China’s trendiest tea store opens first L.A. location (yes, there’s a line for Cheese Grape Boom)

At its opening Friday on North Rodeo Drive, a new Asian tea shop attracted the longest line in the area, outpacing nearby luxury stores such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga. The queue stretched across the street to South Santa Monica Boulevard.

Heytea (喜茶 Xi Cha) is a global tea chain founded in 2012 in Guangdong, China, by Neo Nie, a then-19-year-old entrepreneur. The company launched its first West Coast location in Beverly Hills with a menu of milk tea and fruit tea, featuring signature drinks such as Supreme Brown Sugar Boba Milk Tea, Coconut Mango Boom and Cheese Grape Boom.

Drinks ready to be picked up by customers at Heytea in Beverly Hills.

(Grace Xue / Los Angeles Times)

Known as the creator of cheese tea — a tea beverage topped with cheese foam — Heytea has become one of the most popular boba and fruit tea brands in China. When it debuted branches in Beijing and Shanghai in 2017, customers waited three hours in line just to get a cup of cheese tea. Heytea also is known for its innovative fruit tea recipe that blends pure tea slushie with real fruit juice and pulp.

Heytea — which has been tagged in more than a million posts on Xiaohongshu, a Chinese platform similar to Instagram, and since expanding internationally has garnered more than 84,000 tagged posts on Instagram — now has over 4,000 stores worldwide, including locations in China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

The first U.S. Heytea store opened last summer on Broadway in New York City, followed by a second store in Flushing, N.Y.

Heytea staff members were kept busy making drinks on the Beverly Hills store’s opening day.

(Grace Xue / Los Angeles Times)

Yujia Gu, vice president of overseas strategy and franchise, said he believes the U.S. market for boba tea beverages “will be even bigger” than China’s, given the vibrant community of international students and young people embracing Asian pop culture. The next steps include opening locations in San Gabriel and Irvine, then expanding to other major West Coast cities and the Midwest.

“We are more than just boba tea,” Gu said. “Many boba places in the market use syrups, creamers and artificial ingredients. ... We use real fruit, real milk.”

Among its unique seasonal drink flavors is the Yumberry series, featuring Chinese bayberry, a native subtropical fruit of eastern Asia. The fruit resembles a spherical raspberry and offers a sweet, mildly sour taste.

For the Los Angeles opening, Heytea introduced a Beverly Hills store-exclusive drink called the California Sunset, a slushie 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 player Paul George visited Heytea for a preopening drink tasting.

( Skye Bing / Heytea)

Heytea sold about 2,000 cups on opening day. Through Aug. 1, it’s offering a buy one, get one 50% off deal and limited L.A.-themed magnets.

Wesley An, 26, a staff member assisting with the customer line, was busy delivering ice water to waiting customers. An, a store supervisor from Heytea’s Broadway location in New York, flew to L.A. to support the Beverly Hills opening. He hadn’t expected the sun in L.A. to be so strong, and his arms and cheeks were red with sunburn in less than half a day.

“There are customers who already had four cups of iced water but are still willing to wait in line,” he says. “I’m very moved by how passionate people are about the opening.”

Heytea server Dino Li examines the packaging for a signature milk tea drink.

(Grace Xue / Los Angeles Times)

While An and others provided iced water, one server distributed menus and another helped customers make selections by explaining and highlighting options, streamlining the ordering process. Most staff members are fluent in both Mandarin and English. Customers could track their order progress on an in-store LED screen or through the mobile app if they ordered online.

For a preopening tasting, Heytea invited influencers and food 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 is excited to see a famous boba chain opening in Los Angeles, offering a taste of home.

While waiting in line, Fan planned to order the Grape Boom, made with grape juice, green jasmine tea slushie, 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 from 2021 to 2023, making the grape drinks the bestsellers.

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 rising Gen-Z consumer group, Heytea has initiated many crossovers with fashion brands such as Fendi and Barbie and the video game Genshin Impact. Settling in Beverly Hills is also a strategic choice for drawing 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 fashionable, 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 Beverly Hills store-exclusive drink California Sunset, a slushie made with green jasmine tea and infused with orange.

(Wenhao Yu / Heytea)