Meet Alyx & Vivian | Co-Owners of The Boba Plug

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alyx & Vivian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyx & Vivian, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Hello, we’re Alyx & Vivian, co-founders of The Boba Plug.

We both have similar yet very different background and upbringings that impact that shapes who we are today. Vivian will start with her story.

I’m Vivian and I was born and raised in San Jose, California. San Jose is a melting pot of ethnicities and being introduced to different cultures was easy and accepted. With that I embraced my Chinese-Vietnamese heritage and all the food and traditions that came along with it. An important part of my upbringing that relates to boba is how my family would go to Mom & Pop stores after school. It became moments where we would be with each other and share the love of food & boba. Back then boba was just a $1!! As I grew up, I ended up hanging out with friends that way. It’ll be like, “Hey you want to grab boba?” Not only was it about grabbing boba, it meant catching up with each other.

Hi I’m Alyx and I was born and raised in Austin, TX. Growing up we didn’t have too much variety of foods around my area. There was always our main go-to spots but one of my favorites, was a place called Coco’s Cafe. (They’re still there!) They serve Taiwanese food and a small little treat, which was boba tea. Boba tea was always a treat for me especially growing up with my family. We were a family of entrepreneurs, so there was no time to spend with each other. But for some reason there was always time for boba tea and we would go grab some and adventure around. And that was what inspired me to start The Boba Plug with Vivian. We both shared a common love for boba tea and the connection getting boba brought alongside family and friends.

Fast-forward to today, boba still means connection to us. It has evolved now that we are business owners and are serving boba instead of just getting boba. Boba is a way of connecting. That connection with our community is what drives us to keep popping up and creating crazy unheard of concepts. So someday, friends & family will ask each other, “Hey you want to grab boba at The Boba Plug?”

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are The Boba Plug, an Asian American Bubble Tea Concept. We started off during the Covid-19 Pandemic. With quarantine, we missed the connection between friends and family. We wanted to bring something that would help shape what we are today, new and creative takes on the ever popular Taiwanese drink Bubble Tea/Boba. We saw that there was a missing gap in the market for something that used fresh and quality ingredients, so we decided to combine that with our favorite flavors growing up.

One of our biggest accomplishments, was starting our business.
Everyone is a dreamer, and wishes to start their dream, but they don’t. They worry about what’s going to happen, and being afraid of failure. We both wanted to start a boba shop, but we didn’t know how, when, and where to do so. With the help of our friends and family, we got to showcase some of the flavors we were starting off with and got feedback to start our first ever popup. We connected with Chef Donny Sirisavath, and he gave us a chance to start our dreams. With that it fueled our inner drive, to keep going, collaboration after collaboration. Showcasing what we could do with the medium of Boba and our minds, we were excited.

Our main challenge was “how do we keep going?”.
We kept burning the midnight oil, our ideas, our relationship, and even our own visions kept getting changed. It wasn’t until recently to where we started structuring our brand as we know it today. We learned that it’s okay to take breaks, and if you need to restart, that is okay as well. Great ideas don’t happen overnight and there isn’t success without failures. Life is tough, very tough. But when it comes down to the very concept of what matters in the end, take a breath, and figure out how to solve the problem at hand.

We Are Not Your Typical Boba Shop.
Our goal is to create an experience that evoke an emotion when you take a sip. We are committed to showcasing and involving you in our story. Every Sip, Bite, and Chew, the interaction that we share is something greater than only one can achieve alone. We are The Boba Plug, and we are here to Showcase Something Different.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would first take them to Khao Noodle Shop. Lao food that will wow them. The dishes are punches of flavor they’ve never tasted before. Afterwards we would take them to walk around, depending on who they are as a person that can range from White Rock Lake, Chinatown Richardson, Dallas Arboretum, Round 1, or take them on a trolley through downtown Dallas. If they like shopping, we’ll take them to Centre for streetwear and North Park mall. After they get tired, we’ll take them to Tea Daddy to just chill, get some boba and snacks and rest. Further in the week we would drive to Frisco and get doughnuts at Detour Doughnuts! If we didn’t visit certain places, we would go to those spots and drive to get a skyline view of Dallas, if Sandwhich Hag is open, we’ll drop by to devour their banh mi. If they like some late night bites, we’ll take them to DangsungSa. Dessert’s on us as we’ll take them to Milky Treats. If they want to unwind the next day, pedicure and manicure at Verbena Parlor is a must! We have more spots, but come by and ask us in person!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to dedicate our shoutout to our family & friends, you know who you are! We’re going to make you read this fosho. A special shoutout goes to Chef Donny Sirisavath. Thank you for mentoring and being patient with us. We really appreciate what you’ve done for us, learning and talking to you has been one of the best life lessons we’ve had.

Website: www.thebobaplug.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebobaplugtx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebobaplugtx/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-boba-plug-dallas

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9d_w1Lw_PuQfj7HUzQvLEA