Boba restaurant closing downtown Lewiston location

LEWISTON — Another downtown anchor business is closing and leaving Lewiston. The owners of boba restaurant, Zach Pratt and Keshia Thanephonesy, announced on social media Tuesday that they are closing boba at the end of the week.

The announcement is sudden, but was suspected for weeks.

Cowbell Grill & Tap closed its doors in March after five years in business on Lisbon Street, and last month Michael Dostie, owner of J. Dostie Jewelers, announced he will close the landmark Lisbon Street business in February and move to Yarmouth.

“After careful consideration of the economic landscape affecting downtown businesses, including the impact of hybrid working arrangements, increased commission fees from third-party delivery services such as DoorDash, and our own escalating operating costs, we have regrettably come to the conclusion that we can no longer sustain our operations within this community,” boba’s owners wrote on their social media page.

They declined a request for an interview with the Sun Journal.

Boba restaurant on Lisbon Street announced it will permanently close its Lewiston location at the end of this week. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Boba has two other locations in Old Orchard Beach and in the Maine Mall, which will remain open at least for the immediate future. In the announcement of the closure, the owners said customers holding boba gift cards will still be able to redeem them at the other locations.

The couple opened boba when he was 23 and she was 21, commenting they had little to lose by signing a lease for a five-seat restaurant inside a Lisbon Street gas station in April 2015. In less than a year, they went from explaining what pho and bubble tea were to searching for a new, bigger location.

They did a series of “pop-up” appearances at Marche and Rails then moved on to Jami K’s Variety on Scribner Boulevard before making the final move to 97 Lisbon St., in April 2019.

For many restaurants, the business model changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and boba was no exception, with an increasing percentage of business coming from delivery and pick-up as opposed to dine-in.

“We have reached a point where we are unable to increase our prices to meet the demands of the market and cover our operational needs without compromising the affordability or product offerings that our community has come to expect from us,” boba’s post explained.

According to the owner’s post, boba will close Saturday.