Boba Tea & Snow Ice House RVA — Restaurant in Richmond

Wonderful! Iced milk tea over warm boba is a revelation! Like the bubble tea version of pie a la mode. Fast, friendly service, delicious flavors, and owners who clearly have a passion for their product. All at a fair price.

We love boba milk tea, and have gotten it at many different venues in the Richmond area. This place surprised us with a product and experience that was head and shoulders above anywhere else we've been.

We stopped in a different boba shop at the other end of Carytown first, but it was cramped, expensive, and unwelcoming. We'd been to the one in the middle, which was ok, but decided to walk 10 minutes to the other end of Carytown to give this one a shot. About halfway there, I started to second guess that decision, but am so glad we pressed on!

It was easy to miss, as the shop is set back further than most on Cary Street. But thankfully a sandwich board out on the sidewalk alerted us we were there.

The interior was clean and simple, and we had comfortable space to look over the menu options. We were quickly greeted, but not rushed to make our decisions. When we finally got to ordering, we were shocked at how quickly our orders were ready.

I had ordered a large for each of my kids (a Thai Milk Tea and a Peach Milk Tea, both with boba), figuring I would just sip off of theirs. It didn't take long before that plan went out the window. I knew I needed to have one of my own - I just couldn't decide which!

The Thai tea came with the cream on top and deep orange tea at the bottom, with an authentic, not overly sweet taste. The Peach was a deep, mellow peach flavor, again, not too sweet or candy-like. I decided on the peach, since it was most different from what I had ever had before.

The warmth of the boba combined with the cold of the iced tea was a sensory delight. The boba was perfect flavor and texture - chewy, but soft. The combination was luscious and so delicious!

Walking back to the other end of Carytown where we had parked, our drinks continued to satisfy. They did not get watered down by too much melting ice. The boba did not get stuck in the bottom of the rounded-bottom cups, and we did not get ice cubes up our straws instead of boba at the end like so often happens from other places. It was perfect, start to finish. All at a competitive price.

We also got a raspberry macaron, which, too, was delightful. I cannot wait to come back and try some of the other things on the menu.

I am happy to support this mom-and-pop establishment. It will bring me to Carytown from the suburbs, which hasn't been a frequent thing, to be honest.

Thank you to the owners for their hard work to provide a top notch product...

I ordered taro boba from here because it had free delivery, and unfortunately the tea that arrived was incredibly pale beige. Not even a hint of purple in it. Didn't taste like taro, either. It tasted like mildly flavored milk, but what the flavor was meant to be I can't tell. To be fair, my order was delivery because I'm sick and can't go out, so maybe the wrong kind of tea was delivered. It's the only explanation I can think of, because no amount of generosity would make what I received taro. I have some taro powder at home I'm attempting to fix it with, but...I shouldn't have to do that. I hate giving bad reviews, and this place is highly rated, so I hope it was just a mixup. If I risk venturing from my usual boba place again (forgive me, Kokee Tea), maybe I'll adjust my review. But for now...I'm being generous at 2 stars under the hope that it...

I was going to another shop for boba because they had onigiris too but they were insanely expensive, so I couldn't justify going there any longer. This spot is so affordable! Their boba is well cooked, and they have decent grass jelly. The owners are very kind, seems to be a husband and wife operation. They really know how to hustle, as this place gets pretty busy. The only thing I wish they had was an actual alternative milk option like soy milk on hand. They do offer a "non-dairy" milk which they use for milk teas but it still has animal milk derivatives, so not a feasible option for those who don't do dairy or animal products at all/vegan. I would definitely love to try their brown sugar boba drink or one of their milk teas if they had...