It’s Boba Time

With hundreds of different boba tea shops available throughout Orange County, It’s Boba Time stood out in Costa Mesa by delivering a large (and continually growing) menu of reasonably priced, colorfully layered drinks at a time when prices were beginning to creep up elsewhere. Noteworthy highlights included Thai tea smoothies, pistachio frappes, and beautifully rainbow-hued Galaxy Iced Teas, all quite good in our experiences.

It’s Boba Time began operations in 2003 on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, and expanded to Orange County years later. Opened in 2019, the Costa Mesa location we originally visited has long since closed, but the chain lists a nearby Santa Ana location as “coming soon.” Shops in Anaheim, Fullerton, Irvine, and Rancho Santa Margarita remain open, though with wildly different customer evaluations ranging from consistently excellent at some to seriously problematic in service and drink sweetness at others.