Kids and adults alike eagerly wait in line for the grand opening of a new boba shop along Emmet Ave.
The bubble tea, also known as boba, company Happy Lemon opened a new store in Belmont on Feb. 22.
The new location is in Belmont Village, adjacent to Mulberrys Garment Care and Academy of Design, offering the company’s original refreshing drinks, including the popularized Asian bubble tea. Belmont community members celebrated the grand opening by enjoying a special “buy one, get one free” offer.
“We got an overwhelming amount of customers,” said Suri Taherian, a Carlmont sophomore and Happy Lemon employee. “The number of customers daily has died down since the opening, but there is still a substantial amount of customers.
Happy Lemon was founded by the Yummy-Town Group in 2006 when they introduced Taiwanese bubble tea to Hong Kong markets. Since then, the company has become one of the top bubble tea brands globally. The international chain now has approximately 1,000 locations worldwide, with a little more than 100 locations in the United States alone.
While Happy Lemon specializes in making bubble tea, they also offer fresh lemon tea, slushies, smoothies, and even specialized bubble waffles.
“A big item on Happy Lemon’s menu is the cheese foam drinks, which have sweet, whipping cream placed on top of the traditional drink order,” Taherian said.
The rise of bubble tea in the United States dates back to the 1990s when it first gained popularity in Taiwan before spreading internationally. Recently, it has become a cultural phenomenon, especially among younger generations.
“The Asian community has begun to take charge of social media to advertise our culture, specifically regarding cultural foods, including boba,” said Andrew Chau, the CEO of Boba Guys.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global bubble tea market was valued at $2.63 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow from $2.83 billion in 2025 to $4.78 billion by 2032. Similarly, the price of each product has risen with more customers.
Bubble tea has become a symbol of the growing appreciation for Asian cultures, especially as it spreads across the globe.
“We’ve done a good job, along with a lot of the industry, to make boba more accessible to everyone,” Chau said. “In the past, if you were not Asian, you would not walk into a boba shop.”
The success of chains like Happy Lemon and smaller local shops reflects a broader interest in more adventurous beverages beyond traditional coffee or juice. Specific to California and the Bay Area, many new bubble tea stores have opened within the last decade.
“New bubble tea shops are a great representation of the growing Asian community within the Bay Area,” said Chloe Rui, a sophomore at Carlmont.
