Cafeography
Bubble tea · Milan

Bubble tea in Milan

Milk tea and tapioca pearls, mostly along pedestrian Via Paolo Sarpi.

Photo: RDNE Stock project, Pexels License

Bubble tea, a drink of Taiwanese origin, is usually a green-tea and milk base with flavoring, over chewy tapioca balls that sink to the bottom, drunk through an oversized straw.1 In Milan it belongs above all to Via Paolo Sarpi, the main street of Chinatown, where tea shops share the pavement with dumpling counters.1

The district grew from workshops. The first Chinese businesses, around Via Luigi Canonica, made silk ties, then switched to leather during the Second World War, sewing belts for the army.3 Il Post counts it among the oldest Chinese neighborhoods in Europe, and each February the street is hung with red lanterns for Chinese New Year.5 In 2017 one pupil in four at the primary school on Via Giusti was Chinese.5 Across the city, China-born residents now own nearly 13 percent of retail companies, according to The World of Chinese.4

Local tip: Pair the tea with a snack from the same street: Via Paolo Sarpi is pedestrian, so you can walk from taiyaki honpo at number 6 to QQTEA at 47, open until 22:00 every day.

Where these cafés are: Paolo Sarpi & Chinatown (7), Brera (2), Città Studi & Lambrate (1), Navigli & Ticinese (1), Duomo & Centro (1), Porta Venezia (1).

At a glance

13Cafés listed
2With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
22:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: New Brand Cafè - Spritzeria - Bubble Tea, from 07:00 (Mon–Fri 07:00–20:30 · Sat 17:00–21:00).
  • Closes latest: QQTEA, until 22:00 (Daily 10:00–22:00).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (8%), takeaway (8%), indoor seating (8%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Milan.

Via Paolo Sarpi’s tea counters

More than half of the city’s bubble tea shops are in Paolo Sarpi & Chinatown, most of them on the street itself, from taiyaki honpo at number 6 to QQTEA at number 47, which opens 10:00–22:00 every day. Miss Cake and 瀾記 Laankee are a turn off it, on Via Giordano Bruno and Via Aristotile Fioravanti.

The street has been closed to through traffic in stages: it became a limited-traffic zone at the end of 2008 and a paved pedestrian promenade in 2011.3 Chains have followed. The blue sign of ChaPanda, a Chinese milk tea brand, is a local landmark, and Coco is among the few chains able to afford a shop in the district.4

What to order

Menus run from milk teas to fruit teas with jellies. In 2024 Milano Segreta recommended QQTEA’s green tea with mango, tapioca pearls and lychee jelly, and pointed to Mocano, at Via Paolo Sarpi 17, for a premium tea brewed from black tea leaves with fresh fruit, a red bean drink and grass jelly.2

Some shops make each cup to order. In 2016 Dissapore found Chateau Dufan making its bubble tea to order with powdered matcha and heated milk, and tried a taro version at Cin Cin Bar.1

Beyond Chinatown

Outside Sarpi, Brera has two: Coll Bubble Tea And Coffee at Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi 127 and Touch Tea on Via Bassano Porrone. Panda Tea is at Corso di Porta Ticinese 58, and Frankly Bubble Tea & Coffee on Piazza Argentina in Porta Venezia.

In Città Studi, New Brand Cafè on Via Giovanni Pascoli is a spritz bar that also serves bubble tea, open 07:00–20:30 on weekdays and 17:00–21:00 on Saturdays.

What bubble tea costs in Milan

In 2016 Dissapore paid €3.50 for a matcha bubble tea at Chateau Dufan and the same for a taro one at Cin Cin Bar.1 In 2024 Milano Segreta gave Frankly’s fixed price as from €3.50, with a long list of teas and toppings, at its shop on Via Orefici.2

Sources

  1. Milano: persa in Paolo Sarpi tra ravioleria e bubble tea (Carlotta Girola), Dissapore (February 8, 2016), accessed October 2026
  2. Bubble tea a Milano: 5 negozi che non puoi perderti e i nuovi gusti da provare (Valentina Pacitti), Milano Segreta (July 16, 2024), accessed October 2026
  3. Chinatown (Milano), Wikipedia (Italian), accessed October 2026
  4. Milan's Chinatown: history and an uncertain future (Anson Zong-Liscum), The World of Chinese (December 10, 2025), accessed October 2026
  5. Chinatown, Milano, Il Post (March 14, 2017), accessed October 2026
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By area: Brera Navigli & Ticinese Duomo & Centro Paolo Sarpi & Chinatown Porta Venezia

FAQ

Bubble tea in Milan: questions

Which street in Milan has the most bubble tea shops?

Via Paolo Sarpi, the main street of Chinatown. Taiyaki honpo, MochiMochi, Puppy, Arteasg and QQTEA are on the street itself, Mocano is at number 17, and Miss Cake and Laankee are just off it. The street has been a pedestrian promenade since 2011.

How much does bubble tea cost in Milan?

About €3.50. In 2024 Milano Segreta gave Frankly’s fixed price as from €3.50 at its Via Orefici shop, and in 2016 Dissapore paid €3.50 for a matcha bubble tea at Chateau Dufan and for a taro one at Cin Cin Bar, both near Via Paolo Sarpi.

What should you order at a bubble tea shop on Via Paolo Sarpi in Milan?

In 2024 Milano Segreta recommended QQTEA’s green tea with mango, tapioca pearls and lychee jelly, and Mocano’s premium tea made from black tea leaves with fresh fruit, its red bean drink and grass jelly. Classic bubble tea is a tea and milk base over chewy tapioca balls.

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