World Boba and Coffee is a locally owned cafe in the Borderland. El Pasoan brothers, Ruben and David Ramos, started their business with the hope of bringing the world in a cup to the Sun City. The shop opened in July of 2022 and has continued its creative and innovative ideas with the goal to cement itself as a staple in El Paso for almost three years.
The original idea for the store came from the brother’s time spent in California. Following the Covid-19 pandemic the Ramos Brothers decided it was time to come back home, and instead of simply applying for jobs, the words “I have an idea” came to them.
Ruben Ramos expressed how the idea for World Boba and Coffee originated from wanting to fuel the boba craze in El Paso.
“The boba industry is growing leaps and bounds in the United States and in the world,” Ruben said. “We figured since El Paso seems to get things a little bit later, we figured maybe we get in before the big boba craze hits El Paso.”
But the brothers didn’t want just another boba store, they wished for more innovation to pair with the business.
The recipes for each and every drink have been created by the owners and employees, ensuring their cafe has boba and coffee that El Pasoans can’t find anywhere else.
“Because we’re named World Boba we’re not tied down, we can pick flavors from around the world and incorporate them into our food or drinks,” Ruben said.
This wasn’t good enough for the Ramos brothers though, so they chose to take it a step further.
David Ramos explained how their recipes are reviewed by their customers as well.
“We specialize in world recipes, so we’ll have an authentic Vietnamese coffee with an authentic recipe,” David said. “We have a Cuban coffee, and we’ve had customers either from Florida and or family members from Cuba, and we’ve always gotten the thumbs up.”
For World Boba and Coffee all new recipes that are created are done with the incorporation of customer input and are not approved until at least five customers have enjoyed the drink.
But drinks and a great hangout space do not define World Boba and Coffee. The business has also acted as a venue hosting bands, artists and other fun events for everyone in El Paso to enjoy.
“One of our big things is to be just diverse and open to everyone,” David said.
The cafe stands right next to the University of Texas at El Paso. The Ramos brothers do everything they can to support students from the campus. Whether it’s attending events such as sports outings, or even the recital of a usual customer, the brothers bring support wherever they go.
The brothers who created the business love their hometown and the borderland. They created their business with the hope of bringing authentic recipes and unique experiences to everyone in El Paso, and it all starts by serving the world in a cup.
Joseph Montero is a staff reporter for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected].
