Boba and tea in Palo Alto

Tea has become one of Palo Alto's most visible food trends. Boba shops draw students after school and engineers after lunch. Japanese matcha cafes have opened downtown and on El Camino Real, whisking tea by hand and serving matcha soft serve. A robotics startup even runs a matcha bar on University Avenue. The choice runs from sweet, chewy milk tea to a bare bowl of ceremonial green tea.

Every shop named here was confirmed as operating in October 2026 through its own website, its own ordering page or a verified page in our business directory. Tea shops open and close quickly in Palo Alto, especially downtown. Several more have announced openings. Our coffee guide tracks those. We list only shops we could confirm.

What to know about boba and tea

Boba, also called bubble tea or pearl milk tea, comes from Taiwan. The classic version is black tea shaken with milk and sugar and poured over chewy tapioca pearls, drunk through a wide straw. Shops have since spun off dozens of styles:

• Milk tea. Black, oolong or jasmine tea with milk or creamer. Brown sugar milk tea swirls dark sugar syrup down the inside of the cup.
• Fruit tea. Green or black tea shaken with fruit or juice, with no milk. Mango, passion fruit and lychee are common.
• Toppings. Tapioca pearls, jellies, pudding, mochi, taro and cheese foam, a salty cream cap.
• Matcha. Finely ground shade-grown green tea from Japan, whisked with water and often served as a latte with milk.
• Hojicha. Roasted Japanese green tea with a toasty, low-caffeine flavor.

Matcha grades matter. Ceremonial matcha is meant to be drunk with water alone. Culinary grades are made for lattes, baking and soft serve. Uji near Kyoto and Shizuoka are two of Japan's major tea regions. Both names appear on Palo Alto menus.

Where the shops are

Tea shops are spread across the city rather than packed into one block. Downtown has Rikyu on Lytton Avenue and Yummy Future on University Avenue, both a short walk from the Caltrain station. The downtown guide covers the blocks. Boba Guys and a few other tea stops sit at Town & Country Village. UMe Tea is on the car-free stretch of California Avenue. Teaspoon is in Midtown Shopping Center. Ryokucha Cafe and Topi are on El Camino Real in the south half of the city.

Boba and milk tea shops

Boba Guys, Town & Country Village

Boba Guys started in San Francisco in 2013 and now runs shops around the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York. The company says it brews organic heirloom tea in house, uses organic milk from Straus Family Creamery and makes its syrups and almond jelly itself. You can build a drink from a tea base such as classic black or jasmine green, then pick milk, sweetness and toppings. It opens at 10 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.

UMe Tea, 421 South California Avenue

UMe Tea is part of a chain that began in Cupertino in 2019. The menu splits into milk tea, matcha made with Uji matcha, fruit tea, yogurt drinks and mango and coconut drinks. Milk teas include a brown sugar boba oolong and a crème brûlée Thai tea. It is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, the latest of the boba shops here. It takes orders ahead online.

Teaspoon, Midtown Shopping Center

Teaspoon began in Los Altos in 2015 and soft-opened its Midtown shop in September 2017. Its classics include house milk tea, Thai tea, creamy jasmine, taro and black sugar Assam. A chai series and fruit teas fill out the menu. Vietnamese coffee is on the list too. Drinks can be adjusted for ice, sweetness, milk and toppings.

Matcha and Japanese tea cafes

Ryokucha Cafe, 4131 El Camino Real

Ryokucha Cafe opened in April 2026. It says its matcha comes from family farms in Shizuoka and is whisked by hand for every order. The signature is matcha soft serve in a waffle cone. Drinks include a strawberry matcha latte, a banana cream matcha, a crème brûlée hojicha and a flight of three matcha grades side by side. Boba drinks with brown sugar pearls and taro foam round out the list. Its website lists hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. It is closed on Monday.

Rikyu, 121 Lytton Avenue

Rikyu is a Japanese matcha cafe that also serves food. Its ordering page lists matcha lattes, cold matcha, strawberry and yuzu matcha, a houjicha latte and coffee. Food runs to Japanese sandos such as a yuzu chicken sando and chirashi bowls, with matcha panna cotta for dessert. Hours are short: 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. Our Japanese food guide covers more Japanese restaurants nearby.

Yummy Future, 170 University Avenue

Yummy Future is a coffee and matcha bar run by robots, from a Y Combinator startup that builds robotic cafes. You order on a screen or online. A robotic barista then whisks the matcha or pulls the espresso. It is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Yutori and Hatched

Yutori, the Japanese cafe and market at 3375 El Camino Real, serves matcha and hojicha drinks at its cafe counter from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. At Town & Country, the breakfast counter Hatched lists classic, dirty and ube matcha lattes on its ordering page from 7 a.m.

Tea for dessert

Topi on El Camino Real is a cake shop known for tea flavors, with matcha, hojicha and oolong cakes. It opens at 11:30 a.m. daily and asks for custom orders at least two hours ahead. For matcha soft serve, Ryokucha Cafe is the stop. Our ice cream guide lists more frozen treats.

How to order

1. Pick sweetness. Most shops offer a sliding scale, often 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent. Half sweet is a common starting point, since full sugar is very sweet.
2. Pick ice. Less ice gives you more drink. Hot milk tea is usually possible too.
3. Pick toppings. Tapioca pearls are the default. Jellies are lighter. Cheese foam and pudding are richer.
4. Drink pearls soon. Tapioca hardens as it cools, so boba is at its chewiest in the first hour.
5. For matcha, ask about grade. A straight matcha shows off ceremonial grade. A latte or soft serve suits culinary grades.

Dietary and timing notes

• Caffeine. Black tea and matcha both carry caffeine. Hojicha and many fruit teas carry less. Ask for decaf where offered.
• Dairy. Oat milk is a common swap. Creamers, cheese foam and pudding usually contain dairy.
• Sugar. Brown sugar drinks and toppings add sugar even at low sweetness settings.
• Timing. Shops fill up after school lets out on weekdays. Morning is the quietest time at most tea cafes.

Boba runs are a classic teen outing. Our things to do with teens page has more ideas for an afternoon out. If you are visiting San Francisco too, you can browse Bay Area food tours and check each tour's stops before you book.

Frequently asked questions