Happy Tea Time

I come here for drinks and they are awesome! Will is super friendly and helps me create delicious drinks :)

This place was awesome. Above and beyond customer service. An awesome bahn mi sandwich. Legit for sure! Doesn’t look like a great bahn mi place, but it is!

PROS:
— Photos of each sandwich with detailed breakdown of each ingredient. This is probably the most detailed Banh Mi menu I’ve ever seen.
— Good value. Five bucks is just slightly more than what I’m accustomed to aying for an average Banh Mi, but these sandwiches are a foot long!
— Accepts cards. You know that’s not common!
— Friendly service. This buff-​ass Asian dude took my order. Cool guy. Everyone was pretty friendly actually.
CONS:
— Large sandwich, but not very meaty.
— Not a bad tasting sandwich, but not that great either. (We had the grilled chicken and #6…pork roll, pâté, and bacon.)
They were out of tapioca when I went that one evening, so I can’t comment on their teas. I would come back and give the other items a try. It was decent.

Quality banh mi here, and the closest to the courthouse where I’m doing jury duty. Not the best I’ve ever had, but will definitely do the job, in a pinch. Had the pâté, pork roll, and Vietnamese bacon sandwich – very good. Friendly girls behind the counter and I had my sandwich in hand very quickly. Good option to go.

I did not try their tea but I did tried two of their Banh Mi sandwiches; #1 and #4.
Both sandwiches are $ 5, delicious and fresh.
#1 Banh Mi Pâté Flo Cha (pork roll and Ham Pâté) — very good and fresh. Rate ⁴⁄₅
#4 Banh Mi Xiu Mai (meatball & tomato sauce– tasty but they forgot my tomato sauce! Rate 3.5÷5
This place is a good Banh Mi sandwich alternative if you don’t have time the trek all the way over to Grand Ave. & Elizabeth St.
The place is small but organized and kept very clean.

Do I always have the time to run all the way to Grand Street to my favorite BÁNH MÌ SAIGON place, unfortunately no. Happy Tea Time is so close to the 6 train which allows me to take the 4 or 5 train from work and then switch to the 6 train until I get to Canal Street. The place is just around the corner. corners, it’s around the block, around two corners of the same block. So convenient for me.
My BF got me a sandwich there today for lunch. He got two sandwiches for us, #1 Banh Mi Pâté Gio Cha which is a sandwich with Pork Roll, Ham Pâté and #4 Banh Mi Siu Mai which is supposed to be meatballs with tomato sauce in a sandwich. I didn’t see any tomato sauce though. Is this the best sandwich, no, the worst, not close to being the worst. It is okay. The bread was fresh and toasted. The vegetables in the sandwich were plentiful. The quantity of meat was okay for the meatball sandwich (#4) but the #1 could have used a couple more slices of meat.
They also sell bubble tea here.
For the convenience of location, I like this place. Both sandwiches were just $ 5 each. Would I come back to try other sandwiches? Heck yes.

Pretty good and authentic banh mi. I had the #6 which was filling and toasted nicely. Sandwiches are about $ 6. They take credit card with minimum of $ 3. Which is a great plus for me.

Weird this place makes bahn mi. There was pâté as well.
Didn’t get a bubble tea like the name of the place is known for. Limited seating.
I would come back here for a quick lunch.

More jury duty. More Vietnamese. Wasn’t looking for a anything fancy or a big meal since I had just demolishe d some Burger King 2.5 prior to our lunch break, this place was close I was looking for some Phở but all they had was Hahn Mi and yogurt drinks. So the I asked for a recommendation and I was told #6 @5.5. Bread was toasted perfectly and tasted fresh, it was a decent sandwich. Free wi-​fi also.

I suppose this place isn’t the worst, but their attention to detail could use work. I slowly and clearly ordered a green tea bubble tea, and got a honeydew (melon) milk tea. The flavor is decent for the type of tea it actually is, but I’m not a honeydew person. By the time I was able to take the first sip of tea, I was already on the subway to my next destination.
I’d say I’m disappointed with my first experience, but I’m willing to give them one more chance when I’m back in Chinatown.

