Soft lighting, low music, a sleek design, and ingredients specially imported from Taiwan set Ten Ren’s Tea Time Inc. apart from other Chinese restaurants on U.S. Route 1.
When visitors walked through the door, servers greeted them with lightly worn menus featuring almost 70 types of tea, an assortment of smoothies, and authentic Taiwanese dishes.
“What makes us different from other places is we import ingredients from our factories in Taiwan,” said waitress Jacqueline Tseng.
Ten Ren’s is part of Ten Ren Tea & Ginseng Company, Inc., an international tea company founded in Taiwan in 1953 that has grown into the largest tea company on the island. The company also has more than 60 shops in the U.S. and Canada.
According to its Web site, Ten Ren’s Tea strives to produce the finest possible tea products, present them in traditional Chinese style and use modern technology to process, package and ship its products.
Ten Ren’s set up its College Park branch in 2002, and since then, business has been good, according to manager Andrew Chen.
Inside Ten Ren’s are flat-screen TV’s tuned to CNN and bookshelves lined with anime comics.
While the store does not host events, employees occasionally allow customers to decorate small areas for birthday parties and bridal showers, according to Tseng.
Among other drinks, Ten Ren’s serves bubble tea, a sweet drink that originated in Taiwan and spread to the U.S.
At Ten Ren’s, small, dried balls of tapioca starch covered with caramel and maple syrup are cooked for a half-hour in boiling water. Then the soft, chewy balls sit for an hour before being submerged in sugar syrup.
“We brew tea every morning and keep brewing throughout the day to keep it fresh,” said Tseng.
The most popular flavors are mango green tea, citron tea, and taro, said Chen, who has been working at the shop for almost five years.
The Ten Ren’s menu also features a variety of dishes served in traditional Taiwanese style.
Tseng said her favorite appetizer is the chicken nuggets, which are made in the same way Taiwanese street vendors make them.
“I like it because it’s authentic,” said Tseng.
“We have pretty good business compared to other bubble tea shops,” she said. “Yami Yami would be one of our biggest competitors, but they have less seating space.”
The store’s location on U.S. Route 1 attracts many customers, according to Tseng, who has worked at Ten Ren’s for two years.
“We do have a few regulars, but we have a wide diversity of customers,” Chen said. “We get really busy Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which are the days we stay open longest.”
The shop is open Monday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m., and on Sunday from 12 to 10 p.m.
Customers who want to take the tea experience home can also purchase whole-leaf tea by the pound as well as tea kettles and porcelain cups, which are on display in the store.