Chatime Markham

I ordered a cup of oolong mike tea with no ice and regular suger, it meets standard. There’s no problem on the products. But I was wondering why they set «paying tips» as a must on the post machine. What’s a purpose of paying tips to them? No delivery service was presented, and I have Already paid for the tea. I don’t think I should give those extra.

Similarly to my other Chatime review, this place is probably my favourite bubbletea place. It’s located at the corner of Gibson and Warden and probably a better location if you don’t want to go near the Markham and VIP Theatre.
The staff members are very friendly and there’s always a lot of them working behind the counter so that the line keeps on moving at a steady pace. They have free Wifi if you feel like dining in but be warned that there’s only a few seats so by no means are you always able to sit down, especially with a group large than 4.
The parking can be a little problematic at times because there’s a lot of small businesses there, as well as a business tower so if you do a round and can’t find a spot, you’re likely better off parking underground. Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of parking down there and once you take the elevator up to the main floor, Chatime is just around the corner from the exit. It’s really not that inconvenient.
Don’t forget your Vacinity card! For every drink, you get one point and ten points gets you a free drink. I believe a topping is included but more toppings or a large size cost a touch extra.
This is a good place to go if you’re in the mood for bubbletea! Just keep in mind that parking can be a little annoying to deal with.

I was thrilled that our group (the 14 of us) managed to find two vacant four-​person tables right next to one another, and another 4 stools at their pull-​up bar thing. It being 9pm on a Friday night, I’d say that was a pretty awesome. However, I was not thrilled with my drink. At all.
I decided to deviate from my regular order (grass jelly roasted milk tea served warm) and order a matcha latte instead. Same price. $ 4.20 for a regular. I ordered it served hot and 50% sugar. I was hoping for a very creamy matcha beverage. I received a very watery drink. According to the dictionary (yes, I did search it up), a latte is supposed to have steamed milk… and espresso, but you get the idea. Steamed milk is supposed to have this distinct flavor that I did not get at all from my drink. It wasn’t very milky, actually. It tasted like… watery matcha. Yeah. There was some matcha flavor. I have never before wished I put more sugar in my drink. This time, I did. The grossest part of my drink was when I got to the bottom of it. I know there’s something off about my latte when the last five or so gulps of my drink are grainy. I found all my matcha powder. My drink was still hot, so it’s not like it had plenty of time to settle. To top it off, the matcha powder dregs at the bottom were not bursting with delightful matcha flavor. It was just very bitter.
So disappointed.

This location is my usual Chatime fix. Depending on what time you go, they can either be super busy, or super dead. Even if they have long lines, it goes pretty fast due to the efficiency and speed of the staff. There’s decent amount of seating but the space can be pretty tight as the store is more narrow.
Drinks: I’ve tried at least ²⁄₃ of the menu and I can only think of 2 drinks I didn’t personally like. My go to bbt is #2 the roasted milk tea with grass jelly. After drinking it for at least 2 years, I finally found the best way to drink it and that is with no ice, 30% sugar. It tastes even better if you let it sit in the fridge for a little longer to get it extra cold. Though the tea flavour isn’t as strong as some other places, I still enjoy the bbt everytime.
Other than #2 I also like to get different variations of their green tea such as the peach, lychee, and mango. What I like is the little pieces of fruit you get in some of their cold bbts. I usually go with no sugar to cut down on the sweetness. Due to my obsession with bbt, I drink a lot of it so getting rid of the sugar makes me feel better/​healthier (though I know it doesn’t really do much…).
The only complaints I have are the parking and the «donuts» they sell. The parking can be very tricky as it’s a small parking lot surrounded by several Asian stores and restaurants. We all know how busy Asian plazas get. Depending on the time of the day, you may or may not get a spot so it’s best to have 2 people go so someone can sit in the car.
My other complaint is the donuts. We received 2 free ones as we have the elite vicinity card so we thought, let’s just try it. Mistake! Good thing they were free. They had no taste and were super doughy. I took one bite and that’s all I needed. Definitely not eating those again.
Overall, Chatime is still my top place to go for bbt. This location is best if you have someone to sit in the car while you run in and grab one though.

My go-​to bbt joint. Sometimes the lines are long, but the staff there are efficient so it dies down in no time.
I can’t choose between my favs: pearl milk tea, taro milk tea, or strawberry au lait.

