Babo Teahouse

A hole in a wall type of place that I’m glad I found. Many types of bubble teas to choose from. My favorite is the taro milk tea. This place never disappoints

I am surprised I found out only recently that Montclair has a place for bubble tea! Babo definitely has all the options to satisfy your sugar craving! I tried their special the other day, taro almond bubble tea, and one sip brought all pleasures to my taste buds!
If you’re hanging out on Walnut Street in the evening for a fun outing, it is definitely a great spot for dessert with friends and family! They also have other food options, such as pork buns, dumplings, and shu mai.

The food is good but the service is disappointing. To the Gen Y woman behind the counter: There’s not much to it, the phrase is, «Thank You.» No one wants to eat your misery.

Not as big or scenic as its Jersey City counterpart, but it’s just as yummy! I’ve had their taro milk tea, sesame shake, and beef sukiyaki in the past. All delicious.
The people behind the counter are super friendly and the décor is very cute. They also do a rewards program where you get a free drink after buying 10 (or 9?) drinks over $ 4 I believe.
It gets super crowded when it’s busy, but it’s worth the trip!

So we went to this place regularly for the past 6 months, usually the bubble tea for what we mainly came was very good. They would occasionally mess up an order but fix it right away.
Today we went and I ordered the lychee fruit tee with double tapioca like always and my husband had a frozen one. The girl that worked made my frozen so we said I didn’t order it frozen and she yelled from the back ‘yes you did I asked and you said yes’ the only thing she asked was if my flavour was lychee and that’s it. The guy working in there was not capable to apologize for her rude behavior not was she. I am not having a discussion about a 6 dollar cheap drink when they mess it up.

The wife and I both love this place, limited seating but the bubble tea is great and the location is convenient and trendy. Highly recommend it.

I was intrigued when I saw the menu: ramen, chicken and waffles, bubble tea! Then I see smoothies, gelato. Wow. This place does so much. But it’s not such an inviting place to sit and eat. I wasn’t asked for here or to go and planned to stay. They gave me the ramen in a styrofoam container. It wasn’t bad. But it was pretty uncomfortable to sit and eat there, so I took it to go.

From their bubble teas to their smoothies and gelato. Babo Teahouse has won over the sugar craving portion of my heart.
First, the gelato flavors offered here are extraordinary. Pumpkin pie, pancakes and maple syrup, peach iced tea, green tea … there is sure to be a flavor that you will enjoy! Not sure how often but the flavors do change. All types of teas too: hot, cold, frozen, bubble.
Service is always friendly but on busy days, it can get tight inside. More often than not, I find myself enjoying my treat in my car or on the bench outside. I have yet to order food so I can’t vouch for that. Great place overall.

This is really the only place to get decent bubble tea in the Montclair area. There’s a large selection of flavors but my fave is the SESAME which is a rare find. I also rec the classic black milk tea. The drinks are generally very sweet and milky. The consistency of the bubbles are acceptable, not too hard or chewy.
As far as food, Ive had the chicken wrap and pork bun. The chicken is breaded and fried and comes with a wasabi sauce. The wasabi was overpowering so I would only add a little bit. As for the pork bun, it was very disappointing. I can tell these were frozen and were not reheated properly. The bun was hard in some areas and soggy in others and the pork was a bit dry. I can get better pork buns at the Asian grocery.
Overall, a nice and decent spot for bubble tea. If I am in the vicinity, I would come back. However, it’s not my top choice to fulfill a craving.

Love the sunset smoothie with the mango stars!!! Ummmmm delish!!! The gelato is so creamy and rich like heaven sent… the pancakes and maple syrup is taste like a good morning breakfast after being hungover from partying… tiramisu was like tiramisu with a taste cinnamon. The pistachio gelato was also tasty but not my favorite yet! Thanks for the recommendation Dexter! Nice to know people with awesome tastebuds.

