At its opening Friday on North Rodeo Drive, a new Asian tea shop drew the longest line in the area, outpacing nearby luxury stores like Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga. The line stretched across the street to South Santa Monica Boulevard.
Heytea (喜茶 Xi Cha) is an international tea chain founded in 2012 in Guangdong, China by 19-year-old entrepreneur Neo Nie. The company opened its first West Coast location in Beverly Hills with a menu of milk tea and fruit tea, and signature drinks such as Supreme Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea, Coconut Mango Boom, and Cheese Grape Boom.
Drinks ready for pickup by customers at Heytea in Beverly Hills.
(Grace Xue/Los Angeles Times)
Known as the creator of cheese tea (a tea drink topped with cheese foam), Heytea has become one of the most popular fruit tea and boba brands in China. When it opened branches in Beijing and Shanghai in 2017, customers would queue up for three hours just to get a cup of cheese tea. Heytea is also known for its innovative fruit tea recipe that combines pure tea granita with real fruit juice and pulp.
Heytea, which has been tagged in over a million posts on Xiaohongshu, a Chinese Instagram-like platform, and has since expanded internationally garnered over 84,000 tagged Instagram posts, now has over 4,000 stores worldwide, including locations in China, Malaysia, the UK, Canada and Australia.
The first Heytea store in the United States opened last summer on Broadway in New York City, followed by a second store in Flushing, New York.
Heytea staff members were kept busy mixing drinks on the opening day of the Beverly Hills store.
(Grace Xue/Los Angeles Times)
Yujia Gu, vice president of overseas strategy and franchising, said she believes the U.S. market for bubble tea drinks “will be even bigger” than China’s, given the vibrant community of international students and young people who embrace Asian pop culture. Next steps include opening locations in San Gabriel and Irvine, then expanding to other major cities on the West Coast and Midwest.
“We are more than just boba tea,” Gu said. “A lot of boba shops on the market use syrups, creams and artificial ingredients… We use real fruit, real milk.”
Among its unique seasonal drink flavors is the Yumberry series, which features the Chinese bayberry, a subtropical fruit native to East Asia. The fruit resembles a spherical raspberry and offers a sweet and slightly tart flavor.
For the Los Angeles opening, Heytea introduced a drink exclusive to the Beverly Hills store called California Sunset, a slush made with green jasmine tea and infused with Sunkist orange juice and pulp.
“It's our gift to the city of Los Angeles,” Gu said.
NBA All-Star Paul George visited Heytea for a pre-opening beverage tasting.
(Skye Bing / Heytea)
Heytea sold around 2,000 mugs on opening day. Until August 1, it is offering a buy one, get one 50% off promotion and limited edition Los Angeles-themed magnets.
Wesley An, 26, a staff member helping with the queue of customers, was busy handing out ice water to waiting customers. An, a store supervisor at Heytea's Broadway branch in New York, flew to Los Angeles to support the opening in Beverly Hills. He didn't expect the sun in Los Angeles to be so strong, and his arms and cheeks were red from sunburn in less than half a day.
“There are customers who have already had four glasses of ice water but are still willing to wait in line,” he says. “I am very touched by the enthusiasm for the opening.”
Heytea waiter Dino Li examines the packaging of his signature milk tea drink.
(Grace Xue/Los Angeles Times)
While An and others served ice water, one waiter handed out menus and another helped customers make their choices by explaining and highlighting options, which streamlined the ordering process. Most staff members are fluent in Mandarin and English. Customers could track the progress of their order on an LED screen in the store or through the mobile app if they ordered online.
For a pre-opening tasting, Heytea invited food influencers and bloggers from Xiaohongshu, Instagram and TikTok, as well as NBA All-Star Paul George, who prepared a California Sunset during his visit.
Chen Fan, 25, a recent USC graduate, visited Heytea with a friend after seeing a post on Xiaohongshu. Having studied in the U.S. for six years, he said he's excited to see a famous boba chain open in Los Angeles, offering a taste of his homeland.
While waiting in line, Fan planned to order the Grape Boom, made with grape juice, green jasmine tea granita, grape-flavored jelly, and hand-peeled grapes at the bottom. According to Heytea's official website, more than 117 million cups of Grape Boom and Cheese Grape Boom were sold worldwide between 2021 and 2023, making grape drinks the best-selling beverage.
Customers lined up for Heytea's fruity drinks at the new location on Rodeo Drive.
(Grace Xue/Los Angeles Times)
Gu said that to meet the demands of the growing Gen Z consumer group, Heytea has initiated many crossovers with fashion brands such as Fendi and Barbie and the video game Genshin Impact. Setting up shop in Beverly Hills is also a strategic choice to attract young consumers.
“We chose Beverly Hills to open our first store because it’s a very diverse and energetic area,” Gu said. “When people come to Rodeo Drive, they always find something new and trendy, and we could be that kind of brand.”
Heytea, 479 N Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
Heytea created a drink exclusive to the Beverly Hills, California Sunset store, a slush made with green jasmine tea and infused with orange.
(Yu Wenhao / Heytea)
