Reviewing Boba Bar: San Jose’s best hangout spot for affordable boba and affordable quick bites.

One of my favorite things to do with friends is explore local boba shops! Each of them has different ambiances, vibes, interiors, unique flavors, boba textures, and prices. Located in Downtown San Jose and right across San Jose State University is Boba Bar, a teahouse and eatery cafe offering a variety of refreshing drinks and affordable quick bites. Many boba shops offer snacks like popcorn chicken and curly fries, but Boba Bar takes it to another level with their delicious and filling quick meal options!  

Boba Bar has adorable wallpaper with clean decor inside, and their small patio has amazing outdoor lighting. The drink menu offers lemonades, milk teas, non-alcoholic tea cocktails, and smoothies. The food menu ranges from house-made fries to orange chicken bowls and steak salads. We had their lychee green mojito with lychee jelly, Nutella milk tea with boba, and strawberry milk tea with boba. For food, we tried the kimchi fries with steak as well as the braised pork belly rice bowl.  

The lychee green mojito with lychee jelly was our favorite drink, as it was perfectly sweet and incredibly refreshing. The mint flavor was strong enough to come through with every sip, and the lime slices added an extra level of refreshment. Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of boba shops add mojito options to their menu, but Boba Bar has by far the best one as the flavors and sweetness are most evenly balanced. I usually prefer milk teas over fruit drinks, but this mojito was actually super flavorful and not watered down.  

 The strawberry milk tea is made with house-made fruit syrup, so the flavor was fresh and tasted just like strawberry yogurt. There was a layer of red strawberry syrup at the bottom and a layer of milk on top, so swirling and mixing it was a fun and Instagrammable moment!  

One of the more unique drinks Boba Bar has on their menu is their Nutella milk tea. It had a nice chocolate hazelnut flavor, but it was a bit too heavy and sweet for me. The boba pearls had a nice texture as well as good chewiness and hardness. I also really appreciated the boba portion; it was not too much or too little.

I was surprised at how delicious the food was. Their braised pork bowl was absolutely incredible! The juicy meat was perfectly slow-cooked and tender, and the meat portion was quite generous. This bowl also had some steamed broccoli and a tea egg to top the rice.  

 Their “Kim cheese fries” with steak is definitely something I’m ordering again! The fries were crispy and had a great amount of cheese melted on it. It was topped with sour cream, kimchi, and steak — super filling! Seeing how high-quality their food is, I am certainly coming back here for a quick lunch to try their other options. 

Boba Bar has become one of my favorite hangout spots! The quality and proportion of food are perfect, and all the unique flavors of drinks make me want to go back and try them all. I love to walk to nearby thrift stores afterward to do some shopping as well; it’s located in a great area to hang out with friends!