Sunright Tea Studio - Arcadia

Step Inside a Busy Day at Southern California Boba Shop, Sunright Tea Studio | Eater LA

"Tucked into a strip-mall food court a few blocks south of the Arboretum, the Arcadia Sunright Tea Studio is somewhat hidden from Baldwin Avenue but benefits from steady foot traffic thanks to an adjacent 99 Ranch and nearby Temple City High School. I followed the crew on a hot Saturday and watched them start brewing teas and cooking multiple batches of brown sugar boba (BSB) and honey boba long before the shop’s noon opening; BSB requires multiple rounds of boiling and resting, and the kitchen can go through four or more batches a day (each batch of about three kilograms makes roughly 50–60 drinks). Founded in 2019 in Diamond Bar and now expanded to 19 locations (including two in Northern California), Sunright imports most ingredients from Taiwan—including its tea leaves—and prepares molasses-infused brown sugar, fresh fruit juices, brulee drinks with caramel custard (pre-swirled and chilled to save time), and a steady rotation of fruit teas on site. The Arcadia location, which opened in November 2021, quickly became one of the chain’s two busiest outlets; orders stream in via two self-ordering kiosks, ToastTab online orders, and Uber Eats, and when the internet briefly went down the staff calmly switched to taking orders at the register and kept the line moving. Regulars praised the sweetness levels (one customer, Mable, prefers the regular sweetness and loves the Ceylon milk tea; Jay always gets the Sunright boba milk tea), many staff and customers favor mango jasmine and other fruit teas, and the team—mostly students and recent grads—keeps a relentless pace (about one drink every three minutes) through long opening kitchen shifts and five-hour barista shifts until closing." - Fiona Chandra