At 8 a.m. on a weekday, there is one place in downtown Palo Alto to order a matcha latte with a shrimp sando, and it's on Lytton Avenue. At 10:15 on a Friday night, there is also one place, and it's on University Avenue. On weekdays, all three open shops overlap only between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Downtown's matcha and tea shops have each settled into a different part of the day. Rikyu is a daytime café. Molly Tea covers the afternoon and early evening. Maruwu Seicha stays open late. Two more shops have been announced for the area: Auntea Jenny, whose own locator still says "Coming Soon," and Bonbon Matcha, whose forecast opening window was early to mid-October. If you want a matcha here, check the time before you check the menu.
Before 10 a.m., the Map Is One Storefront on Lytton
Rikyu sits at 121 Lytton Avenue. Its posted hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Maruwu Seicha opens at 10 a.m. and Molly Tea at 11 a.m., so for the first two hours of a weekday Rikyu is the only matcha counter downtown.
The kitchen behind it explains why Rikyu is built around breakfast and lunch. Palo Alto Online reported in February that the café comes from Daiji Uehara, chef-owner of Hiroshi, an eight-seat omakase restaurant in downtown Los Altos. Hiroshi serves as Rikyu's central kitchen, and the café uses the same fish as the omakase restaurant. The same report said Rikyu took over the former TOMO Tea House space and was meant to be a more casual, more affordable "third place" built around matcha, sandos and chirashi.
The menu is short and pairs drinks with lunch. The café lists a matcha latte made with your choice of milk, a strawberry matcha with house-made strawberry sauce, and an ebi-katsu sando with house-made coleslaw, along with hojicha, chirashi and sweets.
Hours here have changed since the opening. The February preview described a much earlier daily schedule, but the café's website now lists the 8-to-5 weekday hours above. Plan any visit around what the café posts, not around the early coverage.
The 300 Block of University Takes the Afternoon
At 11 a.m. the center of gravity moves to University Avenue. Molly Tea opened at 318 University Ave. on Nov. 21, 2025, according to a review in The Paly Voice. It was the brand's fourth Bay Area location. The chain's store locator lists the Palo Alto shop at 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the week.
Molly Tea is a jasmine shop more than a matcha specialist. Xin Wei, chief financial officer of the Palo Alto location, told The Paly Voice that all of its tea is scented naturally with jasmine flowers, with no artificial flavoring, and that the menu changes seasonally along with the company's menu in China. The same review says Wei picked University Avenue after the team surveyed foot traffic on the street.
That review also has a detail anyone waiting for the next opening on this block will recognize. The storefront showed a "coming soon" sign for more than half a year. Wei told the student paper the delay came from the time it took to get a permit and that the team had waited almost a year to open.
Ten street numbers away, 328 University Ave. is going through its own wait. Auntea Jenny, a Shanghai-based tea brand with more than 10,000 stores worldwide, has chosen that address for its Bay Area debut. Palo Alto Online first reported a summer opening. The Almanac's September roundup moved the target to late September. In late October, the company's own store locator still listed the Palo Alto shop as "Coming Soon."
When it does open, it will be a grab-and-go stop. The Palo Alto store was planned with limited seating: an orange banquette and two small tables. Palo Alto Online described a menu led by mango pomelo sago, a line of superfood and vegetable teas priced at $6.99 to $7.59, and a vegan "pearl boba" made with watercress instead of starch.
The same article listed Mr. Sun Tea and Tong Sui among downtown's other tea-focused shops. Their company location pages put them at 436 University Ave. and 540 Bryant St.
After 9 p.m., the Map Shrinks to 250 University
Molly Tea closes at 9 p.m. After that, Maruwu Seicha at 250 University Ave., Suite 101, is the late option. It opens at 10 a.m. daily. It closes at 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and at 10:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Shop | Address | Opens | Last call, per posted hours |
|---|---|---|---|
Rikyu | 121 Lytton Ave. | 8 a.m., Sun 9 a.m. | 5 p.m., Sun 4 p.m. |
Maruwu Seicha | 250 University Ave., Ste 101 | 10 a.m. | 10 p.m., Thu–Sat 10:30 p.m. |
Molly Tea | 318 University Ave. | 11 a.m. | 9 p.m. |
Auntea Jenny | 328 University Ave. | Listed as Coming Soon | Not yet posted |
Bonbon Matcha | 439 Waverley St. | Forecast early to mid-October | Not yet posted |
Maruwu has been downtown the longest of the three that are open. Palo Alto Online reported that the Kyoto-based company soft-opened here on Oct. 20, 2024, after opening its first international shop in San Francisco's Japantown. The company has grown matcha on its own farm in Uji, Japan, since 2011.
The late hours fit a dessert stop. Maruwu's online menu lists a matcha latte at $7.20, the same latte with its "snow top" at $7.90, a hojicha latte at $7.20, a black sesame hojicha latte at $7.50 and a Hokkaido cheese tart at $4.20. Its seasonal drink this fall is an Ube Brûlée Matcha Latte, which the company announced as coming to all seven of its locations, Palo Alto included.
Waverley Street May Add Another Late Stop
The next shop to open may not be on University at all. Bonbon Matcha is preparing a second location at 439 Waverley St., in the former Gong Cha space. Owner Emily Niu told the East Bay Times in August that she expected to open in late September or early October. The Almanac's September roundup later gave early to mid-October. Both were forecasts, not a fixed date, so check Bonbon's Instagram before you make a trip.
Bonbon's original Cupertino shop gives an idea of what's coming. It is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and serves matcha Basque cheesecake, house-made gelato, affogatos and tiramisu, along with matcha lattes flavored with yuzu, strawberry and mango. On weekends it makes crème brûlée crepe cones to order. "Our goal is to make high-quality matcha more approachable and fun," Niu told the East Bay Times. She said the shop sources ceremonial-grade matcha directly from the farm.
Palo Alto hours have not been posted. If the Waverley shop follows Cupertino's schedule, downtown would have a second place serving matcha and dessert past 9 p.m.
The next big bakery opening is across town. Arsicault's planned bakery near California Avenue is aiming for early 2027. Cal Ave has also been changing in other ways, which we covered when its parklets became permanent.
Over years of working in Palo Alto, the Mary Murphy Team has seen how small details like a café's closing time shape a neighborhood's daily routine. If you're thinking about what your home near downtown is worth, we're glad to talk it through. Request a complimentary home valuation and consultation.
Mary Murphy | 650-773-4999 | [email protected] | Menlo Park and Atherton's trusted guide for life's next chapter
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