New bubble tea shop offering decadent desserts opens in Grand Rapids

Feng Cha hosts its hard launch on Labor Day weekend, and the first 50 customers on Saturday, Sept. 2, will get a free drink. (Photo provided to MLive by Tin Pham)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A new tea shop that opened a month ago is already earning its spot as one of the best places to grab bubble tea in the Grand Rapids area.

Franchisees Tin and Sam Pham launched a soft opening for Feng Cha at 6101 Kalamazoo Ave. Unit C. on July 16, specializing in drinks and desserts made fresh in-house with real fruit.

Feng Cha has locations spanning across the country, with the Grand Rapids location being the second one in the state.

Tin Pham said he and his brother looked into becoming a Feng Cha franchisee after they realized there weren’t many places to get quality bubble tea outside of downtown Grand Rapids.

“We don’t have a lot of boba shop places that are good, so I took the initiative by opening this spot right next to the high school and by the highway with a big parking lot,” Pham told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. “That was my plan; bringing something decent and easy for people to travel to.”

Since their soft opening, Pham said the feedback from the community has been more than positive. He said that about 300 customers showed up for the soft opening just through word of mouth.

“Family, friends and the community have been super supportive of us regardless of not doing anything about advertisements,” Pham said. “Everybody that’s come in has been very patient with us and the feedback has been awesome.”

The menu consists of various special drinks like the Creme Brulee Dirty Boba, classic drinks like Thai Milk Tea as well as cold brew coffee, fresh fruit tea and blended freeze drinks. Prices start at $4.75.

Other popular options on the menu to complete the perfect lunch break include decadent sponge cakes topped with creamy milk foam, such as the Strawberry Princess or the signature Taro Chocolate for $6.49.

Pham told MLive that one of the reasons he franchised Feng Cha was because of the fresh ingredients, unlike other boba places that use powder.

“We tried all of the big brands before we franchised one, but Feng Cha stood out the most because it was a lot more health-conscious,” he said. “Seventy percent of our drinks use fresh fruit. If you look at the calories, it’s very low, and you can adjust the ice level or even the sweetness level for yourself.”

He said it was a great business idea to diversify in the West Michigan region because boba has a niche following.

“I wanted to expand it to all types of people because right now, the majority of people going to boba shops are Asian,” Pham said. “Slowly, we are getting a lot of different ethnicities coming to the shop now and that’s great to see.”

Pham said he immigrated to Grand Rapids from Vietnam with his family almost 20 years ago.

“It’s one of those things where coming here is hard, so I just want to do something to make my parents proud and my family proud,” he said. “If you’re capable of doing that, then you should do it. It’s high risk, high reward, but at the same time, you have to learn it, even if you have to try at least once.”

He said he’s glad that he took the initiative and the turnout has been more than positive, inviting the rest of the community to come out during the grand opening on Labor Day weekend.

The first 50 people visiting the new location on Saturday, Sept. 2, will be able to get a free drink. There will be buy one, get one free discounts available for customers on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3. Doors open at 11 a.m.

Hours of operation for Feng Cha are noon to 7 p.m. on Monday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Learn more about the new bubble tea shop here.

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