Just when you thought they were out, New York pulls them right back in…
Boba Guys is a popular Boba Tea store founded by the Boba Guys themselves, Andrew Chau and Bin Chen. Begun in San Francisco in 2011, the two friends didn’t intend to start a national chain of stores when they began, they simply wanted to experiment with making the best Boba they could create. Compared to other tea shops who keep everything hidden behind a kitchen wall, Andrew and Bin wanted to open up the Boba experience for everyone to see, highlighting the fun and the creativity of the experience.. Eventually, their Boba became so popular in San Francisco that they were able to open their first brick-and-mortar store in 2013.
Since then, the Boba Guys quickly discovered just how popular the tea really was. Currently operating nearly 20 locations in Los Angeles and San Francisco, guests come from all over to get a taste of the Guys’ unique take on the popular beverage. Having studied the perfect recipes for countless hours, Andrew and Bin even visited rival tea shops to try and figure out what they were doing correctly and incorrectly. Eventually, they were able to move to the East Coast and establish the first Boba Guys in New York, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, Andrew and Bin were forced to close their Manhattan operation and pivot.
Now though, it appears that Andrew and Bin are once again gearing up to hit the East Coast with a brand new Boba Guys. For their first new location since shutting down their original New York store, Boba Guys will be opening up at 145 Greene Street. Deep in the heart of SoHo, the locations is sure to attract a lot of traffic as it rests on the corner of the bustling Houston Street. Offering a humble 600 square feet of space, the location features large, beautiful windows that will let passersby get a unique glimpse of the boba-making process.
While Andrew and Bin can’t specify when exactly they plan to launch this year, they still sell plenty of merch on their website, including a cool Boba kit that customers can order to make their very own Boba creations at home. Deeply passionate about spreading the good word of Boba, Andrew and Bin have even written a book about the delicacy, which is also available for purchase on their website. If the book is too ambitious for you, the Boba Guys even offer online classes where they teach you and 19 others the ins-and-outs of Boba crafting.
