Saint’s Alp Teahouse

HAHAHA KARMA!!!
Sorry for being such an a$$, but I am SO happy this place closed down. (See previous review for explanation). God bless!

This was one of those places that you just think will be around forever. Guess my intuition was wrong. I feel like something must’ve gotten to them because business was good every time I went. The people who worked there were good too– everyone seemed to have their heads on straight. I have a feeling it was the rent, even though I know very little about these matters. It’s just one of those general reasons you can give to explain anything. «Why’d you go out of business?» «The rent was too high!» Did they maybe need a lawyer to help them keep the rent from increasing too much?
Anyway, bubble tea. I’m required to say that otherwise Unilocal may delete my review. They did that to me once because I only talked about the business but not the food.
St Alps (sic) was one of the first places I knew in New York, since I stayed in the NYU apt bldg Third Ave North during the summer after college.
I never did understand why it was Saint’s /​«alp teahouse.» What’s an «alp teahouse?» What kind of saint?

My favorite tea house. I was sad to leave the Midwest because I will miss St Alps a lot. I thought they are only in Chicago, but I was so pleasantly surprised to find them right in NY when I relocated for work!
I like my favorite black seasame milk tea as always. Thick flavorful black seasame in their signature milk tea with chewy bubbles. In addition to bubbles, you get to choose from different types of jelly as well. I also had the green milk tea which is also very good.
The nice thing about St Alps is that they are not just a bubble tea house. Food is served. So it’s a good place for a sit-​down meal. The bonus: you could eat a full meal here, or just order some of those classic Asian snacks, many of which brings back fond memories of childhood. One of those is the thick toast, which comes with different ‘toppings’ like butter, condensed milk etc. Love the condensed milk, it’s a classic. They also have curry fish balls, calamari and tea leaf eggs to name a few.
Their tables are also spaciously spread out so it’s a really nice place to sit down and catch up with friends. My experiences here have always been nothing less than great.

Great Taiwanese small bites. Saint’s Alp Teahouse is nothing fancy, but it will do the trick when you want some tasty Asian «tapas» to fill you up. Top it off with some bubble tea or a fruit smoothie!
I came here for a group dinner the other day. The staff were more than happy to accommodate a trickle of people flowing in. We ordered a round of appetizers and (non-​alcoholic) drinks, including fried string beans (a hit), fish balls (also delicious), steamed pork dumplings (a little soggy), calamari (not the best), and a few other dishes. For main courses, we tried the curry over rice (not as saucy as we would’ve liked, tasted a little like powdered curry mix).
All in all, Saint’s Alp Teahouse is great for small plates and friendly for groups, and the drinks are excellent. No alcohol though, so if that’s a necessity, go elsewhere. Otherwise, delicious!

Quick and fast, best way to get a cheap lunch or dinner and get that boba craving in. Don’t forget to ask for a stamp card!
Here’s what I ordered:
Minced pork in soup with udon
— this dish never fails and although is super simple l, it’s super delicious.
— I like how it was fast to make (5min) after I ordered it came out, perfect for those wanting a quick lunch without having to wait a long time… Yeah some people may want their meals made fresh, but with soup, I personally think it is ok to make in bulk and serve to order.
Matcha green tea icy with red bean
— The best thing about it is that they don’t dilute it when they blend the ice! I hate when you get an icy or slushy and it just taste like ice, but here, they still blend it where the flavor is in tack and top it off with red beans! Yum
Pumpkin milk tea
— I didn’t taste much of the pumpkin, but it was still good.
— I think it’s because they only use power to sprinkle it on top with.
Note: for a girl who only gets milk tea, this is one of the few places where I would try other flavors.
1) because their drinks hold their flavors well.
2) usually I don’t taste the artificial sweetness that other boba places use in their drinks.
Service: pretty good, not anything fancy… Every time I needed something, the server was attentive.
Overall: great hang out place for the night and quick tasteful meals for lunch.

Great place /​good food /​cheap prices !! :)
Been there a few times and was always satisfied and full.
Tonight we had the Taiwanese chicken chop over udon with extra tea egg ($ 8.95) and extra spicy curry chicken over udon ($ 7.95). Both meals were super good. I particularly love the tea egg.
We also tried the bubble teas and they were fairly good. The passion fruit was delicious and the sesame one was not our type but it was worth tasting it.

