(Image: COMEBUYTEA)
(Image: COMEBUYTEA)
Like the Starbucks Roastery a few blocks away continues to draw crowds of visitors dotted by the occasional Capitol Hill local, it seems like the new COMEBUYTEA at the corner of Pike and Broadway might be busy forever.
The first Seattle location of the Taiwanese chain debuted earlier this month with lines around the block waiting for COMEBUYTEA’s take on tea focused around craft and its steam-billowing “TEAPRESSO Machine” that completes “the 5-step Kungfu brewing method” in “a 60 second comprehensive brew” that produces “a perfectly balanced tea every time.”
Despite the added wait, he $5.50 and up bursts of caffeine, cream, and chews boba have become the latest social media-fueled must haves in the neighborhood.
CHS reported here way back in late 2022 on the plans for the new cafe as the company’s U.S. subsidiary was preparing to open its “flagship Seattle store” in a space left empty by coffee giant’s Starbucks’ almost total exit from the neighborhood. COMEBUYTEA now calls the old State Bank building neighboring Neighbors, A Stir/Capitol Cider, and a location of the Cinnaholic cinnamon roll chain.
During its long path to building out the space and opening, Capitol Hill’s bubble tea scene grew even more densely populated. Don’t Yell At Me is now resident next to Dick’s Drive-in on Broadway. A new Timeless Tea location also opened on the north end of the street. Meanwhile, you can also pick up a Korean take on milk tea at Broadway’s Cafe Haslla. Veteran Capitol Hill tea scene shops including the equally crafty Atulea on 12th Ave and 10th Ave’s boba, Instagram, and bearyaki-powered Drip Tea also continue as popular choices.
For COMEBUYTEA, the Capitol Hill opening marks the company’s first foray in the United States outside of Southern California. You can also find steamy COMEBUYTEA cafes in Taipei, and Hong Kong, as well as individual locations in Japan, Australia, and Germany as it grows its global brand.
COMEBUYTEA is located at 824 E Pike. Learn more at comebuytea-usa.com.
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Things seem to be just fine for them when I come by, unlike the excuses from Starbucks that closed their location in this same corner after Covid.
So glad THE community restroom is back open again however those “to go” handles create so much waste. Can people no longer hold a cup with their hand? We have to have bags for each cup? Another “instagram” cafe.
So glad this place finally opened. It was a shame to have an empty shell on such a prominent corner for so long. Plus, the nasty street scene that congregated outside at the streetcar stop has dissipated since the tea shop opened.