Just good food. A small little shop with a dedicated and diverse staff. The make your own tea aspect was very fun, being able to experiment with flavors was enjoyable even for a first timer like myself. Though my idiotic self had no idea White Tea had very little flavor, but the little it had made it rather enjoyable as I don't prefer strong teas. The rice balls were the real stars of this meal, with robust flavors and plentiful options. I ended up eating Three!!! The crab was really good with an adaptable flavor mixing well with the rest of the rice ball. The chicken had a nice savory-sweet fusion that was reminiscent of chick-fil-a's chicken but better! But as my partner said: "Its like cinnamon apple." Which gives it a very unique flavor profile. Overall this place is a 100% must visit, GO EAT HERE!!! You won't regret it! (Neither Will Your Wallet!)
Kaai Kauwe
Black bubble milk tea is awful. Like, actively bad tasting.. ? Don’t come here for bubble tea. The space is clean and nice though.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Eric H
The Boba Tea is great! They also have light fare.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lauren Ng
The tea is awful. It's made out of powder. If you wouldn't pay $6 for a cup of instant coffee, why pay that for instant tea?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 3
Willow J
I used to love this place but their quality has seriously declined lately. Watered down drinks and how the hell do you justify charging 5 bucks for tofu fries that look like this?? At this point I only go for the onigiri, which are usually decent.
Kaitlyn Kong
Such a good boba!!! Support your local business!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Onigiri
JJ D.
Atmosphere: Yaya Tea is a warm, bright boba shop in the Golden Belt Campus. There are lots of tables inside among the cute decor. Service: Despite being the only customers in the store, we waited 40 minutes for our drink to come out. When we asked about our order after around 20 minutes, we were told that they never received our order or payment despite us showing them our receipt and bank statement. We then waited another 20 minutes for them to figure out and make our actual drink order. Food: We ordered a First Love, which is a mango peach tea with lychee. For a 40 minute wait, this drink was definitely not worth it. It was way too sweet and had no other additional flavor. Overall: The atmosphere of Yaya Tea is nice, but beyond that, the service and drinks were a big let down. There are plenty of other boba shops in the Triangle to adequately satisfy your boba cravings.
Ashley T
Hard to find, went to back side of building, has no signage.Bubble tea was good but limited flavors.Very cute interior.
Martina H.
The first time I went, I met up with friends. It was absolutely delicious and I loved the taro milk boba tea. I got the spring roll rice ball and the chicken rice ball.However, I went November 25, with my fiance and it was not the same experience. They were out of condensed milk for Thai tea, the chicken rice balls had burnt chicken, and the salmon and tuna rice balls tasted like the fish went bad. The taro milk tea was the only saving grace.The music played over the loud speakers was over Bluetooth which is fine except whoever's phone was connected kept moving too far so giant static blips went through the entire restaurant for at least 15 minutes.Maybe that was a one off experience. I'll update this review if I return. I really did enjoy it the first time. ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Onigiri
Becky Winders
This is an attractive, friendly, and fun place. We enjoyed the many boba tea options and the rice balls, which are actually triangles in clever take-out packaging. Parking was plentiful and there was no line on a Saturday morning. My grand daughter, a big boba tea fan, says this is the best place for the sugary treat in Durham.
The worst food I’ve had at a restaurant in a long time. My friend and I ordered a chicken and salmon rice ball to share. The chicken was barely palatable. The salmon one was white (like tuna, not pink like salmon ought to be) and I had one bite before I threw it out.The coffee was fine.
LV V.
Most 1,2, or 3 stars have common point that is:The Boba in their drinks and ours was hard, gummy sticking to each other decomposing? = stale Boba. It should have been thrown out , but they just want to put it in your drink and hope you are an unsuspecting first time or or not a discerning Boba drinker. We have been to all the Boba Cafes in Chapel Hill it gets confusing, but We think this happened at the Yaya there too. I wonder does it take a long time to "process fresh Boba" and is it a high cost??. Doubtful.We liked the passion fruit tea w/o sweetening. But we told them of the boba in it issue & asked for just a little more tea to maybe soften all the Boba that was at the bottom & so disappointing. Not wanting to win over return customers, she gave us an unpleasant "NO , you drank all the tea" Her manager appeared & whispered, she whispered back & that was that. We left bummed out, but did like the rice nori triangles; 1salmon and a shrimp one.
Dasola Olanrewaju
Absolutely amazing!! I walked in and I was immediately blown away. This place is so well thought out to every detail. The stickers on the onigiri match what the filling is! I'm coming back with my friends and family for sure!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Onigiri, Takoyaki
Iris M.
The location is hard to find. We drove around for 20 minutes trying to find it. Once you do, you're met with a cute, small little place. I got the gyoza and the sauce was really good. I also got the rice balls and I was very happy with them. I got a sunrise tea with strawberry boba. I recommend getting 50% sweetness cause that's what I did and it was very sweet. The chicken rice ball is really good. The prices are high, but that's everywhere right now. What I liked about the service was there was a tablet where you can order and avoid a line. But you still have the option of ordering in person if you want. Food came out in 15 minutes. Weird amount of one direction playing but who am I to judge
Barrett Chambers
We really enjoyed the vegan rice balls. We got the Ginger Chicken (vegan) and Gong Bao Chicken (vegan) rice balls. We loved the Ginger Chicken, it was juicy and flavorful. We enjoyed the Gong Bao Chicken, but overall it was a bit dry although the taste was good. If I went back I'd try their other vegan options!We also split the Spring Roll appetizer and it was great! It came with 5 small spring rolls but they were crispy and delicious.The value for money here is pretty great. Our 2 rice balls and spring rolls came out to around $18.Overall was really pleased and would recommend to others! When we are back in the area, we will be back again!
