Bubble tea spot Gong Cha has opened its doors at 2061 Broadway, between 71st and 72nd streets (the former Verizon store). Thanks to our reader Eric Dorland for the tip and photo.
Gong Cha opened another location at 109th and Broadway in 2018.
The Taiwanese-born company was founded in 2006 and has over 1,500 franchise locations worldwide. These include a whole bunch in Manhattan, with storefronts in Chinatown, Midtown, the Financial District, the Upper East Side and St. Mark’s Place.
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Gong Cha’s specialty is its “milk foam,” a slightly salted cream topping above freshly brewed tea.They have a pretty wide variety of teas, and are currently promoting a new Strawberry & Earl Grey series.
Learn more at gongchausa.com.
When you start your prices well above Starbucks, you know something’s wrong!
If you think rents are high in NYC, take a look at these “Mommy or Daddy better be a Rockefeller or a Bezos” prices. Don’t know how teens and young adults afford this kind of thing on a regular basis. It would kill this place to charge $1-$2.00 less
especially given that EVERY cup is packed with ice and thereby lessens the actual volume of coffee or tea by about 50%?
The use of plastic straws is more concerning considering that Paper straws are available and it’s such a waste. I hope people go there and enjoy the drinks, but please say no to PLASTIC in every way you can. Ask this successful company to spend their money to buy PAPER STRAWS! http://www.Gongcha.usa Thanks!
The machine that Gong Cha utilizes actually seals the drink underneath a plastic lid or lining. This is part of the bubble tea process. As a result, a paper straw would never be strong enough nor made sharp enough to stab through that plastic lining on top of the cup in which it’s served. You have to have ordered one of their beverages (and paid a small fortune for the privilege) to understand what I’m describing. This is not an excuse for plastic over paper – I get why we need to use less plastic. It is, however, an explanation why all 1,500 franchise Gong Cha locations and all their competitors will not and cannot switch from plastic to paper. If you then suggest “Serve the tea and coffee mixtures without a plastic lid already in place” the problem with that is there would be no way to suck up all the tapioca balls or “bubbles” as they are called as you drink; they would stay at the bottom of the container until your last sip. The strong and wide plastic straw allows you to get liquid and tapioca simultaneously.
More than you ever wanted to know or asked for…..but there you have it. The larger question is how did we all survive for the past 500 years without drinking anything remotely like this nor paying such an exorbitant price to do so? 6 oz. of actual iced tea or coffee in a 12 oz. container + bubbles, foam, ice and superb marketing = $6 + tax!
Nothing new or interesting about bubble tea to me. I tried it first many years during one of my many trips to Chinatown in lower Manhattan. Certainly not going to try it again at the reported store’s prices. Prefer good beer or Makers Mark on the rocks.
Luther