Yaya Tea Gramercy

The place is fantastic, the variety of flavors and food is great, and the staff are absolutely amazing. One star off because I WANT THE 25% SUGAR OPTION BACK. Apparently it has been removed from the menu which is the stupidest decision ever?! Especially when getting multiple syrups. Some people can't have too much sugar or just don't want to. Let them make their decisions and leave castomisation alone, it is literally what made this place better than it's competitors

My school mate had an event and they bought the tea from here. To my surprise, its actually quite good. Especially the fruit tea. I love how they are not over sweetened and just right. I definitely will visit here again if I have a chance.

green apple flavor!!! i love 😏💪 the onigiri was soo expensive. i got 4 onigiri and it was $30 💀 i liked the tempura crab meat onigiri. i didnt like the seaweed one. their takoyaki onigiri was mid but tempura always wins

When we’re looking for bubble teas our go-to-location is Yaya Tea in Gramercy. We get a Taro with extra tapioca as our once a week treat. We also look forward to their seasonal teas. For food, we grab a salmon, crab or shrimp tempura onigiri at least once or twice a week. There is a small and large size for the onigiri. We recommend the small size unless you’re really hungry. The Bulgogi onigiri may be even better. The Bulgogi is warm thinly sliced Beef in a sweet sauce rolled into a rice triangle which is just yummy. Looking for something quick or for on the go, try Yaya in Gramercy.

Bubble tea is definitely watered down and tastes like they got it from a garden hose. Almost tastes like I’m drinking something expired, and I couldn’t tell if it was the boba or the milk. The first time I came here, I had thought the weird taste was because I forgot to ask for dairy-free milk, but I got lactaid this time and it still tastes the same. Lactaid is typically pretty creamy too, so the consistency of the tea doesn’t match. Water was definitely added. Also, the amount of boba you get is less than many other boba tea spots I’ve been to. I gave this place another chance, but ended up throwing out my drink both times. I’m not wasting my money here again.

Not a fan of the taro milk tea and the onigiri had very little filling. Love their fruit tea though and went back multiple times during my trip.

I LOVED THIS PLACE!! The boba and tea was so perfect! I ordered the jasmine milk tea w/ boba. I loved the place/ambiance too. Very relaxing.

My favorite bubble tea place. Love Better Life tea with Pop Yogurt jelly. Get some of onigiri rice balls they are so good! Friendly atmosphere at the store. Great addition to the neighborhood! :) Definitely a place to go!

Hilarious flavors sometimes!! Inside was cozy and chic. You place your order with the screen and then they prepare it for you in the back behind the counter. Some of the drink names are wild! I ordered the period pad and it was the best period pad I've ever tasted!

This Yaya Tea is a convenient spot to visit when you want a quick bite. I love the crawfish riceballs and the yaya chicken. The drinks are good too and I enjoy getting the first love with mango star. This spot is usually packed however, the line moves quick and they added the kiosks in store to improve this.

Came here with some friends on Sunday around noon. The boba shop is small and built for pickup, there's no seating at all. They have 2 kiosks for ordering and when we went there were very few people. I got the Kawaii Smile (Mango Lychee Passionfruit White Tea) with Yogurt Popping boba. The drink was very good, and I liked the combination of mango and lychee. I should've gotten 50% sugar but it still was very tasty. However, almost all of the boba was pre-popped! There were only ~5 non-popped popping bobas, the rest of the boba was just the flavorless shell part. Maybe I should've gotten a more popular topping but this is the first time I've ever seen this happen.

I've been to a YaYa Tea a while back in Chinatown and it was pretty good. Recently, I've been craving fruity teas & just so happens I was around 23rd street and learned there was a YaYaTea up here too! Such a convenient location near Baruch & many other schools & businesses. I ordered the boyfriend, which is lychee, mango, white tea, with mango jelly. It was so cute with the star shaped jellies & the quotes around the cup. This boyfriend was more tasty than my husband ( ;P haha don't tell him) with the jellies at just the right texture. Will definitely come again!

