By, Lauren Raziano, Asst. Sports Editor/Web Editor
Opening last summer on Riverdale Avenue, Pearl Dynastea offers Taiwanese bubble tea and a range of fresh steamed buns and pastries.
Darren Zhang, assistant manager of Pearl Dynastea, spoke with The Quadrangle about the business.
“We opened last summer and have been here for about seven or eight months,” Zhang said.
Currently, Pearl Dynastea offers over 40 drink options on a handwritten, black board menu, including fresh fruit slushies, ice cream milkshakes and fruit teas. Their most popular drink is the brown sugar latte with boba.
“My personal favorite is number 14, the taro milk tea. The best selling drink is the brown sugar pearl tea latte, that is what we sell the most of,” Zhang said.
Zhang added that Pearl Dynastea also offers an array of food options.
“Our food items range from steamed buns, we have pork buns, pumpkin buns, chicken buns,” Zhang said. “We also have pastries, we have our brownie cheesecake mix which is my personal favorite. We also have vanilla rose and other various pastries we change every week.”
At the counter they also offer homemade knitted boba plushies, with a small plush ringing up to 8 dollars and a large for 15 dollars. Further, the shop offers free stickers that include colorful boba drink images and ones with texts like “I love boba,” “Did someone say BOBA?” and “more boba please.”
“We like to have a chill vibe here, and we try to be as friendly as possible, a family friendly environment.” Zhang said. “The customers are wonderful and they are very nice.”
Sterling Grant, a freshman communications major, is a frequent customer of Pearl Dynasty.
“I went the other day, and I kind of go there a lot, even though the walk is like up that hill, it’s worth it,” Grant said. “I think I went there on my third day I came to Manhattan College. So I’m just kind of like the person to be like, ‘Okay, let’s go get boba’.”
Grant was very excited about a boba shop being located so close to Manhattan College’s campus.
“I really like [Pearl Dynastea] so close because like where I live, the nearest boba place is a 30 minute drive.” Grant said. “So having a boba place a 10 to 15 minute walk is not that bad. Also the vibes are really good and the staff is really nice and it’s like you want boba, just go there.”
Grant’s favorite order is anything with Mango.
“My usual order is the mango milk tea, and I get the normal tapioca boba with it. Sometimes if I’m not feeling the milk, I get mango green tea, I’m a really big mango fan.”
Phillip Austin, a freshman English major, also loves the location of Pearl Dynastea.
“It’s incredibly convenient to have things in walking distance like Pearl Dynastea when you don’t really have the time to go all the way into the city,” Austin wrote in an email to the Quadrangle.
Austin enjoys the atmosphere of Pearl Dynastea and likes to go there after a long day of classes.
“The overall vibe of the place is just really good and the workers are always nice, they’re always the absolute cutest little stickers that come free with your orders.” Austin wrote. “The service is really quick, too, not to mention the price is really affordable, and the walk there is nice. Honestly going there is one of my favorite things to do after a stressful day of classes.”
Like Grant, Austin also enjoys the mango boba option.
“I’m pretty basic so far, I’ve tried a couple things now but always end up going back to strawberry milk tea. Mango green tea with popping boba is also really good.” Austin wrote.
Finally, Austin stated that Pearl Dynastea is worth the walk when you are with a friend.
“It’s the perfect walk-and-talk setup for friend bonding,” Austin wrote. “If you’re talking you don’t even notice the walk.”
Pearl Dynastea can be found on Seamless, Grubhub or at their location at 3702 Riverdale Ave, Bronx, NY 10463.