BOBER TEA AND MOCHI DOUGH TO OPEN IN DINKYTOWN

A dual-concept restaurant specializing in bubble tea and Japanese mochi donuts will open its first Midwest location in Minneapolis early next year.

Bober Tea and Mochi Dough will open in January in the heart of Dinkytown in a space that was previously home to Umami Fries. The dual-concept restaurant will bring together two chains that recently partnered together in California and have since begun expanding across the United States.

Bober Tea’s menu will feature bubble tea, milk tea, brown sugar tea, Vietnamese iced coffees and more while Mochi Dough’s menu will focus on several donut flavors that change weekly. Now, you may be familiar with bubble tea as it has become quite popular in the Midwest, however, you may not be as familiar with style of Japanese donut that will be served at Mochi Dough.

Mochi Dough will serve donuts that are created using rice flour instead of traditional yeast. This allows the donut to be airy and chewy on the inside but crisp on the outside. The donuts are formed into a unique shape called a “pon de ring” that allows the donut to be pulled apart in equal parts and enjoyed one bite at a time. The donut flavors at Mochi Dough will also be more than just your standard donut flavors and will include flavors such funnel cake, taro, black sesame, and salted caramel, just to name a few.

Michael Bui is the franchisee responsible for the opening of Bober Tea and Mochi Dough. He’s partnering with his wife, Mai, and his brother-in-law, Peter Do, on the new dual concept which is just down the road from Pho Mai, a restaurant specializing in pho that Michael and Mai also own. The couple had been looking to introduce bubble tea into Pho Mai for a while now and settled on the new location earlier this year as it was not only down the block from Pho Mai but is also had enough room to include Mochi Dough.

Bober Tea and Mochi Dough are anticipated to open in January at 405 15th Avenue SE in the Dinkytown neighborhood.