BUBBLE TEA, RAMEN AND POKE BOWLS GALORE
When I first moved to Chattanooga, somebody mentioned that bubble tea was fairly new to the area, only making an appearance a few years ago. When I was living in Pittsburgh, friends and I would make weekly half-hour trips to get our fix. So with Taichi Bubble Tea opening a location downtown (the first was on Gunbarrel Road), I was itching to make my way over.
Walking into Taichi felt like entering a hidden cove bustling with its own energy. The large windows pulled in light from a glistening Thursday afternoon, creating a bright and clean breath of fresh air when coming off the summer heat on South Broad Street. Customer chatter and low pop music rounded it out, making me hide a smile of delight while I looked around.
THE SPACE
What could have been a cramped and claustrophobic area during a weekday lunch rush, the elongated space is divided into two aisles, one facing the service counter and another built behind. Sturdy wooden booths built for either large groups or
two people provide private enclaves in which customers were enjoying conversation over ramen or getting work done while eating a sushi burrito wrapped in seaweed.
THE MENU
With a wide-ranging list of Hawaiian-style poke
bowls, Taiwanese bubble tea and Japanese ramen, a gargantuan menu spans the front end of the service counter listing a variety of teas, add-ons, signature dishes, the works.
Milk teas ($3.50 for a small, $4.25 for a large)