Mochinut donut, boba and Korean hot dog chain opening 2 stores in Reno

Fans of mochi donuts, boba and Korean hot dogs can have their cake, er, donut and eat it too as the Mochinut franchise is coming to Reno.

Mochinut is opening not one but two stores in Reno, bringing the chain’s mix of sweet and savory treats to the Biggest Little City.

Jeff Wang first thought about bringing a Mochinut store to Reno two years ago. Wang, who is originally from the Bay Area, saw Reno’s growth and believed the market was perfect for a shop.

“I moved to Reno in 2016 and the market just kept growing, and there’s a lot of development happening,” Wang said.

“(Mochinut has) so many locations in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, so I thought Reno was an untapped market.”

What is a mochi donut?

A mochi donut is a hybrid donut that is typically made with a mix of regular flour plus either glutinous rice flour or tapioca flour.

The result is a donut with a stretchy, chewy texture that is unlike the usual yeast or cake donuts.

The mochi donut’s origins can be traced back to Hawaii, where it first popped up in the 1990s, eventually gaining mass appeal after popular Japanese chain Mister Donut introduced its Pon de Ring donut in the early 2000s.

Mochinut itself was founded by Jaewook Ha in California in 2020 and has since grown its number of stores to about 150 locations.

What else is on the Mochinut menu besides donuts?

In addition to mochi donuts, Mochinut also serves a variety of items that tend to be popular with the Gen Z crowd.

One is boba milk tea, which Mochinut offers in several flavors such as brown sugar, ube and matcha.

Another popular item at Mochinut is its Korean-style corn dogs, which come in an assortment of crunchy coatings such as deep-fried potato cubes, crispy ramen noodles, cereal and even Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

One Mochinut item that will not be part of the menu in its Reno stores is soft-serve ice cream.

“I don’t think we’ll be doing soft serve in Reno because of the (winter) weather,” Wang said. “So we’re focusing on the boba teas, the Korean hotdogs and, of course, the mochi donuts.”

Wang, however, plans to add coconut jelly desserts, which are popping up as the new popular dessert item in the Bay Area thanks to places such as Melo Melo.

Mochinut locations in Reno

Mochinut has agreements for two locations in the area:

• 5150 Mae Anne Ave., Suite 213, Reno
• 13981 S. Virginia St., Reno

The Mae Anne Avenue spot is the former location of Wow Wow Lemonade, whose lease will be taken over by Mochinut. The northwest Reno Mochinut was originally planned to open in August but has been pushed back to September, according to Wang.

The South Virginia Street store will be located inside the Summit Reno mall. The spot is currently occupied by Starbucks, which will be moving to a larger location in the Summit mall later this year around November.

Barring any delays with Starbucks’ move, Wang is eyeing a May 2025 opening date for Mochinut’s Summit mall location.

Starting new restaurants post-pandemic

Asked about the challenges of running restaurants in a post-pandemic world, Wang feels that things have come back to normal for the most part.

Wang is also quite familiar with the restaurant business.

“I’ve owned a business before and my parents owned a restaurant so it’s kind of in the family,” Wang said.

Wang added that starting a Mochinut franchise is also a bit self-serving.

“I really like mochi donuts,” Wang said with a laugh.

“Worst case scenario, I can just keep eating the donuts. I don’t want to keep coming back to the Bay Area for them.”

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Mochinut donut, boba and Korean hot dog chain opening 2 stores in Reno