This story aired in the April 1, 2026 episode of Crosscurrents.
Food fights aren’t new. But in every city, there’s a different battleground. In Los Angeles, it’s the raging debate over who makes the best French Dip sandwiches – Philippe’s or Cole’s? In South Philadelphia, it’s Pat’s versus Geno’s for where to get the best cheesesteak. Or in Montreal, where can you get the better bagel – St-Viateur or Fairmount?
And in San Francisco? Tensions run high about… Boba. Also known as bubble tea, boba’s a hugely popular drink from Taiwan that is usually made of tea, milk, sweeteners, and chewy tapioca balls called “boba” that the drink is named for. For almost 20 years, the feud between two bubble tea shops, Teascape and Bobaland, has torn one San Francisco neighborhood apart.
But as one reporter found out, this heated rivalry… may be starting to cool.
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Story Transcript
Sound of getting off the bus
REPORTER: I haven’t been back to this corner of the Richmond in four years. The last time ended up being just too upsetting.
Sound of an angry crowd
REPORTER: I saw bubble tea cups thrown to the ground, perfectly good tea and tapioca wasted. Neighbors shouting at each other, children crying over spilled boba, friends and families divided, deciding whether to pledge their loyalty to Teascape or Bobaland next door.
After that day, I told myself I wouldn’t report on the great boba turf war ever again. Yet I’m back. Because I got a tip that it might finally be ending.
REPORTER: I’m standing at the corner of Clement and 7th Ave.
REPORTER: That’s me in the same spot four years ago. I’d been on the restaurant rivalry beat since I was thirteen. I’d been following the legendary feud between Bobaland and Teascape from the beginning and it had just reached an all-time high. I thought this would be the story to make my career.
It was the day the loyalty card programs started. And I went to investigate. Were these the fun and totally normal loyalty cards, where customers get stamps for buying nine drinks then get the tenth drink for free? NOPE.
LEILA: Today, I’m proud to pledge my undying love and fealty to Bobaland.
REPORTER: That’s Leila Santos. I met her while she was practicing her pledge so she could get a loyalty card.
LEILA: I promise to only drink bubble tea from Bobaland, and only Bobaland, for at least three generations, affecting my children and my children’s children.
LEILA: I solemnly swear to make this my entire personality, to be needlessly loud and opinionated and annoying about being a Bobaland fan.
LEILA: And above all else, I will never mix or mingle with anyone holding a Teascape cup.
REPORTER: I watched Leila wave at a sweet-looking guy in line at Teascape…then flip him off. He smiled and flipped her off. I asked her what the hell was that about.
LEILA: Oh, that’s my boyfriend, Nico. Well, ex-boyfriend now. He’s pledging Teascape, so I broke up with him in front of Mr. Bobaland himself. Gosh, Nico and I were together for, like what, six years?
REPORTER: I’m sorry, you did what now?!
LEILA: NICO, YOU TRAITOR! YOU BROKE MY HEART!
REPORTER: It wasn’t always like this. When Marcus Chen opened Bobaland in 2006 and Jonathan Lim opened Teascape the year after, the competition was fierce but respectful. For almost a decade, Mr. Chen and Mr. Lim one-upped each other with new stunts like a boba ball pit and a drag queen residency.
Then in 2016, as one of those stunts, they tried each other’s drinks publicly.
LEILA: Girl, I remember when the story broke in the Boba Chronicle. Mr. Chen said the tapioca pearls at Teascape were so tough and inedible, chewing on them took out his dental crown! And Mr. Lim said the tea at Bobaland was so low-quality with all its added sweeteners that it gave him diabetes!
REPORTER: Both said no true bubble tea lover would ever deign to drink from the other shop. Their stunts, which used to be fun, turned nasty.
LEILA: There was this one time when Mr. Chen used the tapioca at Teascape as cement to repair his storefront. It was bad.
REPORTER: This escalated until 2022, when the loyalty cards appeared.
Doing interviews that year, I learned that some folks weren’t even eligible to pledge their loyalty. One of them was Jesse Reid, who was holding a giant sign that said, “PEACE, LOVE, AND BOBA.”
JESSE: Man, I got kicked out of my mahjong group! Because they found out I’m a “mixer”! Everyone knows that Bobaland has the better tapioca pearls but Teascape has the better tea, so yeah, I MIX ‘EM. And I will NOT feel ashamed for mixing the perfect drink! AND DEFINITELY NOT WHEN I KNOW YOU ALL DO IT, TOO!
Sound of the crowd gasping in horror
JESSE: THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE! Please, you’ve gotta listen to me! We’ve gotta remember what matters at the end of the day! Peace! Love! And boba!
REPORTER: As a known mixer, Jesse was banned from entering either shop. And anyone who tried to sneak him bubble tea could get their loyalty cards suspended.
Hearing that, my heart sank. I was a secret mixer, too. And I couldn’t keep reporting on this story without putting my friends’ and family’s boba privileges at risk.
That day, I never did make it to the front doors of Bobaland or Teascape. But now I’m back to finish the story.
Sound of a block party
REPORTER: Four years later, the scene before me could not be more different. The block where Teascape and Bobaland sit next to each other looks like a party. Lines are stretching out the door and around the corner for both shops. But really, the lines look more like a circle, because once folks get their drink from one, they’re in line at the other.
It’s not long before I see a familiar face. It’s Jesse, still holding the same sign that says “PEACE, LOVE, AND BOBA” but with the biggest smile on his face.
JESSE: Anna, did you hear? The loyalty cards! They’re gone!
