May 10, 2025
THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN—Back when he attended UC Berkeley from 2004 to 2009, then-undergraduate student Jerico Osnas-Paguio recalls that Sweetheart Cafe & Tea was the only location for boba and popcorn chicken in the Telegraph Business Improvement District.
Now the marketing and events director for the Telegraph District, Osnas-Paguio is in charge of planning the annual Telegraph Boba Day, which celebrates the high concentration of boba shops in the district.
Boba refers to the bite-sized, chewy tapioca pearls commonly found in bubble tea and is made from potato starch, brown sugar and tapioca starch. It originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, but the business has since boomed worldwide.
The three-block radius of the Telegraph district, located just south of the university campus with its center at Haste Street and Telegraph Avenue, is home to 18 boba shops — 12 of which are dedicated to boba and the remaining six of which offer it on their menus on top of their specialty items.
“We joke that we are becoming the Boba Capital (of the Bay Area),” Osnas-Paguio said. “If anyone has a boba shop, then they need to have a flagship store in Berkeley — and not just Berkeley, but Telegraph Berkeley, because it is definitely the place to be when it comes to boba.”
Boba in Berkeley: A brief history
The city of Berkeley has several commercial district associations that work to support local businesses by enhancing shopping experiences through a variety of means, such as marketing, event planning and safety, cleanliness and walkability improvements.
In terms of businesses, the Telegraph District in particular has shown a dramatic increase in food and beverage services in the last decade. Food and beverages account for 32% of the Telegraph District’s ground floor commercial space, compared to 12.5% citywide, according to the Berkeley Office of Economic Development’s 2024 commercial districts dashboard report.
Of the many boba shops in the Telegraph District, Sweetheart Cafe takes its place as the oldest existing establishment. Originally founded in Oakland in 1996, its Berkeley location is estimated to have opened more than 25 years ago, according to Telegraph District Executive Director Alex Knox.
It wasn’t until 2014 that the next boba shop, Sharetea, opened on Bancroft Way, where RareTea is now located. Boba Ninja and Rare Tea — originally founded as Tea One then rebranded to RareTea in 2018 — both opened in 2016, followed by Plentea in 2017, YiFang Taiwan Fruit Tea in 2018 and TP Tea in 2019.
After a momentary pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 saw more growth and movement: Kuboba Spot celebrated its grand opening and Sharetea opened its second location that still exists today on Telegraph. After 10 years in its original downtown location on Center Street, Purple Kow relocated to Channing Way in 2023.
More recently, The Alley opened in 2024 and ChiCha San Chen and Mochiholic both opened in early 2025. Zero& is also set to open later this year, which will make it the 13th dedicated boba establishment in the Telegraph District.
According to Osnas-Paguio, the popularity of boba in Berkeley has contributed to what he calls “mission drift,” where food and drink establishments end up selling boba even if it isn’t their main focus.
The six establishments in the district that fall under this category include Dessert Cafe, Sheng Kee Bakery, Alley Kitchens and its side business called Whisk Organic Matcha, Qargo Coffee, Pho K&K and L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.
There are many more boba offerings in Berkeley beyond Telegraph. For example, the neighboring Downtown Berkeley Association houses Teaspoon, Happy Lemon, Ti-Bear, HeyTea, Binge Coffee House, Asha Tea House, Cha Thai Tea and more.
Despite the dense population of boba shops in Berkeley, few have closed, according to Osnas-Paguio’s and Knox’s recollection.
The only example of a dedicated boba shop in the Telegraph District closing is Feng Cha. Dessert Cafe, an offshoot of Kimchi Garden, had shared the space with Feng Cha in December 2024 and has since transitioned to fully occupying the space, according to Osnas-Paguio. Although not fully dedicated to boba, Uji Time Dessert, formerly a longtime establishment in Berkeley, also closed as the building it had occupied is now being rebuilt.
Osnas-Paguio attributes the popularity of boba to its convenience for caffeinating on the go, along with shops being a space for social connection.
“It’s a watering hole, like you share with your friends the best places to meet up before or after class or pick up on the go with your Snackpass,” Osnas-Paguio said. “That’s one of the reasons why it’s so ingrained in (Southside), because of the big student population enjoying those (kinds) of moments with their classmates and friends.”
Knox said the “youthful aspect” of boba also contributes to its popularity, just as other businesses offering “fun, easy, enjoyable treats” such as Little Gem Belgian Waffles and Yogurt Park also flourish in the Telegraph District.
He added that although there are other places with a “strong boba culture,” especially in the Berkeley context or in commercial districts as concentrated as Telegraph, it is “rare” to have such a mix of shops.
“Somewhere that the Telegraph District stands out is to have that range of offerings in such a close proximity to each other,” Knox said. “We don’t think that is something you could find elsewhere in the East Bay or the Bay Area very easily.”
Features: Voices from local establishments
Kuboba Spot, located on Telegraph between Parker Street and Carleton Street, is a one-location shop co-founded by Sam Bernardino and Senya Smith that specializes in Filipino-inspired food and boba. Open Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 12 to 6 p.m., they sell about 120 empanadas and drinks per day, according to Bernardino and Smith.
