Boba & Bites Offers Anna More Than Just a Boba Fix

Anna, Texas — Sometimes the best sign that a restaurant is doing something right is realizing you have been sitting there considerably longer than you intended.

That was the case during a Friday lunch-hour visit to Boba & Bites, where what could have been another quick stop for a drink instead turned into nearly an hour spent talking with a friend over boba, a bubble waffle and indie rock playing quietly in the background.

Located at 810 W. White Street, Boba & Bites fills a relatively specific niche in Anna. For residents looking for a local boba shop, there aren’t exactly dozens of options to choose from without heading south.

Fortunately, Anna’s option is a good one.

The Boba… and Bites

The order started with a build-your-own peach green tea with crystal boba.

At $6.25 before the 75-cent peach flavor and 75-cent crystal boba additions, it isn’t necessarily the cheapest drink in town. But the portion was fair, the ice level was nearly perfect and, most importantly, the drink itself delivered.

Peach and green tea are a combination that’s difficult to argue with when done properly. Here, the peach flavor came through clearly without completely overpowering the tea underneath it, while the crystal boba added texture without turning the drink into something excessively heavy.

Boba & Bites also has enough choices that ordering doesn’t feel limited to a handful of variations on the same drink.

My friend went with the $6.99 Strawberry Sunrise smoothie. I didn’t steal a sip for the sake of journalism, but their verdict was simple: it was great.

The real standout, though, was the bubble waffle.

For $7.99, the waffle came topped with dark chocolate and whipped cream. The dark chocolate was strong and rich, which worked particularly well against the comparatively simple sweetness of the waffle itself.

The top of the waffle came out crisp but never crossed the line into burnt. Underneath that exterior was a much softer waffle that gave the whole thing the contrast in texture that makes a bubble waffle work.

Simply put, it was excellent.

It was also probably the most complicated thing I could have ordered from the lone employee working during the visit. Despite that, service was quick, friendly and polite throughout.

Then there was the $3 cake pop.

There isn’t an elaborate culinary analysis to give here. It was a cake pop. Think Starbucks, except this one tasted a little fresher.

Sometimes that’s all a cake pop needs to be.

Altogether, the order came to $24.23 before tax, a 3% credit-card surcharge and tip, bringing the final total to $28.09.

A Place Worth Staying Awhile

Food is only part of what makes Boba & Bites work.

Inside, green walls and wood accents give the shop a relaxed atmosphere, with a small claw machine sitting beneath a wall that reads, appropriately, “YOU’RE THE BOBA TO MY TEA.”

During this particular visit, The Smiths and other indie rock provided the soundtrack.

Your musical mileage may vary, but for me, they had already won some points.

More importantly, it was quiet without feeling empty and welcoming without trying too hard to manufacture an atmosphere. It feels like the kind of place where a high school or college student could bring a laptop, order a drink and get some work done without feeling pressured to immediately give up the table.

Families and dedicated boba fans should feel equally comfortable.

I’ve visited Boba & Bites twice before, but both of those trips were essentially a grab-a-boba-and-leave operation. Sitting down this time revealed something I hadn’t really noticed during those quicker visits.

It’s simply a pleasant place to be.

Anna has added plenty of places to buy food and drinks as it has grown. Places where you actually want to sit for a while can be harder to come by.

Boba & Bites manages both.

The Verdict

There isn’t much I’d change about the order.

I’d happily get the peach green tea with crystal boba again. I’d order the bubble waffle again. And after somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour disappeared during a conversation that was originally supposed to accompany a quick lunch, I’d happily sit down again too.

For a shop that could easily survive as somewhere customers simply grab a drink and head out the door, Boba & Bites is better experienced by staying awhile.

Boba & Bites
810 W. White St., Suite 600
Anna, Texas 75409

Photos by Brayden R. Heath / The Anna Progress