The Big Straw
“The thai milk tea and the lavender matcha are also delicious.”
“The employee was just so sweet and inviting–so different from the snobby service you get over at Babo (such a turnoff).”
“So glad to finally have a local boba spot to go to regularly!”
The Big Straw
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Working: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Inexpensive
8 reviews
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I am pleasantly surprised at the boba quality in this new jersey city joint! Up until now, all we had were the Babo Teahouse in Pavonia Newport and more recently Shanghai Best to satiate milk tea cravings, but their tapioca's taste and texture always left me missing the real ones (in Asia and even midtown). Big Straw however did not disappoint! The tapioca was perfectly cooked (freshly boiled with the right amount of chewiness) and the tea flavors were spot on. I like that it also follows the proper way of the Asian milk tea where patrons can customize the sugar level (half vs full).
While the location is tucked away behind the main street (Newark Ave) where foot traffic would have helped, I hope that more and more people will discover this little gem, especially as the weather gets warmer.
I hope to see more Asian snacks show up on the menu soon! Hong Kong style bread with condensed milk perhaps?!
Pretty good bubble tea. Right next to Just Beclaws so we came here after a hearty lunch. Service was good. We got the nutty avocado shake, choco chai with jelly, and plain mango tea. Everything was good. I do like my avocado shakes a little sweeter, but other than that, everything was good. Nice little spot if you want bubble tea or a shake.
Stumbled in on a lazy Saturday to try my first ever bubble tea! The woman behind the counter was really nice and explained all the options available and also gave some suggestions for a newbie! There is a lot more they can do with the space, it didn't really make you want to stay to enjoy your drink.
We decided that we had to get two kinds to really determine if we like bubble tea. We got the latte version of Almond and the Lite version of Lychee, both with tapioca and both with quarter sugar. Both were equally bizarre! I can't imagine adding anymore sugar to either of these drinks, they were perfectly sweet at the 1/4 sugar amount.
I personally liked the Lite version better, it was more like iced tea but honestly, there is no stranger feeling than taking a sip of the straw and getting whacked in throat with tapioca.
With Jersey City growing as much as it has in the past few years, I am surprised that it took this long for a bubble tea shop to pop up. Before the store front opened The Big Straw made appearances during the weekly farmers markets as well as street fairs and such, slowly building a loyal fan base.
As far as bubble tea, The Big Straw quenches my cravings. They have a small selection of flavors and combinations of add ons for the choosing as well as the option of making any of their flavors a smoothie. Their drinks come in two sizes and they give you an option of sugar levels.
In addition to the drinks they also have small bites, baked goods (all gluten free!) and various snacks and small bites for sale in their store. For those of you who are sensitive to dairy, their drinks are made with non dairy creamer so feel free to indulge. My favorite is the almond milk tea with the pudding and pearls.
A few words of caution, during the summer months it can get quite stuffy and warm inside. All in all, it's ok. Not blown away by their bubble tea, its just ok but being on this side of the water I have no complaints.
I love bubble tea so the fact that I found a good place in my city is wonderful. What I love about this place is you're not required to get a standard drink. What I mean by that is you have a lot of control over what goes in it i.e. amount of sugar, etc. They'll usually ask you, but if they don't tell them and they're willing to accommodate you. Also usually you're only allowed one flavor but if you ask they will most likely make it for you. Sometimes I ask for coconut with my taro. The prices are similar to other places and it's only two sizes, with a $1 dollar difference. They have a good amount of seating and tables inside. Overall the taste is very good, doesn't taste artificial or lacking in flavor, which can happen a lot with bubble tea, or worse bombarded with ice that in a few mins taste watered down.
Before I continue, I need to get one thing off my chest. I don't like tapioca balls. There, I said it. Phew. I don't want anything in my tea besides tea. Just liquid, no solids. Please and thank you.
Because of that, I don't usually frequent bubble tea shops (or babo shops as they call it on the west coast) but I was craving something sweet and refreshing that wasn't Starbs and decided to take the leap. After all, you don't have to order the tea with the bubbles!
The Big Straw is about a 10 minute walk from my place, and after scoping out the flavor selection online I decided to head over. I'm really glad that I did! The shop itself is a small and brightly lit room, and at 3 pm on a Monday there was a pretty good vibe. People were hanging out and chatting while sipping on their tea. They've got a large menu board up with all of the different drink and food options. I wouldn't come for food as there wasn't really much space to sit…but there were a few menu items including ramen and dumplings. On the tea front, well, there was pretty much any flavor that you could want. For an extra 50 cents you can add bubbles to any milk tea. I thought about being adventurous…I really did. But then I decided against it. Maybe next time. I went with a small thai flavored tea and it really hit the spot. And ya know what? I felt a whole lot better spending 4 dollars on a drink here then I do at Starbs. Next time I'm craving a cold iced drink it's nice to know that there is more in the neighborhood then chain coffee shops.
This is a cute shop with pretty good ~authentic~ bubble tea. They have a lot of options other than the tapioca bubbles including jelly, and those exploding boba bubbles.
They also have some little asian snacks at the counter like seaweed snack packs and pocky.
The only downside for me is that they're pricier than what i'm used to in the city, but they're pretty much the only real bubble tea place close to my place in jersey.
I really like the bubble tea here.
I say that about a place and then bam, they change it up and start to suck.
But I trust the owner, she's pretty cool and also tries out everything people request and knows what to suggest to others because of it.
So I feel safe in the notion that she won't change recipes for no bloody reason.
Ramen is good…it's not like amazing, but it's warm and super slurpy.
Sllllluuuurrrrrrpppppy.
Delicious.
Free wifi, big table to do your work on (if you can get there before me) and just a nice solid vibe.
I feel super productive before I even settle down in here.
Music ain't bad either.
Every day I order bubble tea that has never graced the lips of anyone before and every time it's slammin'.