Urban Ritual

Easy to order, and interesting specialty drinks! I'd recommend the Feed Me Ube. The drinkable mochi is a little hard to drink through the paper straws they give here, so it's best to bring your own boba straws!

Feed me ube & black sesame rice ball are my favorite drinks here

Had the Creme Brulee Milk Tea! The caramelized sugar topping on the drink is what makes it so unique and a favorite! That said, make sure to drink it right away to experience the blast of sweet and earthy flavor combined with crunchy and chewy texture.

Creme brulee milk was the way to go! Drink it right away to make sure you get to taste the crunch of the caramelized sugar pieces before they melt into your drink. Came back again two days later and tried it with the milk tea, but I think I prefer the milk version better

Great boba with unique drinks. A bit sweet sometimes but I like it.

By FAR the best bubble tea (and related drinks) in San Mateo. I found this place because I was walking by one afternoon and it smelled heavenly so I wandered in to find them making their own boba from scratch. I can’t stop coming back now. It’s much more low-key than some of the flashier boba shops in the area, and they have seating which is great if you want to sit and drink your ambrosia. My favourites: the Ube and the Black Sesame. Everything is good but those are the two drinks that I dream about.

This place has been my replacement since Cup of Blooms closed. They have easy ordering and a nice selection of non caffeinated drinks. I especially love their "Feed me Ube!" which is chock full of Ube creme and Taro chunks... ☺️ I also love their Black Sesame with drinkable mochi. Some of their drinks are fairly sweet, so would recommend <70% sweetness (70% is their default) if you don't have a sweet tooth.

Always enjoy Urban Ritual's matcha toffee! They have 2 kiosks to order. Drinks come out pretty quickly. Selection is great, and the wait is usually not long at all--I recommend it!

I've come here a couple of times and the drinks are always really good! Their fruit drinks are great for a warm summer day and their boba milk tea is always a solid choice. Only weird thing was this creature that kept moving my drink when it thought I wasn't looking.

Enjoyed trying this new place in San Mateo, and apparently the matcha toffee is quite popular but I ended up trying the special house milk tea with oat milk. It’s pretty good. Tastes like Thai iced tea. I’ll have to try the most popular flavor next time.

This boba tea place is one of the many tea places that our team rotate weekly at work, such as today. I've also been here several times with my family when we're in the area. They have very creative and great boba tea drinks, ie, creme brulee (with and without the tea), matcha toffee, guava pastelitos, etc. I had their Jasmine milk tea w/boba this time. It definitely satisfied my taste buds, well balanced with milk and tea, and the boba was just right. I've tried their 3 locations but only the SF once a long time ago. Between the SJ and here, this location is better. This would be my top 5 boba tea places.

The boba here is well made with good flavor and chewy texture. And there tea is also good with strong taste and aroma. I like the basic milk tea with 10% sugar.

Had taro and coconut drink from this shop for the first time. Very impressed by the high quality of the ingredients and taste that's not too sweet. Excellent and will revisit 👍

One of my favourite boba places in the Bay Area! Their drink and tapioca quality is top tier and often have really fun seasonal flavours. My favourite was the corn pineapple milk tea - please bring it back again soon!

I've had the creme brulee tea in the SF outlet and it was phenomenal- super creamy brulee with burnt caramel crisps, yum! The afternoon tea is an Earl grey tea with yummy chocolatey aroma! With the creme brulee topping it was a complex medley of deliciousness. The matcha toffee is meh. Nice toffee but un memorable matcha I loved that they had samples out there! 😊

This newly opened Urban Ritual which is located in downtown San Mateo. I love urban ritual but it is in SF where is too far for me, and I am glad that they opened in San Mateo. The classic boba milk tea is my favorite, the matcha toffee is special and good as well.

Urban Ritual is my top 3 boba shops in the Bay Area. The Creme Brulee Milk Tea, just the way it is, is my favorite and go-to! It's definitely a dessert drink, with thick cream, honey boba and burnt sugar bits. If you want more creative drinks, check out the seasonal drinks available. Also grab yourself a mochi muffins or donut from Third Culture Bakery if you come early enough.

Second time coming here and a year later, still very good if pricey but in a great central location on B street close to other restaurants. Tried their seasonal summer drinks—kalamansi mojito, strawberry basil (added lychee jelly), and a pear drink, which were not too sweet and refreshing. Standout is the crème brûlée pudding milk tea with boba. Didn’t mix the pudding this time per feedmeimei’s pro tip, and it does make a difference. A sweet, rich indulgence! Ordered with the staff and order came out relatively quickly. Not much seating/ambience inside so best to enjoy your drinks outside weather permitting.