Their most popular empanadas are chicken adobo, kaldereta (beef stew), spicy curry potatoes with peas, longanisa (pork sausage) omelette and cheeseburger, which is only sold Fridays and Saturdays. As far as boba, the buko pandan, taro with fresh ube wall and mango with fresh mango wall top their menu as customer favorites.
Kuboba’s store name stems from the Tagalog term, “Kubo,” which means nipa hut, according to Bernardino. As such, the small business — with only two part-time employees — aims to make the shop “as homey and inviting as possible.”
In addition to their Filipino specialty, inspired by Bernardino’s Filipino heritage, it is this “neighborhood” aspect that Kuboba leans into — via special attention to customer service — in order to differentiate themselves from the many other boba shops in the area.
“We greet every customer — we actually ask them for their name, so it’s not just a ticket number,” Smith said. “We try to remember their names, so when they come in, it’ll be like, ‘Hi, Michael, how are you? Are you getting your regular?’ So it really is a neighborhood shop as opposed to those that are more commercial.”
This focus on customer service means Kuboba works to “accommodate customers’ needs as much as possible.” For example, Bernardino said despite their store being closed Sunday through Tuesday, they still accept catering orders on those days.
While the dense population of boba in the Telegraph District is “challenging,” according to Smith, the shop works to “hold on to our values,” focusing on quality and attention to detail in crafting each boba and empanada.
Although there are certainly challenges to operating a small business boba shop, Smith said the highlight is always the feedback from recurring customers and seeing them come in, whether to celebrate birthdays or bring family around graduation and everything in between.
“I’m just very appreciative — we really value our customers,” Smith said. “We say all the time, we have tough competition, so the fact that they do make it all the way down here, we feel very special.”
The establishment “sprouted because of the pandemic,” according to Smith. The couple had been working in the health care industry and decided to step back from their professions and pivot into the boba industry. What initially began as preorders from home for co-workers and family in October 2021 quickly became a storefront in July 2022.
They had been looking to open in Contra Costa County, but ended up in Berkeley as a mutual friend in the Albany area passed along their realtor’s contact information, who then ended up finding them their current location due to its proximity to UC Berkeley.
Nestled near the edge of the Telegraph District, Kuboba’s demographic of customers is a mix of UC Berkeley students, middle school students and professionals such as from the nearby Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.
“We actually love the location — the customers, the people, the community, hands down,” Bernardino said.
Another boba shop in the Berkeley Telegraph District, Plentea is located on Durant Avenue right by Unit 3. It prides itself in offering “healthy and tasty tea,” with their most popular drinks being the roast oolong milk tea, house black milk tea, strawberry tea, mango tea and ice milk smoothies.
Plentea was born out of owner Henry Tang’s “love for his wife and future child.” His wife, who was pregnant 12 years ago, loved milk tea. However, Tang was worried the boba commonly sold was unhealthy, containing preservatives, artificial ingredients and synthetic chemicals. As such, he “made it for her at home.”
“She told me that it was better than any other milk tea she had ever had,” Tang said. “She joked that I should just open a shop. I thought, ‘why not?’ ”
Plentea is known for offering its drinks in glass bottles engraved with its store name — at no additional cost compared to its plastic cups — as a means to promote the reuse of bottles for environmental sustainability.
About 60% of customers opt for bottles, according to barista Natalie Cheng, the longest-working of the nine employees at the Berkeley location. Cheng, now a senior at UC Berkeley, started working at Plentea in her freshman fall.
The business first opened its doors in 2014 in San Francisco. Since then, it’s expanded to three Bay Area locations: two in San Francisco and one in Berkeley, all open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
Its Berkeley location’s usual demographic of customers are students coming in with friends, and elderly from the surrounding area looking for healthier alternatives of their favorite milk teas.
The quality ingredients coupled with customer service are what differentiate Plentea from other boba shops, Cheng said.
Plentea uses organic and loose leaf teas from Jingmai Mountain in Yunnan, China, one of the oldest and largest tea plantations in the world. They also use organic milk, homemade syrups and seasonal fruits.
As for customer service, Cheng said she makes sure customers are aware of dairy in certain drinks and notifies them of store recommendations concerning the most suitable milk alternatives for each drink. For example, she said almond milk is a good alternative for matcha. Moreover, to ensure satisfaction with every order, she accommodates any adjustments customers request after receiving their drinks.
When Plentea first opened, few other boba shops existed in the Telegraph District. With the rise of boba shops in Berkeley, “competition has lowered sales tremendously,” Cheng said. The shop now sells about 150 drinks per day, marking lower profit margins than when Cheng first started working there.
“We questioned if it was our performance as workers and have asked regulars if there has been differences in our drinks,” Cheng said. “Many have said it’s been up to their previous experiences. I believe it’s just because it’s oversaturated.”
