Boba tea (or as some also call it, "bubble tea") is a trendy indulgence that has endured over the past few years since the initial Insta-worthy craze as a Plano staple!
With all the boba tea options in Collin County, it's often difficult to decide which places are worth trying. So here's our roundup of five delicious and innovative boba tea shops in the area.
(We covered 4 best boba tea shops originally in a 2018 article, found here! Check those out too before diving into this "part 2!")
From boba served with donuts and breakfast sausages, to soft serve boba ice cream, alcoholic boba and classic milk teas crafted with care and love, you're sure to find at least one place on this list you'll want to check out next.
Sugar Pine Creamery
6832 Coit Rd #270b, Plano, TX 75023
Tues - Sat: 2 pm - 8 pm , Sun: 2 pm - 6 pm
Sugar Pine Creamery may be known for their ice cream, but the boba tea is incredible too. The family-owned cafe sells a number of milk teas in the following classic flavors: regular, black sugar, salted caramel, hazelnut, honeydew, Thai, taro and rose.
They also have fruity ice tea in green apple, strawberry, peach, mango, lychee, passion fruit, kumquat, guava and pineapple (if you're particularly adventurous, they'll even mix two of these for you). It costs a reasonable $3.75 — definitely one of the more affordable options in the area — and boba is provided free of charge.
The owners love conversing with their customers and will likely remember you if you return, which you'll definitely want to!
Magic Cup Cafe
901 N. Jupiter Rd #150, Richardson, TX 75081
7701 Stacy Rd, Suite 100, McKinney, TX 75070
Mon - Sun: 10 am – 11 pm
Magic Cup is a small Texan boba tea chain — in addition to the Richardson and McKinney locations, they also have one in Houston. They use authentic Taiwanese tea leaves, steeped in house, and offer non-dairy milk options such as soy milk, almond milk and coconut milk.
Beat the Texas heat by ordering a Special-tea: green tea mixed with fresh fruit. It's basically the Magic Cup equivalent of a Starbucks Refresher, except the fruit in a Refresher isn't actually fresh, making Special-tea superior. They also offers fruit smoothies, frappes and handcrafted espressos made from locally roasted coffee beans.
Boba + Donuts
2552 Stonebrook Pkwy a625, Frisco, TX 75034
Mon - Sun: 4:30 am - 8 pm
This cafe checks off all the boxes; with boba tea, donuts, sausages and croissants, you can hit Boba + Donuts up for breakfast and then come back in the evening for drinks and dessert with a friend. This cafe has an array of boba tea flavors you won't find anywhere else.
Milk teas come in banana, vanilla, mango, lavender, horchata, white chocolate and chocolate chai, among other flavors. Fruit tea options include guava, blueberry, tangerine, lemon, kiwi and lychee. They also have slushes in 34 different flavors, as well as coffee made using Starbucks roasts. Teas are on the pricier side at around $6 for a milk tea, but definitely still worth the visit for the variety.
Check out this list for more boba tea recommendations.
Dragon Boba Texas
1060 West Frankford Rd #200 Carrollton Texas 75007
Mon + Wed - Sat: 11 am - 10 pm, Sun 11 am - 9 pm
The original Dragon Boba, located in Los Angeles' Koreatown, gained popularity for their vast selection of not just boba tea, but also cakes, virgin mojitos, mochi donuts, macarons, boba soft serve ice creams and drinks made from Yakult, a popular Japanese yogurt drink. The Texas location is nestled Carrollton's own mini Koreatown.
In addition to sweet treats, they serve pizza, pasta, fried rice and french fries. It's the perfect mix of new age flavor combinations and good ol' Southern fried and greasy goodness. Dragon Boba Texas will start hosting K-Pop themed events just like their Los Angeles counterpart, so keep an eye out!
Mac's Boba Cafe
8240 Preston Rd #177, Plano TX
Mon - Sat : 11 am - 8 pm
Mac's Boba Cafe is owned by the same people who own Pho Mac, so they're conveniently located side by side. After fulfilling your pho cravings, hop on over for some refreshing boba tea to wash it all down.
This cafe is a hidden gem. Google Reviewers described it as being much better than popular boba shops 85°C Bakery Café and Kung Fu Tea. One customer even stated, "we have had bubble tea from independent tea shops all over the world and this is a great one."
The selection at this cafe is a bit smaller, featuring classic milk and fruit teas, fruity milks and coffees, which allows them to craft each item with care. Most of the teas are around $3.75 and already come with boba. They also sell plants! What's not to love.
If you can catch it: The Boba Plug TX
The Boba Plug is a DFW pop-up boba shop, serving innovative boba tea flavors and combinations. All teas are made by hand and are highly Instagrammable.
Try "Feels Like Home," Boba Plug's take on the classic milk tea, made with oat milk and infused with housemade Kuromitsu, or Japanese sugar syrup. Or perhaps the "Love You A-Latte," organic Vietnamese coffee combined with lavender syrup and condensed milk. There's "Eggin' Me On," organic jasmine tea filled with local honey and topped with salted egg yolk crema. If you have a sweet tooth, you might consider trying "Berry Madness," made with White Rabbit Candy infused oat milk and berry compote.
The Boba Plug often collaborates with local businesses for limited edition treats, such as the Milky Treats x The Boba Plug milk tea flavored ice cream with Taiwanese black sugar syrup. At their most recent pop up at Korean restaurant DanSungSa, they even had alcoholic boba tea. Follow them on Instagram to stay tuned on where they'll be next.
(Can't get enough of East Asian dessert shops? Check out this article for more recommendations.)
