|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
“Unlimited possibilities.” That’s what Phillip He aims to offer Burlingame with his customizable, DIY boba shop offering over 1,000 flavor combinations.
Bigz Boba is soft opening Friday and will have its grand opening March 23 at noon. The grand opening will be somewhat like a “carnival,” Phillip said, featuring balloon art and face painting. Additionally, the first 100 guests will receive a free drink, one guest will win a PS5, one guest will win an iPad, five guests will receive a year of monthly free drinks and 10 guests will win six monthly free drinks. All drinks are 50% off for the grand opening weekend.
The fanfare around Bigz Boba’s opening is quite different from when he and his wife, Jade He, opened a brick and mortar for Tiny Tea Co. in the same space two years ago.
“We started (Tiny Tea Co.) at the Burlingame farmers market, and that’s what made us decide to find our location on this street (Burlingame Avenue),” Phillip said. “We have a lot of memories and connection with the neighborhood. When Tiny Tea first started, we did not make a big event like this. But this time we wanted to make it a community event and announce our change with some excitement.”
While the interior aesthetics of Tiny Tea Co., which the Hes permanently closed Feb. 26, will remain the same, the menu and branding is getting a complete overhaul. Tiny Tea Co. was a mocktail concept, focused on fresh citrus fruits and premium teas. They did not offer boba or allow for customizations. Bigz Boba, on the other hand, is all about customization.
“We’re not creating product drinks anymore,” Phillip said. “It’s a place where… customers can order the drinks that they want, and they can share it on our menu and name their own drinks. So the other customers can order what they’ve created.”
While the IT to order other guests’ creations is about a month away from launching, the menu guides guests through the process of creating their own signature drinks. It starts with a base (multiple flavors of tea, frappes, refreshers or energy drinks), then a flavor (think strawberry, watermelon, mango and more). Guests have the option to add different flavors of bobas, foams, fruit inclusions, fruit purees, drizzles and/or sprinkles.
“We want to add excitement, redefine what’s possible with creating your entire boba experience, and we don’t think that it would only be limited to tea,” Phillip said. “The idea is putting boba in your own favorite drinks, and it could be anything that people want.”
The Hes opened Tiny Tea Co. in a yellow trailer at the Burlingame farmers market in 2020. With a background in finance, they “just wanted to try something different (themselves) and create something that (they) were excited about,” Phillip said. He said the Burlingame community has been extremely supportive of his business, so when he wanted to open a brick and mortar, he knew he wanted to stay in the area.
The Hes still have the original yellow trailer, although they haven’t used it in a long time. The Tiny Tea Co. legacy lives on with Jade’s newest project, Tiny Croissanterie, a bakery focused on creative croissants. Jade launched the business in December, working out of a commercial kitchen in San Francisco and delivering croissants once a week.
“She works through the night and then delivers Thursday morning or noon to make sure our customers get the actual fresh on-the-day-made goods,” Phillip said.
The Hes look forward to launching Bigz Boba and seeing all the unique beverages guests create.
Bigz Boba, 1115 Burlingame Ave., Burlingame; 650-389-6674. Instagram: @bigz.boba. Soft opening: March 15, noon to 7 p.m. daily. Grand opening March 23, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.