Auntea Jenny
A Shanghai-based tea chain with over 10,000 locations is now expanding within Orange County
When a chain boasts over 10,000 locations – most opened over the course of a dozen years – there’s typically either something very special going on inside, or a very aggressive collection of investors trying to make a statement. For the Shanghai-based chain Auntea Jenny, which now operates U.S. locations in New York and California, the answer appears to be the latter. Much like fellow Chinese brands Cotti Coffee and Luckin Coffee, which have become better known for their rapid expansion than anything particularly great about their drinks or food, Auntea Jenny doesn’t stand out much from countless other tea shops already established here; the first Orange County location in Irvine isn’t even all that different from the Gong Cha it replaced in Heritage Plaza. But it may appeal to some people anyway.
The single biggest differentiator we noticed with Auntea Jenny is branding: Across cups and walls, retro-themed art and photography feature imagery of a 1920s-styled woman, sometimes paired with a leopard, are meant to represent “grace, strength, and the unique power of oriental femininity;” employees wear old-fashioned caps and prepare drinks at art deco-inspired counters. Large “Love and Wink” signage – mostly translated from Chinese to English – promotes love, tolerance, and the value of travel in understanding oneself.
On the other hand, the business feels only as human as is minimally necessary by 2026 standards. There are no posted menus at the Irvine location; orders are taken either through one of several differently sized touchscreens or using a QR code from your phone. After that, drinks are mechanically assigned numbers, graduate from “in progress” to “ready” on a monitor, and are placed on the counter for pickup. In this location’s early days, guests reported waiting ridiculously long for drinks, but on our visit, there were only 20-some orders ahead of ours, and the wait was less than 10 minutes. (Another Auntea Jenny is planned for Buena Park with an expected opening date in 2026; if the pattern holds, it will have an early rush of interest, then lines will taper down within a month or so.)
Beyond the now very standard collection of fruit teas, regular teas, milk teas, and cocoa drinks, Auntea Jenny sells bottled “superfood” teas with fiber, vitamin C, multiple berries, and either chia seeds or boba; most drinks are in the $6 to $7 range, with some as low as $5 and others hitting $8, depending on regular or large sizes. Unlike Cotti and Luckin, aggressive discounts aren’t offered here beyond the promise of a $2 “welcome voucher” for signing up for membership, so there’s no huge reason to prefer Auntea Jenny to your favorite tea shop on price alone.
That said, you may find a few uncommon drinks here, such as red glutinous rice and black tea mixed with milk ($6.60), cocoa mixed with oat milk, mochi, and milk jellies ($8), or white peach and oolong tea mixed with milk and topped with whipped cream ($7). We went with a large grape crystal jasmine tea ($8.80) that combined green tea jelly, crystal boba, grapes, and jasmine green tea; with its recommended 70% sugar, and regular ice, it struck a really nice balance of fruit, tea, sweet, and lightly tart flavors, with tons of little jelly and boba pieces to keep the cup interesting. While not a standout locally, and fairly expensive, it was a solid drink.
We’re still deciding whether we’ll return to Auntea Jenny to sample more of the menu. If we do, we’ll update this article with additional photos and details.
Stats
Price: $
Service: Counter/Tablet
Open Since: 2013 (China), February 2026 (OC)
Address
14130 Culver Dr. Unit H-2
Irvine, CA 92604
949.771.4698
Instagram: @aunteajennyusa