Veg Out With Sweet Drinks and Snacks at Café Tapioca

Bubble tea – a sweet, cool drink characterized by chewy tapioca pearls that can be sucked up from the bottom of the cup through a fat straw – originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and is a growing trend in the United States. If you’re a fan, don’t miss .

This colorful café opened in Dublin eight years ago, and then Pleasanton in September 2010, employee Karen Hsu said. The menu offers more than 100 drinks, including milk teas (flavored teas blended with milk), plain green and black teas, smoothies, icies (fruit juices blended with ice and water), fruit juices, coffee drinks and milkshakes. Tapioca pearls, available in flavors such as passionfruit, green tea and coffee, can be added to beverages for 50 cents.

Hsu said teas are brewed fresh every morning, and Café Tapioca uses fresh watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, papaya and avocado in its drinks. Fruit smoothies, the avocado smoothie and cookies and cream smoothie are among the most popular drink, Hsu said.

Some beverage flavors sound a bit adventuresome for the average customer, such as the pudding green milk tea and the green bean smoothie. Fruit juices include starfruit juice, which has a sour, salty taste, Hsu said. “It’s more of a Taiwanese, Asian drink, and some people like it.”

Menu items include pot stickers, fried tofu, butterfly shrimp, coconut butter toast and popcorn chicken (a customer favorite). Pork buns – soft, warm rolls filled with a seasoned pork mixture – are a current special at Café Tapioca. Customers also can take home a scoop or two of ice cream in a mouthwatering flavor like green tea or cappuccino chocolate crunch.

If Café Tapioca’s yummy eats aren’t enough to make customers hang around for a bit, its lounge-friendly atmosphere sure is. Couches and a TV encourage customers to relax and enjoy their treats, and some bring in their laptops. The cafe also sells packaged snacks and plush CD holders in playful designs.

Café Tapioca is at 7160 Regional St. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Beverages run $2.25 to $5 and food items are $2.25 to $6.50. For more information, call 925-479-0968 or click here.

Recipe: Avocado Smoothie With Tapioca

• To make the tapioca pearls, boil 7 cups water in a large pot. Add 1 cup tapioca pearls (typically found in Asian grocery stores). Once the pearls begin to float, cover and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand for about 15 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water.
• Place 3-5 ice cubes in a blender. Add one large, ripe avocado; 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk; 1/2 cup milk and 2 tsp. honey.
• Blend until smooth.
• Place 3-4 spoonfuls cooked tapioca pearls in a serving glass. Fill with the avocado mixture. Serve with a jumbo-sized straw.