Tsaocaa Lincoln Park

Sweet escape at TSAOCAA – Fullerton If heaven had a dessert lounge, TSAOCAA would be on the top floor. We ordered the mango snow ice, and let me just say—this thing deserves its own fan club. Creamy, dreamy, and loaded with fresh mango chunks, drenched in condensed milk and topped with a proud swirl of whipped cream like a crown—it was the royalty of shaved ice. Every spoonful was a tropical vacation. The ambiance? Chill and cozy with subtle modern Asian café vibes. Staff was courteous, and the dessert presentation was Instagram-worthy (clearly, as seen in my accidental food photoshoot 📸). Perfect for sharing—unless you suddenly turn selfish like I did. I came in craving something light and fruity, left with mango euphoria and zero regrets. Highly recommend this place for anyone looking to cool off with style and flavor. Can’t wait to come back and try the other snow ice flavors!

Really cute vibes, quick and easy menu, and delicious drinks! We got a brown sugar boba and rose lychee fruit tea- being able to customize how much ice and your level of sweetness and up to 23 toppings is absolutely incredible. There's an endless amount of drinks you can create and I have no doubt they're all tasty!

Saw the good reviews and had to check it out! They got plenty of seating and it’s a nicely decorated space, I love the mural! Ordering on the tablet is a little confusing and tedious but works. Food items are pretty expensive, but the garlic boneless wings were so tasty! So was the bubble waffle, though I wish the Oreo one came with cream. Great tea too, it was so refreshing!

I ordered the chicken wings, but they had an unusual flavor, and the meat didn't taste fresh. When I raised my concerns, they refused to issue a refund. I won't be ordering from them again. Sorry, but you've lost a customer.

I usually go here after I get a massage from a place down the street. It’s my finale in my self help day. I don’t know what the special ingredient is with these guys, but the boba tea just tastes immaculate! My go to for a rainy day. A sunny day. A self help day. And every day in between:)

My go to boba place since years. Plenty of flavors and culturally aesthetic vibe. Get the Taro and brown sugar.

Went here for the first time today and ordered 2 drinks is what me and my finacee thought they charged us 30$ telling us it was the correct order when the lady in the front went to hand us the order she had somehow rung up 4 drinks instead of 2 and refused to give us back the money or fix the fact she doubled everything. She said that we should hand them out if anything as if we didn’t just pay 30$ for them and that’s the advice given drinks taste good but for the mess up. 1/10

All desserts are delicious! Love everything there! But i had try a chicken not the best but its okay! Mostly i will have bing-su, conjac bubble tea! My go to dessert place so far!

Tsaocaa is a solid spot for bingsu can be difficult to find around the city, but it's nothing to write home about. There are plenty of toppings and flavors to choose from on a kiosk. We got the bingsu with mango, lychee, and mochi toppings, drizzled with condensed milk. There's tons of seating and service was prompt. The only critique is that everything could be priced better. Other than that, I'd come back here for bingsu on a warm summer night.

Drink is delicious, Pineapple yogurt with conjac bobba, pineapple flavored and has like a milk ish sourtaste because of the yogurt. I reccomend.

Loved the mango and strawberry ice here! Super refreshing and perfect for sharing. There's a ton of tables at this location too and it has its own parking lot which is a huge plus.

This review is for an order from Uber Eats, so I can't comment on the service or ambiance, but just the drinks! Ordered the taro milk with purple rice and coconut milk, oolong milk tea, and iced americano. The oolong milk tea was really good - strong tea flavor! The taro milk with purple rice, boba, and coconut milk was disappointing, I wish there was more taro paste instead of rice and boba. I would have gotten just taro milk if there was an option on Uber Eats - not sure if it's possible in store. It's also practically a meal with all the extra carbs from the rice and boba, plus Thai coconut milk is quite heavy in fats compared to regular milk. The iced americano was as expected - no complaints there! I found it interesting that this place is not sweet at all - perfect for us Asians lol. But it's unusually not sweet, typically I get 50% sugar at other spots but here my husband's 75% wasn't sweet at all - might need 100% sugar here! Overall, the oolong milk tea was really good so we'd come back for that.