This is the first time going to this yaya tea location. I had wanted an onigiri for some time. I also got a bubble tea. The cashier lady was very nice and helpful. I ordered several onigiris. I ordered 2 chicken 2 salmon 1 crab meat 1 spam and 1shumai. The bubble tea was also one of their most popular flavors and i can see why. The onigiris were really good too. Though i got 2 span and 0 shumai instead. This was a little upsetting to find but not a big deal since it was a small issue. Though it was labeled as a shumai onigiri and not a spam onigiri. Overall all the other ones all tasted delicious and i have to return to one soon.

Hot Thai Milk Tea: comforting drink for a cold day. This is a cute Yaya Tea with the usual tea options and some food options. I've had the rice balls in the past and they're decent, nice for a snack or meal (depending on the size and your appetite). The interior is really cute. There is no indoor dining, but they still take the time to put up nice seasonal decorations and some inspirational wall art. There's also a few racks with packaged snacks and knick knacks for sale. Overall, a very tidy and adorable shop. It wasn't busy, so I was able to order immediately. There are also signs hung up reminding you that you can order online, in case you don't want to wait in a line or if you just don't feel like human interaction. I got a hot Thai milk tea. It came out quickly and the worker was nice to remind me to be careful about the heat. The cup had a floral decoration on it, which I wouldn't mind buying on a reusable cup. The tea itself is sweet and creamy. There's a little bit of aftertaste, maybe from the dairy being heated? I didn't think it was bad but just unexpected

I like to come here once in a while to get some boba and rice balls. I've only had their fruity drinks and they're really good. My personal favorites from here would be the blue blood and the spam rice ball. Next time I will try their matcha latte to see if it's good.

I ordered ahead via Ritual so the order was ready by the time I arrived. The onigiri (rice balls) was good. I ordered the Salmon one as well as the spam one. They were both freshly made as it was still nice and warm. I also ordered bubble teas - jasmine milk tea and taro milk tea. Enjoyed both and the tapioca bubbles tasted nice and fresh too. Drink trays are only given when you buy 4 drinks. I had only bought 2 drinks which made it pretty hard to juggle with a stroller in tow.

Always opting for Oolong Milk Tea I must say Yaya could be up there with the best. Adding tapioca, 75% sugar was the perfect combination and I appreciate the fact there was ice but not too much. Although there were 10+ people in the small storefront you can ether order at the front or at the kiosk and it went by fairly quickly. It was hard not to get a snack with tea but I definitely will next time.

Lots of good unigiri options and taste very authentic. I had the tuna, salmon and the fried chicken. The flavors were pretty good but not the best I've ever had so that's why they got 4 stars. It's a great option to have in the neighborhood and will definitely go back!!

The store is small and cute. It has a bunch of different Asian snacks. I ordered the octopus balls and a shrimp tempura rice ball. The shrimp tempura rice ball was super tasty, but the octopus balls were disappointing. They were too soggy and mushy.

The Boyfriend( mango+lychee) fruit tea was so good. I got mango star & popping lychee as toppings. The Takoyaki was really good too. The sauce that came with it was good. I love Bonito flakes & Takoyaki in general. Just the right amount of salt, saucy & just pure goodness.

Very poor service, did not confirm the order of the front desk staff, I got the wrong order, very disappointed!

Very bad tea. No flavor. $9 down the drain. Literally threw it away after tasting it.

Came in today because I was craving bubble tea after a long morning of work. Ordered an iced matcha with 25% sweetness and aloe. Unfortunately I didn't like their matcha :( it was grainy. Will I come back? Yes-- but to try something else other than matcha. **they put a cute inspiring quote on the bottom of every drink that put a smile on my face :)

I usually go to Chinatown to get these so was happy to see this spot so close to my office. I came around 12pm and it was packed with students who go to the schools nearby. Not a great amount of seating but eating this to-go is easy. Ordered the Japanese rice ball, salmon rice ball and small peach mango tea white tea with lychee jelly. Japanese rice ball - hands down, still my favorite. Seaweed, crab meat and egg. Delicious and warm! Salmon rice ball - I'm really confused by this. I've had it before and it tastes different at this location. Looked more like tuna than salmon. I know the cashier repeated the order to me so it had to be salmon, right? Either way, it was just okay, less filling than the Japanese rice ball. Peach mango white tea with lychee jelly - just alright. Tasted like pure sugar. Total for all this was $9 which isn't bad. Food and a drink that is fairly filling.

