DragonFly Tea Zone coming to midtown with bubble tea, smoothies and crepes

Duc “Doug” Phung is set to open his fourth DragonFly Tea Zone, this one on 39th Street’s restaurant row.

Phung was working as an IT consultant, traveling the country. But he would take breaks at tea shops and make note of the ones he liked the best. Then he decided to bring the concept to Kansas City, incorporating some of the best ideas from other shops and some of his own.

His plans also called for a slow and steady expansion. Pick the right locations, then build a loyal clientele who would spread the word to other areas of town.

He first set up a City Market concession stand in 2005, selling smoothies and bubble teas. Three years later, he opened a storefront there and later rebranded it DragonFly Tea Zone, selling loose leaf teas, fresh juice smoothies, tea lattes, dessert crepes, ice cream and teaware.

In 2015 he opened a shop in the Northland’s Creekwood Commons and a year later opened in the food court of Independence Center in Independence.

Now Phung is taking the former Anna’s Oven spot at 1809 W. 39th St.

After a remodeling, the new location is scheduled to open in mid-April.

Bubble tea flavors include chocolate milk, lychee, passion fruit and papaya milk.

Other menu items include Honeybush Hazelnut tea lattes, fresh cherry lemonade, banana splits, and strawberry crepes.

This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 12:02 PM.