Ankeny and Waukee are getting new bubble tea shops

Zenko Tea , a locally-owned bubble tea business , is more than doubling its regional presence with three new locations across the Des Moines metro.

The latest: The shop took over the former Gossip Tea Coffee locations in Waukee and Ankeny last month.

• It also plans on opening an unspecified Ingersoll location next spring.

How it started: Back in 2021, Phuong Thai and her husband, Chau Vu, opened their first bubble tea shop by Merle Hay Mall.

• Despite challenges from the pandemic, the couple found success and opened a second store in West Des Moines near Jordan Creek Town Center in 2023.

State of play: In just four years they'll have five locations after the Ingersoll shop opens.

The menu: Zenko serves a wide selection of milk teas, juices and smoothies with topping choices like traditional boba, as well as jellies, caramel flan, cheese foam and tiramisu foam.

• They also serve Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa dá ), as well as cute, homemade macarons from Rosechu .

Linh's thought bubble: If you want to try bubble tea for the first time, my favorite is wintermelon milk tea!

If you go: 11am-8pm every day; 1482 SE University Ave. in Waukee and 1510 S. Ankeny Blvd., #101, Ankeny.