If you're craving onigiri, this is the spot! I ordered a chicken onigiri, shrimp tempura onigiri, and the Japanese onigiri. I love how each one is wrapped so that the seaweed stays crunchy, and the food was still warm after both transport and sitting out for a while. Each one was around $3 for the small size, which is a lot more food than it looks like for such a good price. The fillings were generous and tasty. The service is quick and the food is great and affordable. Highly recommend!

Discover this spot from buddy who discovered it from his 10 yr old. Make pretty good onigiri balls. Tea wasn't overly sugary either. Got the Chrysanthemum tea with honey. Might feel strange on occasion as it's usually full of teen girls.

Smaller than the Chinatown location but still provides the same quality onigiri that the Chinatown location offers. Delicious little meal to go. I would say I've had these plenty in japan and they make them just as well. Get the spam or the Japanese. I also tried spicy crawfish which was a special version and it was also delightful. I'm not mentioning the bubble tea or the snack wall but those offerings seem similar despite the half size of this location.

First, we are avid Milk Tea drinkers and can always go for a nice riceball when on the run. WE HAVE GIVEN THIS SHOP numerous chances.. First time we came in they ran out of Boba in the middle of the afternoon, this seems to be a normal occurrence. Now, we come in today to order Boba and Spam Rice Ball.. the CUSTOMER SERVICE is a joke.. nobody greets us and ask if we want to place an order.. (this isn't a big deal).. Then; we order and wait.. and wait.. and wait.. and wait..and wait.. other people come and go but we still wait for our rice ball and milk tea. We proceed to the counter and the guy who is working says he doesn't know when our rice ball will be ready.. ( how do these people work here, unless it's a family business) Look at the photos I have included. It's the worst Japanese establishment in the area.. We have been to many!!!! Long story short. IF YOU WANT MILK TEA OR QUICK JAPANESE SNACKS ON THE GO.. AVOID THIS ESTABLISHMENT.. tons of options in the area, go spend your money elsewhere.. I hate posting negative reviews but we have been here numerous times and it's a JOKE.. The worst part is, we live around the block so we had high hopes for this establishment. The 10.00 we spent isn't even worth refunding, I just won't return and hope you guys change the way the shop is operated. -nick

LOVE the vegan rice balls!!! They are my absolute favorite! Usually you'll experience about 15 minutes wait for your order because the place is usually really busy. The bubble tea is amazing as well. I recommend Okinawa and Taro!

Had high hopes for this place but the flavors just didn't cut it for me. WAIT: Came on a Sunday around 2:30pm and there was only 1 person waiting for food. We ordered quickly and got our drinks within 2 minutes or so. ATMOSPHERE: There are 2 long communal tables where people can sit so there are places to chill with larger groups. There was no one when we were there so I'm not sure how crowded it gets. FOOD: They have Japanese snacks as well as onigiri and regular drinks. OSMANTHUS AND ROSE - one of their popular combos, I added honey and boba to make it sweeter. I liked the amount of teas they had to brew but the rose didn't have any tea and I wanted some green or black tea so I opted for this combo. It had an OK flavor but overall was too watery. I wanted more of a rose taste (like boba guys). Not only that but the boba was too small and not chewy or sweet enough. They did put little sayings at the end of each drink, which was kinda cool. Overall, I wasn't impressed and probably wouldn't be back.

