Yet another Taiwanese brown sugar bubble tea shop is coming to New York City. Xing Fu Tang — which has rapidly expanded in the last few years with more than 100 stores in Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Canada, though not without some bumps — is opening its first U.S. outpost at 40-52 Main Street, in Flushing, Queens, on January 27.
It’s the latest in a series of Taiwanese brown sugar bubble tea shops that have opened in NYC in the last year including Tiger Sugar — which now has locations in Flushing, Chinatown, and Sunset Park — and the Alley in the East Village. Both chains have been flooded with customers at all their locations, which means the demand for brown sugar bubble tea has far from waned in the past year.
At Xing Fu Tang, the tapioca pearls are typically stir-fried in brown sugar in a large wok in front of the customers before it’s added to the milky beverage. The signature brown sugar drink also gets a little flame torch action on top, where a sprinkling of brown sugar is melted before the drink is served. The recipe is inspired by a dessert that the founder Edison Chen’s grandmother used to make. Aside from the brown sugar concoction, Xing Fu Tang serves several other other drinks including a strawberry pearl milk tea, a grapefruit green tea, a rose tea with lime, and two kinds of soft serve ice cream.
Eater has reached out for more details on the Flushing location’s menu. Prices at the Canadian stores start at $6.50 Canadian dollars for the signature drink, so they will likely be on par over here.
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, and has since slowly spread across the world. Today, there are a staggering number of bubble tea shops spread throughout the city offering a wide selection of drinks aside from boba such as fresh fruit smoothies and sweet cheese foams.
Xing Fu Tang opened just over two years ago in Taiwan and has expanded at a rapid clip, though not without some hiccups: The brand is currently fighting a legal battle in Hong Kong over copyright infringement, and has received numerous complaints from its franchisees in Malaysia. Xing Fu Tang’s Flushing outpost is located below Japanese barbecue chain Gyu-Kaku’s neighborhood location.