Upscale Boba place with lots of options... Ella in the counter helped with my choice. I got the mango with lychee and browsn sugar boba for my teen. The space is very cute with British telephone booth and cute decor .will definitely comeback. 2 Bobas cost $14 and was on the higher end but best part is u can control the % of sugar . I got 30% sugar which was perfect amount of sweetness!!

(Review based on a Oct 2022 visit) First of all, I found it weird that I could only order through the touch screen. I guess I'm not so anti social that I don't want to avoid telling someone my order directly? I had a substitution I wanted to make for a drink but it wasn't immediately obvious how to input that into the ordering system. I had to flag down one of the bobaristas who had to explain how to switch one mix in for another. After ordering our drinks though, everything else went fine. The teas were refreshing and the mix ins were good. Details: - Contactless ordering at kiosk - Sweetness and ice level adjustable

Easy to order and fast for a Friday night for our party of 6! Besides the drinks our party got an order of macarons. The only thing disappointing was they had no more punch cards!

Girl in front working 8/25 does not know how to act right and make boba. Very rude and boba taste like from the trash can. Please retrain this employee. Thank you

Finally got around to trying this place! This place just opened I believe. I love the fact that it's inside a plaza meaning there's more parking! However, the parking lot is pretty small and it was full when I went so I just parked on the street. As you walk inside, it's very spacious with lots of seating space. It's connected to bb.q chicken which I think is awesome because I've tried the location in Niles and loved it. The interior design is beautiful with dark red walls. The thing that sucked was that they only have like 2 kiosks for ordering - 1 on the Tsaocaa side and 1 on the bb.q chicken side which was less noticeable to me. They have a register but there was a sign that indicated it was only for cash or card with a $10 minimum so I was forced to wait for the kiosk. Jasmine green tea milk tea: This was one of their specialty drinks. It was a cute milky rose color. I ordered 100% sweetness and honestly it wasn't that sweet which was surprising. This drink already comes with lychee jelly as its default but I added their amber boba just cause. It was good and refreshing! I would love to come back and try their other drinks as well as some of their desserts :)

Love everything here!! The decorations are like modern inspired Chinese. There are lots of seating available during 2 pm but they got tons of carry out so needs to wait for a bit. The only place in Chicago that provide Korean ice cream snowflake. It really fulfilled me. The condensed milk is a bit less for me compared to the ice proportions but you can ask it more from the server. The only problem for me is the milk tea doesn't have much taste it's very light even after you choose extra sweet otherwise everything is perfect

Happy that this place is open until 10pm during the week. Upon walking in, you realize it's connected to a bbq.chicken which is quite interesting but also convenient I guess. We ordered in the ordering machine and I got a strawberry non dairy drink with 50% sugar. My friend got something else which I much more preferred. My drink didn't have much flavor honestly. Maybe it was my fault getting that particular drink, but at 50% sugar I'd still think it would taste better. This place is convenient if you're in the area. Also there's a little strip mall for parking in case you come by in a car.

New bubble tea joint that's also connected to a fried chicken place next door. You order through a kiosk though it's not the most user friendly way to view the menu - I miss paper menus...:( there's no option for "no ice" so may need to be a special note added for those who prefer this option. Overall the tea was ok - I asked for light ice but even that was too much for me as it made the milk tea taste watered down. The bubbles in it was good and the inside sitting area looked very comfortable. Price was pretty heft at almost $7 for this drink which didn't quite feel worth it for me. This shop is inside a little strip mall with a free parking lot which is a plus. Traffic in this area was terrible coming on a weekend afternoon which makes me less likely to visit. They do a have a wide menu of fruity drinks including smoothies and fruit teas which are tempting...

