Andrew Chau
Co-Founder
Est. 2011 · SF Native
Making boba better since 2011
Est. 2011
WhereItAllBegan
Two friends, one shop on Valencia Street, and a belief that boba could be something more.
Andrew Chau and Bin Chen met at a mutual friend's dinner in 2010, bonded over a shared frustration: the boba they grew up loving had become a category saturated with artificial syrups and powder mixes. They knew the source material -- Taiwanese and Japanese teas, organic dairy, unrefined sugars -- deserved better treatment.
In 2011 they opened a small window on Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District. No chairs, no frills, just craft. Lines formed immediately. By 2013 Boba Guys had been written up in every major food publication in the Bay Area. By 2018 they had crossed into New York, Los Angeles, and beyond.
The mission has not changed since that first day on Valencia: use real ingredients, pay fair wages, and make a drink that earns your trust with every sip.
- Organic milk and real cane sugar in every drink
- Single-origin teas sourced directly from farms
- No artificial flavors, powders, or shortcuts
Andrew Chau
Co-Founder, Boba Guys
Co-Founder
Bin Chen
Co-Founder and Head of Supply
Bin grew up between two food cultures, and that dual perspective shaped everything about how he thinks about ingredients. Before Boba Guys, he spent years in food systems consulting, mapping supply chains for restaurants that cared deeply about what they served but had no way to verify it.
When he and Andrew opened the first shop in 2011, Bin's role was clear: find the real version of everything. He traveled to Alishan in Taiwan to source high-mountain oolong, partnered with a Straus Family Creamery supplier for organic milk, and sourced unrefined cane sugar from a small cooperative in Southeast Asia.
"The tea has to be worth the trip. If I cannot trace it to the farm, it does not end up in the cup."
Bin Chen, Co-Founder
Today Bin oversees all sourcing relationships across Boba Guys' global supply chain. He still takes the trip to Taiwan every spring.
Taiwan Tea SourcedOrganic DairyUSDA Certified50+ LocationsEst. 2011Real Cane Sugar
Why settle for powder and syrup?
Realfoodshouldneverbeordinary.
We built Boba Guys on the conviction that a cup of boba should be made with the same care as any fine drink. Single-origin tea. Organic milk. Real sugar. No shortcuts. That is the entire philosophy.
As Featured In
The People
Meet the Team
Every cup is the result of a team that cares deeply about the details.
Bin Chen
Co-Founder
Est. 2011 · NYC Chapter
Magdalena Reyes
Head of Operations
12 Years Hospitality · ServSafe Certified
Kenji Watanabe
Director of Tea Sourcing
STBA Member · Taiwan-trained
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