The Addison branch of Best Thai has opened a bubble tea shop in its quarters called Boba Tea Treats, where it will serve a full menu of drinks containing chewy little tapioca "pearls."
Best Thai, which is part of a small local family-owned chain, took over an empty space next door to its Belt Line location to expand its square footage and accommodate the new concept-within-a-concept.
"We have a bigger dining room, and it gave us room in the front to do this other idea," says Too Chaisuwan, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Kunya Chaisuwan. "The boba tea concept was my wife's inspiration. She wanted to do a little project. It's already open. We did our soft opening on Sunday."
You can get your bubble tea hot or cold, with ice cream or without, in all sorts of flavors, like piña colada, mango and strawberry.
They have a slate of drinks in four modes to which you can add your bubbly pearls: coffee, tea, smoothies (made with milk) and slushies (no milk). You can get hot drinks or cold, with ice cream or without, in all sorts of flavors, from exotics like piña colada to fruit flavors like mango and strawberry. If you don't like the chewy pearls, you can get small cubes of gelatin. And if you don't do dairy, they have soy milk.
Too and Kunya own two branches of Best Thai: this one at Belt Line and Midway roads, and another location at Frankford Road and the Dallas North Tollway. The restaurant has won awards such as "People's Choice" in 2012 for Best Thai in Addison. There are four other branches owned by Kunya's sister Booney — in Plano, Irving, Frisco and Dallas, at Preston Road and Royal Lane.
The sisters learned the craft from their father, an enthusiastic amateur in their native Thailand. They do stir-fries, noodles and several kinds of curry, including red, green, yellow, massaman, panang, pineapple and jungle, the spiciest of all.
The bubble tea stand isn't the only way the Chaisuwans stand apart from their peers. Unlike most Thai restaurants, which are sit-down only, Best Thai offers a buffet. And the restaurant is also one of the most vegan-friendly Thai restaurants around, with more than 20 vegan and vegetarian options.
"We have a separate vegan page on our menu, and every first Sunday of the month, we do a vegan buffet," Too says.
Boba Tea Treats, inside Best Thai in Addison, will serve exotic bubble teas.
Chef Dominique CrennFacebook