Boba Café serves up modern style, trendy drinks

by Maggie Adkins Arts Editor Tina MacDonald is a typical NMSU broadcast journalism major. She is young and friendly. Oh, and she owns a restaurant. "I wanted to do something different," MacDonald said. Slightly bored with her normal student life, she wanted to bring a new taste to the city. So MacDonald did what any student would do - she opened up her own restaurant and gift shop: Boba Café. "I've been able to travel a lot and to see what other places have," she said. MacDonald has traveled across much of the United States and Asia, as well as other places. "I was able to bring some of that here," she said. It's not just any restaurant, but an entirely new sort of restaurant for Las Cruces. Plus, with a minor in marketing, MacDonald clearly had her eye on location, location, location, because the restaurant is only a few blocks from campus. Part of that "big city" feel comes from the structure itself. "The building is really cool," MacDonald said. "It's different; it's modern. This city is not used to that." MacDonald said she wanted more than white walls and carpet. She definitely found it. With asymmetrical walls, collage table tops and vibrant posters on the wall, Boba has a very welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. "Everyone is really friendly," said Deborah Griffith, an NMSU business student who eats at the restaurant. "I like the outside patio; it's really nice." Last November, MacDonald opened Boba, offering great food and coffee, plus bubble tea, a trendy drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s and has recently gained popularity within the U.S. The milk tea, which can be ordered with flavor and espresso shots, is called bubble tea because there are little tapioca pudding balls at the bottom of the cup. The tea is sucked up with a large straw so the drinker can chew the tapioca "pearls" with every drink. MacDonald first had the drink in Hong Kong, and she later saw shops in bigger cities such as Dallas and San Francisco that sold the drink. "I really like bubble tea," said Tubalcain Sears, an NMSU philosophy student. "This is the only place I've found to get it in town." A regular boba tea is $2.50. Flavor shots range from strawberry and banana to hazelnut and mandarin and are 50 cents extra. An espresso shot (which makes the drink even creamier) is also 50 cents extra. The menu has lots of variety, with eight types of fresh homemade soup for $2.75 a cup and $3.95 a bowl, seven types of salads and 17 sandwich types ranging in price from $2.95 to $5.75. The restaurant also offers roll-ups and quesadillas. There are also many vegetarian options. Boba also serves coffee drinks, from straight-up espressos for $1.35 to caramel macchiatos for $2.95. The gift shop side of the restaurant has tea, stationary, origami and teapots for sale. "I'm a huge fan of Japanese stationary," MacDonald said. "I would always buy some when I was out of town, and I wanted to bring it here." Boba is located at 1900 S. Espina St. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

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Tony

Fri Oct 9 2009 18:43

Once you experience the great atmosphere inside the Boba Cafe you just want to sit and relax. So much to order from the Menu, my favorite is the Asian Chicken Salad with a mango guava Smoothie.
Tony "get your feet together"

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