NEW YORK — The scarlet facade is hard to miss. Months after surpassing McDonald’s as the biggest food chain in the world, Mixue arrived in the United States in December, with one of three locations landing between the drab exteriors and grubby sidewalks of Manhattan’s Herald Square.
The timing was inopportune. When this reporter visited Mixue (pronounced ME-shway) for the first time, New York was trapped in amber, with subzero temperatures forcing many residents to stay home and wait out the cold. We were all thawing out. Who could possibly want soft-serve, milk tea and lemonade in weather like this?
