Cha House - Raleigh

Cha House was hit or miss.Pros:* Easy online ordering. Phone-friendly user interface.* Oolong Classic Milk Tea and Lychee Fruit Tea were good.* Pudding and lychee popping boba toppings were good.* Snacks / Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken and Bubble Waffle were decent.* Eco-friendly cups, lids, straws, and cup holders (compostable straws and cup holders).* Trash, compost, and recycle containers in-store.* Spacious cafe with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.* Generally good service. Friendly and polite staff.Cons:* Strawberry Matcha Latte was not good.* Dirty Tiger Milk was not great.* Boba was not great. Too hard.* You must pay to park during certain hours, as far as I know.* Drinks aren't film-sealed, so there's a higher risk of leaks and spills.Regarding parking, we parked for free across the street on Daisy St. It was free because we visited on a Saturday. Street parking in the immediate area is enforced Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm.I think you can also park in the garage of the building that Cha House is located in, the Stanhope Student Apartments. There are entrances to the garage on both Friendly Dr (around the corner) and ME Valentine Dr (back side of building). I don't know if you have to pay to park in the garage.Cha House offers a decent variety of tea, milk tea, fruit tea, bubble tea, etc. and toppings plus ice cream, macarons, and Taiwanese snack food items like the aforementioned Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken, Bubble Waffle, and larger "entree" sized dishes such as Pork Chops ($7.47 and up) and Tea Stew Pork Rice Plates ($8.99). Many drinks are available hot or cold in two sizes, medium and large. I believe the medium is 16 ounces and large is 24 ounces. They also offer cream/foam milk caps (e.g., cream cheese, coconut cream, strawberry cream), but they were all out of stock during our visit. Prices listed in this review were at the time of our visit.We got the Oolong Milk Tea with "classic" milk (whatever that means; I think it's powdered or instant milk), half sugar, little ice, and pudding. We got the Lychee Green Tea with half sugar, little ice, and lychee popping boba. In medium size, both of these drinks were $5.30 each. We enjoyed both of these drinks. The Oolong Milk Tea had a good balance of tea, milk, and sweet flavors. The pudding was delicious. The Lychee Green Tea was refreshing. Online, the topping option was simply listed as "lychee," so we were expecting actual pieces of lychee fruit. Instead, we got lychee popping boba. The popping boba was fine and it matched the drink well, but it wasn't what we expected. In general, I recommend the oolong and fruit tea here.The Strawberry Matcha Latte (medium, $7.10) looked pretty, but it didn't taste good. We ended up taking only a few sips and tossing it, unfortunately. The Dirty Tiger Milk (medium, $4.90) wasn't as bad - I was able to make it through most of it. I'm a fan of sweet, sugary, milk drinks, but the flavor wasn't all there on this one. And, as mentioned above, the boba was too hard. Cha House's Dirty Tiger Milk drink is their take on the popular Tiger Sugar brand's signature brown sugar boba drink. I had mine prepared with fresh milk. Other milk options included soy, almond, coconut, oat, and macadamia (they were out of macadamia milk when we visited). Also, the outside of my Dirty Tiger Milk drink was served sticky. They forgot/didn't wipe the outside of the cup after preparing the drink.The Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (snack size, $6.79) and Bubble Waffle with caramel drizzle ($6.50) were par for the course. This was an online takeout order, so they were packed into boxes with no holes for ventilation. Therefore, both the chicken and waffle got wet (and in the waffle's case, a little soggy) due to the condensation. Quality was fine, though. I just wish the chicken nuggets were crispy. They also tasted under-seasoned compared to the Taiwanese popcorn chicken I've had from other bubble tea places.It's great how Cha House is local, independent, and environmentally-friendly unlike the big chain bubble tea brands. I will say for to-go orders, it's easier to transport drinks from a place like Kung Fu Tea because the drinks are film-sealed and served in waterproof bags. Here, you have to deal with snap-shut lids with straw holes and cupholders similar to a fast food restaurant. However, Cha House's approach is better for the environment so it's a commendable tradeoff.At the time of writing this review, there are two Cha House locations: this one in West Raleigh near NC State and one in Cary. According to their website, locations are coming to Miami, Washington DC, Greenville, Wake Forest, and Myrtle Beach. My wife has been to the Chapel Hill location on Franklin St, but it has since closed: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cha-house-chapel-hill. She said the boba there was the same as the boba here, too hard.In this area for bubble tea, we prefer Moge Tee: https://www.yelp.com/biz/moge-tee-raleigh-raleigh.

