On Christmas Eve 2025, the Snow King came to town. Mixue — the world's largest restaurant chain with over 50,000 locations worldwide — introduced its first two New York locations with a parade of caped snowmen marching through K-town and Times Square.
The Chinese tea and ice cream franchise is making waves not for luxury, but for radical affordability: $1.19 soft serve and $2 lemonade in one of America's most expensive cities.
The Herald Square location on West 32nd Street is clearly the flagship, wrapping around a high-traffic corner where Mixue's theme song can be heard from every point. At 3 p.m. on a recent Friday, it was the only drink shop in the area with a line — an estimated 40 people waiting.
Mixue sits directly across from Tiger Sugar and within view of Heytea, but its value proposition is unmatched. While celebrities endorse $25 Erewhon smoothies, Mixue offers simple pleasures at prices that feel almost rebellious.
"In China, the average monthly income can buy 1,500 of these," says Mixue's head of business development for the Americas, holding up a fruit-loaded lemonade. "This is a product that everybody can have."
When asked if prices would eventually increase, the representative remained calm: "Our prices in China haven't changed in the past ten years. Do you remember what Starbucks or McDonald's cost ten years ago?"
The flagship's 2,000-square-foot space buzzes with efficiency. Staff yell numbers over chatter in English and Chinese. The peach oolong tea frequently sells out, and some items are perpetually unavailable due to demand.
A Downtown Brooklyn franchise is already in the works. For New Yorkers tired of luxury-priced boba, Mixue offers something increasingly rare: genuine affordability without pretension.