I’ve passed this place for months after visits to many of the other AWESOME establishments in the area. After all the anticipation… Whatta letdown!!! Very, very disappointed.
I have never had a bowl of ramen I didn’t like until tonight. Bland and tasteless. Served in styrofoam containers and packaged to go (we were staying in). Very wasteful! The dumplings weren’t great either. Odd combinations (basil chicken dumplings?). Apparently they have pork buns, but I didn’t see it on the menu. I don’t think I missed out on anything spectacular anyway.
I’m confused about the menu-​bubble tea/​ice cream/​chicken n waffles? Maybe they should focus on one aspect and make it great instead.
Also, no bathrooms? Hardly any tables. Is it supposed to be a take out only joint? Why the phone charging station if it’s difficult to eat in and stay awhile?
Throw back pop music was BLASTING, I got a kick out of the nostalgia, but between the music and the novelty machines, I felt like I was somewhere I was too old to be. Is this place geared towards kids? Is this supposed to be the after school hangout?
TL; DNR: nah. Go to Ani Ramen instead if you’re an adult.

NO BATHROOM.
so if you have kids. You should avoid.
The lure of the hipsters and toys. Don’t buy into it.
The girl told me it was about the amount of chairs.
Some law.
She also had no clue where to go and laughed.
Real fun with a 3 year old.
[thank you Red Eye you get five stars for letting us use the toilet]
They had six chairs. But that only filled one table.
What about the other two tables?
The chicken was actually great. But I won’t go back.
Sorry guys.

Okay I think I may have been living under a rock the past couple of months because seriously I didn’t know that Babo expanded to Montclair. I can’t believe that I don’t have to go all the way to JC to get a bubble tea fix. Having a bubble tea in my backyard is both dangerous and awesome at the same time. Dangerous because I’ll seriously blow up like a balloon and awesome because well it’s freakin bubble tea that’s why.
The location is close to Egan and Sons with plenty of street and metered parking nearby. The store is very inconspicuous aside from the bright Babo sign outside and you can tell that the building was built when asbestos was still the flavor of the day. I do hope they cleaned it up before moving in. Inside is a long table in the middle and a couple of small table with a seat near the window but not nearly enough to accommodate a lot of customers during busy times. There’s a charging station with every assortment of cords and a wall of novelty toy dispensers that will cost you four quarters. I just had to have a go at it which brought back memories of when I was a youngling.
The flavors are numerous to choose from and they even have special blends if you wanna be frisky. You can also pick the amount of sugar for you health-​conscious freaks and finally a choice of sinkers such as tapioca, jelly bits, mango stars, etc. For me I go with the Thai ice tea frozen with tapioca or sesame frozen with red bean. Bam baby yeah that’s #Legendary. Food wise their dumplings are delish. I was able to try chicken teriyaki and chicken basil. I gotta say i was pleasantly surprised by the quality. It’s not mind-​blowing but it also doesn’t take like a dump… ling. Haha see what I did there. Anyways what are you waiting for a personal invite. Well you know what you can suck my tapioca.

I am a huge fan of bubble tea smoothies! The more tapioca the better is my motto! So I was super happy when Babo came to Montclair.
I usually order the large taro smoothie with extra tapioca, difference here you can pick your sugar percentage which is a plus! We also got the beef bowl to go, which was a little on the sweeter side but I enjoyed it.
Very cute décor inside, small seating area with charging stations, which is also a plus. Old fashion quarter toy machines for kids along one wall. Can get crowed so order to go!
Staff was well attentive and worked quickly — no problems here & I will be back!

Go for the drinks, not the food.
I had a green tea milk tea, which was pretty good. It wasn’t quite as good as Matcha Love at the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater, but it’s also easier to get to for me.
The ramen there is a step above instant ramen, but several steps below authentic ramen. It’s not in the same league as Santouka in Edgewater, Ani in Montclair, or any of the NYC joints. So, don’t go in expecting anything close to authentic ramen just because it looks like another trendy spot in Montclair. The pork buns are nothing to write home about either.
They had some interesting looking gelato, but I didn’t partake.

