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New York has never been short on dining flexes, but this one’s a record-breaker: The world’s biggest fast-food chain is about to plant its first American flag right in Tribeca. And no, it’s not McDonald’s, Starbucks or even Subway—it’s Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, the Chinese juggernaut with more than 45,000 outlets worldwide.
The brand—full name Mixue Bingcheng, which translates to the delightfully frosty “Honey Snow Ice City”—has quietly built an empire across Asia with a menu of budget-friendly ice creams, bubble teas, and fruity concoctions, often under $1. Think creamy mango boba, jasmine tea studded with oats and coconut jelly milk tea. The formula has been wildly successful: About 40,000 of those locations are in China, with thousands more spread across Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. In some places, there’s even a running joke that every empty storefront will inevitably turn into a Mixue.
Now, the chain is betting big on New York. The new shop at 266 Canal Street spans 2,100 square feet on the ground floor and comes with a 10-year lease. (Asking rent: a very Manhattan $165 per square foot, reports Commercial Observer.) Augenbaum Realty repped the landlord, while CBRE helped ink the deal for Mixue.
If you haven’t heard of Mixue until now, you’re not alone. Founded in 1997 by then-college student Zhang Hongchao as a shaved ice stall in Zhengzhou, the company has scaled at breakneck speed, fueled almost entirely by franchising. His brother, Zhang Hongfu, joined a decade later and the duo now sit on a combined fortune of $8.1 billion, per Bloomberg. Earlier this year, Mixue went public in Hong Kong, and in the first half of 2025 alone, it posted $376 million in net profit. The company was also named to the Time100 list of most influential companies.
The NYC outpost is Mixue’s very first American venture, and it lands at a moment when Chinese food and beverage brands are muscling into global markets long dominated by U.S. icons. Mixue overtook McDonald’s and Starbucks in store count last year and its low-cost model has been winning fans across Southeast Asia.
Will dollar ice creams and TikTok-ready cups of mango tea resonate in a city where $7 lattes are basically standard issue? New Yorkers are about to find out.