I always enjoy popping into Cha House. Parking can be hit or miss since it's street parking, but luckily this side of Hillsborough street isn't as busy. The employees are always friendly here and I like that you can also order ahead. It can get super busy so things can run a bit slowly. If you are in a rush, I definitely suggest ordering ahead. The popcorn chicken is probably my favorite thing here, it's just so darn tasty. The perfect afternoon snack or lunch. The garlic parm fries are also great. My go to drink here is the strawberry matcha latte, less sweet. It's a great balance of flavors. I've tried quite a few drinks and you can't really go wrong, just depends what you are looking for. I do appreciate how this location has ample seating both inside and out. It's always busy, but you can usually find a seat!

If you're looking for good boba, i wouldn't recommend cha house. we came in today, got the lychee milk tea, matcha latte and strawberry milk tea, none of them were good. they put jellies in the lychee that we didn't ask for, boba in the strawberry that we didn't ask for. the matcha definitely isn't ceremonial grade matcha because it tastes like grass. we left cha house and immediately went to another boba place to get real boba.

Drinks turned out tasty but were not very cold. Either had no ice or ice had completely melted.The tofu snack is really inconsistent. I've spoken with the owner a few times about this and it just keeps happening. We haven't been here in a while and this time there was basically no seasoning and they were lukewarm to cold, and unless the owner makes them himself they are always overcooked versus gooey.Interior menu signs have also changed to some laminated blowup posters, and it seems a bit of a mess up there whereas before it was so cute and chic and easier to read. I think the new flag might be distracting too and could go on a different wall. A lot going on behind the counter now.Service was very nice but slow. I think there were technical issues because we didn't get our receipt or order number so we had to be hyper vigilant watching for ours.Would still stop in if we were strolling campus, but won't be going out of our way to go there because we're tired of this happening when we're dropping nearly $50 in "snacks" and drinks.The owners are really kind and I hope will find a way to get some quality control implemented.

Super delicious lunch here today. Stopped by as we had some things to do at NCSU. Hot day, cooler but not fully climate controlled inside. Interior is whimsical and fun. Comfortable seating and cozy nooks. Staff was friendly and fast. The bubble teas were great. Love their boba. We got the fried chicken and waffle. Perfection! The waffle is an array of small round spheres with a soft interior and a slightly crunchy crust. Fried chicken bites and maple syrup top the giant waffle. The sweet savory combo was divine. Also tried the fried pork which was delightful as well.

Such a cute and clean place, it's well decorated and inviting with a friendly staff, and solid menu. Enough boba options to chose from, and even vegetarian options for snacking. The green scallion pancake was delicious, and the popcorn chicken was good, but the Thai chili snack and the sauce they cover it In was our favorite. Definitely recommend trying it! Will return when in the area again.

Such a cute place for the college kids! I've been to the Cary location and really enjoyed my drink, but had no clue they served food at their locations as well. We decided to try the Raleigh location and the food was amazing. We had the Thai chili popcorn chicken and the Thai fries. The flavors were AMAZING. My boyfriend was so obsessed that he came back the next day, during the tropical storm, just to get some. Not to mention the portion sizes of the food were much larger than I was expecting for the price. For drinks, I had the lavender latte and my boyfriend had a matcha latte. We will be back!

Same quality as the chapel hill location, but they don't serve the matcha slush here. We got:Thai tea with bobaMango matchaStrawberry matcha All of our drinks were well balanced flavors esp between the matcha and fruit purées. Service was fast and friendly and the interior is clean and big enough for a small crowd.Parking is metered parking in downtown Raleigh.

I enjoy coming here for lunch. I always get the tofu rice plate and a bubble tea. The plate comes with a boiled egg and steamed broccoli. It feels healthy and is filling. It's near a college so sometimes it's a bit of traffic to get to it. However, it has a great ambiance. I have sat here to read or book or meet up with a friend. Depending on the day the quality can differ, which is why it's not a 5 star. I have come sometimes and the tofu has been too peppery or I have only had like 5 pieces of tofu. Over all, great lunch option in Raleigh!

Wonderful staff, very friendly. Loved the London fog with lavender. Atmosphere is quiet. Great place to sit and chat.