Two chains opened in the same Carrollton shopping center between August and September, about seven weeks apart, and both treat their Carrollton store as a starting point. Molly Tea opened its first Dallas-Fort Worth shop at 2540 Old Denton Road on Aug. 10, 2026. In September, Bafang Dumpling opened its first Texas store in the same plaza. The chain is using that store to test a faster way of serving food than it uses in California.
Both companies plan more Texas locations. Molly Tea's franchisee has a Texas pipeline of more than 20 stores. Bafang's parent company is deciding whether the Carrollton format should change how its older stores work. The dumplings and jasmine milk tea on Old Denton Road are the first drafts. Plano, Frisco, Austin and possibly California get the later versions.
A Dumpling Counter Designed Around Speed
Bafang Yunji is Taiwan's largest potsticker chain, and until this year every U.S. store it had was in California. WhatNow reported in December 2025 that the brand was moving into a renovated 2,500-square-foot storefront at Carrollton Town Center. The listing for its Sept. 25 opening event put it in suite #112.
BigGo Finance reported that the opening event fell on Taiwan's Mid-Autumn Festival, with Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick and city council members there. The company's chairwoman, Lin Hsin-Yi, told investors on an earnings call that the store finished its soft-opening stress test in September.
The Carrollton store runs as an assembly line. In California, customers order items that are made to order and can wait about 20 minutes. Hoodline, citing BigGo Finance's account of that earnings call, reported that the Carrollton line served 100 to 120 customers an hour. Management is now considering switching some California stores to the Carrollton setup.
The menu was also redesigned for that speed. It uses simplified combo meals and an open kitchen where customers order from what they can see. Combos brought in nearly 70% of the store's revenue in its first three days of soft opening, according to the same reporting. The Carrollton menu includes:
- Potstickers and dumplings, plus newly added Korean-style fried dumplings
- Beef noodle soup and pork meatball soup
- Taiwanese sausage and fried pork cutlet
- Salads and soft drinks to round out a combo
Those Carrollton numbers are the ones Bafang's management brought to investors, and they are the basis for the California review.
The Milk Tea Shop Is the First Step in a Statewide Plan
Molly Tea opened a few doors down at suite #122. The brand started in Shenzhen in 2021, began expanding abroad in 2024, and now has more than 2,000 stores worldwide, according to The Dallas Morning News. Texas Is Life counted more than 25 U.S. stores. It said Carrollton is the brand's second Texas location, after a Houston store that opened earlier this year.
"Its floral aroma tea is very well-known in China and very special," Hui Chen, the store's owner and franchisee, told The Dallas Morning News in Chinese. "We hoped to bring it to the D-FW area." Chen has lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for more than 10 years, and the Carrollton shop is where his Texas plan begins.
| Stage | Location | Timing Chen gave The Dallas Morning News |
|---|---|---|
| First North Texas store | 2540 Old Denton Road #122, Carrollton | Opened Aug. 10, 2026 |
| Next Texas store | Austin | Around late November or early December 2026 |
| Back in Collin County | Plano and Frisco | Around spring 2027 |
| Longer term | Across Texas | More than 20 more stores over two years |
The opening menu set the standard. The shop launched with six signature drinks, ranging from a $6.99 Premium Jasmine Milk Tea to the $7.99 Snowy Jasmine, which comes with jasmine whipped cream and pecan. Most 16-ounce drinks cost $6.99 to $7.99, and the shop planned to add limited-edition drinks each month. The roughly 1,600-square-foot space is decorated in pink and light wood and has cushioned indoor seating, which makes it more of a place to sit than a pickup window. It stays open until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Why Both Started in the Same Plaza
Molly Tea's franchisee already had a foothold in the plaza. Chen also owns TESO Life, a department store in the same plaza as his Molly Tea. A franchisee who already operates a large store in the center has an easier place to try out a new brand than a vacant lot in a newer suburb.
Bafang described its choice in terms of the region. As reported by BigGo Finance, the company cited sustained population growth, the established network of Taiwanese technology companies in the area, and the steady flow of travelers through DFW International Airport. The company's planning also extends north: WhatNow reported that a second Dallas-area Bafang storefront was in development in Frisco when the Carrollton store was announced.
Both brands are heading toward Collin County, and both chose to start in Carrollton. Whatever Carrollton customers make popular on the combo board or the jasmine menu is likely to show up in those later stores.
Being First Does Not Mean Staying
Not every brand that debuts in Carrollton stays. Harumama Noodles + Buns, a San Diego restaurant known for steamed buns, came to North Texas in 2024 because of the region's reputation for loving food, The Dallas Morning News reported. It closed its store at 1060 W. Frankford Road, Suite 200, in late June 2026 and did not give a reason.
On Old Denton Road, CHICHA San Chen is the earlier example. The Taiwanese tea brand opened in Carrollton in January 2025, and Dallas Observer called it the chain's second Texas opening. The Dallas Morning News named it in its Molly Tea coverage as part of the North Texas milk tea boom, along with ChaHalo in Plano and Feng Cha, a brand that started in Richardson in 2017. According to IBISWorld figures cited in the same article, the milk tea industry is expected to reach $2.9 billion by 2029. That kind of growth draws brands to busy corridors and also raises the bar for staying open in one.
Old Denton Road's two newest arrivals opened on a stretch where a Taiwanese tea brand made its own Texas debut in early 2025.
One Afternoon on Old Denton Road
All of these addresses are on Old Denton Road or in the same center, close enough to visit in one afternoon:
- CHICHA San Chen, 2225 Old Denton Road #130, for Taiwanese tea.
- Bafang Dumpling, 2540 Old Denton Road #112, for a potsticker combo from the assembly-line counter.
- Molly Tea, 2540 Old Denton Road #122, in the same center, for a jasmine milk tea with somewhere to sit.
- TESO Life, in the same plaza, the department store owned by Molly Tea's franchisee.
- H Mart Carrollton, 2625 Old Denton Road #200, for groceries on the way home.
If you want a reason to stay in Carrollton later in the year, the city's Santa on the Square runs Saturday, Dec. 5, from 4 to 8 p.m. in Historic Downtown Carrollton. The tree lighting is at 6 p.m., and the event includes live reindeer, crafts, and food and craft vendors.
TLC Realty TX keeps track of openings like these across Carrollton and Collin County. If you would like to talk about how the new arrivals on Old Denton Road fit into your own plans, Request a Personalized Consultation with our team.