Loved the female worker assisting me. I came here for a late afternoon snack on Sunday 10/15 and didn't know what to get cause I wanted everything. The staff had blackish grayish hair(it was very pretty) and she described to me what each riceball tasted like patiently. Like I had a million questions which was annoying but she answered each one of them with a smile and very detailed. She even gave me recommendations from what I told her I was craving. I also was looking to get a tea but didn't want caffeine, but didn't know what their herbal teas tasted like and she was also able to describe each of the teas so that I could understand them clearly. There were a few customers in the store, so I expected a wait time, but her service was quick. The drinks were coming out one after the other. I will be coming back because of the female staff that assisted me. The food was amazing, props to the staff recommending me to get a spicy mayo to bring out the flavors of the riceball.

This small location of this mini-chain of Japanese snacks and drinks is welcome in this neighborhood largely devoid of places to get small Asian bites. I grew up with all the Calbee chips and rice rolls just a stone's throw away from home, so though this location has a tiny menu and just a couple of shelves worth of snacks, I welcomed it with open arms. Their teas and boba drinks I'd rate 3 stars, particularly when you have so many specialty boba shops within a few blocks making superior drinks, but I come here for the onigiri and always leave very happy. Onigiri is the ideal savory snack, filled with fillings like crispy spring roll, spicy tuna, and spam, surrounded by soft sushi rice and nori. One is great for a snack, two enough for a small meal. They even make a large one as big as my entire hand, and I always spring for a spicy mayo on the side, which punches up the flavor of every bite. When the late afternoon hunger strikes, some people reach for tacos, others for a slice. If Yaya tea is around, it's going to be an onigiri for me every time.

I just like that place. My favorite boba in the area. I like fried rice balls. The service is great. I would recommend at least to try if you doubt it.

Perfect spot to hit for a snack or a quick pick me up after class. The lychee teas are so refreshing and the rice balls are super yummy. They have inside seating if you need a spot to study, and they're open pretty late which is convenient. They also have those cool Japanese candies!!! My only issue is that you have to pay for spicy mayo and they barley fill up the container you're paying for. I spent 50 cents for a container that was pretty much equivalent to the 25 cent size. And a friend of mine purchased the smaller size and there was little to none in there. Other than that i plan on coming back soon!

Known for their Onigiri. I've never had one before and happened to have found this location so I couldn't resist stopping in to order a few to try. I got the Shrimp Tempura and the Yaya Chicken with Seaweed. There's instructions to get rid of the plastics that was put together with the Onigiri to prevent the seaweed wrapping from getting soggy, pretty clever. I enjoyed both of them, but loved the Shrimp Tempura the best. Will definitely drop by again when I'm craving some!

I would give this 5 stars since I come here quite often and I really enjoy their drinks. However, I am taking away a star because I ordered 7 riceballs on August 23rd. (2 large shrimp tempura, 1large Japanese + 3 small Japanese) and the rice was terribly mushy and wet. It was very disappointing... see photos attached. The mushy rice was a big turn off and I ended up not finishing the riceballs due to the awful texture of the rice and all the toppings got very moist and mushy because of the rice.

***Excellent customer service, Quick, Spacious seating*** I really like this tea place. It's decently priced and there's a ton of drink options. I've also tried their onigiri, which is delicious and a must try! There's also two large long tables so you can sit and catch up with friends or get work done.

Super good! I love their onigiris and fruit tea. Large menu; unless you have a go-to drink that you order every time, I'd even recommend to look up their menu beforehand, as there are many interesting drinks. I ordered First Love fruit tea with lychee jelly, two seaweed onigiris & one chicken onigiri (in-store pick-up, Gramercy location). What I got was the Sunrise fruit tea and two chicken & one seaweed onigiri...even tho my order was a little off, I'm giving 4 stars because it was SO tasty! (and 'cause I might have stuttered my order a little @ the cashier lol so that's on me, anyways.) Fruit tea was super refreshing and onigiris were delicious with a little spice. Would definitely come again.

