Michigan’s second Quickly Boba Cafe hosted a grand opening celebration in downtown Auburn Hills on Thursday, Feb. 27.

After receiving positive reviews and feedback from its customers in the Troy location, three partners — Cheuk Lee, Jay Zheng and Tom Tu — decided to open its franchise in Auburn Hills to expand the brand.

“The first store in Troy is performing very well and exceeding our expectations,” Zheng, one of the partners, said. “Due to the demand in bubble tea, we decided that Auburn Hills would be a suitable second location to expand the brand because it is close to two colleges.”

With full support and love from local residents, families and students, the grand opening of the Quickly Boba Cafe in Auburn Hills was another success for the cafe, according to Zheng.

The cafe also provides its customers a variety of options: high-quality and freshly brewed teas, to Taiwanese popcorn chicken made-to-order, to curly fries and waffle fries, to cheese sticks, and to veggie spring rolls and chicken rice bowls. For desserts, it serves mochi waffles and egg puffs in seven different flavors.

The cafe offers a modern setting for its customers to socialize comfortably while enjoying boba and snacks and a bubble tea cup which is larger than that of its competitors.

The idea of bubble tea was brought to the team by Lee, who is a graduate of Oakland University. Having majored in business finance and minored in operations management, Lee said his experience at OU has helped him achieve his goals and start his own business.

“My life attending OU was amazing,” Lee said. “The professors and faculty staff were always supportive. Career services helped me prepare for my first career.”

Lee always wanted to start his own business. His family used to own a small restaurant where he learned about restaurant business. From this, he said he had gained a valuable experience.

“My main goal at the time was to finish my bachelor’s degree and gain experience in the finance industry and most importantly, have fun and enjoy the journey in achieving my goals,” he said. “I believe I achieved my goals so far because I’ve gained so much experience in the finance industry and learned the operations side in the restaurant industry. But, there’s always more to learn and achieve, so it is very exciting.”

For its successful business, Zheng said Quickly Boba’s goal is to maintain and provide its customers a fun atmosphere, delicious bubble tea drinks and snacks. He also said they plan to be more involved with local schools with fundraising events and support the community.

“Recently we held a fundraiser for International Academy East in Troy and have held a K-Pop sleeve giveaway event,” Zheng said. “The turnout was excellent.”

The Quickly Boba Cafe will be running specials from time to time for OU students and staff. Currently, it is providing a special offer in March for OU students and staff, offering 10% off discount between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays if they bring their student ID.

Both Quickly Boba Cafe locations are currently hiring. For more information, visit each store to fill out an application or follow them on social media for updates on bubble tea and upcoming events.