REPORTER: Jesse tells me the owners retired. Their daughters, Joanna Lim of Teascape and Mina Chen of Bobaland, are taking over. And to the disappointment of their dads and to the surprise of everyone else…
JESSE: Jo and Mina? They’re calling A TRUCE! Hallelujah!
REPORTER: While talking to customers waiting in line, I hear about a lot of changes Jo and Mina are making. The excitement is palpable.
CUSTOMER 1: Ahh, I can’t wait to take a picture with the new murals at Teascape!
CUSTOMER 2: Jo’s supposed to be a ridiculously talented artist!
CUSTOMER 3: Dude, the customer service at Bobaland is supposed to be over-the-top now.
CUSTOMER 4: Yeah, I heard Mina left this super fancy consulting career in New York City.
CUSTOMER 5: My friend works there and he was, like, Mina labeled and color coded everything in there!
REPORTER: I even hear what was once unthinkable. There’s a rumor floating around that Jo and Mina – they’re “mixing.”
JESSE: The tea and pearls at both shops are GOOD, like, suspiciously good, like the way I used to mix kind of good.
REPORTER: But when I ask everyone the same question – Why a truce? And why now? – all I hear are crickets.
Sound of crickets
REPORTER: Because the truth is there are only two people who can give me the answers I’m seeking – Jo Lim and Mina Chen.
JO: You’ve gotta see Mina’s spreadsheets.
REPORTER: That’s Jo at Teascape.
JO: Not that I’ve seen them, of course. Dude, she’s, like, crazy organized and super smart. OR SO I’VE HEARD. Because I’VE BARELY SPOKEN TO HER. But I have so much respect for what she’s doing. FROM AFAR. Sorry, what was the question again?
REPORTER: I haven’t asked you one yet.
JO: Oh, right.
REPORTER: I ask Mina over at Bobaland why she’s calling a truce.
MINA: I mean, who wouldn’t want to go to Teascape? The tea is so good. And she’s gorgeous. IT. I mean IT’S gorgeous. THE SHOP, I mean. THE SHOP IS GORGEOUS. What I mean to say is that THE MURALS IN THE SHOP ARE GORGEOUS!
REPORTER: I mean, I agree, the new murals are gorgeous, but is that really why they’re calling a truce? Hmm.
JO: All anyone cared about was who was beefing with who, which owner said what now, who can prove their loyalty to which shop, and I wish we could just focus on the drinks!
REPORTER: Now that makes sense to me. The great boba turf war was all about division and exclusion, not the joy of drinking great bubble tea. I ask Mina if she wants that, too, to just focus on the drinks.
MINA: Well yeah, of course! That’s why I came home… and it would be nice to have some privacy.
REPORTER: What was that last bit?
MINA: Nothing! Just want to focus on the drinks.
REPORTER: When they were growing up, Jo and Mina’s parents didn’t let them hang out together. But Teascape and Bobaland share an alley in the back, and they remember exactly one way they secretly communicated as kids.
MINA: So there was this small bucket in the back…
JO: No one ever used it but us…
MINA: After my shift was done…
JO: I’d leave two fresh cups of tea in there…
MINA: I’d mix boba in both and take one cup…
JO: And I’d take the other cup…
MINA: And lo and behold, the perfect bubble tea…
JO: Just, like, so much better, together…
REPORTER: Whoa. So, not only are Jo and Mina “mixers,” they’ve been mixing since they were kids? And they’re mixing now as the owners? Sharing trade secrets with each other about tea and tapioca?
JO/MINA: We’re mixers, always have been, always will be.
REPORTER: My god, this scoop is HUGE. And yet, my journalism spidey senses tell me I’m still missing something here, but what? But it’s 8 pm, closing time. And I reluctantly head home.
Sound of the bus arriving
REPORTER: Just as Muni arrives, I realize I don’t have my keys on me. I must have left them on the counter back at Bobaland.
Sound of footsteps running
REPORTER: The sign says “closed” and it doesn’t look like Mina’s in there, but I see someone in the back who looks a whole lot like Jo. That’s weird. The lights are on and the door still opens, so I let myself in.
Sound of the door opening and closing
Sound of door chime
REPORTER: Hello? Mina? Hey… sorry, the door was open! I’m just going to grab my keys, okay?
MINA: Honestly, babe? We killed it today.
JO: Hell yeah, we did.
MINA: I love you.
JO: I love you, too.
Sound of keys jangling
Sound of the door opening and closing
Sound of door chime
REPORTER: Whoops, I clearly wasn’t supposed to hear that, but oooh, that’s hella cute, Bobaland and Teascape are mixing, all right. I think it’s safe to say the great boba turf war is officially over, dunzo, kaput.
I’m waiting for the bus – the next one’s in ten minutes. I sit down on the bench, taking in everything in front of me. Friends and families celebrating the first time they’ve been able to drink bubble tea together in four years. Jesse’s former mahjong group welcoming him back with open arms. Leila’s ex-boyfriend, Nico, getting down on one knee holding a drink with a ring on the boba straw.
LEILA: YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!
Sound of crowd applauding and cheering
Sound of sipping and slurping boba
REPORTER: Neighbors are strolling on a warm Saturday night, with cups in hand from both Teascape and Bobaland, not a single loyalty card in sight, drinking the best damn bubble tea on this side of the Pacific Ocean.
Jesse’s sign stands in the corner, no longer a fantasy, but a dream realized. Peace, love, and boba, at long last.
— — —
Thank you to the cast for lending their voices to this work of audio fiction. In order of appearance, Rae Kim, Stafford Hemmer, Viviana Vivas, Charles Lighthouse, Jordan Karnes, Molly Blair Salyer, Angela Chu, Robin Yang, and Sophie Klimcak.