They have a ton of Asian snacks and their boba has the perfect texture, so for those two reasons alone Yaya gets five stars in my book! I thought I had tried every Pocky flavor under the sun but I spotted a coconut variety which I had to snap up and which might be my new favorite! I also went with their recommended tea blend of peach and mango with boba, hot since it was a very chilly day, and though the tea was very sweet (not sure if the sweetness is adjustable), the boba like I mentioned was perfectly chewy. Finally, I tried the shrimp tempura and the chicken rice balls, both small, and they were delicious and so filing that I couldn't finish both for lunch. They're deceptively hearty, and are pretty generous in the fillings! Though they mostly have little snack foods on the menu and therefore might not be appropriate for a full-on meal, you can definitely fill up between the beverages, rice balls, hot items, and packaged snacks, and your taste buds will thank you for a nice change of pace!

Love their rice balls / onigiris! Cute little location with a few tables, very casual. They also sell gyozas and squid balls and snacks as well as bubble tea, but I think their rice balls are the best things they sell here!

Yaya's never disappoints. They have great vegan options and their fruit teas are out of this world. It's a delicious snack or meal for a price point that's hard to beat in this area. Thank you yaya's! I've been going to the different yaya's locations since I was in high school (it's been 7 years!)

Decent tea, decent boba! Came here looking to explore the different boba options in my neighborhood. Ordered an oolong milk tea with boba, which was decent. The tea tasted authentic and the boba was chewy, but a little on the small side of what I would normally prefer. Service was decent. Overall a nice spot to check out. Not the best boba I've had but by no means the worst!

I tried the Blue Blood with aloe in a glass bottle. Seemed a little acrid at first and wondered if it was the taste of the water or straw. I took another sip and couldn't drink it anymore. I checked the bottle it looks like there's dust or something else on the bottom of the bottle? I've since left the location, so I can't tell what causes the grime/dust. I tried to email them directly, but their email link on their website is down.

So excited about this newly yaya location. It's close to my school! Hopefully other similar/yummy stores start moving into the area, as well. Faves: -Shrimp Tempura Onigiri- crunchy shrimp tempura sandwiched between steamy rice and wrapped in seaweed Other: -Chicken Onigiri- was nice; had a "roasted" flavor/taste. I didn't like the marinade. -Japanese onigiri- very oriental palate cleanser. -Matcha latte- low grade & grainy texture*

As someone who worked in food service for 3 years, customer service sucks and my interaction today felt a little discriminatory. My cousin ordered a Lychee Tree and the wrong drink was made. When I told the woman she said Lychee Tree (not Lychee Tea which is what came out) the teenage worker got very defensive saying "Well she (my cousin) confirmed the order". I even offered to pay the price difference for her misunderstanding but again I was met with defensiveness. We come here pretty regularly and my cousin always orders a Lychee Tree. Other yaya employees are usually able to understand my cousins accent and it's disheartening that an employee misunderstanding was accompanied by rude defensiveness.

Been here a few times when I'm craving bubble tea, as it's close by my workplace. It's bigger than other bubble tea spots around as you can actually sit and hang out on three bench tables. Drinks are good and the price is great. I like that your first topping free! A cute surprise is that each drink comes with a small note taped on the bottom that has a positivity phrase. They have snacks also like dumplings and rice balls which hit the spot.

Adorable study spot with excellent Taro milk tea and small snacks! Drink: taro milk tea with less sugar and no ice had a wonderful fresh flavor and was just right in terms of sweetness. Boba nicely al dente and sweet. They have some fun names for their designed bubble tea combos :) also each bubble tea cover has puns + a small square of paper on the bottom with an inspirational quote and/or fun fact. Always appreciate when a store takes the extra effort like this! Food: they have a bunch of sweets and savory snacks including onigiri. Definitely will try these in the future! Service: friendly, quick, professional! Space: modern, chic, so cute. Three long tables with seating comfortably for eight or ten people at each table, plus some standing room. Price: very reasonable and comparable to other bubble tea shops. Will definitely be hitting up this cute spot for more bubble tea and to try their snacks!

