By Marina Shankle, for the SNAP

A new cafe in Locust is bringing the unique flavor of boba tea to Stanly County.
Michael Huynh, of Matthews, is the owner of Boba Cafe in Locust, as well as the first location of the cafe, which opened in Matthews and has been in business for two years.
Getting to know and love the people of Locust inspired Huynh to open a second location of his cafe.
“I used to own a business in Locust for over 11 years, named Nail Time,” Huynh said.
He was confident about opening a second restaurant in Locust because of his positive experience with the people of the city, he said.
Huynh got his inspiration to go into the boba business in the first place from a visit to Vietnam.
“On the trip back to Vietnam, I saw many busy boba tea shops in the city that had many travelers, customers from everywhere in the world,” he said.
Boba tea is also known as bubble tea, pearl milk tea and boba milk tea. It originated in Taiwan and has become popular through cafe culture and creative marketing, Huynh said. Boba tea can be made with many ingredients or flavors, and it is unique among beverages for its inclusion of tapioca balls, known as boba or pearls, which are enhanced with brown sugar and honey.
Boba Cafe in Locust offers a variety of flavored boba tea. Huynh recommends the flavors that have been most popular at the Matthews location. These include Vietnamese ice milk coffee, which he describes as “strong and smooth;” Taro bubble tea, “so good, but hard to explain;” and Thai tea over ice, which is “like black tea and cinnamon herbs,” a favorite with Huynh’s sons, he said.
Boba Cafe’s Locust location also offers bakery items such as cheesecake flan, tiramisu, chocolate mousse and French macarons.
When it comes to the future of Boba Cafe, Huynh says he would like to see even more expansion.
“If we do good here, we will open more locations in Albemarle, Indian Trail or Monroe in the future,” he said.
Boba Cafe is at 1766 Main St. W. in Locust. It is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to through 7 p.m. Sunday.