Kung Fu Tea

Best bubble tea in Chicago! I like their Oreo milk tea and a kungfu tea with both bubble tea and pudding. Try both of them in one large side is superb.

Now the first time I came here, my boyfriend and I were helped by a very friendly person that made us excited to come back. They have the most delicious bubble tea, so I was excited to bring friends who never had it before.
We arrived at 9pm on a SATURDAY. They close at 11pm. A man was standing in the middle of the store with his jacket on and seemed like he was ready to head out. When he saw us, he looked completely livid and went back to take our order. Two of my party never had bubble tea before, so I was explaining to them which kung-​fu tea flavors are really good. The worker actually interjects us and says «Are you going to order, or what?» loudly.
I wasn’t sure why he was so angry because they had another hour until closing time, but he gave us the most rude over the counter service I’ve ever had. When our drinks were done he said «Hey, come take your drinks.» Someone else in my party also ordered food, so that made him more irritated… I left with a completely bad taste in my mouth and his rude service was all everyone would talk about in the car. There was no reason for him to treat us so rudely. It was also embarrassing because I hyped the place up for them.
I noticed too that they often close their doors 1 – 2 hours before the 10pm/​11pm time. After this experience I’m hesitant to ever return. Maybe they should close earlier and the drop the attitude.

It’s like there’s a kung-​fu tea everywhere these days. As far as I can tell, they’re pretty consistent for the staple milk, peach green, and taro bubble teas at all of the different locations I’ve been to (Chicago-​Broadway near Argyle, Chicago-​Archer/​Cermak Chinatown, Boston-​Kneeland/​Chinatown), and that’s a good thing.
They’re also very consistent with the freshness of their bubbles, too, which I really appreciate.
This review is more of a 4.5: one reason is because of the credit-​minimum rule, which they have at other locations so I should probably know better. The other reason is that the drinks are not really cheap stuff. Even though I really enjoy them, I’d be tempted to stop by more often if I didn’t perceive it (and most other bubble teas around Chicago, for that matter) to be pretty expensive for what it is. Still, very convenient and quality bubble tea and they’ve got their spot staked out in downtown Evanston.

The drinks are good but nothing to write home about.
However, I have come in twice and been told there was no boba — once in the morning (an hour after they opened) and once in the evening (closer to closing time, but not an excuse still).
Please have boba ready during all the hours you are open! I understand needing a 10min window to make fresh stuff, but don’t just run out when you’re supposed to be a bubble tea place.

I didn’t have too much expectation for this place since I understand that we’re in the midwest here. But okay it’s quality boba!
I usually get half sweetened so it’s the right sweetness for me.
Their takoyaki is also really really good.
They have a $ 8 min. limit on credit which is really annoying since I never carry cash with me. Darn it. So every time I have to get a food item and stuff myself…
p. s. The bar chairs are wobbly, which is kinda scary.

Oh my drink was so sweet. You will have to ask for less sugar. My mango green tea with tapioca tasted so artificial. I give 4 stars because I will be back to try others on the menu.

BUBBLE TEA! BUBBLE TEA! GET IN MY BELLY!
Kung Fu Tea’s bubble tea game is SOLID. Okay, I may not really know what I’m talking about because I’m not a bubble tea (boba tea?) expert, but the tea they serve here is mighty delicious. It’s my husband’s and my bubble tea spot of choice when we need to get our tapioca on.
Seriously though, I think what sets this place apart is that they’re very willing to make a lot of customizations and adjustments for your order. They have signs to help guide you to choose your preferred ice level, sugar level, and type of bubbles, so I can make mine super cold and not so sweet while my husband goes all lukewarm and sugary. I also appreciate that if I somehow make a stupid choice (for example, I tried to tell them to go light on the sugar for a flavor that was pretty much only sugar and it would have tasted awful) they will gently suggest that maybe I should change my order. Slowly but surely my bubble tea knowledge grows!
Our absolute favorite is the almond milk with tapioca bubbles, although I tried their winter melon the other day and it was amazingly awesome. (It was like honeydew melon with brown sugar? I can’t explain it without it sounding disgusting, but trust me it tasted like magical heaven.) I love exploring their menu and trying out all the different flavors.
Man, now I really want some bubble tea.

drinks are always good. You kinda can’t mess these drink recipes up, though.
However…
1) the service is always rude as hell, or insensitive at best. Too bad, the girls look cute and nice… But looks can be deceiving.
2) what on earth is with the $ 8 min credit card policy. LOOK, you cant have the average price on your menu be $ 5 and reasonably ask for an $ 8 minimum. That forces people to either leave, buy two drinks, or keep cash when we life in a decreasing cashless society.
If you want to be a relevant operation, the minimum should be lowered to $ 5 – 6. If it’s too «expensive» I would say it’s too expensive NOT to and you should find a better merchant

