S’Blendid To Open Bay View Cafe This Fall

Site of future S’Blendid Boba Tea, 2229 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Photo taken June 20, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.

Last summer, Malee Thao was in the earliest stages of launching S’Blendid Boba Tea — popping up at Milwaukee area farmers markets and preparing to open as a debut vendor at North Avenue Market.

After a fast-paced first year, Thao is gearing up to open the first standalone location for the business. And though the journey has been far from easy, there are blue skies ahead for the growing cafe.

S’Blendid is planning to launch its new Bay View cafe this fall at 2229 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The sky blue building, dotted with puffy white clouds, was most recently home to a hair salon, but has been empty for the better part of four years. A coffee shop was proposed for the space in 2021 but never opened.

In the coming months, the building will get a fresh coat of cream paint to reflect Thao’s minimalistic vision for the cafe.

“The concept is going to be very inviting,” she said, noting that the color scheme and decor will help to “open up” the cozy, 1,000-square-foot space.

A variety of seating options will accomodate guests who wish to lounge and chat with friends, work on a laptop or even observe the “bobaristas” as they craft drinks, Thao added.

The new cafe will also come with an expanded menu. “During this downtime that we’ve had since we departed from the North Avenue Market, we didn’t really waste any time in trialing new drink items,” Thao said.

Along with old favorites including brown sugar boba, matcha and fruit-based teas, guests can expect new additions including Vietnamese coffee and oolong tea that’s been cold-steeped for more than 16 hours.

As the cafe settles into its new location, Thao said she plans to roll out a number of food and dessert options; however, the fan-favorite Korean fried chicken sandwich will not be among the offerings.

“It was actually a really hard decision,” she said. “I feel so heartbroken because I know that was one of the major components to our concept.”

S’Blendid most recently operated at North Avenue Market, 5900 W. North Ave., where it opened in September, 2022 as one of the food hall’s debut vendors. The cafe left its vendor stall in January in search of a larger space.

Following its exit from the food hall, S’Blendid maintained a community presence via pop-ups at local restaurants including Riley’s Social House and The Bread Pedalers, a West Allis bakery. The cafe also made an appearance as a vendor at Milwaukee’s first dumpling fest.

Thao initially hoped to open the cafe in or near Wauwatosa in order to further connect with her customer base there, but said she had a difficult time securing a storefront. Instead, she opted for Bay View. In addition to living nearby the neighborhood, Thao said she “wanted to add to the neighborhood,” which doesn’t yet have a dedicated boba cafe.

S’Blendid is slated to open in early fall. Until then, customers can stay up-to-date by checking the S’Blendid Facebook page.

The S. Kinnickinnic Avenue building is owned by Alyssa Moore. Moore, who is associated with 17th Ward Properties LLC, owns seven additional Bay View properties.