heytea (Bellevue Bravern)

Cheese Tea Mega Chain HeyTea Just Opened a Store in the Seattle Area | Eater Seattle

"As of August 30 I noted that the massive Chinese chain HeyTea opened its first Washington State location inside Bellevue’s Bravern mall, marking the brand’s third U.S. West Coast outpost. Credited with originating the cheese tea craze in Guangdong in 2012, the shop specializes in cheese tea—sweet iced tea topped with foamed milk and cream cheese—and prides itself on high-quality ingredients like real fruit and real cream; the Bellevue location even cooks the boba balls used in some drinks in-house and prices drinks starting around $7. The interior is sleek, almost spaceship-like, and the colorful teas and the signature “guy drinking some tea” logo make the cups social-media-ready. For opening-week promotions it ran buy-one-get-one and 50%-off-second-drink deals and handed out limited-edition fridge magnets (a variant showing the logo holding an umbrella) to customers who posted on social media. HeyTea Bellevue is open daily 11 a.m.–9 p.m., and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays." - Harry Cheadle