This place has been a go-to because of its proximity to our apartment, but its customer service is seriously lacking and has us questioning whether it's even worth it to come back. We placed an online pickup order that went through twice due to an error. We noticed the error right away when we were sent two email confirmations within seconds apart with the same order. So, we called the store as soon as we saw to ask if we could cancel/not get charged for the second order because it was not meant to be placed. The girl on the phone was adamant on the fact that we would have to pay for the drinks, even though we expressed that the second order was placed due to some technical error out of our control. After explaining this multiple times, she reluctantly told us we wouldn't have to pay, but was extremely rude and unsympathetic throughout the whole conversation. When we got to the store and asked about our order, the girl at the register met us with attitude and made us feel like an inconvenience. We weren't even looked at or spoken to until the end of the interaction when she asked if we wanted a receipt. We said thank you multiple times and were ignored. This whole interaction left a really bitter taste in our mouths. Not sure if the drinks/food were worth the hassle of being treated so poorly.

Surprisingly super fast boba! I ordered the Rose Oolong Tea with Pear and Goji. I also added lychee jelly to it. Would highly recommend! I'm quite the tea snob and not only did they have my order in no longer than 2 minutes, but it tasted fantastic! This location is new but it has a large seating area. Plenty of room if you want to bring a group of 6+ people which can be extremely hard to find. Ordering is easy, done through a kiosk. They also have a person there if you want to pay cash. They accept Google and Apple Pay which I love using. I'll definitely be a repeat customer! The fruit they put in the teas is fresh and boy does it make the difference!

Happy that Tsaocaa opened up a location in Lincoln Park! My absolute favorite drink to order here is the grapefruit green tea slush! I also really love their double mix Korean snowflake ice with strawberries and mangos. I personally feel their bubble tea is good but not the best I've had in Chicago. I ordered the jasmine milk green tea at 50% sugar and it wasn't quite sweet enough for me, but I think perhaps I'll order it at 70% next time.

I usually come here for Kpop Cupsleeves in the Chicago area! They have ample seating space and orders are usually put out quickly. Service is quick and efficient! As for their drinks, I love their milk-based ones but not a huge fan of their fruit teas?

The bingsu was life changing; I can eat this everyday if I was allowed to. I need to come back soon. The sauce on the honey garlic wings was amazing and the crispiness of the chicken was perfect. I'm coming back for more bingsu. Period.

Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Boba Less ice | 100% sweetness | Oat Milk DRINK: 5/5 I ordered Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Boba and substituted the milk for oat milk and it's really good! BOBA: 5/5 It's chewy, but not too chewy. The texture and firmness of it is perfect. Although, the boba is a tiny bit smaller than what I'm used to. SERVICE: 5/5 I went through the self-serve station since you need a $19 minimum to use the window and I had my drink in less than a few minutes!

This place is such a treat! From the decor to the easy walk up order screen that also take Apple Pay. All of my food came out hot and fresh and my drink was delicious. I recommend all three of these items. The chicken is a sweet and savory flavor not spicy at all. This place has my endorsement

I got the mashed taro coconut milk with boba and I thought it would be interesting since I usually love those flavors. But it was literal chunks of taro in coconut milk which was not good. At least this location in Lincoln Park is spacious and cute, and they have free parking right in front so that's a win. They do also serve chicken and bingsoo at this location so maybe those are better but I wouldn't go back for the drinks. Service was all right.

We came here to get bubble tea while we waited on a food order from a different restaurant and I almost regretted ordering other food because the menu looks amazing. I just grabbed a delicious taro bubble tea (so cute too) and I'll be back for food later. They even have a parking lot!

food is good but common sense is lacking , If you guys charge the same for any flavor of boneless wings but on Grubhub you guys haven't updated your menu to include maple crunch, and I add it on the notes , you guys call me to say you can't make it because it's not on the Grubhub menu wow just wow So what I do canceled my Grubhub and called in the order but seriously so unnecessary horrible customer service

My absolute favorite boba place in Chicago! Has reasonable prices, lots of great and unique drink options (like the grape milk tea with grape jelly and lime milk tea with lime jelly--both sounded a lil odd but actually REALLY DELICIOUS), consistent and reliable flavors, cool ambience/very photogenic space, and it's also sleek and clean with nice staff like their Chinatown location. Pro tip: if you go regularly like I do, make sure you get the loyalty card and you'll get a free drink after buying 10 drinks!

this place so much Egg waffles are yummy. Brown sugar milk was so good, added brown sugar jelly. Def a new fave spot.