The tea is delicious, they use real ingredients, fresh brewed tea and real milk! Friendly and courteous service, come try all the delicious flavors! Plus the cups are super cute

I always see this place, but never had the chance to try it. I finally got the chance to try their drinks at the San Mateo location. You can only order online through the website. We ordered the creme brulee and guava pastelitos. The creme brulee drink was sweet, but honestly not overly sweet as I would have expected. The guava pastelitos was sour to my tastes, but my friend really loved it. Their boba was really good quality. It was fresh and cooked just right. i would love to come again soon, but I don't think I would get the creme brulee drink again. It was really sweet, but I would like to try their house milk tea.

Artemis Dergon

I've come here a couple of times and the drinks are always really good! Their fruit drinks are great for a warm summer day and their boba milk tea is always a solid choice. Only weird thing was this creature that kept moving my drink when it thought I wasn't looking.

CJ M

Had taro and coconut drink from this shop for the first time. Very impressed by the high quality of the ingredients and taste that's not too sweet. Excellent and will revisit 👍

Julie Taeko

Enjoyed trying this new place in San Mateo, and apparently the matcha toffee is quite popular but I ended up trying the special house milk tea with oat milk. It’s pretty good. Tastes like Thai iced tea. I’ll have to try the most popular flavor next time.

David Nguyen

This boba tea place is one of the many tea places that our team rotate weekly at work, such as today. I've also been here several times with my family when we're in the area. They have very creative and great boba tea drinks, ie, creme brulee (with and without the tea), matcha toffee, guava pastelitos, etc. I had their Jasmine milk tea w/boba this time. It definitely satisfied my taste buds, well balanced with milk and tea, and the boba was just right. I've tried their 3 locations but only the SF once a long time ago. Between the SJ and here, this location is better. This would be my top 5 boba tea places.

Gary Ogasawara

The boba here is well made with good flavor and chewy texture. And there tea is also good with strong taste and aroma. I like the basic milk tea with 10% sugar.

Lisa Huang

One of my favourite boba places in the Bay Area! Their drink and tapioca quality is top tier and often have really fun seasonal flavours. My favourite was the corn pineapple milk tea - please bring it back again soon!

Musho Pea

I've had the creme brulee tea in the SF outlet and it was phenomenal- super creamy brulee with burnt caramel crisps, yum! The afternoon tea is an Earl grey tea with yummy chocolatey aroma! With the creme brulee topping it was a complex medley of deliciousness. The matcha toffee is meh. Nice toffee but un memorable matcha I loved that they had samples out there! 😊

Jenny Huang

This newly opened Urban Ritual which is located in downtown San Mateo. I love urban ritual but it is in SF where is too far for me, and I am glad that they opened in San Mateo. The classic boba milk tea is my favorite, the matcha toffee is special and good as well.

Master Maggie Li

Urban Ritual is my top 3 boba shops in the Bay Area. The Creme Brulee Milk Tea, just the way it is, is my favorite and go-to! It's definitely a dessert drink, with thick cream, honey boba and burnt sugar bits. If you want more creative drinks, check out the seasonal drinks available. Also grab yourself a mochi muffins or donut from Third Culture Bakery if you come early enough.

Samantha Ching

Second time coming here and a year later, still very good if pricey but in a great central location on B street close to other restaurants. Tried their seasonal summer drinks—kalamansi mojito, strawberry basil (added lychee jelly), and a pear drink, which were not too sweet and refreshing. Standout is the crème brûlée pudding milk tea with boba. Didn’t mix the pudding this time per feedmeimei’s pro tip, and it does make a difference. A sweet, rich indulgence! Ordered with the staff and order came out relatively quickly. Not much seating/ambience inside so best to enjoy your drinks outside weather permitting.

Wilson Tsang

The tea is delicious, they use real ingredients, fresh brewed tea and real milk! Friendly and courteous service, come try all the delicious flavors! Plus the cups are super cute

Mei Fu Lee

I always see this place, but never had the chance to try it. I finally got the chance to try their drinks at the San Mateo location. You can only order online through the website. We ordered the creme brulee and guava pastelitos. The creme brulee drink was sweet, but honestly not overly sweet as I would have expected. The guava pastelitos was sour to my tastes, but my friend really loved it. Their boba was really good quality. It was fresh and cooked just right. i would love to come again soon, but I don't think I would get the creme brulee drink again. It was really sweet, but I would like to try their house milk tea.

aq xin

Always enjoy Urban Ritual's matcha toffee! They have 2 kiosks to order. Drinks come out pretty quickly. Selection is great, and the wait is usually not long at all--I recommend it!

