Background and origins
Gong Cha started in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2006. The name means “tribute tea” — literally tea offered to emperors. The brand pushes itself as slightly premium. Expanded into Hong Kong first, then Korea, Australia, and the US. US entry around 2014. The brand went through several ownership shifts (the Korean franchise operator, RTT, bought out the Taiwanese parent in 2017), which is why some US Gong Chas have slightly different menu items than Taiwan ones.
Kung Fu Tea started in Queens, New York, in 2010. Despite sounding like it’s from China, it’s a US-born chain founded by Taiwanese-American entrepreneurs who were importing Taiwanese boba practices to the East Coast. Expanded aggressively through franchising, and now has more US locations than Gong Cha by a wide margin.
The practical difference: Gong Cha is closer to a Taiwanese specialty chain that expanded to the US. Kung Fu Tea is an American chain built on Taiwanese-inspired drinks.
Menu comparison, signature drinks
Gong Cha’s signatures:
- Milk Foam Black Tea, salted cream cheese foam over brewed black tea. Their standout.
- Brown Sugar Milk Tea with Pearls — their version of the Tiger-Sugar style drink.
- Wintermelon Tea, cult favorite.
- Earl Grey Milk Tea with 3Js (pudding, pearls, herbal jelly), a classic Taiwanese combo.
Gong Cha leans hard on tea quality. The brewed tea tastes more like tea, less like flavored powder.
Kung Fu Tea’s signatures:
- Kung Fu Milk Tea — their basic, solid and consistent.
- Honey Milk Tea, popular, very sweet.
- Panda Milk Tea, milk tea with black and white pearls.
- Dirty Boba — milk tea with espresso, their “dirty” hit.
Kung Fu leans on customization breadth. More flavor options, more combinations, more seasonal items.
Price comparison
Prices vary city to city, but as of 2026:
Gong Cha:
- Regular milk tea: $5.50-6.50
- Regular fruit tea: $6-7
- Premium drinks (cheese foam, brown sugar, etc.): $6.50-8
Kung Fu Tea:
- Regular milk tea: $4.50-5.50
- Regular fruit tea: $5-6.50
- Premium drinks: $5.50-7
Kung Fu is about $1 cheaper per drink on average. Over a year of weekly boba that’s around $50, which isn’t nothing.
Customization
Both chains accept sweetness in 25% increments, ice level adjustments, and topping swaps. Both have a standard set of toppings (tapioca, popping, pudding, aloe, jelly).
Kung Fu has more base-flavor variants. More seasonal drinks. More unusual combinations.
Gong Cha has fewer variants but more nuanced tea options, they distinguish between black, oolong, green, and jasmine more carefully. They also have a more prominent cheese-foam section.
If you like to experiment with a different drink each visit: Kung Fu. If you like to find your perfect version of a classic and stick with it: Gong Cha.
Location coverage
Kung Fu Tea has more US stores, around 400 as of 2026, heavily concentrated on the East Coast but spreading west.
Gong Cha has around 200 US stores, more evenly distributed across the West Coast, Hawaii, and the Northeast, with less Midwest presence.
In most East Coast metros both chains exist. In some West Coast metros only Gong Cha does. In smaller cities either might be the only chain option, and often a local shop is better than both.
Quality and taste — what regulars actually say
Gong Cha fans point to: better tea base flavor, the milk foam is consistently excellent, the pearls are cooked correctly more often.
Gong Cha critics point to: sweeter-than-necessary defaults, less variety, inconsistent service depending on the franchisee.
Kung Fu Tea fans point to: reliable consistency, better prices, huge menu, solid pearls.
Kung Fu Tea critics point to: tea tastes weaker and more powder-based, cheese foam is hit-or-miss, too many menu items that all taste similar.
Both chains have franchise locations with huge variation, the Gong Cha in one mall can be excellent, the one across town mediocre. Same for Kung Fu. This is true of every chain, but more noticeable here because the drinks are made to order.
App, rewards, and perks
Kung Fu Tea’s app is better. More stores participate, the rewards program actually delivers free drinks, and mobile ordering works reliably.
Gong Cha has a rewards program in some regions but the app experience varies by franchise. The Korean-run US stores have one app; the Taiwanese-run ones have different ones or none.
This matters if you drink boba often and care about stacking points.
Verdict
If you care most about tea quality and are willing to pay an extra dollar: Gong Cha. If you care most about variety, price, and location convenience: Kung Fu Tea. If you’re somewhere both chains are available and a local specialty shop exists: go to the local one first. Both chains are fine defaults, neither is the best option in any given city.
One practical tip: order a Gong Cha Milk Foam Black Tea on your first visit, it’s their best drink and the one they make most reliably. Order a Kung Fu Classic Milk Tea for the same reason. If those two drinks don’t sell you on the chain, trying ten other menu items probably won’t either.
Bottom line
Both chains are B+ options in most US cities. Gong Cha is the premium side, Kung Fu Tea is the value side. Gong Cha’s tea actually tastes like tea; Kung Fu’s value-per-dollar is better. Beyond the signatures, the menus converge enough that it mostly comes down to which one is closer and which has a better local franchise.
Also — and this is genuinely the most useful thing to know, both chains get beaten by specialty shops (Boba Guys, Twirl, Labobatory, Tea and Milk, One Zo, and a dozen regional independents) on quality. If you have a good local specialty option, go there. If you don’t, Gong Cha and Kung Fu are the safe chains.
