Tucked away under Duquesne’s towering Brottier Hall, sits the university’s sweetest secret.

Yo! Brew — a new bubble tea and dessert shop — soft opened at the end of August.

Yoni Lin, one of the store’s owners, is planning a grand opening for late September. She said the celebration will include giveaways and events outside the store, while also debuting new drink and dessert items.

Yo! Brew is Lin’s second boba shop and third restaurant in Pittsburgh. She and her husband immigrated from South China and have brought many flavors from their home to the area.

The couple opened Yotea & Yoka Kitchen in North Oakland in late 2022 and YoYo Panda in Allison Park in 2025.

Yo! Brew has more than 93 drinks available on their menu, including 12 coffee options, 12 milk tea varieties, 11 matcha drinks, 18 smoothie flavors and more. The shop also carries over a dozen dessert items and offers savory bites like steamed buns and dumplings.

To order, students can use one of the kiosks located near the entrance of the store or download the Yo! Brew app. The shop does not take campus Flex dollars, but they do take tap-to-pay.

Junior Ella Aaron came into the shop when it first opened and said she has been back at least five or six times since.

Aaron said she appreciates the menu, but the items not being included in the university’s meal plan has hindered her from making more purchases.

“I really like the food and the drinks, I like the variety,” she said. “They don’t use Flex, so I don’t probably come as often as I would if it was off my meal plan.”

Despite the extensive menu, Lin has a favorite item. She recommends the fresh taro and matcha bliss for first-time visitors.

While she said the store has not been particularly busy because of the soft opening, she believed the taro items will be very popular.

Taro is a purple root vegetable originally from Asia with a texture similar to a sweet potato.

Yo! Brew has six menu items featuring taro, with a subtle nutty taste, Lin said.

“We use fresh taro and housemade ingredients here, so after we steam the milk, we mash it all up like a potato paste,” she said.

In addition to fresh taro, the shop uses fresh ingredients sourced from across the Pittsburgh area. The coffee used in their drinks is Der Fer coffee from a local shop.

Students can taste the difference.

Senior Haylee Myers said that while some of the drinks are a little pricey, she believes the cost is worth it for the quality.

Myers said her favorite menu item is the strawberry matcha with lychee jelly.
 

“I really like it because they make their stuff using real fruit instead of strawberry-flavored syrup,” Myers said. “My friend got the strawberry milk tea before, and it tasted like actual tea with strawberries instead of the powdered stuff that a lot of places use.”
 

As an environmental studies major, Myers also noticed Yo! Brew’s signage promotes sustainability.
 

“It bothers me to use a lot of single-use plastic,” Myers said. “Sometimes they give you a reusable cup, so in the future, I’ll ask if they can reuse mine.”
 

Lin said another popular menu item is the torched cake foam boba milk tea, which combines neutral milk tea flavors with chunks of sweet cake. The drink contains chewy tapioca boba pearls and is fin
ished with a bruleed sugar topping.
 

Yo! Brew has a large seating area with two floors, making it a place where students can both eat and study.
 

The shop is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the owners plan to post updates on their Instagram @yobrew.du with more information about the grand opening later this month.

Natalie Rodriguez can be reached at rodriguezn2@duq.edu