Get their seasonal drinks! We tried the HK milk tea and it was not very good but their rice milk drink was so good.

Creme brulee milk tea was amazing. So creamy and taste just like creme brulee. I absolutely recommend it. Cookie butter hong kong milk tea was that great though. It tastes good but did not taste like Hong Kong style milk tea. Usually HK milk tea is pretty strong. This was wasn't at all. I also recommend stirring the drink because the the cookie butter was at the bottom of the cup. Their cup is cute 🙂

Second visit Ube milk drink is good! -------- Long line at night Tried their house milk tea Tea is good , but milk is not enough Its alright

+1

4.5 Pretty solid milk tea spot. Recommend ordering on their website before going there to lessen the wait. My go-to drink is the creme brulee milk tea, perfect blend of tea and the sweetness/silkyness of the creme brulee. Unless you’re not gonna drink it right away def ask for the torched sugar sealed in..otherwise it’s gonna be a goopy annoying mess trying to sprinkle em on top. Minus a half star cause sometimes their drinks tastes watered down, like the Afternoon Tea, which was too bland and chocolately for my taste. No seating

Solid boba tea, I very much enjoyed the toffee bits in the drinks that offered it, so unique to have a bit of crunch in the drink along with the tapioca pearls. I heard if you take it to go that they put the toffee is out on the side so that it won’t dissolve in the drink before you get to have it! I also got the pear pandan tea to try as one of their seasonal items. The pandan flavor which I was most excited about doesn’t hit you till the end and even then it was pretty subtle. I might get it a bit more sweet but it otherwise was mostly like a regular clear green tea drink, I would probably just opt for the milk teas. The space was a bit small but really cute. This location was pretty popular after dinner so it was a little bit of a wait to get out drinks. Luckily there were 2 tablets to order from if someone else was taking a bit longer to decide on what to get.

I visited Urban Ritual last summer after dinner on a Thursday. There are a lot of cool drink options, and I love the branding. I ended up getting the creme brulee milk tea. I was surprised that the creme brulee component literally tasted like the egg custard in a creme brulee. Instead of bruleeing the top, they add torched sugar bits on top. Overall I thought this drink had a lot of layers and was interesting, but I wouldn't get it again. It didn't hit the right flavor and texture composition for me. There are a lot of other interesting drinks here that I would love to try someday.

Love me some urban ritual! This location is also just much more convenient than the one in SF though the one that originally won my heart was SF. Today, I opted for a twist on my favorite and went with the creme brulee milk tea. To be honest, I didn't love it as much as the original creme brulee milk. It was still delicious but some things as just better separate, that is creme brulee and milk tea. There's no doubt I'll still come back. One day, I'm sure the Lotus Flower Bomb will be back and that'll rue the day!

This place offers some incredibly unique drinks. I ordered the matcha toffee. It was fairly sweet so if you like your tea bitter, ask for less sugar.

Boba had a good texture, though it could be chewier, and was barely sweet, which is my preference. You can get drinks without sugar and ice, and they don't give you less liquid. They have cold brew coffee and coffee milk teas. I was excited that they had drinkable mochi but it was way too sweet and a little grainy/gritty. Sadly I will have to go back to Ume for my drinkable mochi cravings.

Really good boba, nice squishy texture. The inside is pretty cute but small. The drinks weren't absolutely insanely delicious, but they were quite expensive. Overall it was good, but pricey!

I had the chrysanthemum tea with macadamia nut milk and crystal boba, it's an acquired taste as I would prefer the tea plain, simple and hot - now I know, 😂. Otherwise, they have cool boba tea concoctions and unique milk selections like sesame, rice, macadamia nut and oat. I would go back to try the other teas.

One of the boba shop I visit at Downtown San Mateo. It has some special drink which you cannot find at other like boba shop like white grape yuzu. It also have limited time special drink. The shop is not that big but it has sitting area. The ordering is via 2 small touch screen. The drink usually ready pretty fast. I like the the white grape yuzu. It is very refreshing.

I’ll need to go back for the tea but the treats are good. Mochi muffins and the like. Ube and Churro pastries were delicious. Original mochi is good. $4 each. Parking isn’t the easiest because downtown San Mateo 🤷🏻‍♂️ but worth a try! I’ll be back for the boba...looks good.

A solid boba milk tea store for milk tea lovers. I tried a couple of their drinks and so far, I liked the Matcha latte. You can taste the matcha flavor. Today, I tried their new item called Tofu Fa with less sweetness. It’s basically tofu pudding with ginger syrup and one more ingredient but I forgot. The drink was delicious. Love the tofu, and good thing I ordered less sweetness, so the ginger syrup did not overwhelm the tofu taste. It’s bean a while but they seemed to change to much more environmentally friendly cups and straws. These are all compostable 👍

Theo Wiggin

Really good boba, nice squishy texture. The inside is pretty cute but small. The drinks weren't absolutely insanely delicious, but they were quite expensive. Overall it was good, but pricey!

