By Audrey Cabaltica
Happy Lemon was where I first tried boba. I didn’t know what was good, so I tried the most popular item on the menu: passionfruit green tea with boba. I loved it so much that I found myself craving Happy Lemon every month. Then every two weeks. Then every week. Then almost every day.
My friends and I could walk to Happy Lemon from school. I loved its cozy interior and we would always hang out on the cute chairs while waiting to get picked up after school.
Each time I went, I tried a new drink until I had tried everything from the menu through all their rebrandings and renovations. That’s how I found my favorite Happy Lemon order: strawberry green tea with boba.
I remember coming back from a ski trip to Tahoe where I didn’t have boba for a week. For the entire trip, I kept thinking about getting boba. When we got home, the only thing I wanted was boba. So we drove straight to Happy Lemon! I was instantly comforted by the familiar lemon-head mascot standing at the entrance.
When I visited the Philippines for a month, I got Happy Lemon there around 15 times. While there were tons of boba places we didn’t have in the US, I found myself still craving the familiar taste of Happy Lemon.
As I got older, I tried every new boba shop that opened, especially the popular ones with better boba. While I enjoyed the variety, I still favored Happy Lemon.
One hot day this summer, I craved my perfect refresher from Happy Lemon. I hopped out of the car, excited to get my favorite cold, fruity drink. I was expecting the usual line. But when I pulled the door to enter, it didn’t budge. I leaned in and peeked through the glass. The store was completely empty. There were no people nor furniture inside. That’s when I noticed the sign on the door. “We are permanently closed.”
I was shocked because Happy Lemon has always been so popular that it always had a line every time I visited. What happened?
Happy Lemon had a great location. It was right next to an elementary school so the kids went there after school. It’s also alongside Super Duper Burgers, Omee J2 (poke bowl), Yogurtland, and Taco Bell. After these meals, you can go next door to Happy Lemon for boba, the perfect dessert.
Now, the closest Happy Lemon is a 25-minute drive.
I’m not the only one who’s sad about Happy Lemon closing. When I was at the same plaza with my friend last July, there were a bunch of little kids ages five to ten who came to Happy Lemon. When they saw that it was closed, they cried! Their parents took them instead to Yogurtland next door. But the kids just wanted boba and complained, “There’s no boba in Yogurtland!” and “But you said we’d get Happy Lemon!” Some 20 kids showed up that day to get Happy Lemon but got disappointment instead.
Another boba shop I like is the Taiwanese Yi Fang. It’s known for the best fruit tea since they make their drinks fresh with real fruits. I prefer fruit tea over milk tea, so Yi Fang was perfect for me. It’s also the nearest boba spot from my house and is conveniently located beside an H Mart, a Korean supermarket that my mom frequents.
Unfortunately, Yi Fang closed last May. It has been replaced by an unknown boba shop called Tea By Do, which only has four locations in the US. Why would you replace Yi Fang with an unknown spot? At least replace it with a known spot. Though I haven’t tried it yet, I heard that it’s average tasting and doesn’t have as many fruit tea options as Yi Fang.
For the best grass jelly bowls, I go to Meet Fresh. It’s a Taiwanese dessert restaurant and a popular hangout spot on Cupertino Main Street. Many food shops there don’t have any indoor seating. But Meet Fresh is a big building with lots of tables. Many people dine here with food they brought from outside. My friends and I also sit here with our boba drinks while waiting for our rides.
Meet Fresh closes at 11pm so it’s the most popular hangout for teens from all the high schools in my district. All restaurants in Main Street close before 10 pm. From the moment it opens, Meet Fresh is packed with families and friend groups. Some even stay there for hours playing board games, doing homework, or browsing on their phone. It is my go-to spot when my friends or family ask where I want to hang out. It’s a friendly and convenient spot and has free cold water and bathrooms.
Meet Fresh is also student-friendly as they hire workers with no experience. My friend got her first job there last February, but then lost it when Meet Fresh suddenly closed in March.
When I went to dinner at Main Street last week with my friend, we had no Meet Fresh for our after dinner hangout. Everyone was quiet and working in Philz Coffee. Hey Tea was packed. All the other places didn’t have indoor seating.
This year, three of my favorite boba shops in the Bay Area permanently shut down with no warning.
It’s weird that Happy Lemon, Yi Fang, and Meet Fresh don’t exist anymore. Even though new shops will eventually replace them, they won’t be the familiar spots I grew up with. Now, when making plans with my friends, we no longer have our usual go-to spots where we spent so many hours, and even years together. Losing these three boba shops in the span of five months feels like losing the memories I’ve made in them in the last seven years.
Audrey Cabaltica is a teen journalist and an opinion editor of her school newspaper in Silicon Valley. She writes about trends, pop culture, media, and her experience as a Filipino-American.