Say Tea & Smile has opened in the iconic, triangular structure in Pinecrest that was once a Dairy Queen for more than 30 years.
By Grant Albert
April 23, 2024
Say Tea & Smile has moved into the iconic triangular structure that once housed a Dairy Queen for nearly 70 years.Photo by Natalia
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A man approached the window of Say Tea & Smile, where the mighty Dairy Queen on 8545 S. Dixie Highway once stood. From what it sounds like, he was asking for a Blizzard or some ice cream contraption. The barista had to tell him that they do not serve Blizzards, but instead, boba tea — lots of boba tea.
Indeed, the oldest Dairy Queen in Miami (ostensibly built in 1954 and opened as afranchised DQ in 1989) closed roughly a year ago in February 2023. True Miamians all have gut-punching nostalgia of visiting that acute, two-story, triangular, club sandwich-like “restaurant,” ordering soft serve ice cream, and eating it in the car that was parked on a 45-degree-slanted parking space with parents or friends. It was the last DQ to accept only cash, and its manager hand-wrote each bill on a piece of paper.(Also, the rumor I heard my entire life was that the owner and his family all lived in that narrow second floor of the building).
click to enlarge
The old Dairy Queen in 2010 on South Dixie Highway served families and residents for generations.
Photo by Paul W., Yelp Elite
Yet, gone are those days of the 1990s-looking walk-up ice cream shop.
Say Tea & Smile has moved into the space to offer plenty to satisfy your sweet tooth with one hundred homemade boba teas, specialty coffees, savory and sweet pastries, and even some ice cream to pay homage to that ancient plot. “I know this building was here before everything else,” Say Tea & Smile owner Natalia tells New Times. “This building is important to the city and locals who came here with their parents and grandparents. It’s huge to be here.”
The South Dixie Highway location opened about two months ago in February 2024 and is the third Say Tea & Smile shop in Miami, with its original location in Coral Gables (86 Miracle Mile) and Kendall (4001 SW 152nd Ave.). “I was so interested seeing what you can do with boba tea,” says Natalia. “You have millions of options. I got passionate about it and decided to investigate.”
Natalia, her husbandAgustín, and her children moved to Miami from Argentina after the initial lockdown during the pandemic, looking for a new start and to spend more time with her brother, who lives in Miami. While she owned clothing boutiques for twenty years in Argentina, a fortuitous call from her husbandAgustín changed her trajectory.
“The first time I heard about boba, my husbandAgustín was in Miami looking to open a new business. He walked by a boba shop and called me, saying ‘Nati, there are people just buying tea.”
But Argentina is a coffee country. Natalia mentioned that no one in the country drinks tea — let alone sugary milk tea from Taiwan with chewy tapioca pearls at the bottom. “There were no boba shops in Argentina until 2020,” she says.
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Say Tea & Smile's numerous boba options are all made from scratch.
Photo by Natalia
She could not shake the concept of people grabbing a milk tea. Indeed, she has never been to Asia and tries to refrain from sugar as much as possible. Natalia knew, however, that she did not want to continue clothing stores when moving to Miami. Why not start making homemade tapioca pearls?While some of us took up baking and painting during the lockdown, Natalia scoured the web to learn about boba during Argentina’s eight months of lockdown.
Aside from making everything from scratch and creating the voluminous menu, Natalia noticed one thing that needed to be added: Unlike cafes, where one can sit and enjoy their coffee, boba tea is mostly grab-and-go. She opened the first Say Tea & Smile in Coral Gables in October 2021 to make the restaurant inviting, where patrons can sit down and chat or study while they munch on the boba.
“I wondered why none of the shops had aesthetics. We thought about doing something floral and pink that makes people want to stay.” The shops are decorated in an art nouveau fashion.
Flowers adorn the outside, and floral wallpaper contrasts the heavy machinery needed to make boba. Those famous DQ benches are still there, but now painted pink. Two patrons were chatting and enjoying their ube tea (a lavender-colored beverage bespectacled by black boba) even witha noisy U.S.1 just a few feet away.
click to enlarge
Say Tea & Smile shops are decorated in an art nouveau fashion, filled with pastel colors.
Photo by Grant Albert
Some menu favorites include the classic black sugar milk tea ($8.25), a taro cream tea with dalgona (a whipped coffee cream made popular in the Netflix series Squid Games) ($8.45), lychee fruity tea ($7.45), an ube butterfly latte ($8.25), and a rose boba smoothie ($7.95). The drinks are 24 ounces and can be customized for sweetness, and even something as innocuous as an iced latte can be boba-fide if requested.
“As I studied making boba in the apartment, whatever I learned was an idea to make something," explains Natalia. "It wasn’t done in one day. It’s not simple making boba. You need eight different machines like a fructose machine, sealing machine, and blenders.”
Nataliaexplains that this location is the first with a bonafide “specialty coffee” menu — South American coffee beans ground fresh and measuredprecisely for a perfect taste.
Natalia mentions that there will be a new Say Tea & Smile inside Dadeland Mall and the Palms within the next couple of months. The boba shop has been a trailblazer in a short time; while it respects the former DQ’s legacy, Natalia believes it is ready to be the next heir to the cone. “Our main idea is not to sell only the best boba but invite people to stay with us and enjoy their drink.”
Say Tea & Smile.8545 S. Dixie Hwy., Pinecrest;786-963-8073; instagram.com/sayteasmile. Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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