Paper umbrellas hang from the roof, chalkboard illustrations color the right-most wall and a sugary-sweet aroma fills the air. This is what customers are greeted with when they push open the tinted glass doors to BonAppeTea.
Across the street from the Mitchell Physics Building and less than a 10-minute walk from the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, BonAppeTea is practically on campus. Over the last seven years, it’s become a community space for students wanting a cozy place to study, have fun or catch up with friends.
Phuc Nguyen, an owner in both BonAppeTea and in the neighboring Nam Cafe, never intended to open a boba shop.
The original plan: bring a Vietnamese restaurant to the Bryan-College Station area. When he and his partners found two stores located next to each other, their plans shifted. What was intended to be a French pastry shop eventually became one of the most beloved boba shops near campus.
“Most of the time, when people eat, they will want something sweet after,” Nguyen said. “So we decided to do a Nam Cafe, which is our Vietnamese restaurant, and then BonAppeTea, which is our dessert sister restaurant … right next to each other.”
As they grew, Nguyen and his partners prided themselves on their consistent product quality and customer service. In doing so, they not only built a successful business but also brought together a community.
“Due to COVID, we didn’t know how we were going to survive, but then it turned out to be really a special year for us because our business actually grew during that year,” Nguyen said. “We have a lot of support from the students and … from the community itself.”
BonAppeTea is a frequent location for profit shares hosted by student organizations at Texas A&M. The karaoke machine hidden in the shop’s corner is brought out during these socials, with both students and employees singing to pop songs alike.
Sophomore political science major Avari Partin, the store manager and social media manager, works to organize these moments.
“With the social media, I put out content pretty often so that people can see it – like organizations can see it — for profit shares,” Partin said. “We’re working on opening up a TikTok right now … so that if someone sees it on their For You Page and they’re around here, they can come check us out.”
A regular at the store during her freshman year, the BonAppeTea atmosphere was what led Partin to originally apply for the role of barista.
“It’s really just a study spot. It’s not like a Starbucks where there’s a bunch of people coming in and out. Everyone’s pretty chill, and everybody sits down and stays for a
little while,” Partin said.
Partin isn’t the only customer-turned-employee. Barista Olivia Kim, a sophomore international affairs major, has now been with BonAppeTea for nearly a year and a half.
“I came here for my New Student Conference ….. and I was thinking, Wow, this place is so cute,” Kim said. “I saw that they were hiring, so I was like, ‘Oh wow, I just might as well work here.'”
As a boba lover, Kim can talk at length about the best drinks in store, but for her, that isn’t the best part of working at BonAppeTea — it’s the people.
“I just really like how this is a cute little cafe that people can come to just study, and we have regulars too,” Kim said. “It makes me really proud to remember people’s names when they come in. And then seeing that smile on people’s faces — it’s all worth it in the end.”
