Finding good tea in any city can be challenging, but New York City is blessed with more than a few must-see places. I have visited and reviewed all of the tea spots on this list. I’ll continually update this page as I explore all of the tea the city offers.
Chinatown
You might be surprised to find that there is more bubble tea than anything else in Chinatown. I’ve still got a couple of places on my
East Village
The East Village has the greatest concentration of tea places. You could spend the entire day doing a tea crawl just in this neighborhood (and I often do!).
Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Company
Nolita
SoHo
Midtown
Ippodo (closed, but looking to relocate)
Upper East Side
Upper West Side
Brooklyn
Aside from dedicated tea places, third-wave coffee shops are often a good alternative. Many of the cafes in the city serve loose-leaf offerings from In Pursuit of Tea.
There are also quite a few hotels that offer afternoon tea service. I haven’t gone to many of these so I recommend checking out what Jee at Oh, How Civilized has to say.
Are there any tea places that I missed? Let me know in the comments below!
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Does Bubble Tea actually qualify as a Tea Drink?
I’m not partial to the black tapioca globs, but every Bubble Tea I have had has been overly sweet with a burnt milk-y flavor as well. Tea seems to have been the least considered part of the concoctions.
Are they an acquired taste?
How long does it take to acquire a taste?
Or it does just depends on the drinker?
Which stores chains have “better” Bubble Tea?
In my opinion it doesn’t. Most bubble tea contains very little tea, if any at all.
I agree, it doesn’t. It’s more like a dessert in my opinion. Nothing good for our teeth 😉 I sound like an elder lol
Ten-Ren on Mott in Chinatown has good tea that can also have bubbles.
You have omitted perhaps the largest Oriental Neiborhood in NYC:
Flushing, NY in the borough of Queens.
Yelp Tea Rooms in Flushing, NY (eg Fang Gourmet Tea)
Yelp Mini Malls in Flushing, NY (eg New World Mall)
Yelp Chinese | Korean | Japanese Restaurants in Flushing, NY.
Not omitted, just haven’t gotten there yet. Flushing isn’t an easy trip from where I live in NJ 🙂
Not omitted, just haven’t gotten there yet. Flushing isn’t an easy trip from where I live in NJ 🙂
Fang Gourmet Tea is legit. Hundred of handmade gongfu brewing vessels, a good selection of mid to high end tea and you can schedule tea tasting service. I’ve purchased some Dong Ding and Puerh from them and they were both very good. Fang isn’t what I’d call a budget friendly place though. Most of their stuff is for the serious crowd looking for top shelf.
This is a great post Nicole! You captured most of the locations I go to for tea in New York City. From what I have seen Nohohon Tea Room has closed down a year or so ago, wondering what’s going on for other places. It’s tough for small businesses at the moment. Wishing them the best, we need them!
Thank you! I haven’t been able to go to the city in a very long time. Hopefully things will go back to normal soon so that I can support all of my favorite tea places again.
Same here 🙂
Brooklyn tea is a great place for tea
I’m not often in Brooklyn but they are definitely on my to-do list