A bubble tea brand that locals spent all spring calling a MACU Tea dupe is about to open one block from the real MACU.
Alfa Tea has coming-soon signage up at the Hanin Village plaza on North Road in Coquitlam.
It is taking over the unit that Bono Cafe left behind when the Korean cake and coffee shop closed at the end of May.
A Noms Mag community member (grace) tipped us off after spotting the banners, and we were in the area to confirm they are up.
The storefront reads Alfa Tea & Patisserie, coming soon, with a Korean line marking a July opening and window graphics that say loading new location.
Alfa had already said a while ago that it was heading for the Lougheed area but never named a spot.
Now we know it is the Hanin Plaza on the Coquitlam side of North Road.
One interesting thing is that this Alfa signage says “patisserie” on it.
Alfa told Noms Magazine that the Lougheed shop will be its first Tea and Dessert concept, pairing the signature drinks with a case of fresh cakes, pastries, and desserts.
The team says it is a space with plenty of seating, built to feel more like a cafe than a grab-and-go tea counter.
So this will be a spot where you can sit down for a tea and a slice.
That suits a unit that spent years as a cake shop, and the team is now targeting a late-July opening.
There is another first buried in this one.
It is also the first Alfa shop that is not a hand-me-down.
Alfa Tea Concept built its footprint by taking over three former MACU Tea units earlier this year, the Richmond store at Union Square, a Burnaby shop, and the Downtown spot on Robson.
The near-identical mango-forward menu and rotating seasonal drinks earned Alfa its nickname fast.
Our own earlier report put it plainly: “I suppose you can call it a dupe.”
But the dupe label is getting less relevant as Alfa Tea continues to create these different concepts.
Their Robson Street location is also in the process of having a nighttime concept with the addition of alcohol and snacks.
But here’s the twist.
MACU is NOT gone, and it is coming to the same area.
MACU Tea is opening its own North Road location about a block away, at 3355 North Road in Burnaby next to Pizza Maru, under a different franchisee and targeting this summer.
MACU has called the North Road shop “a vital chapter in our journey within British Columbia.”
Before that, only MACU’s Kerrisdale shop was the only outpost still running after the shake up, so North Road brings the brand back to a stretch it had stepped away from.
All of this means K Town will have two mango fruit tea options within a block.
Alfa Tea Lougheed joins other upcoming Metro Vancouver food spots like % Arabica Oakridge Park, Straight Outta Brooklyn Kingsway, and One Cafe Burnaby 2.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: 420-329 North Road, Coquitlam, BC