Nevertheless, Plentea still has regular customers who purchase drinks daily, Cheng said. She added that the San Francisco locations are more successful, given they have more workers and see increased foot traffic due to being near Chinatown and UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay and the Chase Center.
Boba: The culture of the Berkeley Telegraph District
Given the competition with many boba shops in close proximity, individual establishments have worked to differentiate themselves from one another. As such, the boba scene — particularly in the Telegraph District — has grown, strengthened and diversified over time, according to Knox.
The boba offerings in Berkeley are plentiful, with some leaning into the more traditional roots, borrowing flavors from different Asian countries or experimenting with unique takes. Different shops offer different combinations, such as Mochiholic’s boba and mochi donut pairing and Kuboba Spot’s boba and empanada combo.
“There’s so many places that you can find those more rare finds, specialty shops and offerings in the district, and the same goes for boba,” Knox said. “It’s a good place to come and get something that’s beyond just what you might consider generic or commonly found items into the more unique, crafted, specialized drinks.”
The culture surrounding boba has also manifested through collaborations. Locally, many UC Berkeley student groups have partnered with boba shops like Sharetea and YiFang for fundraisers.
Boba shops have also collaborated with other companies nationwide. Sharetea collaborated with Cookie Run at 87 stores across the United States in November 2023, with exclusive meet and greet events at four store locations, the Berkeley one included.
Additionally, YiFang partnered with the San Francisco BART — a first-of-its-kind partnership between a government transit system and a popular boba brand in the U.S. — in October 2024 at four locations in Northern California, including the Berkeley location. They also collaborated with Neopets in December 2024 to January 2025 at nine locations across California, and again, the Berkeley location participated.
“The collabs that I’ve seen with boba companies definitely goes beyond boba,” said Osnas-Pagui. “So it shows that there is a lot of love for the culture.”
While the appreciation for boba has grown nationwide, it has especially been the case for the Telegraph District.
“We have things like the peace sign and Cal bears and other natural symbols that are associated with the district. Boba tea is now part of that,” Knox said. “There’s been a really positive growth and embracing of that youthful and fun, somewhat student-oriented, but also just the identity of the district.”
Telegraph Boba Day: An embracement of identity
Perhaps the most renowned manifestation of the culture surrounding boba in Berkeley is Telegraph Boba Day. Telegraph is one of the earliest districts in the nation to start an annual boba day tradition and put it on for as many years as it has, according to Knox.
Drawing inspiration from the industry holiday of National Boba Day — celebrated annually on April 30 — Knox developed the idea for Telegraph Boba Day in 2021 as a means to attract attention to the Telegraph District and promote local businesses struggling during the pandemic. Since then, it has grown to be a mainstay celebratory day — the most popular event hosted by the district each year.
“It’s a great community day, because on Boba Day, families come out here, and you see a lot more strollers than you usually do,” Osnas-Paguio said. “And you can see the evolution of the stroller with the shopping bags hanging on them, and then being parked at different restaurants at the end of the night.”
The first Telegraph Boba Day entailed distributing custom stainless steel reusable boba straws displaying the words “Telegraph Berkeley” to boba shops in the district — a small thank you and surprise for customers.
In its second year in 2022, Osnas-Paguio drew inspiration from Star Wars and introduced a Mandalorian-inspired mascot for the event: Boba Fett. Dressed in a suit ordered off Amazon and equipped with Star Wars Legos and boba plushies, Boba Fett became a hit as people excitedly greeted him for a photo opportunity and free prizes.
The district rebranded the annual event leaning into the Berkeley “Telebears” — Care Bear-inspired, Telegraph boba shop-themed bears — idea in 2024. They created custom bear stickers for each participating boba shop — another popular addition, as people tried to collect as many as they could, although it’s rumored that nobody has ever gotten them all.
Although efforts are made to create an outdoor festive feel with Boba Fett’s presence and the Cal Band playing at different locations, a key component of the event is the individual promotions, specials and creative ideas each business brings, according to Osnas-Paguio.
For example, for the fifth annual Telegraph Boba Day on April 26, 2025, Purple Kow offered a free drink to the first 100 customers of the day, Sharetea boasted a buy one get one free deal and YiFang provided 20% off on select drinks.
A newcomer to the district this year, Mochiholic raised the bar and became the first to do a prolonged Boba Day celebration, spanning eight days. They offered a free mochi donut with any drink the three days leading up to Boba Day, buy one get one free on select drinks the day of and a four-piece donut box for a discounted $9 for the last five days.
As an East Bay local, Knox said before coming to work at the Telegraph District, he had understood there was a perception of the district having “way too many boba shops.” Rather than be ashamed of its dense population of boba, the district utilizes Telegraph Boba Day as a means to further embrace its unique identity.
“I came to see that it’s actually really an endearing and positive reflection on the district: People enjoy it, it’s fun and there’s really nothing negative about boba — it doesn’t hurt anybody,” Knox said, chuckling. “So we decided to say, let’s celebrate that it’s something that makes the district stand apart and really lean into that as part of our identity, because it is something that we’re proud of as a district.”
