Got a milk tea that tasted like straight milk, like no flavor whatsoever. So I asked if I could exchange my drink and they don’t do exchanges she just said she could charge me for another one. So she offered added more flavor so I said sure and it still tasted like milk. But their popcorn chicken was decent and good white sauce. But I definitely think there’s better boba places in the area. This one wasn’t my favorite so prob not coming back
Food: 3
Service: 2
Lia Willcoxon
Hard to write this one off, as it is one of the only Asian fusion restaurants in Raleigh open during lunch. However, that's the only pro imo. The food is often lacking and missing flavors, bread is soggy or old, and almost always poorly constructed. It usually takes a long time too, and it can't be for freshness.The service workers are nice, and I have no idea why there would be a review complaining about someone dancing -- glad they aren't robots at Budacai -- but there is such a high turn over rate that I have to question the management.The space is also not usually very clean. Likely due to poorly paid staff with poorly managed hours. If you want a model of management on the same street, look towards 42 and Lawrence, who have had the same and highly skilled staff for years.Most importantly, as other reviewers have mentioned, the prices for the quality are way too far-fetched. The quality does not match the price. It's almost always a let-down.Easily spruced up in my opinion, and I hope it gets there. The concept is great, execution -- not so much.Vegetarian options: There are a few vegetarian options, but not much.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Mango Popping Boba, Traditional Banh MI
Alyssa Gillikin
Delicious boba tea and baos!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Samantha Tindal
Best bulgogi I’ve had in a long time. I also got the mango matcha boba
Alina MarcHare
Delicious boba and the staff are really nice!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jesica Hardy
I can't see myself spending $25 on chips and tea ever again. I got the bulgogi nachos. Almost no meat or toppings. Meat was old and cold and flavorless. Had to pay for extra kimchi. It was dry and not good at all. Plus there was a young person that worked there and decided they wanted to start dancing in the middle of the dining room floor. I had been waiting to go to this restaurant. Now I can say that I won't return
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
Jakob Stanek
Me and some friends needed somewhere to take pictures for a project and they were nice enough to let us use some space there food was amazing and atmosphere is
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
SA Cinpinski
Easy street or lot parking (paid). Across from the Raleigh bus station. Nice relaxing vibe. Plenty of small plate/ app options. You can easily customize any drink. Black milk tea and strawberry tea with popping peach boba was great. Medium or small size for tea options. Tried the crab Rangoon, pop corn chicken and veggie egg rolls. All came out piping hot with complimentary sauces. I will come back here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Popcorn Chicken, Strawberry
T H
Best boba I have had in Raleigh
Beulahis Married
Delish tea!!! Fresh balls (when I had it) and perfectly sweet !Tried countless boba in nyc but budacai hits different!
This was some of the best bulgogi I've ever had. Yummy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi Bowl
Sandra Smith
I have visited this location since they opened 4 years ago. I was surprised to see different faces today and based on the reviews, see that Budacai is under new ownership. The food and drinks taste exactly the same. So glad that taste was not compromised. We ordered about $200 worth of food and drinks, so the wait time was a little longer but that's expected. Highly recommend, still.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
raley h
wonderful staff! wait times were very high but they kept us updated. we had a lychee boba and a taro boba which were both great! we got a japanese fried chicken katsu bowl and an order of pandam waffles. chicken bowl was great, but the rice was VERY unseasoned and had the texture and taste of minute rice, veggies and waffles were amazing though!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Katsu Bowl
Destenie Rios
Food is good, no complaints regarding that. However, there is no formality when handing out orders. They need to ask for a name for each order, or at the very least, print out receipts and give an associated number. This is the second time I’ve had to wait an hour to get my food because another person grabbed my order and left. I asked the staff 6 times how much longer it would be and the only answer I got was “the kitchen is backed up”. Meanwhile, everyone had received their food and the staff was hanging out in the front. I bought a parking pass for an hour and it expired before I even received my food. Overall review 1/5.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Luis Silva
My once-favorite spot has truly plummeted in quality. During my recent visit, the staff was shockingly rude, the bao buns were disappointingly cold and hard. To make matters worse, despite advertising itself as a bar, there was absolutely no alcohol available. This experience left a bitter taste, and I won't be returning.
