Lil Buddha Tea Company & Vegan Cafe

There is now a NEW eatery at this location, different owner, similar vegetarian /​healthy focus, even better:

Went here looking to have some good bubble tea. I got the punk rock bubble tea and my boyfriend got black tea with boba. They were 16 Oz and ended up coming to 16 $. Too expensive for Boba tea, I know it’s vegan but still too expensive rather go to the mall and pay 7 $ for too. Punk rock wasn’t bad but my boyfriends tea was nasty he hated the mushy bobas.

Amazing food, delicious juices, smoothies and teas. AND EVERYTHING’S VEGAN! My favorites are the Aztec Burrito, Carrot Juice w/​Pineapple, the Go Nuts! smoothie, and the Masala Chai tea.

I love this place!!! One of the few good places in Albany! I wish I had discovered it when I was living there. The chai smoothie is amazing. Everything is cruelty-​free and fresh, just the way I like it.

I was really disappointed by their «milk» tea. It was very Americanized. The pearls were really mushy, and it just felt like food coloring was added in. The teas themselves were fine.
EDIT: This was taken a while ago (I believe I purchased this drink over a year ago?), so I wasn’t quite sure why the owner had left a negative comment. I ordered the boba a few more times in between, but they were all pretty soft, which wasn’t my preference. Hopefully, they’ve improved it!

I am addicted to the Go Nuts! Smoothie. I can only speak on the smoothie as I have not ventured into their food but plan to soon.
It’s very small inside so great if going alone or just meeting a friend. Love this little gem and plan to frequent often.

This is, by far, my favorite place in Albany. The meals are casual, affordable and the quality is consistent. I have a hard time choosing from the menu. I am not vegan, but I really enjoy excellently prepared vegan food. Food that is satisfying to all the senses and is animal-​product free is an art. Lil Buddha makes art. Today I had the reuben sandwich. It was served hot, was quite large, had the right tang balanced with creaminess and a crunch from the toasted bread. It came with chips and a delicious macaroni side salad. Every time I go to Lil Buddha, I tell myself that I will have a vegan brownie for dessert, but rarely do I have any room left. The few times I have indulged, the cake was dark and satisfying. In the past, I have had the chocolate, banana, peanut butter smoothie (Okay. Who am i kidding? Many times i have had this treat. Many, many times.) It is incredibly satisfying. The matcha lattes are the best, so be warned, once had at Lil Buddha, another matcha latte made anywhere else will fall short. Finally, the tea. I consider myself a tea-​o-​phile. I really appreciate the care that is put into each cup. The right temp and the right brew time are always done right. The scene is small and cozy. No matter what time of year, it feels like the place to be.

I was looking forward to trying this place out, but unfortunately had a bad experience. They made a mistake with my order and then refused to admit it. The bathroom was in bad shape and they had run out of paper products. Overall a disappointment.

This place screams hippie and I loved it! It was so tiny though I didn’t understand where they kept all of their tea haha.
They have a very small bubble tea menu but a huge tea menu. I got the tropical breeze bubble tea. It was delicious. I’m used to bubble tea being very sweet, but this one wasn’t. But I don’t mind that. I think they used coconut milk instead of regular milk so it had the perfect amount of natural sweetness and I liked how they used jelly instead of boba. I was a little disappointed how they didn’t serve hot bubble tea. It was freezing that day!
The tea lost was the hardest thing to choose from. Where I live, loose leaf tea is expensive for the amount you get so I wanted to know how much you would get for three ounces but she said it really depended on the tea. So I was skeptical on buying anything but I still did, cause I just love tea. I got the herbal rose tea. For $ 4 I got a pretty big bag! I was so surprised. I definitely would’ve picked a more expensive one of it was the same size but it’s okay, the rose is delicious. Props to lil Buddha.

This tiny yet welcoming descending café on Lark Street will forever have my business. If you’re vegan or not, this place is for everybody! I’m personally not a vegan but enjoy having vegan or vegetarian meals. This place, although the seating isn’t ample, has tasty recipes that appeal to all masses. The Bandito Buritto and Dark Side of the Spoon dessert sent me home utterly satisfied and picking what to order upon my return.
Every time I’m in here I meet the nicest people, the friendliness is a huge plus.

Not just for vegans! They make great salads, a good size and lots of fresh veggies and different kinds of lettuce. Most salads come with a good hunk of homemade hummus to make the salad substantial. Food has always been quick whenever I’ve gone there and the friendly staff are happy to make it to go. Great green juices as well!

We stayed in albany for the weekend, a few weeks ago. We ate EVERY meal here. Where to begin? Their juice and smoothies are amazing and so reasonably priced! All the sandwiches were great. The kale salad was gigantic and out of this world amazing. The ambiance of the restaurant was perfect. If I only lived closer.

Super cute, relaxed vibe. Tasty menu. Friendly staff.
Wheatgrass shot comes with orange slice chaser.
Smoothie construction inventive and playful.

Green monster smoothie — they need this at NYC! Love this matcha smoothie. You must order this if you’re a fan of matcha. The smoothie is perfectly thick and you might get a brain freeze.
Go nuts smoothie — very nutty. If you love nuts, you should get this. Same great smoothie consistency.
Jamaican me coconuts bubble tea — tastes like diluted coconut milk aka coconut water. The jelly makes it sweet.

Delicious vegan fare. The tempeh BLT I had was to die for, and the pasta salad *omg*. Terrific smoothies too (smoochies)

I really wanted to like this place, it is really cute with a creative menu.
I came early in the morning one day and was served by a kid who obviously had no idea what he was doing. My friend and I both ordered the same smoothie and he tried to save time (I guess?) by making them in one blender. Screwed up the texture and just kept adding ice. They were $ 9 cups of flavorless ice slush. He acted like nothing was wrong when we complained.
I think this place would be great if you are lucky enough to be served by someone who knows how to make the drinks.

What an awesome little cozy place. Didn’t expect vegan food served here to be so good. We ordered Sicilian sw and Grilled ruben sw with Masala tea. Every item was fabulous treat. Looking forward to eat healthy food here again!

Very interesting and tasty avocado/​cinnamon/​cayenne/​coconut milk/​banana smoothie with a chocolate swirl that tasted like an otherworldly dessert. Someone got the tornado or monsoon smoothie, which had mango and pineapple and said it was amazing. We all split the vegan nachos, which were deliciously fresh with tomato and beans and brown rice and avocado heaped on, while Krishna Das played in the background. Perfectly zen and lovely!

This place is awesome, cozy and inviting. They serve vegan food, fresh made smoothies and bubble tea. I came in just to try the bubble tea, but also got lunch here, and left with their pure rooibus tea sample. The background buddhism music is calming too, though I’m not religious, that didn’t bother me. The parking on the opposite side street is free for 90 minutes, enough for lunch and a pot of tea.

If you want a dope smoothie or a freshly squeezed juice, Lil Buddha is the place to go. They have a great selection and really interesting choices. I wish the smoothies were made with frozen fruit rather than adding ice to the smoothie. I have only ordered the kalecado salad, which was excellent and a huge serving. I appreciated that it was such a large serving since it was just a salad.
Although I loved the salad, their food items seem pretty simple and stuff that I could easily make at home so I usually go for the drinks. Another bummer is that their hours seem inconsistent (I have gone before and they were closed and couldn’t find another smoothie in the area to suffice my craving since theirs are the best. Major bummer for me) They also don’t make food everyday.