By Elena Kadvany
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I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
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Wanpo Tea Shop, a popular Taiwan-born bubble tea chain, is opening its first U.S. location at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto this fall.
Signs for Wanpo recently went up in the space between Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar and The Shade Store, on the Sand Hill Road side of the El Camino Real shopping center.
Wanpo will bring its Taiwanese boba tea to Stanford Shopping Center in October. Photo via Facebook.
The master franchisee for Wanpo Northern California gave a simple reason for bringing the tea shop stateside: "Because Wanpo it [sic is currently the most popular in Taiwan."
Wanpo founder Peter Chang first opened in Taichung, Taiwan, a military village at the time where he was born and raised, according to the Wanpo website.
The company has since expanded to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Australia, Indonesia and London. According to the website, a location is also planned for New York City.
The franchisee said Wanpo serves both "old-fashioned" and "innovative" bubble tea. The menu in Taiwan includes a variety of teas, from black tea and oolong to lemon winter melon.
Wanpo is slated to open in Palo Alto in October.