This was just okay for me. I wanted to really like it but it fell flat. The place is large and spaced out and felt very clean. There are no waiters - They do a kiosk ordering so you order on the screen and take a number and the staff brings the food to you. Decor is very pretty. The food itself is just okay. I ordered the deep purple with 100% sugar and it was not sweet at all. It actually made me a bit sick. They also put a lot of toppings in which is nice if you'd like that, but there was relatively no liquid. We also ordered chicken on the same order and they didn't bring it over to use for 30 minutes. There was no one else in the restaurant... not sure if they are just working out the kinks.

I wanted to like this place but idk. I got the taro coconut milk with bubbles with 50% sugar and tbh it was very bland. I tasted the taro but it was extremely tasteless. It reminded me of halo halo but with no flavor and extra condiments. The service here was kinda bad too. I usually order ahead and for pick up. I saw my drinks in front but the worker said she would check the back if my order was ready. Miscommunication on my part. I haven't tried the other items on the menu. However, I would not come here for boba again. Prices were not bad because some items came with boba.

Finally a Tsaocaa closer in the north side and we don't need to go south anymore. Just a few minutes away from home and it is located in a plaza so no need to worry about paying for parking although the parking lot does fill up pretty quick if you were looking for a late night sweet run like we were. It's also connected to bbq chicken so you can eat dinner then have dessert just a few steps away. We came for the Korean Snowflake Ice and it is always delicious! It a a huge portion I would say even good enough for 4 people but we ate between 2 people it was a lot. You can choose whichever flavors you would like such as strawberry, mango, etc. There is usually red beans in it but I think they ran out of it for the night so there wasn't much. We overheard the next table next to us had the same thing & they got asked if they wanted something else to replace it, I wish we had that option as well. Some of their milk tea is okay. I am more of a fan of the floral flavors.

Macaroons (vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, coffee) 10/10 - perfect texture Fried chicken (plain and honey garlic) 10/10 - sauce was just sweet enough and you can hear the crunch from across the room lol 10/10 - bubble tea (taro, strawberry, and melon) Just the right amount of sweetness 10/10 - the fries are my favorite part. They are soggy but like a good soggy?? I dig it. I've order 4 times here the past two weeks and it's always consistent quality

We order delivery from here often because they have some of the best bubble tea in the city. The different sweetness levels are great for us as we prefer our bubble tea on the less sweet side. We also enjoy their wings and it doesn't hurt that they use organic eggs in their HK style eggette. Here's where I am really impressed--when they don't get it right, they back it up. We had a drink that we often order that was accidentally at full sweetness instead of the 30% we ordered. Tony, the manager, after determining that the drink had indeed been made incorrectly, had someone personally deliver a correctly-made replacement to us. That is fantastic customer service and made us even bigger fans of this place.

Loved the variety, and, convenient ordering. The location is where Trotters To Go used to be.

Very good boba tea!!! Not too sweet. Good consistency. Cutely decorated store - super clean. The only is that I wish they would have a description of the types of tea as well as the toppings. Wasn't sure what conjac boba was. I will for sure be back! Great addition to the neighborhood - much needed.

Horrible Customer Service. I came in with my family and ordered a bingsu, and when prompted if I wanted red bean, I said no. After starting to eat it, I found red bean in the middle. When I went up to the counter to tell them, they told me to give them the bowl. After that, they proceeded to simply scoop out the red bean. How is that appropriate customer service? Instead of making a new bingsu without red bean, they just removed the visible red bean, which doesn't resolve the issue and shows a lack of care for the customer's preference. This experience has left me quite dissatisfied and unlikely to return or recommend this place to others. I'm lucky that I didn't have a family member with an allergy, which could've led to an incident. After seeing her scoop out the red bean, I just asked for a refund. Which led to a confrontation that was simply not needed and could have been avoided. Not only did an argument ensue, but they told me that a refund wouldn't be possible. After a little back and forth, they magically learned how to process a refund.

