‘It’s popular for a reason.’ Cafe opening in downtown Macon offers authentic Boba tea

Renee Tu has wanted to open a Boba tea shop for years. Now, that desire is becoming a reality.

Hello Boba Cafe at 359 Third St. is expected to open soon in the spot that once housed Adrianna’s Cafe in downtown Macon.

“We’re going to be serving Boba tea of assorted flavors,” Tu said. “There’s going to be milk-based drinks, tea-based drinks, various toppings on the drinks.”

Boba tea, also known as Bubble tea, is a tea-based drink that Tu said originated in Taiwan.

What’s a Boba anyway?

A Boba is “a little chewy ball that’s at the bottom of the drink” that’s made from tapioca, a starch extracted from the cassava root. A wide straw is used to retrieve the Bobas in the drink.

“The Boba by itself is a little brown ball,” Tu said. “But there’s also different types of Bobas. There’s crystal Bobas, which is kind of like a little more of a harder texture and a little bit smaller.

“And there’s like fruit jellies that come in different shapes. We plan to carry some heart shaped strawberry jellies. Then there’s the popping Boba, which is kind of like juice inside a little casing. So when you bite into it, you get like a burst of flavor.”

The cafe also will offer Bubble Waffles, which “are similar to a Belgian waffle but egg shaped,” Tu said.

“It’s soft on the inside and crispy on the outside and served with ice cream and toppings: syrups, sprinkles, whatever the customer wants.”

Additionally, the cafe will have pre-packaged Asian snacks like Pocky cookies and Lay’s spicy crawfish flavored potato chips — “things that you don’t see at your typical grocery store,” she said.

Asian pop culture

Creating an inviting space also is important to Tu, who decided to go with a Cherry Blossom/Asian pop culture theme.

“The Cherry Blossom Festival happens right out front, so it was just like perfect,” Tu said. “The cherry blossoms bloom in spring and it kind of fits our aesthetics also ...

“We will have a projector that will be playing Anime. We’ll have K-pop over the speakers. You know, it’s kind of like the Asian pop culture that’s going on right now.”

The cafe also has a room available for meetings.

Growing up in Boston, Tu said she was used to Boba shops being everywhere. Not so much in Middle Georgia.

When she first moved to Macon about six or seven years ago, Tu said she’d drive to Atlanta to get her “Boba fix.”

In 2018, Tu started taking one flavor of Boba tea, which she described as “classic milk tea,” and some baked goods to the Mulberry Market at Tattnall Square Park to “test the market.”

The Boba tea was selling well. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Tu stopped going to the farmers market.

But she never gave up on opening a Boba shop.

Location, location, location

One day, when she and her husband were driving around, they spotted the perfect location.

“We saw that Third Street was open, so that kind of just settled everything. That’s a great location, which is really important,” Tu said.

What makes the Third Street location downtown so ideal is its high-volume of foot traffic, she said.

Tu also has restaurant experience.

She worked for 13 years as a sushi chef at her parents’ sushi bar in Boston. Her parents had the restaurant for about 15 years before deciding to retire.

Natives of what was then Burma, her parents were married in Taiwan and immigrated to America in their 20s. Tu was born in the U.S. She has a younger brother.

For those not familiar with Boba tea, Tu encourages them to come taste and see.

“It’s unique and it’s different and it’s very flavorful,” Tu said. “It’s popular for a reason, so I would definitely give it a try.

“There’s something for everyone in our shop like we have tea-based drinks for tea lovers. We have sweet fruity drinks for people who prefer something on the fruity side. We have non-sweet teas, too.

Tu hopes to open in February but it could be March. She’s got equipment on order, inspections pending and she’s putting the finishing touches on the cafe.

Operating hours are to be determined. The cafe will offer dine-in and takeout.

“We’re trying to make it a friendly place to hang out,” Tu said.