Looking for boba tea? Here's where to find the drink in Springfield
If you're looking for a boba tea fix, you've come to the right place. Here's the Springfield News-Leader's roundup of where to get the Taiwanese drink in Springfield.
We've broken this story into categories: Just boba, for those who just want the drink, and boba and beyond, for those who want to snack as they sip on their beverage. Additionally, there are some other places that don't bill themselves as boba tea cafes, but still offer them. Find those under "boba on the menu."
What is boba?
Boba tea, also called bubble tea, is a drink that traditionally combines tea and chewy pearls of tapioca. There are dozens of variations, both on the tea and the pearls — juice-filled popping boba, for example, or jellies in the place of tapioca — allowing it to be a highly customizable drink.
The idea of drinking tea through an extra-fat straw with boba pearls swimming in the cup was an idea that emerged in Taiwan in the '80s, according to the American Encyclopedia of Food and Drink. Ten years later, the drink (also called "bubble tea") became popular in Asian-American communities and has since branched out from there.
Just boba
La Boba Cafe, 1601 W. Sunshine St., Suite D — One of Springfield's first cafes devoted solely to boba tea, La Boba Cafe opened in 2016. La Boba Cafe offers milk tea in flavors like lychee, oolong, and white chocolate, as well as tea, smoothies and coffee drinks. Topping options include grass jelly, lychee jelly, black and white boba. They also serve rolled ice cream.
SocieTea, 1653 E. Sunshine St. and 2144 E. Republic Road, Springfield — SocieTea's selections include milk tea, yogurt smoothies, coffee and fruit tea. They also offer a variety of topping options, like tapioca pearls, jellies and cheese creams.
Sno Bubble Tea, 2825 S. Glenstone Ave., Suite VT14, Springfield — This spot is inside Battlefield Mall's food court, and serves up a variety of teas and smoothies that you can add boba to.
From 2016: La Boba Cafe is Springfield's new place for treats like milk tea, boba pearl and smoothies
Boba and beyond
Filipino Market's Boba and Bakery, 3448 S. Campbell Ave. — Technically, Filipino Market's Boba and Bakery counter is still in its soft-opening phase, so the menu is still changing. Here, you can get tea and shakes in flavors like pandan and durian, as well as pick up a cup of halo-halo, a Filipino dessert that layers crushed ice and sweetened condensed milk with jellies, sweetened red beans, fruit, and more.
Teaology Boba Cafe, 1111 E. Republic Road, Springfield — One of the most recent boba tea places to open in Springfield, Teaology offers a variety of savory snacks alongside their boba selection. Guests can munch on fries, dumplings, egg rolls, popcorn chicken and kolache. Teaology also serves bahn mi, a Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette, with a variety of fillings.
Lucky Cat Boba and Taiyaki, 3424 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield — In addition to drinks and taiyaki, a Japanese fish-shaped cake, Lucky Cat Boba and Taiyaki also serves bao zi (steamed buns), dango (rice flour dumplings served on a stick), daifuku (filled mochi), and cake slices. Not hungry? You can browse their wide variety of stationary, anime figurines, wallets and other trinkets.
Boba on the menu
Many places in the area carry boba tea despite it not being their main offering. Listed below are a few of the places that have boba on the menu.
S&L Donuts, 1011 S. Glenstone Ave., facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063126494889;
Bambu, 1338 E Battlefield Road, springfieldbambu.com;
K Fried Chicken, 3050 S. National Ave.;
Pho Kim, 3433 S. Campbell Ave., phokimspringfield.com;
Teriyaki House, 1128 S. Glenstone Ave., teriyakihousesgf.com.
Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield's spots for boba tea, snacks and more
