I Love Noods owner says bubble tea, ramen shop will be hangout spot. When does it open?
Jenny Lin didn't know what it might sound like to English speakers. Honestly. Lin, the owner of what will be a bubble tea shop, TsaoCha, and noodle place called I Love Noods, said it was never meant to sound even a little risque.
She's not changing it, though. The restaurant chain TsaoCha, is going into the former Molly Brannigan's, and it is Lin's baby. She's pouring herself into making it a hang-out spot with free Wifi, beverages and food such as authentic Vietnamese pho (a long-simmered soup) and Japanese ramen (noodles).
"You can get ramen anywhere," said Lin, 39. "But this is going to be the real thing."
"Starting with our noodle shop, we (will) pride ourselves on offering genuine Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho, dishes that stand out for their authenticity," she said. "Alongside these, we (plan to) have an exciting dim sum menu ranging from small to big platters, and even a special party tray perfect for family gatherings."
Lin is also part owner of Royal Chopstix, 3444 West Lake Road, which reopened a year ago after being closed for two years following a fire and the COVID pandemic. Lin's father started the family's first restaurant, Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant, which used to sit in the Kmart plaza at West 26th Street and Sterrettania Road.
More: Fire damages Royal Chopstix restaurant in Millcreek Township
"That's where I grew up," Lin said, adding that she joined her father here from Fujian, China, when she was 12 and started learning the business right away. Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant had been owned by her family for 32 years when Lin sold it in February.
"I remember one customer kiss my hand after dine in (and) told me that I was such hard worker," Lin said. "I was 13 years old."
That hasn't changed. Throughout her 30s, she started Royal Chopsticks and several other similarly named places around town, but has sold them all except for her piece of Royal Chopstix.
Making over former Molly Brannigan's
She said now her focus is I Love Noods, which is going into the former Molly Brannigan's at 506 State St. It will be a TsaoCha bubble tea shop in the front area, with dine-in and tables and the I Love Noods noodle shop behind.
It'll be a while before you can hang out there, though, she said, as they're still in the design phase and they're ordering equipment and furniture from China, which adds two months shipping to the build-out phase. She estimates that the store would open in five months, perhaps March.
As for the bubble tea shop, of which there are several in town now, she will serve the sweet tea laced with small chewy balls of tapioca or sweetened juice in countless combinations. She is joining a national chain of bubble tea shops called TsaoCha, which she said has 60 locations. Visit tsaocaatea.com for more details.
"Our menu caters to every palate with offerings such as brown sugar, milk swirl, fresh fruit teas, fruit and yogurt slushes, mojitos, and the ever-favorite fresh taro," Lin said.
"I travel to New York City and happened to meet franchise owner of TsaoCha bubble tea chain," she said. "In Erie there's no authentic food. I mean there's ramen everywhere, but authentic, very little."
The bubble tea is going to be different from other shops in town, she said.
"My (New York) friends told me the ingredients are totally different," Lin said. "The recipe is totally different."
Noods' name not Lin's choice
As for I Love Noods, she thinks the inadvertent double entendre will wear off. It might even help the business at first, she thinks. In any case, it's a chain's name that she doesn't plan to change.
"A lot of people make fun of it," she said. "I didn't know 'noods ...' I think there's a different meaning. A lot of people, younger crowds will think it's cool. I think it's cool, too. But it's not my choice."
I Love Noods is another new chain and she's getting in on the sixth floor.
"It has to be 10 locations for it to be franchise," she said. "This is number six in the nation."
Her goal is to open a place where students and others can hang out and feel comfortable and grab something to eat and drink while they're there.
"The whole purpose for me (is) creating business downtown," she said. "When I go out, I like to hang out with friends. Not at a restaurant where they want to change the tables quickly to make more money. This will be totally different."
She also wants to take advantage of a revitalized downtown Erie.
"There's so much going on downtown and so many people around, Gannon students, nurses, doctors, attorneys," she said. "We need a place where they want to hang out. They can stay as long as they want. You see that a lot in different cities. I kind of like it."
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Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com. Or at 814-870-1885.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: I Love Noods bringing ramen, bubble tea to Erie PA's State Street
