Nestled among Oakland favorites, including Raising Cane’s and Insomnia Cookies, the newest addition to the dining scene along Fifth Avenue is a bubble tea cafe, TAPILAB.
The new boba shop opened up in late December 2024 with a “soft launch,” taking the spot where Gussy’s Bagels & Pizzeria used to sit. TAPILAB joins in competition with the other 12 boba shops that already reside in Oakland, including Fuku Tea and Tsaocaa, with its official grand opening last Wednesday.
Aaron Chen, the owner of TAPILAB, has been in the restaurant business for 30 years. TAPILAB is the manifestation of his lifelong dream, which he said has always been opening up his own bubble tea shop.
“During high school, I wanted to open a bubble tea shop because there were no bubble tea shops at all back then,” Chen said. “But now, I’ve achieved that.”
The name TAPILAB comes from the handmade tapioca balls that are included in a range of TAPILAB’s drinks, according to Chen. Workers caramelize water, tapioca starch and brown sugar to create the pearls, all in the store.
“The more you chew, the more brown sugar flavor comes out of [the tapioca pearls],” Chen said. “That differentiates us from other bubble tea shops because I know the more you chew, you don’t get anything out of it — but for us, you get that brown sugar. It just keeps coming back at you.”
According to Julie McGaughey, a junior digital narrative and design major and team member at Fuku Tea, the market for bubble tea is so large because it is an easy business to get into. Since the process of making tapioca pearls can be complicated, people who crave boba tea will likely go to a store rather than make the drink at home.
“It’s very cheap to make a large quantity of tea, and the boba itself isn’t that expensive,” McGaughey said. “But because it’s really hard for people to make at home, they will seek it out.”
McGaughey also thinks bubble tea is a bonding experience for a lot of people. It’s something for them to socialize over, according to McGaughey, and could be why it is so popular in a neighborhood like Oakland, surrounded by colleges.
“At work, I see people come in with friends way more than they come in by themselves,” McGaughey said. “It’s something to do with your friends, and it’s something a little different. If you don’t want caffeine, there are options. If you want something fruity, there are options. If you want something not sweet at all, there are options. I think that there’s something for everyone, and it’s just something fun to do.”
Kasey Hawk, a first-year biology major, said she and her friends only go to Fuku Tea and have noticed that bubble tea seems popular with college students in general.
“I love it because it provides an alternative from stuff at Starbucks, which usually has tea and coffee. I usually don’t like tea, but I really like boba tea,” Hawk said. “It’s pretty popular with the younger generation, and this is a college area and town. So new boba stores are probably just trying to get into the market.”
Sydney Haydu, a junior law and criminal justice major, is a customer of Fuku Tea because she knows she likes a particular product there.
“I’m a big fan of mango milk tea. And I found that specifically, Fuku has the best one,” Haydu said. “There’s just something satisfying about having a drink, but then there’s also a little snack. And it’s sweet, but it’s not too sweet. It’s perfect.”
Haydu hasn’t tried most of the other boba locations in Oakland because she doesn’t want to risk not liking their drinks.
“I haven’t really tried other places, like Tsoacaa, because every boba place I go to, their boba is slightly different,” Haydu said. “So [Fuku Tea] is like a good old reliable. I was actually talking about visiting [TAPILAB], but I haven’t worked myself up to it because it’s kind of in a weird location.”
During TAPILAB’s soft launch, Chen said he gained insight into the customers around Oakland and what they like. Now that they’ve had their grand opening, he hopes people will come in to try their homemade teas, even if they are nervous about trying boba.
“I was able to get an idea of what people are ordering, and then I could adjust all the menus,” Chen said. “I know some people don’t like to chew while they drink. So, now we do have some of the drinks that don’t have any topping in it. [Customers] can try to start off with that. And then if they wanna try [boba] afterward, we can move into that.”
Despite a number of bubble tea choices in Oakland, McGaughey predicted that the influx of boba shops won’t be a problem because people will “always keep coming anyway.”
“I think that it’s the same thing as a coffee shop — it doesn’t matter what coffee shop you’re going to, you know you can get a latte. It’s kind of the same thing,” McGaughey said. “The drinks will be the same. You can always get an original milk tea with boba. And because of that, a lot of people don’t really care where they’re going.”
The proximity of TAPILAB will likely bring a lot of customers in, according to McGaughey. Raising Cane’s, which just opened a few stores down on Fifth Avenue, has become a top spot for students on campus, which likely will be the same for the new boba shop.
“[People are] just like, ‘I’ll go to the closest place for boba,’” McGaughey said. “And with that, it’s kind of easy for these new boba places. They don’t need the loyalty from customers because they know people will just come in and get boba.”