Chi Tea — Restaurant in Rogers Park Township

I had the opportunity to be one of Chi Tea's first customers! I think this place is a really good addition to the neighborhood, especially since the nearest place to get food like this is at Hangry Joe's, which is further down Sheridan/Broadway. This kind of place is needed near Campus/The Loyola Redline station.

That being said, this place is pretty high-traffic. And the first time I was there, they were out of a lot of things. As a newer spot, I wasn't too upset. No one expects the high amount of traffic that goes into being at that spot. Especially considering Five Guys and The Halal Guys both didn't last long in the area.

This location is small, but there is a bit of seating in the inside. Both times I have come, though, have been pretty busy, but there were a few seats for me to sit at.

This location is clean-ish. Obviously they are still trying to figure some things out, but they clean up when they can. In my opinion, the place needs more garbage cans to help with clean up so customers aren't just leaving food on the table when there is no more room to throw things out.

Now to the food, I think the food is great. Obviously, with a new location, they are still figuring things out. And despite the supply issues, they are serving quality food. I had a chance to try a bit of everything on the menu, but I have to say the Chi Tea classic slider and the Big Bird sliders are my favorite. I love how the Chi Tea slider has jalapenos that really complement the Chi Tea signature sauce. The blended bubble tea and lemonade were also amazing. I had a chance to try the Thai milk tea with tiger syrup and it was my favorite drink I have had so far. The lemonades are also refreshing and I love how you can add popping boba to it.

Overall, my only complaints is running out of things as well as the lack of sauce options. I am not much of a fan that the only options is the Chi Tea signature sauce. I believe there should be ranch, ketchup and BBQ options for purchase. I don't think the sauce goes on every single thing on the menu.

Overall, I'm glad this place is in the neighborhood, and I...

One brief experience here- went to get some tea for myself and my father who is a senior that lives in a nearby building. The menu was confusing, yet the lady who served us acted like it was super simple. So I got a simple bubble tea item/ and it tasted like spoiled milk. So I asked my sister to taste it and she said the same, she got a mango smoothie and the lady informed her afterwards that it had “non dairy creamer”. When I mentioned this to the lady, she outright denied that there’s milk in there. Ok, maybe I’m wrong. But she did not even bother to explain anything, she just pointed to the screen and said “it says over ice here”. That had nothing to do with the issue. So not only did this lady didn’t listen to any feedback we gave, I asked her may I trade this in for something small I just cannot consume it. She said no and offered absolutely no solutions. I came humbly to enjoy a drink. You absolutely lost a new customer and family. You can get away with service like this for a while because maybe most people won’t mind. But eventually it will catch up. Businesses like these do not survive. Simple as that, and people will always remember how you treat them. Learn to handle reasonable...

I have went to other locations, which I didn’t have much of an issue on, but I recently went to the one that opened on Sheridan Rd near Loyola.

In my opinion the service and atmosphere were good. However, I had issues with the food. I got the Chi Tea Classic and Chicken loaded fries.

First of all, the burger itself only had a half of a tomato slice, one jalapeño, and lettuce. There wasn’t any grilled onions, there was more lettuce than anything else. Also, the beef itself was extremely thin and dry. I would rate it a good 5 out of 10. I didn’t fully hate it, but it could’ve been better.

Now for the chicken loaded fries, it was horrible. There was barely any coleslaw, excessive amount of cheese, and the popcorn chicken was hard and dry. Also, some of the popcorn chickens had multiple bones in it. It was to the point where I couldn’t eat it anymore, and felt like throwing up. This wasn’t appetizing at all, the fries itself were decent with the sauce but that’s about it.

Personally, I was expecting much better from this new location but was disappointed. I truly hope it improves in the future, but personally, as of right now, I wouldn’t...