The highly-trafficked shop imports most of its ingredients straight from Taiwan, including its tea leaves
By Fiona Chandra, Eater LA
Photography by Stan Lee, unless otherwise noted
Sunright Tea Studio in Arcadia is connected to a food court, set in a typical Southern California strip mall just a few blocks south of the famous Arboretum. The shop is somewhat tucked away from the main drag of Baldwin Avenue, but there’s a 99 Ranch market that keeps the plaza busy, bringing plenty of foot traffic to the area. There are no fewer than six other boba shops within two blocks of this Sunright location, evidence of the drink’s incredible popularity in this neighborhood, but the nearby Temple City High School keeps Sunright especially busy during the weekdays. Sunright opens at noon daily, but for workers, each day starts much earlier in the kitchen
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It’s easy to overlook how hectic a small boba shop like Sunright Tea Studio can be until seen firsthand. The young staff members worked hard nonstop for five or more hours, running around and working with their hands, making drinks or getting more ingredients from the kitchen. No one was idle — on average the baristas made one drink every three minutes. It was a busy day with a lot of behind-the-scenes prep, but even with incidents like an internet outage, Sunright’s crew managed to keep the shop running. As the doors are locked and the lights turned off, there’s a sense of relief. Everyone’s been on their feet all day, it’s time to sit down and relax — with a boba drink in hand.