Got a milk tea that tasted like straight milk, like no flavor whatsoever. So I asked if I could exchange my drink and they don’t do exchanges she just said she could charge me for another one. So she offered added more flavor so I said sure and it still tasted like milk. But their popcorn chicken was decent and good white sauce. But I definitely think there’s better boba places in the area. This one wasn’t my favorite so prob not coming back
Food: 3
Service: 2
Hard to write this one off, as it is one of the only Asian fusion restaurants in Raleigh open during lunch. However, that's the only pro imo. The food is often lacking and missing flavors, bread is soggy or old, and almost always poorly constructed. It usually takes a long time too, and it can't be for freshness.The service workers are nice, and I have no idea why there would be a review complaining about someone dancing -- glad they aren't robots at Budacai -- but there is such a high turn over rate that I have to question the management.The space is also not usually very clean. Likely due to poorly paid staff with poorly managed hours. If you want a model of management on the same street, look towards 42 and Lawrence, who have had the same and highly skilled staff for years.Most importantly, as other reviewers have mentioned, the prices for the quality are way too far-fetched. The quality does not match the price. It's almost always a let-down.Easily spruced up in my opinion, and I hope it gets there. The concept is great, execution -- not so much.Vegetarian options: There are a few vegetarian options, but not much.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Mango Popping Boba, Traditional Banh MI
Delicious boba tea and baos!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best bulgogi I’ve had in a long time. I also got the mango matcha boba
Delicious boba and the staff are really nice!
Food: 5
Service: 5
I can't see myself spending $25 on chips and tea ever again. I got the bulgogi nachos. Almost no meat or toppings. Meat was old and cold and flavorless. Had to pay for extra kimchi. It was dry and not good at all. Plus there was a young person that worked there and decided they wanted to start dancing in the middle of the dining room floor. I had been waiting to go to this restaurant. Now I can say that I won't return
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
Me and some friends needed somewhere to take pictures for a project and they were nice enough to let us use some space there food was amazing and atmosphere is
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Easy street or lot parking (paid). Across from the Raleigh bus station. Nice relaxing vibe. Plenty of small plate/ app options. You can easily customize any drink. Black milk tea and strawberry tea with popping peach boba was great. Medium or small size for tea options. Tried the crab Rangoon, pop corn chicken and veggie egg rolls. All came out piping hot with complimentary sauces. I will come back here again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Popcorn Chicken, Strawberry
Best boba I have had in Raleigh
Delish tea!!! Fresh balls (when I had it) and perfectly sweet !Tried countless boba in nyc but budacai hits different!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
This was some of the best bulgogi I've ever had. Yummy.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi Bowl
I have visited this location since they opened 4 years ago. I was surprised to see different faces today and based on the reviews, see that Budacai is under new ownership. The food and drinks taste exactly the same. So glad that taste was not compromised. We ordered about $200 worth of food and drinks, so the wait time was a little longer but that's expected. Highly recommend, still.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
wonderful staff! wait times were very high but they kept us updated. we had a lychee boba and a taro boba which were both great! we got a japanese fried chicken katsu bowl and an order of pandam waffles. chicken bowl was great, but the rice was VERY unseasoned and had the texture and taste of minute rice, veggies and waffles were amazing though!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Katsu Bowl
Food is good, no complaints regarding that. However, there is no formality when handing out orders. They need to ask for a name for each order, or at the very least, print out receipts and give an associated number. This is the second time I’ve had to wait an hour to get my food because another person grabbed my order and left. I asked the staff 6 times how much longer it would be and the only answer I got was “the kitchen is backed up”. Meanwhile, everyone had received their food and the staff was hanging out in the front. I bought a parking pass for an hour and it expired before I even received my food. Overall review 1/5.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
My once-favorite spot has truly plummeted in quality. During my recent visit, the staff was shockingly rude, the bao buns were disappointingly cold and hard. To make matters worse, despite advertising itself as a bar, there was absolutely no alcohol available. This experience left a bitter taste, and I won't be returning.