Vida Boba Cafe Opens On Layton Avenue

Vida Boba, an Illinois-based cafe chain, recently opened its first Wisconsin location at 812 W. Layton Ave., debuting its photo-friendly menu of tea lattes, refreshers and smoothies on the city’s far South Side.

Obada Samad and Asaad Jaber are the franchisees for the new cafe, which began its soft opening phase in early April. The pair also own the neighboring business, Nara Smoke Shop.

Vida Boba offers a wide variety of more than 60 blended and tea-based beverages including blueberry, grapefruit and lemon tea refreshers, green tea lattes, fruit smoothies, Red Bull sparklers and blended drinks in flavors like bubblegum, purple taro and sour raspberry. Guests can customize their orders by choosing whole milk or oat milk, as well as the sweetness level for each drink.

Though Vida Boba serves mostly caffeinated drinks, guests won’t find the cafe open during daylight hours. Instead, the soft openings take place daily from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

That might sound unusual to some, but it makes perfect sense for those participating in Ramadan — the late-night hours have made the cafe a go-to spot for the Muslim community to enjoy an energizing drink and find fellowship during the holy month.

The cafe plans to host a grand opening in early May, at which point it will implement regular hours and expand its menu with the addition of macaron cookies.

Vida Boba founder Nigma Musleh launched the first location for the cafe, located in Bridgeview, Illinois, in June 2022. Milwaukee will be the second location for the new but growing chain, which also has an upcoming cafe planned for Tinley Park, Illinois.

Milwaukee’s Vida Boba opened within a strip mall-style building, replacing Royal’s Smoothies & Pastries, which opened in April 2022 and operated for just under a year in the space. Other tenants in the building include Excel Dental, Paradise Roastery, Mila Boutique and Nicholas Financial.

Vida Boba will be open from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily for the remainder of April. Following its early May grand opening, the cafe is expected to operate from noon to midnight daily.

More information and updates will be posted to the business’s social media.

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