Oct 9, 2024 - Food and Drink

Local bubble tea shop doubles its Des Moines presence

Linh Ta

Reusable bubble tea cups on the left and an image showing a bubble tea dining room on the right — The Waukee Zenko Tea shop. Photos: Courtesy of Zenko Tea

Zenko Tea, a locally-owned bubble tea business, is more than doubling its regional presence with three new locations across the Des Moines metro.

The latest: The shop took over the former Gossip Tea Coffee locations in Waukee and Ankeny last month.

It also plans on opening an unspecified Ingersoll location next spring.

How it started: Back in 2021, Phuong Thai and her husband, Chau Vu, opened their first bubble tea shop by Merle Hay Mall.

Despite challenges from the pandemic, the couple found success and opened a second store in West Des Moines near Jordan Creek Town Center in 2023.

State of play: In just four years they'll have five locations after the Ingersoll shop opens.

The menu: Zenko serves a wide selection of milk teas, juices and smoothies with topping choices like traditional boba, as well as jellies, caramel flan, cheese foam and tiramisu foam.

They also serve Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa dá), as well as cute, homemade macarons from Rosechu.

Linh's thought bubble: If you want to try bubble tea for the first time, my favorite is wintermelon milk tea!

If you go: 11am-8pm every day; 1482 SE University Ave. in Waukee and 1510 S. Ankeny Blvd., #101, Ankeny.

Add Axios on Google

Local bubble tea shop doubles its Des Moines presence

More Des Moines stories