Vivi Bubble Tea (790 Manhattan Ave) takes the place of the long-beloved photo developing spot Enla Photo which closed earlier this year when its owners retired after a truly dedicated 30 years of operating the store.
Whilst $3.50 at Enla would have more than covered the cost of developing a roll of 35mm film, now that amount will buy you a medium sized bubble tea of your choice. Not quite as creatively fulfilling as 36 full-color prints, but certainly delicious.
In the name of research I popped into the Chelsea outlet of Vivi (it’s a mini-chain you see) to get a taste of what we could expect to find when they finally open shop in Greenpoint. Greeted at the door by a life sized Vivi character, I discover the interior to be just as pink as the signage.
The menu is broken down into Milk Tea, Flavored Tea, Slush, Yakult Drink, Ice Jelly Tea, and ‘Special’. You can choose whether to add traditional tapioca pearl boba, aloe, custard pudding, lychee jelly, red bean (or a combination of a few) into your drink. The good thing about Vivi is that you can also choose how much sugar you want: 0, 30, 50, 75 or 100 percent.
We were sad to say goodbye to Enla Photo but, since the store came to a natural end, we’re prepared to toast the future of 790 Manhattan Ave with a plastic canister of gloopy Vivi bubbles!
Thank you for coming to visit! Tomorrow is our opening day, and we have a buy one get one 50% off deal . Come drop by when you’re free!