What an awesome, cool place! I only ordered a Bubble Tea, which was delicious but I will definitely return. Décor is awesome! One wall is filled with gumball machines that are filled with just about any sort of crap you can imagine. For the low, low price of 4 US Quarters, you can get a super ball, a string doll (that’s what I got: see pic), a toy dinosaur skeleton, a keyring or about 100 other things. What a great idea! Perfect for kids. Just think, for $ 1.00 they can get a small toy and be happy. For those of you who might not have little kids, allow me to explain. Happy kids make happy parents, especially when going to a restaurant. Hell, for $ 5.00 they can leave loaded up with all sorts of crap. My kind of place. LOVE it!

I’ve come here about 5 – 6 times with different outcomes so on average, I’d give this particular Babo a 2.5−3.0
Service: majority of my visits, the service was not only lacking, but down right rude. I’ve called ahead of time to try and make a food and drink order to be told harshly that they don’t do that. And when I mean harsh, I mean like interrupting me in the middle of my sentence saying STOP STOP. We don’t do that! The same person on the phone apparently served my group when we arrived and they were not happy either with the condescending service they received.
Flavor: I always stick to my favorites which are the Caramel Latte Smoothie, Sunset, and Sunburst. It’s hard to mess them up when everything is already calculated with the powders or what not.
Price: It was exactly as expected.
Personally, I’d rather travel to the Jersey City location because they’re friendlier and there’s way more space to sit and chat.

Babo! A decent bubble tea place in Montclair is long overdue. So glad you’re here.
I don’t find it weird at all that you have gelato. It makes sense — just like bubble tea it’s a sweet treat for hot summer days. My favorite is the Black Sesame, which is a flavor that is impossible to get in NJ. The cup we got didn’t hold up well overnight in the freezer, but it was excellent when we had it at the store.
Tried your Hong Kong style waffle — decent, but overpriced for $ 5. Will update my review when I have had a chance to try your food. I don’t have any illusions that it will be a 5-​star cooking though, since you seem to be staffed by a young crowd that has most likely never went to culinary school.
Another commenter suggested that you go «fresh» or «homemade.» I have to disagree. First of all, I think she’s just talking about branding more than anything else. Lots of places are fresh and homemade without bragging about it in large letters on their menus. The more Babo can simulate the authentic HK cafes the better — and we have more than enough «whole» food places to go around. Why do we need another one? Babo should focus on the population that would appreciate its own style.
Cute interior, but I prefer takeout because there are no bathrooms available.

I LIKE this place, visually appealing bright lights, chalkboard menu, coin vending machines that dispense small toys, original wood floors, ceilings and mouldings that have been restored and a wall of original subway tile that has cracks and dings in it!!!
They have been open for two weeks now, I have never been to the one in JC, but I’ve been to many a bubble tea house! Standard bubble teas served hot, cold, or frozen. The menu is pretty straigtforward for the bobatea crowd. I like the fact that you can choose the amout of sweetness, I was back and forth with the 25% sweetness, the server then said trust me get no sugar, you will like it, and we can always add sugar — we can’t take it away. Great call — my cold Taro bubble tea with tapioca, no sugar was perfect — now say that five times fast!
We had other teas and drinks all good! Also ordered some steamed shumai and dumplings to go, they were OK — they were the pre made and frozen kind.
Will definitely return to this happy place!

So glad more ethnic establishments are coming to the area! The place is really cute & the staff is super friendly. Apparently they also have a tea house in Jersey City. It seems to primarily be a gelateria and bubble tea place but they have a lot of «snacky» items as well.
Ramen: tasted pretty good considering it’s not their main staple; came with fishcakes, corn, ginger & 3 very large tasty pieces of roast pork
Chicken Wings: really good but accustomed to seeing the ones fed on growth hormones, these looked really small in comparison; a bit pricey for the size
Pork Buns: the brown sauce that came with it was yummy but unfortunately I was not a fan of the pork buns; thought there was a strange aftertaste in there and the bread was a wee bit hard/​dry; seemed to also have potato bits in there (not sure)
Bubble Tea: lychee fruit tea with jelly bits
Sampled the strawberry lychee gelato but it was dairy free. What a teaser! It wasn’t ready yet but it was delicious! I am hoping they put more of these Asian inspired dairy free items on their menu (hint hint sorbets!).