One Las Vegas resident’s decision to shift careers and buy a boba shop 19 years ago was a gamble. Amy Zhang-Warthan’s roll of the dice paid off though, as she and her husband Kevin Warthan now own 15 shops across three states, including one in downtown Solvang.
When she bought her first in 2005, Zhang-Warthan was a single mom and real estate agent with a lot on her plate.
“It was a lot of work when my kids were young,” she told the Sun over email. “Quickly I realized I couldn’t do both, so I made a decision to give up real estate and focus on running my boba shop.”
Zhang-Warthan bought the store—No. 1 Boba Tea in Chinatown Las Vegas—about 12 years after moving to the U.S. from China to attend business school and earn her MBA.
“Purchasing this small shop [gave] me one more layer of stability,” she said.
During her earliest days at No. 1 Boba Tea, she’d often bring her young children to work. Sometimes her daughter would nap on the store’s large sugar bags, which sparked a unique case of associative learning.
“Eventually she climbed onto sugar bags when we were shopping in Smart & Final thinking that’s her bed,” Zhang-Warthan said.
After she married Warthan, the couple gradually expanded their boba horizons over the years and opened several more shops in both Texas and Nevada. They still live in the latter state.
Warthan said he often jokes that “our successful marriage was responsible for the successful business ... since the second location was opened after we got married.”
“Maybe not,” he continued. “But the ability to work together definitely helped both our marriage and our businesses succeed.”
This year marked the couple’s Central Coast debut in the heart of downtown Solvang, when Hygge Boba Tea and Smoothies opened its doors in January.
The chance to bring a new boba joint to the Santa Ynez Valley was a silver lining for the couple, as the opportunity arose during a difficult period, Warthan explained.
“During COVID, my mom passed away and we had to wait a long time to have a service in person,” Warthan said. “After that service in the Monterey area, we decided to take the long way home back to Vegas and drive through Solvang—partly for the beauty and partly because my mom was Danish and Norwegian.”
Naturally, the visit lasted longer than a typical pit stop once the couple decided to park and hang out awhile.
“Of course, we had to get some aebleskiver and wander the streets,” Warthan recalled. “Lo and behold, there were a few empty storefronts on Copenhagen [Drive].”
Warthan said his wife’s “eyes lit up” with an epiphany.
“She started the process by contacting the landlord and talking to the neighboring business owners,” he said. “The rest is history.”
Among the Solvang shop’s milk tea selections, Warthan’s personal favorites include the earl grey, London fog, and lavender milk tea. The venue’s menu also features a variety of flavored green and black teas, fresh fruit smoothies, and power juices.
“I prefer a healthy lifestyle. Drinking tea is part of it,” Zhang-Warthan said. “In addition, I want to give customers more choices like power juice, with a lot of fruits and vegetables blended together so we keep all the fiber, and with very little sugar added.”
Initially the couple planned to regularly sell pastries from local bakers and other collaborators at the shop for patrons to pair with their drinks but decided to put the concept on hold after a brief test trial.
“We missed opening during the busy Christmas season, so our first few months were slow. It was hard to keep fresh pastries on the menu, so we have temporarily removed them,” Warthan said. “We are looking at adding tasty snacks in the future and more retail tea bags and tea wares.”
London fog is calling Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood. Send tapioca pearls to [email protected].
