Boba / Juice / Smoothie Conversion Inspection Manual

WHERE THIS CUISINE QUIETLY COSTS YOU MONEY

Boba / Juice / Smoothie-specific conversion gotchas

• 01 · Tapioca starch + drain jetting

  Cooked tapioca pearls bleed starch into floor drains, where it can harden in the pipe. Ask the city whether it wants a solids interceptor ahead of the floor sinks at the boba bar, and budget regular hydro-jet service (typically $300–$500 per visit).

• 02 · Ice-maker capacity + drain

  A boba shop can burn 200–400 lbs of ice a day, and many retail tenants left a residential-grade machine. Size a commercial ice machine and bin to your peak use, drain it to an indirect-waste receptor, and give it the dedicated circuit and water supply its spec sheet calls for, at the right wall.

• 03 · Sealer-machine + cup logistics

  Heat-seal cup machines are the choke point of a boba line. They need a 120V dedicated circuit, 18" of counter space, and 4–6 cases of cups stored within arm's reach. Floor plans that put the sealer behind the cashier line slow the line at peak. The sealer goes next to the build station, not at the end.

• 04 · Fresh-fruit + cold-pressed juice prep

  Juice/smoothie menus need a produce-wash sink plus 6–10 ft of refrigerated prep table for cut fruit; the FDA Food Code allows produce in the 3-compartment warewashing sink only if that sink is cleaned and sanitized before and after (§4-501.16), and your health department may require a separate one. Bottling cold-pressed juice to sell packaged needs a HACCP plan for a 5-log reduction or an unpasteurized-juice warning label (Food Code §3-404.11), and selling to other businesses brings in FDA's juice HACCP rule (21 CFR 120).

• 05 · Customer queue + Instagram backdrop

  Boba shops live or die on social posts. The wall behind the pickup counter becomes a backdrop — needs even, color-accurate lighting (4000K, CRI 90+) and 6' of clear visual space, not a stack of milk cartons. Treat the pickup wall as a marketing surface, not a service back-of-house, from the very first floor plan sketch.