SONO Kitchen & Boba, a fast-casual eatery serving boba drinks and authentic Taiwanese/Japanese street food, is opening a new location in SanTan Village at 2224 E Williams Field Rd, Suite 108.
The company’s third location, first noticed by EastValleyNow, is set to replace Haiku Tokyo in the SanTan Village shopping center. Owner Chuan Lu tells What Now Phoenix that the company, also co-owned by Frank Yang and Jerry Tseng, hopes to open this location in January 2025. This SONO Kitchen & Boba location will be near Chipotle and Kona Grill, offering authentic Taiwanese food in bento box style, finger food, and various Boba options.
This is a massive accomplishment for Lu and Tseng, who opened the restaurant Sedona in 2020 before expanding to Flagstaff a few years later. SONO Kitchen & Boba combines Japanese and Taiwanese flavors to offer an authentic experience not often found in the United States. When this location opens, customers can expect salt & pepper popcorn chicken, various tea options, including matcha milk and fruit teas, and other hard entrees, such as bento boxes and rice/noodle bowls. Although these are the menu staples, Lu tells What Now Diego customers can expect minor changes with the new location.
“The menu will be slightly different,” Lu tells What Now Phoenix. “We are improving ourselves each time to be better, especially in different types of markets. Going from Sedona to Flagstaff and to Gilbert, each one is a challenge for us. We can’t assume our menu is going to work in all different markets at this early stage of our brand, so we listen to what customers say, what our data shows us, and what we learn in different markets.”
Correction: A previous version of this article mentioned that the restaurant would replace Clean Juice when it will actually replace Haiku Tokyo.