The place’s name is so misleading bc i actually think their highlight are vietnemese sandwiches. I was never a huge fan of vietsanwiches because its a bit too much on the sweet side for me. but this place was AMAZING. the pickles were more on the sour side and so not sweet. the BEST IV HAD. and the bread was perfectly toasted. .sooooooo good, craving it now just writing abt it. Didnt actually try their teas…

I had some time to kill one day, and saw this little place near the subway station. I decided to check it out with a friend and was pleasantly surprised. The place is small but cozy. It looks pretty new inside, not sure how long this place has been around. The décor was nice and the menu had something for everyone including juices, smoothies, ice tea, bubble tea, and Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches.
Since I had already eaten, I got a strawberry bubble tea as an afternoon treat. I hadn’t had bubble tea since I was studying abroad in China, and was a little worried about if I was going to like this one. To my surprise, it was delightful! The taste was light, and the black pearls were chewy and delicious. At that moment as I slurped through my oversized straw, I decided that bubble tea was my new obsession. If I am ever in the area again I would stop for bubble tea here again. The price wasn’t too bad and the product was lovely! Also, free wifi! How can you go wrong?!

like any other place when you want a cheap/​decent priced lunch you come here to get it if you have only about to get it and eat it while at work. i got the #1 viet sandwich which was okay. they had a promotion going on so i got a free drink when i got my sandwich. i have also tried their milk green tea — while it smells as good as other places i’ve gotten it the taste is sightly different. the best part for that? a large cup only costed me $ 2! whereas other places charges at least $ 3-​$ 4 so that was a big plus for me.

Free Wi-​Fi, lots of drinks for sale (including bubble tea), Vietnamese sandwiches on the menu. The sandwiches run about $ 5 (there’s a reasonable $ 3 credit card minimum), but don’t have a lot of meat, sadly. The bread wasn’t bad, a good size, with lots of pickles stuffed in.
There’s a Popeyes Chicken right next door — in fact, they’re connected! — if you’re not feeling their sandwiches.
Maximum 30-​minute seating time, so don’t linger!

There are much better bubble tea places in Chinatown. The bubbles wee mushy and the taro milk tea just tasted like they added way too much powder. Go somewhere else.

This is the worst tea shop I’ve ever been. The people do not have any respect for their customers. There are only four tables here and a guy who works here, maybe due to having nothing to do, just took over two tables so he could watch the tv, leaving us to sit facing the wall on uncomfortable high chairs. Or they just assumed every customer is coming here to use their Wi-​Fi because on the wall there is a big sign warning customers not to stay over 30 min even with a purchase.

I’ve had the chance today to compare Happy Tea Time to the Canal Street Chatime (my other favorite) side by side. I went to both places (which were within a block from each other) and got a medium cup (16 oz) of black pearl milk tea with half ice and half sugar from each. I then took turns taking sips from each of them. Here is my verdict:
Tea: Happy Tea Time has a stronger, more aromatic flavor, while Chatime is more rich and creamy. You can see tell from the colors: Happy Tea Time is medium brown whereas Chatime is beige. Both got the amount of sugar right, with Chatime slightly higher than Happy Tea Time but both within the range of acceptability. Overall, Happy Tea Time wins this category due to the taste of the tea.
Pearls: The amount of pearls was comparable. Chatime’s pearls were more chewy and had fewer clumps, so it wins this category. Both were adequately good though.
Other: Amount of ice was appropriate. Both places use vacuum-​sealed packaging. Happy Tea Time has a bit more room inside and newer furnishing. Happy Tea Time costs a tiny bit more ($ 3.25 vs. $ 2.98).
Since tea is my #1 priority, I’m giving this to Happy Tea Time. But it’s very close.
⁸⁸⁄₁₀₀

What a to go to spot! If your like me, I’m tired of the bland usual taste of other bubble tea chains. The drinks are so refreshing here. The fruit drinks are made from real fruit, none of that powder stuff you would usually get from other stores. Staff is super friendly!
Happy tea time! Keep it up!