After coming here and spending ridiculous amounts on bubble tea, I’m kinda surprised I haven’t given this Chatime a review yet. Chatime at Gibson has become my go-​to joint for bubble tea, almost like how people frequent their workplace/​neighbourhood Starbucks!
So the parking lot isn’t ideal and gets very crowded above ground during dinner hours due to other restaurants in the area… and the seating area inside the shop is a bit small… but I feel that the customer service of the employees at this Chatime tops other locations.
With regards to drinks, I almost always get the red bean milk tea w/​tapioca, warm and half sweet and I don’t think I’ve ever received a drink made incorrectly. And when orders were done incorrectly for my friends, they were always taken care of very efficiently while ensuring that other customers were also taken care of. Lastly, I think the one key thing with this location is that they know how to call out and enunciate their order numbers! I feel like that’s a key component that Chatime employees need to have in order to get people their drinks correctly in their current workflow.

This franchise is amazing… like all the other franchises! It gets quite busy in the weekends but other than that it’s always a pleasure to grab bubble tea from here.

Chatime is everywhere now in Markham! Love this one, gotta have their Roasted Milk Tea with some Grass Jelly. That is definitely a classic. Their cold tea drinks and fruit slushes are tasty as well.

Drinks are not sealed. It’s split on my bag and jeans and was bad experience during a movie. Ordered hot but came lukewarm. Pearls are not not fresh and will never come again.

This is our go to bubble tea place. There may be better, there definitely is a lot of others in Markham, but not having explored extensively were fine sticking with ChaTime. There’s another location opened in the summer by the new Cineplex south of the Whole Foods. Depending on the time, there can be a long line.

Pretty mediocre bubble tea with a strong brand but because of the size of this brand I feel like they’ve lost the quality for what initially got them popular in the first place. The bubble tea doesn’t taste rich or flavourful. I usually get green apple green tea or lychee green yeah with tapioca or lychee jelly and usually they aren’t cooked to the right temperature or the tea is just missing that good flavour.
Service isn’t that great either its as if they don’t really care about the customers. I’ve seen better service at many other places. Also this cha time is pretty small so you almost never get seats. So you have to go outside to sit or stand.
After saying all this, I don’t mind drinking bubble tea here, it just isn’t my first choice bubble tea shop.

If you’ve seen my review on chatime richmond hill, or seen my video rant on it (
) achem, shameless self promotion. you’d know that I’m not fond of chatimes anymore.
However, this is the only chatime that I’ll be happy to go to. The parking lot is a bit small, and I’ve also almost gotten t-​boned when a crazy bitch decided to reverse at 100km/​hr without looking at all. Dear loooord. However, there’s also underground parking if you wish to avoid the crazies on a busy weekend.
The workers here have their shit together and usually move through long lines with ease– which other chatimes clearly have trouble doing. They are also all very nice and friendly, even when they’re in a rush hour, again, which other chatimes need to learn from. Chatime bubble tea and beverages are all very consistent and delicious. It’s awesome how you get to customize sugar/​ice levels to make a drink to your liking. Some of my favourites are:
— honey oolong milk tea (great twist to the popular original milk tea– no use of sugar, only honey. Tastes better and feels better. No post-​sugar depression)
— QQ jelly milk tea with 30% sugar and less ice
— Matcha tea latte
There’s not a lot of places to sit here, so usually it’s a grab-​n-​go for me. However, I do enjoy night outs with friends where we linger around at the tables, sipping our boba and chatting about the most silly things. I like that no matter how long we stay, nobody kicks us out. There are also benches outside for those warm summer nights.

Visited this location 2 weeks ago and purchased 3 different types of drinks. would have to say their drinks have consistently gotten worse over the year. The quality just isn’t there anymore, while they continue to add more drink selection to the menu.
I’ll give them points for having good tapioca that day though.

Huh thought I wrote a review for this… Anyways! This place is quite something. The milk tea here is so bomb. Although many MANY places offer milk tea, here is just bomb. I usually order the QQ milk tea because I love the jelly and tapioca. Also the idea to add certain sugar levels and ice is bomb. Although many other places do offer that as well I just never knew about it till Chattime haha.
The parking lot is big so even if you don’t get a spot in front you can always get one underground. Yes there is underground parking for such a small plaza haha. Some nights can be SUPER PACKED like red sea lines if you know what I mean. It’s crazy how popular this place is but the Milk tea is worth the wait! They have lots of drinks to order and have pictures for the top 10 drinks. Seating is quite limited. Definitely wouldn’t sit in because of the high amount of people that come in. More of a take out place then sit in like some other bubble tea places.
The staff is friendly at this location. I don’t think I’ve seen anything bad from them so far… Definitely must try!

