A new boba cafe opening on Figueroa will bring diverse options to students and local milk tea fans. Factory Tea Bar will open its doors on Oct. 25.
The shop, which originally opened in the San Gabriel Valley in 2011, hopes to expand its reach and bring quality boba milk tea to their target audience.
Factory Tea Bar Owner Charles Tran said that he chose the location due to its proximity to students.
“We’ve been looking for a good location for a long time,” Tran said. “We believe it’s a pretty good location because it’s not so far from USC but it’s also not so far from the downtown area.”
According to project manager Jolie Pham, the shop plans on having nearly 50 drinks, including some vegan and vegetarian options for their snacks.
Tran prides their menu on their diverse and multicultural selection, bringing combinations and styles of food from Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, the United States and more.
“We believe we can bring in [higher] quality milk tea and more variety of snacks as well,” Tran said. “We have vegan, soy milk, almond milk tea, and traditional popcorn chicken, but we add different flavors for the popcorn chicken.”
According to Tran, the snacks will have different combinations, including sour cream, barbeque fries, and chili cheese fries.
“I’m excited for this place to open,” said Timothy Wang, a sophomore studying occupational therapy. “I hope that it’s not as expensive as Pot of Cha.”
Factory Tea Bar has implemented more convenient methods of ordering boba, including an exclusive app that allows students to order on their phone and set a time for pickup. The cafe will also partner with Postmates and Grubhub for deliveries.
During the cafe’s opening day, the shop plans to give away free drinks to the first 100 customers and an Apple Watch to a random winner. The next hundred customers will receive a free gift with the purchase of any item on their menu. Those who can’t make it on opening day can still enjoy a buy one, get one free promotion throughout opening weekend
Pham hopes that the cafe will become a frequent hotspot for students and generate more buzz about many different styles of snacks.
“Our main goal is to bring drinks … and our signature milk tea so USC students can have a cup of milk tea while they are studying.” Pham said. “I [hope] that whenever USC [students] think of tea or milk tea, they will have Factory Tea Bar in mind.”
The cafe is located on 2700 S Figueroa St. and will open on Oct. 25.