A new establishment consisting of three different drink and dessert vendors has opened in the Queens Plaza section of Long Island City (Photo: Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Aug. 25, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
A new establishment consisting of three different Asian-inspired drink and dessert vendors has opened in the Queens Plaza section of Long Island City.
The new establishment, called House of Sweet, opened Saturday on the ground floor of 42-15 Crescent St., an 11-story apartment building near the Queensboro Plaza subway station.
One-Zo, a Taiwanese-based bubble tea franchise, opened at the premises Saturday with the remaining two businesses expected to open next month.
The One-Zo franchisees have signed a lease on the 2,200 square foot premises that previously housed a fitness studio called SLT fitness.
The leaseholders, who are originally from Taiwan and live in Long Island City, are still renovating the rear of the space.
The establishment has one long counter area along the left-hand side of the premises with each business having its own serving space. One-zo is occupying the front area of the counter while Snow Show, an Asian-inspired frozen dessert company, and Coconut Jelly King, which serves coconut jelly desserts, will take up the rest of the counter space once the refurbishing work is complete.
House of Sweet has one long counter area along the left-hand side of the premises (Photo Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
The One-Zo franchisees say they want House of Sweet to be a community space where residents can come together, hang out and enjoy a variety of beverages and desserts.
The entire space seats around 60 people with the seating areas located directly across from the counter, as well as at the front and rear of the premises.
There are a number of bubble tea stores already in Long Island City, however, the One-Zo franchisees say there is still a big market for the beverage among residents.
“Long Island City is rapidly growing and there is a lot of unfilled demand [for bubble tea]” one of the owners told the Queens/LIC Post.
“There are three other [bubble tea] stores in the neighborhood but there is room for even more,” adding that bubble teas are becoming more mainstream and are consumed by people of all backgrounds.
They said they are excited to be bringing more variety of the brew to the neighborhood and that the One-Zo brand appeals to bubble tea lovers. One-Zo has more than 20 stores across the U.S. and the Crescent Street location is the company’s first in Queens.
The shop makes the bubble teas from scratch by mixing a tea base with chewy tapioca balls, which are often referred to as “pearls” or “boba.” All of its teas and boba bases are imported from Taiwan. The store then makes the balls in-store, something the franchisees say is not common within the industry.
One-Zo beverages (Photo Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
The store’s most popular tea base since opening has been the roasted rice milk tea while its fruit teas have also been selling well, they said. One-Zo also offers smoothies.
The One-Zo location will add to the growing list of Asian-inspired tea stores to open in Long Island City.
Teazzi Tea Shop, which specializes in bubble teas, opened in April 2021 on the ground floor of the Hayden residential building—a 51-story complex in Court Square located at 43-21 Hunter St.
Meanwhile, Möge Tee, a global bubble tea chain, opened in June 2021 on the ground floor of The View at East Coast condominium building – a 184-unit complex located at 46-30 Center Blvd. The chain also has a store at 42-38 Crescent St., which is less than a block away from House of Sweet.
House of Sweet opening hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays through Sundays.
The front area at House of Sweet (Photo Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
The rear wall at Sweet House of sweet has paintings of some New York City landmarks (Photo Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
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7 Comments
How many bubble tea stores can LIC have?
The reason the area is mostly bubble tea, breweries, restaurants, pharmacies, salons, supermarkets / groceries store because these are the only types that can make money in this area. There will never be enough traffic going into a clothing store or a thrift shop or art gallery etc… The rent here is very high without enough consistent traffic / demand for it.
Have you been in the park along the water on the weekend. Foot traffic is not an issue but certainly there is more risk in opening the business you mentioned.
You are correct. That area lots of traffic, good for shopping. The area referenced here is Court Sq near the Queensboro Plaza station. We have 5 bubble tea shops within 3 blocks lol. Lots of traffic from people coming home from work, no one is shopping clothes here. Now down by the waters / park, it’s a different story.
But there’s no foot traffic during the day during business hours unlike many sections of Manhattan. Businesses can’t survive alone from weekend income.
& then there’s iCha Boba
Another bubble tea place.
How about some decent stores to shop. Enough with tea and restauranta and brewery bars..