This place was awesome! I came here when it first opened and will have to go back soon! Large menu, I got the rice cake bowl and it was soooo good, the sauce was amazing!

Very excited that we have a bubble tea place close to us! I've been to the location in Chinatown and this one did not disappoint. It has a big dining area in which it shares with bbq chicken, a Korean fried chicken joint that we are also a fan of. We've tried a handful of their milk teas as well as fruit teas. My favorite is probably the grapefruit slush. My cousin enjoyed the ruby black milk tea that I got for her before. I would note that their bubble is probably on the firmer side, but that is just personal preference. I would love to come back here in the summer and try their bingsoo. I've seen others eat it while waiting to pick up my order and I can't wait to try it. Service can be slow, so would highly recommend ordering online and then coming to pick it up!

Cute place located in a strip mall off of Fullerton in Lincoln Park. Plus is their decor and parking lot. I'm not a fan of their lack of customer service with the self order kiosk but such is the new world of consumerism. I like being able to ask questions and known what the employees would recommend but we took a chance at the melon and matcha tea with pearl and melon pieces. I may skip the matcha next time bc the melon milk tea was good! I also like how you can customize ice, sweetness and other ad ins. Overall we were very pleased. I took some pictures of the place but forgot to take a pic of our drinks hahaha.

Love it. Great drinks, great food, great atmosphere. Hard to get the attention of the staff when you're picking up online orders tho, usually busy.

We ordered the brown sugar milk tea, one with 50% sugar and the other with 100% sugar. Both drinks had no flavor at all, sadly. You couldnt tell the difference with sweetness level it was like i was drinking water. It's also sad that they stopped putting ice cream on the bingsu. Instead its just whipped cream. Probably to cut costs, but the bingsu is what made me a loyal customer so will have to find a new place to get it! I do recommend eating the food from bb.q chicken though. Everything there never disappoints. The servers are a bit rude and only want to talk amongst themselves in the back but the food is always consistent. :)

Tras. Very good and. Flavors was very good the only thing I don't like was to eating in the restaurant is size too warm when he's 9 100° outside inside he's not cold is not going to I have to take it to go to eat in my car but then other than that everything is great

Everything I got was just so bad. The wings are disgusting. They seem like they are undercooked yet cooked frozen chicken that was undercooked. Sauce is overly sweet and not at all spicy. Fries were also disgusting. Bubble tea is subpar and basically flavorless. Macarons would not recommend. Please don't spend your money here.

Food quality is good but, I've been coming here for weeks at a time and the food usually takes way over half an hour even if it's just an appetizer. Today I came in, place had only one other couple sitting down. We ordered fries, onions rings, dumplings to go, and two drinks. Even though there was only one other couple sitting down our food took an hour to come out. The couple was constantly asking when their two food items were coming out as well. Another gentlemen ended up getting upset at the staff for ordering food to go and waiting for over 45 minutes while they told him "5 minutes, 5 minutes" each time. There are many other better boba/ Korean food places in Chicago other than this place. It's expensive and staff doesn't really value the time of their customers. Not coming back to this place.

Fabulous boba, snacks and ambience. Thank you for opening in this Boba desert! Our new go-to

my bubble tea was really watery and the staff did not interact with me for almost 10 minutes of me standing at the counter

One of my favorite boba or bubble tea places in chicago. It's a local chain and I am so happy they're able to expand. This place looks very spacious for studying and getting together with someone. I hope they're able to welcome students as it it close to the DePaul area or working professionals. And if you are hungry, there's Korean fried chicken next door oh and there's free parking in their lot as well!

Honestly it wasn't bad for boba but it seemed pretty generic. The ordering process was a little extra when it wasn't needed. My drink was pretty mid and my girlfriends was better than mine. But I can't say I have anything bad to say about it. Definition of a 3 star place