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LakeForestLeader.com DINING OUT<br />
the lake forest leader | September 20, 2018 | 23<br />
The black sheep of Glenview<br />
New boba tea shop<br />
adds new twists to<br />
popular concept<br />
Brittany Kapa<br />
Contributing Sports Editor<br />
Glenview’s Boba Club<br />
knows it may be a black<br />
sheep, but owner Steve Ha<br />
is OK with that.<br />
Ha’s latest business venture,<br />
Boba Club, even dons<br />
a black sheep on its logo<br />
— a subtle way of letting<br />
the community know his<br />
place does things a little<br />
differently.<br />
Ha, an avid boba tea<br />
drinker, would frequent his<br />
local boba tea shop with<br />
his wife three or four times<br />
a week. One day, as Ha<br />
looked around, he noticed<br />
the constant line of guests<br />
waiting outside the door.<br />
And, he then realized<br />
there was room for another<br />
boba tea shop in Glenview,<br />
one that did things a little<br />
differently.<br />
Ha and his wife opened<br />
Boba Club, 1825 Waukegan<br />
Road in Glenview,<br />
just a few short weeks ago<br />
and offer more than just a<br />
grab-and-go experience to<br />
its customers.<br />
Boba Club encourages<br />
patrons to grab a drink,<br />
stay a while and work.<br />
Long chats, homework<br />
sessions or work duties<br />
are encouraged by the incorporation<br />
of private and<br />
semi-private work spaces.<br />
For those that want to<br />
focus and work alone,<br />
there are two private workstations<br />
disguised as red<br />
phone booths.<br />
“The telephone booths<br />
are really a throwback to<br />
when I first moved here,”<br />
Ha said.<br />
Glenview’s downtown<br />
area originally had phone<br />
booths located across from<br />
Boba Club’s fruit freeze ($4 for a small, $5 for a large)<br />
can be made with a variety of fruits, of which customers<br />
choose three, and has tapioca balls at the bottom.<br />
the library, and Ha wanted<br />
to bring a little local Glenview<br />
history into his shop.<br />
“I wanted to make it like<br />
this because I worked from<br />
home before, and I was a<br />
remote worker, so I was<br />
always looking for places<br />
like this,” he said.<br />
Boba Club also has two<br />
larger group work spaces,<br />
both enclosed, in addition<br />
to a general seating area<br />
and a bigger open workspace<br />
toward the back.<br />
“I’m really happy since<br />
we’ve opened to see the<br />
regulars come in on their<br />
bikes at 3:30 or 4 p.m. and<br />
they’re in the rooms doing<br />
their homework,” he said.<br />
As for the menu, Ha<br />
mixed traditional boba tea<br />
flavors with more popular<br />
and modern options for his<br />
customers.<br />
“We do things authentic<br />
where they have to be, so<br />
our jasmine milk tea, for<br />
instance, it’s what you’re<br />
going to expect when you<br />
go into a typical boba tea<br />
shop,” he said.<br />
Part of that authentic<br />
experience is making the<br />
tapioca balls frequently,<br />
so the flavor and texture<br />
is what a customer would<br />
expect from any boba tea<br />
shop.<br />
Boba Club’s tapioca is<br />
cooked every three to four<br />
Boba Club<br />
1825 Waukegan Road,<br />
Glenview<br />
Noon-11 p.m., Sunday-<br />
Thursday<br />
Noon-midnight, Friday-<br />
Saturday<br />
(847) 603-6000<br />
hours, as Ha doesn’t want<br />
his product sitting around<br />
all day.<br />
“That’s what I expect<br />
when I go to a boba tea<br />
shop,” he said.<br />
Boba Club offers more<br />
recognizable drink options<br />
such as coffees and lattes<br />
for customers looking for<br />
a little caffeine.<br />
Ha incorporated his version<br />
of an international<br />
dish he tried in Hong<br />
Kong. The waffle puff ($5<br />
classic, $8.50 waffle and<br />
ice cream combination)<br />
is a take on a traditional<br />
street waffle served in<br />
Hong Kong.<br />
“The waffle has the texture,<br />
bounce and chewiness<br />
that you’re going to<br />
get from the street waffle<br />
in Hong Kong,” Ha said.<br />
Boba Club’s waffle puff<br />
is served with a variety of<br />
ice cream flavors ranging<br />
from traditional flavors<br />
like vanilla to more exotic<br />
ones like green tea.<br />
22nd Century Media<br />
The Purple Palmer, served in a lightbulb cup ($6.75), is a twist on an Arnold Palmer<br />
drink made with butterfly pea flower tea and lemonade. Photos by Erin Yarnall/22nd<br />
Century Media<br />
An original waffle puff combo ($8.50) is served with green tea ice cream and topped<br />
with dried rose petals.<br />
editors recently ventured<br />
to Glenview to get a taste<br />
of what Boba Club has to<br />
offer.<br />
Ha prepared two different<br />
versions of a fruit<br />
freeze ($4 for a small,<br />
$5 for a large), which includes<br />
three different types<br />
of fruit blended with ice<br />
and served with chewy<br />
tapioca balls.<br />
Ha combined peach,<br />
mango and strawberry to<br />
create a thicker version of<br />
the drink that was sweet<br />
and near-perfect for a hot<br />
late-summer day.<br />
The other fruit freeze,<br />
made with honey dew, cantaloupe<br />
and watermelon,<br />
had a lighter texture to it<br />
but was still a sweet treat.<br />
“Our drinks are somewhat<br />
good for kids, there’s<br />
a lot of sugar because of<br />
the fruits and stuff, but it’s<br />
all real,” Ha said.<br />
Ha also let us sample<br />
the waffle puffs. The first,<br />
with the classic waffle,<br />
similar in flavor to vanilla,<br />
was served with green tea<br />
ice cream and topped with<br />
dried rose petals. The second,<br />
a nod to cookies and<br />
cream, was the chocolate<br />
waffle puff served with<br />
sesame ice cream and<br />
topped with crushed chocolate<br />
sandwich cookies.<br />
Both of these sweet<br />
treats strike a balance between<br />
authentic and inauthentic<br />
flavors, that work<br />
well together, as was Ha’s<br />
intent.<br />
“I really want to keep<br />
everything acceptable to<br />
the people that live on the<br />
North Shore,” he said.