I come pretty often because it's the closest, but I might not come anymore. I feel like their drinks are more watered down than other locations and my squidball riceball today had about half a squid ball in the first bite and it was basically a plain riceball with pepper flavor in the later bites :') so disappointed

I'm closer to the Yaya Tea on Chrystie street, but I was soooo stoked when I noticed there was a location further up whilst omw to an appointment. I just had to walk in! The first thing I noticed was how spacious it was compared to the other. Interior beautifully decorated; nice clean feel; friendly staff; sauces on tables. My favorite part was the minimum of $5 for card, because if I want to use my card on Chrystie I have to spend $10+ haha. Blueblood and crabmeat onigiri have always been my fave combo and this place didn't disappoint. Even still going with the tradition of fortunes underneath drinks~ Yay! I dropped a star only bc the second time I brought a friend, The Hulk taste a bit watery and they forgot the second jelly (mango star) that I paid for. Will stop by whenever I'm in the area still tho

Can't wait to come to Yaya's again! Tasty rice balls that come in two sizes large and small. I was starving and ended up getting one large crab cake and seaweed and small spam and it was perfect for me. They were tasty and fresh, although had a little too much rice for my taste. Worth it for a quick bite and affordable price. Also if you aren't crazy about kids, skip the lunch hour when a ton of middle school aged kids come by! I didn't mind, but the people having a date seemed to.

I adore Yaya, but was so dissapointed when my tea arrived with a crack down the side. Could not drink it properly. Made a mess

Bubble Tea: 3 stars Snacks/food: 4 stars Bubble tea was kinda meh.. the boba texture a bit mushy and the sweetness was weird. this was for 3 out of 5 of my friends The onigiri were delicious. I got the yaya chicken. great price too! i'll prob stop by if i need a quick snack/meal maybe i'll give the boba another try

Ordered on Seamless: 1 large Yaya Chicken 1 small spam 1 Large Lychee tea. Got a regular chicken onigiri instead of spam.

Fairly new, this yaya tea recently opened close to the SVA campus, making it one of the most perfect places to grab a quick bite between or before classes. Their bubble tea is quite good and they have a ton of options so choosing is always hard, but i'm not the biggest fan of their boba - on the occasions i had it they were a little tough and not enough sweetness for my taste personally. Their main attraction i think though is their freshly made onigiri options! they have a wide menu and everything is made to order, so the little packages come warm and are so good. They also have a ton of cute (and hard to find!) japanese snack options - i could easily drop way too much money for those. The store space itself is a little tiny but very cute, so it's not a place i'd bring a larger crowd to unless it's to take out somewhere.

Got hungry while running errands around the area so stopped by Yaya tea to get a drink and maybe a snack of some sort. Got a chicken riceball that comes with seaweed and and lychee strawberry drink with white tea. The chicken is dry but the sauce is not bad, we forgot to adjust the sugar level so it was kinda sweet. There was a line but there's only one person works in the counter who is a cashier and the drink maker, one person in the back making riceball and other food. I saw quit a bit of people left due to the long wait, I think they should have at least two ppl working in the front to avoid the long wait.

I've always loved yayas since they first opened in Chinatown. When they opened one near Baruch College, I was so excited because it is right down the street; so convenient! The quality and taste is like all their other locations; flavorful and tasty. The only thing I am dissatisfied with is their slow service once it gets busy. I understand they are making it fresh, but when there are a lot of people, the cashier would take a bunch of orders first to get the line down, THEN go to the back to collect the rice balls out and give them out. I waited atleast 15 minutes for two small rice balls a lot of times and I don't think that one should have to wait that long for their food. Overall, I still return because I love their food. However, I would suggest ordering online or something before you walk in because you never know if it will get busy or if they will take a long time.

Completely stumbled upon this gem when I was in the area and it was so authentic, delicious, and affordable!!! I ordered the chicken onigri and the crab onigri. Both quickly prepared, adorably packaged, unbelievably priced, and surprisingly filling. I will so so be back!