Rica Carlos

I had the chrysanthemum tea with macadamia nut milk and crystal boba, it's an acquired taste as I would prefer the tea plain, simple and hot - now I know, 😂. Otherwise, they have cool boba tea concoctions and unique milk selections like sesame, rice, macadamia nut and oat. I would go back to try the other teas.

Dharma M

One of the boba shop I visit at Downtown San Mateo. It has some special drink which you cannot find at other like boba shop like white grape yuzu. It also have limited time special drink. The shop is not that big but it has sitting area. The ordering is via 2 small touch screen. The drink usually ready pretty fast. I like the the white grape yuzu. It is very refreshing.

Roy Chen

I’ll need to go back for the tea but the treats are good. Mochi muffins and the like. Ube and Churro pastries were delicious. Original mochi is good. $4 each. Parking isn’t the easiest because downtown San Mateo 🤷🏻‍♂️ but worth a try! I’ll be back for the boba...looks good.

Gloria Ha

I visited Urban Ritual last summer after dinner on a Thursday. There are a lot of cool drink options, and I love the branding. I ended up getting the creme brulee milk tea. I was surprised that the creme brulee component literally tasted like the egg custard in a creme brulee. Instead of bruleeing the top, they add torched sugar bits on top. Overall I thought this drink had a lot of layers and was interesting, but I wouldn't get it again. It didn't hit the right flavor and texture composition for me. There are a lot of other interesting drinks here that I would love to try someday.

Judy Margaret Chen

A solid boba milk tea store for milk tea lovers. I tried a couple of their drinks and so far, I liked the Matcha latte. You can taste the matcha flavor. Today, I tried their new item called Tofu Fa with less sweetness. It’s basically tofu pudding with ginger syrup and one more ingredient but I forgot. The drink was delicious. Love the tofu, and good thing I ordered less sweetness, so the ginger syrup did not overwhelm the tofu taste. It’s bean a while but they seemed to change to much more environmentally friendly cups and straws. These are all compostable 👍

Used to love their crème brûlée milk tea. Recently they started to put everything in these new paper compostable cups so you no longer see the beautiful layers and color. Honestly it smacks of $$ cutting. Completely removes any visual appeal of the drinks - there are better options if you want to be environmentally friendly (clear pla cups).. or offer discounts to use reusable cups. Last time we came in the staff was a very rowdy group of 3 boys, lots of yelling and horseplay. I’ll be looking for a different favorite bubble tea spot.

This boba shop has some very unique drinks including things like crème brûlée in the drink. However for getting a simpler drink this shop isn’t very good because of the steep price to size ratio.

My wife and one of one of her friends had heard about Urban Ritual and decided to have a family meet-up, get some drinks and walk around B street. My wife got the Creme Brulee Milk Tea, I got the House Milk Tea, and for the girls we got the Strawberry Milk Bar and the Strawberry Basil Lemonade. The ordering process was quick and easy and the drinks came out pretty quickly. The House Milk Tea was average and my wife's Creme Brulee was just ok. I think our overall feeling was that we have had better drinks at other places. Since we went out of our way to go there my expectations were high. They do have some unique drink options that I have not seen at other shops which I would be interested in trying but I would not go out of my way to go there. Overall the service was great but the drinks that we got were nothing to write home about.

Ordered the milk tea and matcha without toffee (to make it vegan) and oat milk which came out very fast! The milk tea tastes a bit more bitter than preferred. The matcha tasted nice but it had more water mixed than I would prefer but still tasted good.

Amiñya Milaniya

Ordered the milk tea and matcha without toffee (to make it vegan) and oat milk which came out very fast! The milk tea tastes a bit more bitter than preferred. The matcha tasted nice but it had more water mixed than I would prefer but still tasted good.

Was in the San Mateo area for lunch so decided to stop by Urban Ritual to try out their matcha. Was definitely a bit disappointed. First off, ordering is an absolute pain. They just have a half-working ipad for ordering and it takes super long to order. I had to jump through a few screens to ordered their matcha green tea with boba. The matcha had a very heavy after-taste. Not smooth at all. Super thick, slimey feel in the mouth after each sip wasn't pleasant. Fortunately, the boba was cooked well, so that saved a star, but overall, would not recommend their matcha tea at all. Entire street is blocked off. Parking is definitely tough.

They forgot the honey boba. The tea also tasted off. Paid almost $10 and disappointed.