Help me! I’m addicted to this place!
I was so excited there was a Kung Fu Tea in Evanston and located perfectly near the Northwestern campus.
I’ve been here too many time (believe me. I’ve come here a lot), and each time is a pleasant one. Service is great and they make my drinks exactly the way I want them. Even during peak business hours, they are usually really good with making drinks as fast as possible.
The only downside is the place is small so there aren’t many places to sit with friends and groups if you come during the busy hours. Aside from that, they are simply the best bubble tea place in town!
Make sure to bring cash if you are buying one drink. They have an $ 8 credit card limit!

I love their tea! So far I’ve had their milk green tea, passion fruit tea, pineapple tea, and strawberry green tea. All of them have been great, and I’d recommend them all to someone who was going to go here. My only problem with this place is that multiple times that I’ve gone here they’ve run out of pearls. I’ve come at different times and they’ve been out, so they should make sure they’re always stocked. There’s also an $ 8 minimum charge to use the credit card.
They recently redid the seating and it looks nice, but it’s kind of uncomfortable. I miss their couches. It’s nice to have more space though, and it’s perfect for playing Jenga!

Second time coming here and the drinks have been nothing but amazing! I’ve tried the green milk tea, almond milk tea, taro milk tea and sipped a bit of the passion green tea. All were very, very good! You can also add boba («bubbles») or jellies (coconut aka Nata or herbal) for an additional cost & you can adjust the amount of ice and sugar!
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I wish I could give 4 ½ stars reason being: is if you are paying with a card there’s a minimum charge of $ 8. I tend to not have cash on me and when I go it’s more of a spur of the moment type thing. I feel with the $ 8 minimum charge, you’re forced into getting two large drinks instead of regulars.
Nonetheless, I definitely recommend trying this place out.

Kung Fu Tea offers warm and hot options, which is super especially during the wintertime. One of my favorites includes their oolong milk tea and the taro milk tea. I do appreciate the option to adjust my sugar level (no sugar for me!) and even during the summertime, I don’t like mine ice cold so I can also adjust the ice level (no ice here).
Also note that you pay cash only unless it’s over $ 8 and then, you can swipe. It’s a nice option besides Joy Yees here in Evanston. I do wish that they offered some sort of salty snacks (like a popcorn chicken) to balance the sweet drinks. Overall, a nice addition to Evanston!

My friends and I were checking out Northwestern neighborhood and were so jealous that these kids get to be walking distance to Kung Fu Tea while we have to drive to Chinatown for the closest Kung Fu. Unlike the one in Chinatown, this location is a bit smaller but they still deliver the same quality boba. Also, still cash only but you can pay with credit card if you spend more than $ 8 – 10. I believe this isn’t the case at the other location.
My favorite drink to get is the Kung Fu milk tea or the green tea w/​bubbles.
One thing I like about Kung Fu is you can specialize your order with more/​less/​no ice/sugar.etc.
This place is a bit cramped so I would suggest pick up and go but they do have a few tables and chairs to sit.

Comparing to the Kung Fu Tea in Chinatown, this place is a bit smaller, however this place has better customer service. Their grapefruit green tea was bland for my taste, but they have the best milk tea. The store is located across from Northwestern so there were a lot of students when we were there. They also asked us how much ice we wanted in our drinks, which is pretty cool considering how some places try to cheat the costumers by filling their cups with all ice.

Just kidding they don’t offer almond milk, but the milk is lactose free?
Eh I wish it were cheaper. 5 dollars for a large milk tea with bubbles?

So excited there’s a bubble tea place in Evanston now! Take that, Joy Yee’s, now I’m not limited to your gigantic servings with meh boba every time I want bubble tea.
So far I’ve tried the passionfruit green tea with boba, golden oolong milk tea with nata jelly, and their regular milk tea with boba. Honestly all the drinks were really good — I really love the sweetness and perfect amount of chewiness the bubbles have, and the option for less ice/​less sugar/​whatever is really great because you can customize your drink to your taste.
Overall, really great addition, super happy with it, great place to go hang out with friends — just wish they had lychee jelly too!