I really only come here for their bubble tea and it always hits the spot! When I get bubble tea from like Kung Fu Tea or CoCo I usually just stick with the regular milk tea, but sometimes I crave green apple green tea which I used to only like from Quickly’s. However, Saint’s Alp’s green apple green tea (with tapioca and lychee jelly) always satisfies my craving! They’re not cheap with the lychee jelly either, always plenty to chew on.
Last week, we also decided to try the fried chicken chunks, which was okay. I prefer quickly’s and t-​kettles. I recommend trying the bubble teas though!

The tea was pretty good– refreshing to have some good boba, as it is so hard to come by in NY.
We ordered the beef noodle soup and minced pork noodles, but they were nothing special. I wouldn’t order them again.
Only one bathroom so beware of drunk people peeing with the door open or trying to break down the door.
Servers were nice and food came out fairly quick.

The variety of snacks and desserts attracted us here. Especially the large dessert toast. Had it in Hong Kong and it was amazing and was hoping to experience the same here. We also needed a break from exploring NYC and the heat and thought bubble tea was a great idea.
We ordered the calamari, bubble tea, and some of the condensed milk toast based on some recommendations on Unilocal.The calamari came with sweet chili sauce and is decent. I always say you can judge a place’s bubble tea based on how well they make their black tea with tapioca. I really wanted to like it, but I didn’t think it was sweet enough. Onto the toast. The condensed milk toast was alright. The toast was a bit hard, and unlike my experience back in HK. The green tea version was okay as well.
Overall they have lots of offer and I would probably try the other items and flavors next time.

I’ve always been a huge fan of St Alps! My brothers and I pretty much live on bubble tea and are definitely bubble tea snobs. So when they came to visit this was one of the first places I took them to.
What we ordered: black milk tea with boba. I thought it was very good, however my brothers felt that it was too watered down for their liking. We ordered it to go, maybe there was too much ice ?
Anyways the indoor seating is great which other establishments don’t have, still put St Alps as a good spot for bubble tea!

I wonder what all the hype is about. Again, my sister deceived me.
I ordered the matcha slush with red bean and it’s like any other bubble tea joint. I was hoping the food would wow me but it was even worse! I was glad to have the drink. I ordered the toasted almond with matcha butter toast and I only had a bite. It was not only dry but bland. I also ordered the deep fried vegetable dumpling and it was hard to tell which was worse. The dumplings had a super thick dumpling skin and the vegetables were not flavored. The dipping sauce didn’t save it.
Customer service was extremely slow but they were friendly! I wanted to pay and leave right away but it took forever. the tables weren’t full.

I was really looking forward to this place but it turned out to be just so-​so. We got the calamari, which was excessively greasy and hard. It was painful to eat because the extra crunchy exterior kept cutting my palate. Bubble tea was average, though we didn’t have much high expectations having stepped out of Chinatown.
Overall price is fair for the area but extremely mediocre.
Drinks come in a pretty cool glass though.

This place is pretty big, it can definitely accommodate a large party. They have a lot of different flavors for drinks. I got a Matcha with Red Bean slush and it was good. My friend got the plain Red Bean slush and she said it was tasty as well.
As for appetizer, we ordered the crispy squid, yakitori chicken, and their curry fishball (new dish). The crispy squid was delicious, I particularly finished the entire plate by myself. Oops. The yakitori chicken was kind of dry, so I didn’t really enjoy that. However, the curry fishballs were so good. It was so soft once you bit into it. (I finished most of that too. haha)
For our entrees, I ordered the Marinated Minced Pork with Spicy Udon Noodle Soup. My friend got the Taiwanese Pork Chop with Marinated Minced Pork with Udon. Both dishes came with tea egg, but only the noodle soup had bok choy in addition. They were both delicious!
FYI, I noticed it said this place did not accept credit cards, but this place takes credit cards now. This is a plus :)

Good spot for bubble tea. They have a variety of flavors. All the flavors I’ve tried so far have been great (taro, matcha, peanut butter, pumpkin). I don’t think you can go wrong.
The food is cheap but extremely average.
I would just go here for the bubble tea, but beware of the $ 10 card minimum.