Just good food. A small little shop with a dedicated and diverse staff. The make your own tea aspect was very fun, being able to experiment with flavors was enjoyable even for a first timer like myself. Though my idiotic self had no idea White Tea had very little flavor, but the little it had made it rather enjoyable as I don't prefer strong teas. The rice balls were the real stars of this meal, with robust flavors and plentiful options. I ended up eating Three!!! The crab was really good with an adaptable flavor mixing well with the rest of the rice ball. The chicken had a nice savory-sweet fusion that was reminiscent of chick-fil-a's chicken but better! But as my partner said: "Its like cinnamon apple." Which gives it a very unique flavor profile. Overall this place is a 100% must visit, GO EAT HERE!!! You won't regret it! (Neither Will Your Wallet!)
Black bubble milk tea is awful. Like, actively bad tasting.. ? Don’t come here for bubble tea. The space is clean and nice though.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
The Boba Tea is great! They also have light fare.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The tea is awful. It's made out of powder. If you wouldn't pay $6 for a cup of instant coffee, why pay that for instant tea?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 3
I used to love this place but their quality has seriously declined lately. Watered down drinks and how the hell do you justify charging 5 bucks for tofu fries that look like this?? At this point I only go for the onigiri, which are usually decent.
Such a good boba!!! Support your local business!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Onigiri
Atmosphere: Yaya Tea is a warm, bright boba shop in the Golden Belt Campus. There are lots of tables inside among the cute decor. Service: Despite being the only customers in the store, we waited 40 minutes for our drink to come out. When we asked about our order after around 20 minutes, we were told that they never received our order or payment despite us showing them our receipt and bank statement. We then waited another 20 minutes for them to figure out and make our actual drink order. Food: We ordered a First Love, which is a mango peach tea with lychee. For a 40 minute wait, this drink was definitely not worth it. It was way too sweet and had no other additional flavor. Overall: The atmosphere of Yaya Tea is nice, but beyond that, the service and drinks were a big let down. There are plenty of other boba shops in the Triangle to adequately satisfy your boba cravings.
Hard to find, went to back side of building, has no signage.Bubble tea was good but limited flavors.Very cute interior.
The first time I went, I met up with friends. It was absolutely delicious and I loved the taro milk boba tea. I got the spring roll rice ball and the chicken rice ball.However, I went November 25, with my fiance and it was not the same experience. They were out of condensed milk for Thai tea, the chicken rice balls had burnt chicken, and the salmon and tuna rice balls tasted like the fish went bad. The taro milk tea was the only saving grace.The music played over the loud speakers was over Bluetooth which is fine except whoever's phone was connected kept moving too far so giant static blips went through the entire restaurant for at least 15 minutes.Maybe that was a one off experience. I'll update this review if I return. I really did enjoy it the first time. ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Onigiri
This is an attractive, friendly, and fun place. We enjoyed the many boba tea options and the rice balls, which are actually triangles in clever take-out packaging. Parking was plentiful and there was no line on a Saturday morning. My grand daughter, a big boba tea fan, says this is the best place for the sugary treat in Durham.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chicken Rice Ball
Restaurantji Recommends
The worst food I’ve had at a restaurant in a long time. My friend and I ordered a chicken and salmon rice ball to share. The chicken was barely palatable. The salmon one was white (like tuna, not pink like salmon ought to be) and I had one bite before I threw it out.The coffee was fine.
Most 1,2, or 3 stars have common point that is:The Boba in their drinks and ours was hard, gummy sticking to each other decomposing? = stale Boba. It should have been thrown out , but they just want to put it in your drink and hope you are an unsuspecting first time or or not a discerning Boba drinker. We have been to all the Boba Cafes in Chapel Hill it gets confusing, but We think this happened at the Yaya there too. I wonder does it take a long time to "process fresh Boba" and is it a high cost??. Doubtful.We liked the passion fruit tea w/o sweetening. But we told them of the boba in it issue & asked for just a little more tea to maybe soften all the Boba that was at the bottom & so disappointing. Not wanting to win over return customers, she gave us an unpleasant "NO , you drank all the tea" Her manager appeared & whispered, she whispered back & that was that. We left bummed out, but did like the rice nori triangles; 1salmon and a shrimp one.
Absolutely amazing!! I walked in and I was immediately blown away. This place is so well thought out to every detail. The stickers on the onigiri match what the filling is! I'm coming back with my friends and family for sure!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Onigiri, Takoyaki
The location is hard to find. We drove around for 20 minutes trying to find it. Once you do, you're met with a cute, small little place. I got the gyoza and the sauce was really good. I also got the rice balls and I was very happy with them. I got a sunrise tea with strawberry boba. I recommend getting 50% sweetness cause that's what I did and it was very sweet. The chicken rice ball is really good. The prices are high, but that's everywhere right now. What I liked about the service was there was a tablet where you can order and avoid a line. But you still have the option of ordering in person if you want. Food came out in 15 minutes. Weird amount of one direction playing but who am I to judge
We really enjoyed the vegan rice balls. We got the Ginger Chicken (vegan) and Gong Bao Chicken (vegan) rice balls. We loved the Ginger Chicken, it was juicy and flavorful. We enjoyed the Gong Bao Chicken, but overall it was a bit dry although the taste was good. If I went back I'd try their other vegan options!We also split the Spring Roll appetizer and it was great! It came with 5 small spring rolls but they were crispy and delicious.The value for money here is pretty great. Our 2 rice balls and spring rolls came out to around $18.Overall was really pleased and would recommend to others! When we are back in the area, we will be back again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5