delicious sort of way. If you’re chilly, you can get your bubble tea hot, which feel strange but works.
To mix it up, I like the green tea with grapefruit (again with 30% sugar) and add coconut jelly. The tartness of the green tea and grapefruit is real refreshing. Coconut jelly is not actually jelly, but coconut water that’s been fermented, aka nata de coco. There’s no taste to it, but you’re getting it for the great chewiness factor. This is often found in a lot of Asian desserts. Also, it’s high fiber, low fat, low cholesterol so it feels like winning when I get this instead of a milky bubble tea.
Décor is spartan, a lot of plywood furnishing. It doesn’t feel too cozy but I’m not there long. Parking is annoying since it’s all street parking. With construction of luxury student apartments and general traffic, it really is a hassle to get here. But I live close enough and love bubble tea enough that it’s still worth my time.

If you think the Taro shake with tapioca pearls tastes the same as the tea garden one, please do not make the same mistake as me.
This version is not blended, rather the powdery mix is left alone and ice cubes are put in it to make it «cold»
The most accurate description of the taste of this drink is «cereal that has been sitting since the morning and then drank that night with a straw. and a couple ice cubes»
As I sit here forcing myself to drink this powder cereal I ask myself why this exists
Never again

Not quite sure why this Chatime location is called Publika but I prefer this place over the Tea Garden. Their taro milk tea with pudding is so creamy and perfectly sweet. I like that they let you control the sugar levels. Any of the fruit QQ drinks are refreshing, and they still taste naturally sweet at 0% of sugar. The pearls are always perfectly cooked and the mochi treats are delicious.

I have been here twice during this trip to Minneapolis. I was drawn here the first time due to the largely positive reviews. The two people working here we’re really friendly and made me feel welcome. I tried a chai tea latte as it was one of their popular drinks. This was to be my first and last time trying a non conventional flavor for bubble tea. The chai tea is well made, I just didn’t think it went well with the bubbles. Their bubbles were really good though, chewy texture with just a slight tinge of sweetness. Way too perfect for me.
On my second day I has planned a lot of walking so i walked over to get a cup of oolong tea latte to start my journey. Unfortunately the person who took my order had no clue how to make the drink. She was waiting for the more experienced member who was occupied at that time to help her. From their conversation I figured she didn’t know which was the oolong tea, and she wasn’t sure the proportion of milk to tea ratio to make my drink. I was uncomfortable just watching her being lost. The drink turned out to be a tad too diluted, too much milk was added to the tea latte.
This is a good place to sit down and chat or get some work done. Their wifi is free and fast. They also had good snacks from japan if you are looking for a quick bite. I would go again only if i feel confident that the people working there are more certain about what they are doing. They do have a wide variety of selections and their pearls are one of the best I have had

If parking wasn’t so hard around Dinkytown I would be here almost everyday. As long as you are good at parallel parking and are willing to pay you’ll have no trouble. I have an apartment on the west bank so when the weather is decent I occasionally like to walk about 14 minutes across the 10^th ave bridge and treat myself. The quality and authenticity surely trumps tea garden. The space is also not as tacky. Kind of has a rustic feel which suits how they also serve dogwood coffee if you are in the mood for that instead of bubble tea. They also serve pretty decent Japanese desserts to pair with your drink if you are so inclined.

My biggest problem with Tea Garden has always been that many of their traditional iced tea/​bubble tea drinks are way too sweet (I usually opt for a brewed iced tea with a spurt of honey).
This is not a problem with Publika. They allow you to specify your sweetness levels, which I love! I have never had a drink there that I didn’t enjoy. I also highly recommend the coffee and paninis. It’s a great little spot for studying, lots of space and not too crowded. And who can say no to a little pocky with your coffee?
This place is about a fifteen minute walk from where my boyfriend lives. He might find me ditching out on him a little more often… ;)

Food/​Drink: Ordered a green tea with pearls. It worked and I was refreshed. The pearls were fresh. I think the green tea was not standard as there were definitely a better then average flavor. Looking around, the coffee drinks I saw looked decent.
Ambiance: It’s in a small location so I wouldn’t plan on getting comfortable. That being said, they have a few tables and chairs setup that would do in a pinch to sit at really quickly and finish up some emails, coffee and get out the door. The design does look pretty sweet compared to the other options in the area.
Service: Good. I was pretty happy that the person taking the order asked about sweetness and covered the addons. I appreciated it. The orders came up pretty quick and the tables were kept clean.
Overall: If you’re driving through the area or walking back and forth to classes, this is totally the place to spend your money on coffee. The only drawback is that it’s not really big or quiet enough to get some serious work done, so set your expectations accordingly.

This place has all the great qualities of a bubble tea café: good drinks, Jenga, and lots of space to chill with friends. So far I have tried two drinks: a hot green tea latte with 50% sweetness and a Taro Smoothie with pearl boba and 80% sweetness. I really like that you get to choose how sweet you want your drink to be.
This is a cool place to hang out at with friends or if you are a loner like me, it’s nice to sit at a table and just read for a while.
It’s nice to have a chill place that is open late.

This might be my new favorite coffee & tea joint. I only recently started stopping in here and I am not sure why it took me so dang long to find this little jewel.
I love bubble milk tea. It is the type of love where I randomly get one once every 6 months, remember that is it the nectar of the gods, and proceed to binge drink bubble tea until tapioca pearls make up 5% of my body mass. I’m not at all a coffee drinker so a place with numerous non-​coffee options is perfection
Truth: I’m actually at Publika right now. It is a lovely day so the door is open to let the breeze in. The music is subtle — perfect for the homework I should be doing. Personally, I am a big fan of the current barista’s appreciation of pop punk. The laid-​back vibe, multiple outlets, and tasty beverages have officially solidified that this place was basically made for me.