When CaffeiN owner Tracy Huang first visited Plano nearly a decade ago, she wasn’t looking for a place to open a business. She was looking for a place to raise her children.
The California restaurateur says the Collin County community has something her SoCal neighborhood didn’t: neighbors who know one another, families spending time together outdoors and a welcoming atmosphere.
She aims to foster that same sense of community at CaffeiN, a Malaysian and Taiwanese cafe that opened in Plano late last year.
“I wanted a place where friends could sit and talk, where parents could bring their kids, where women could feel comfortable coming in at night and just enjoy a drink in a pretty environment,” Huang says.
Huang entered the boba tea industry after studying hospitality management in college. She opened her first business in 2013, eventually opening more than a dozen locations of various restaurants. She later had a CaffeiN franchise location in Plano, which ended up closing until she moved her family to Plano and tried again herself.
Though in a diverse city, Huang says CaffeiN was an opportunity to introduce flavors that aren’t commonly found in the area, like Malaysian street food. The late-night cafe serves Malaysian and Taiwanese specialty teas, coffee drinks, desserts and snacks.
One of the most popular items is the Ramly burger, marinated fried chicken wrapped in eggs with homemade Malaysian-style spicy sauce ($11.95). For drinks, the top-seller is a brown sugar pearl latte with brown sugar boba and fresh milk for $5.95-$6.95.
Traditional honey toasts are paired with sweet flavors, like the Boba Lava honey toast, which includes one scoop of vanilla ice cream with homemade lava sauce, hand-crafted brown sugar sauce and brown sugar boba ($9.75). Smoothies come in a variety of flavors, all using fresh fruit and made in-house, ranging from $5.50-$6.95. In the spirit of fusion, the crepe menu has several fruit and dessert options from $8.95-$11.95.
All of CaffeiN’s teas are brewed from tea leaves rather than powdered mixes, and most beverages can be customized to accommodate dietary and sweetness preferences.
Even the name itself is a nod to the beverage program.
“Tea has caffeine. Coffee has caffeine,” Huang says. “And, it’s a cafe… so that’s where CaffeiN comes from.”
Huang feels the community she sought is coming to fruition. Customers frequently stay long after they’ve finished their drinks, gathering around board games, catching up with friends or just relaxing.
“We have many regular customers,” Huang says. “A lot of them aren’t just customers anymore. They’ve become friends.”
CaffeiN, 101 W. Spring Creek Parkway, 214.501.4407, caffein-plano.square.site