I’m so happy I accidentally stumbled upon this place!
I came here with a friend when I was looking for a late-​night drink and I was pleasantly surprised by this hidden gem on the LES. The staff was so friendly and seated us immediately. If I hadn’t just eaten I’m sure I would’ve ordered something to eat but instead I just had a drink, a passion fruit black tea with boba which was so yum! Plus it came in such an adorable jar which is another plus.
They had some exotic flavors here I would be interested in trying– pumpkin spice milk tea, for instance! Everything about this place was wonderful and prices were reasonable– two cups of tea were $ 8. The atmosphere is friendly and sociable. I highly recommend it for a cup of tea or a snack.

I LOVE THIS PLACE! I chose it because at the time, we thought we had about a 30-​minute wait for Ippudo, so I searched for milk tea nearby and this was it.
The food/​drinks: I ordered an iced matcha to go. They told me it came with matcha jelly. EVEN BETTER. I didn’t even know that existed!
The service: Excellent. My drink came out fast.
The facility: Grand wooden tables with glass tops and matching benches, Asian-​style. I loved it. Wished I could’ve dined in.
Payment: I paid in cash, so I can’t speak to if they take American Express or not.
Overall: HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

I came here with my best friend to grab a bite to eat after a concert a block away at Webster Hall. Loved it! (Both the concert and this post-​concert meal!)
Service: Friendly and attentive
Prices: Super cheap for the portion sizes
Food: We ordered the crispy squid as an appetizer to share, I got the curry udon with beef and bok choy, and my best friend ordered the curry udon with shrimp, cuttlefish balls, and bok choy. The squid was tasty and fresh and my entrée was delicious and super filling for the price I paid (less than $ 8 for the noodle soup)! My best friend loved her entrée too, but wished they added more shrimp and cuttlefish balls (she only got 2 pieces of shrimp and two cuttlefish balls in her noodle soup).
Drinks: We each ordered a 20 oz pot of hot sesame milk tea to end our meal; I got mine with pearl tapioca and she got hers without. We both thought it tasted amazing and want to make our own at home!
***Recommend: Everything we ordered!***
Music playing at the restaurant was great too. The Cab, Tori Kelly, throwbacks from the early 2000s, and some top 40 (but not the obnoxious ones). I’d love to come back and experience more items on the menu!

Oh how I wanted to love this place so badly! Unfortunately I didn’t.
We ordered the thick toast with matcha butter & almonds and the Pearl milk tea.
The toast wasn’t what I imagined… it was just… so. plain. My order came out hot and fresh, and the matcha butter topping itself was delicious BUT it did not compensate for the plainness of the bread. There was no unique flavor about it. Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh and set my expectations too high. Next time I’ll try the condensed milk topped toast.
On a better note, the Pearl milk tea was super creamy and delicious! Probably one of the best milk teas I’ve had. It was very sweet yet the tea flavor was not overpowered by the sugar/​cream.
This café was cute and intimate with plenty of seating and quick service. Will definitely give it another shot for variations of the thick toast and perhaps for the savory foods as well.

Such a cute and delicious tea house! The bubble tea is served in an adorable glass mug, is super authentically made, and tastes really amazing. I tried the sesame milk tea with bubbles, which had the perfect amount of milk and sesame flavor and the perfect way to end a wintery evening. There is a wide variety of flavors, and the tea can be made hot or cold, so I can definitely see myself frequenting this place and trying different flavors each time.
I also really appreciate that Saint’s Alp has a decent selection of Taiwanese foods and delicacies such as noodle soups, rice dishes, and brick toast, all of which pair very nicely with the bubble tea. Last time I went, my friend and I got the crispy squid appetizer and each got a noodle soup. I really thought it was the perfect dinner experience and just the right amount of food for two relatively hungry individuals on a Friday evening. My favorite dish that I had was definitely the squid, for it had really nice texture and flavor and better than most other Calimari I’ve had.
Service is super nice and attentive as well, and the environment is cutesy enough for friends to catch up and talk for hours on end. Check in on Unilocal for 10% off! Overall, I had such a great experience here and will definitely be back. One of the best bubble teas I’ve ever tried!

This place has some great affordable dishes. Love this place so cute and small.
So sad it’s closing tomorrow :(
Love the curry balls, the sauce was really good and I dipped my taiwanese chicken in the sauce too. It’s a really good hangout place
Love the appetizers choices.
Food takes 10 min ish to arrive. Food isn’t the highest quality but it’s delicious! It’s a nice place to bring friends or just one friend:) a good area.