As a student at NU, I spent the better part of two years driving from Evanston to Liquid Fusion in freakin’ Glenview to get my fix of good milk tea and smoothies with boba that doesn’t taste like plastic (instead of settling for the sugar slush that is Joy Yee’s)… and the summer after I graduate, Kung Fu Tea comes to Evanston? Oh all the miles and gas and time I could have saved by being a couple of years younger…
I have tried Kung Fu Tea quite a few times in other cities and didn’t like it, but that was before I discovered the 30% sugar option (vs the sickly sweet 100% sugar option). For me, that’s the perfect amount of sweetness to taste the tea, especially with the sweetness of the honey-​soaked boba. The honey flavor is pretty strong, so that may or may not be to your liking…
I wish they had more smoothie options though, but at least what they do, they do well! I’m glad their recipes/​formulas ensure consistency every time. I like Golden Oolong Milk Tea, but I switch it up at this location and haven’t found something I didn’t like. The yogurt grapefruit/​orange drinks are a nice option if you don’t want milk tea, but imo they use too much citrus and not enough delicious yakult.
The drinks could be cheaper, esp since some of the teas don’t come with tapioca and costs extra on top of $ 5… The credit card minimum is $ 8? That’s so annoying considering each drink is around $ 5, but just go with a friend and venmo or smething. They’ve also been nice about accepting credit card occasionally if you truly accidentally forget — but don’t go and take advantage of that and ruin it for the rest of us, thx.

Came here twice and I’m glad that Evanston finally has a place that specifically makes bubble tea opened so close to campus! That means a lot more bubble tea treks this year… The place is pretty small, so snatch up a seat if you plan on coming here to sit and talk. Since it just opened, the decoration and furnishings are nice and sleek. Cashiers are friendly as well.
As for the bubble tea, I haven’t necessarily tried the bubble portion of bubble tea, since I’m not much of a tapioca fan. But I can speak to the Milk Strike drink and Milk Green Tea with Herbal Jelly. The tea is a bit average, however, there are unique flavors that you can’t get at Joy Yee’s, (like white gourd, which was pretty good). The herbal jelly was good, silky and smooth. The pro of this shop is that you can control the amount of ice and sugar in your drink, making a person like me able to justify buying an unhealthy drink by reducing the amount of sugar.

As an incoming Northwestern student (and boba addict), I have to say that opening a Kung Fu tea so close to campus is extremely dangerous for my wallet. But it also makes me a very happy camper!
I’ve tried a few of the milk teas here (taro, oolong, black), but found that although I didn’t think they were bad, I wasn’t head over heels for them. However, I opted for a fruit tea during my most recent visit and ordered a grapefruit yogurt bubble tea, which was aaaamazing. Even though my drink took a few extra minutes of preparation, I noticed that the workers actually used a real grapefruit and juicer to make my drink, which was definitely a pleasant surprise. The drink was perfectly sweetened, with the perfect balance of grapefruit juice and the yogurt drink.
Even though it’s an additional 50 cents, the tapioca here is usually on point and perfectly chewy, so it’s definitely worth adding to your drink. Additionally, this location is usually open till midnight, so it’s perfect for college students who need a boba study break. :)

I’ve been here 7 times since they opened on Sunday… what can I say, I really love milk tea! The interior is really nice, clean, and modern. There’s one large table that comfortably seats 4, but could seat 6. There are two 2 person high tables, and a little bar area by the windows. They have a couple games available if you want to play with friends. There is one restroom at the end of the long hall, and that was very clean as well.
Staff is courteous and friendly. My favorite drink on the menu is the Kung Fu bubble milk green tea, hot. That comes with tapicoa, which is cooked really well– not too chewy and not too hard. For hot, there is only one size, and for cold, there are two. Most drinks do not come with tapicoa, but you can add it for 50 cents. You can also add stuff like red beans and jelly. You can also let them know how sweet you want it to be! I really like how customizable it is. For the cold drinks, I really enjoyed the yogurt green tea. I know it sounds a little weird, but it is actually delicious. The only drink that I’ve tried so far thar I didn’t love was the mango slush. I did like the mango jelly in it, but it was a little too icy and didn’t seem like it was made from real fruit. My fault for not asking first!
The only reason I’m giving them 4 stars instead of 5 is because just today, they instated a $ 8 credit card minimum rule. That makes it really inconvenient for me for when I just want to grab a drink to go by myself. It makes it less accesible and better for big groups or if you just happen to always have cash, which I don’t.
I will be back, because the drinks are good, just not as much as before! Do check it out if you are in the area though. They also have desserts from Saint Anna’s bakery in Chinatown which is one of the best in my opinion. We enjoyed the mango cheesecake!