Mixue, the world’s largest fast-food chain, just opened its first location in the Bay Area, and is holding its grand opening this weekend in Sunnyvale.
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Tucked inside the Shoppes at Homestead shopping center in Sunnyvale, the storefront was abustle with eager customers Friday, the first day of its grand opening. Customers hovered over self-service kiosks, while staff members distributed boba drinks and expertly swirled soft-serve cones.
The grand opening runs through Sunday, July 12, and during that time, Mixue is offering a free soft-serve cone to anyone who buys a drink.
The good news — the beverage won’t set you back much at all. This shop has unheard-of-for-the-Bay-Area prices: Nothing on the menu is over $5. The menu lists $1.59 for a cone of soft-serve, $3.49 for an affogato latte, $3.99 for peach oolong tea or $4.99 for strawberry jasmine tea.
“The price is very good,” says shop manager Joyce Lu.
The boba and soft-serve eatery operates over 53,000 locations worldwide, primarily in China, well over the number of Starbucks or McDonald’s locations globally, making it the largest food and beverage chain, by unit, around the world.
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The company’s name, Mixue Bingcheng, means “Honey Snow Ice City” in Chinese, according to the Associated Press.
Visitors Zi Han and Zi Jia were there to try the chain’s soft-serve ice cream because they’d heard about it in China. Han compared the taste to White Rabbit, a Chinese milk candy with a creamy vanilla flavor.
Another Bay Area location is in the works at South B Street in downtown San Mateo, but the opening date isn’t available yet.
Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily at 1641 Hollenbeck Ave., Sunnyvale; instagram.com/mixue.us.
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