I love going to this location simply because they have amazing customer service.
My friend ordered a drink without tapioca but it came with it & when we told the cashier he re-​did the drink & refunded the extra $.50 for the tapioca.
The quality is always consistent and they try to be as efficient as possible (although obviously there is a wait if there’s 15 people ahead of you ordering an average of 2 drinks each).
But the parking spaces can be somewhat of a hassle.

I don’t really understand the hype with this place and why there is always a lineup. I came here on a Saturday night when it was raining so it was a bit empty. Actually got a seat and waited only a few minutes in line. I got a green tea red bean slush and it tasted pretty good. I would say on par with Ten Ren’s. I prefer Ten Ren’s. Cha Time does have cute packaging though.

I’ve been to this Chatime location multiple times and have no complaint, not even the line-​ups and everything! Maybe it’s just my timing hehe.
My friends and I were lucky enough to not have to wait on one particular Sunday. But after we got our drinks and sat down at a table, the line started to grow and grow. We stayed there for at least three hours yet the line never slowed down. What a cash cow business! I really wonder how much they make sometimes. no wonder they keep opening more and more stores!
Before Chatime sparked my bubble tea interest, I’ve always ended up going to some other place instead. Finally had I have the chance, I ended up getting the plum green tea with aloe vera and rainbow jelly (instead of its signature roasted milk tea). Honestly, it sounded cooler!
I’ll admit this drink isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like the plum taste, please don’t get this. I’m not a big plum fan but the drink sounded more wacky on its menu than the typical milk tea. It was not bad to be honest. I just don’t think I can constantly drink that flavour without getting sick of it. It has a sweet yet sour taste. The aloe vera and jelly always makes it lighter and more tasteful, neutralizing any extreme flavours.
Eventually I started getting the original roasted milk tea with grass jelly. It’s just too addictive and good to give up for another flavour. If you sip carefully, their tea has roast aroma — subtle yet makes everything different.
The environment is quite nice with a wooden theme and spaciousness (at least this location). However, Chatime is still more of an order to-​go place than sit down as they always lack seats. Overall, it’s great except for the line-​up if you’re unlucky.
How Chatime works: You pay, place your Vicinity card on the machine, then they make your drink. When its ready, the call your number that’s displayed on your receipt for pickup.
Note: a regular-​sized milk tea with jelly costs around $ 6 after tax.

I’m not even lying, I’m here every weekend. Even with the ridiculously long lines in the small shop.
I’ve seen reviews around Unilocal,claiming Chatime is just all because of the hype. Well Chatime sure has a reason, because they actually LIVE UP TO THE HYPE.
Consistently good bubble tea, never changing with fast and friendly service. And that’s what keeps me coming back. Why would I keep coming back to a bubble tea place that tastes perfect one day, but it’s watered down the next? It’s not worth it.
Loud, clean and modern atmosphere.
Chatime is hands down, my go to bubble tea place. I haven’t been to any other bubble tea place that can even hold a candle to them.

So I dropped my rating from a 5 to a 4.
The main reason is because I was very disappointed with their point system today.
I have a black Vicinity card. For those that don’t know, chatime’s point system is powered by vicinity, which is also used by many other stores in the area.
I used to have a purple Chatime vicinity card but I got a black vicinity card eventually because it was not marked by any store in particular. So I could go to another store, possibly a competitor and not use a Chatime point card there and vice versa. For quite a while, even Chatime accepted the use of this card, I mean, why not? It’s not like I’m showing any support to a competing business.
Anyhow, now they tell me that I can’t use my black card anymore, and I have to use the purple chatime vicinity card. I already have so many different cards to carry, and now they want me to carry another one for reasons unknown.
If this could be explained to me, maybe I’d be less frustrated but to me, it just seems like an elitist move.
rant over.

Around the corner from Pac Mall, this location opened about a year ago.
Minus stars for the following:
1) Long wait. I know that it’s not their fault, but perhaps 2 cash registered would’ve helped alleviate the line and
2) Running out of ingredients for many of their drinks, re: lychee, taro, and others.
Granted, it was mid-​day, but still. At least 2 of my friends had to order something else ’cause they lacked the ingredient.
Bonuses:
1) Their new, scannable loyalty card and
2) Discount for certain drinks, re: non-​milk and fresh brewed tea.
The great thing about this chain is that the level of both ice/​sugar are totally customisable! I’m no sucka. I’m not paying for a glass half full of ice cubes. :P