Bobaccinos is a diner and bubble tea shop in Evansville

EVANSVILLE - Is it a coffee shop? A bubble tea shop? A bakery? A diner?

Bobaccinos Café is a little of all of them. It opened in the former Emge’s Diner location on North First Avenue about a month ago, serving a variety of house-baked pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, inventive drinks and, soon, will add smash burgers to an evening menu. Here’s what you need to know.

Brad Bodart ("Bodie," he says, to everyone but his mom and the IRS) is the owner. He’s wanted to open a coffee shop ever since he was a barista at Jungle Mornings Downtown in the 1990’s. In the years between, he’s worked at many restaurants and coffee shops as well as at professions in law, as a college instructor and researcher, a tree trimmer and others.

His 11- and 15-year-old daughters adore boba tea and he incorporated it with his love of coffee when it came time to open his business.

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He asked a friend who has been an upscale baker for 16 years to write the menu and do bakery training. The breakfast sandwiches are served on homemade biscuits, and the muffins, scones, cookies and quickbreads are made from scratch. You can even get a taiyaki, or Japanese sweet filled fish-shaped cake, after 2 p.m. These goodies are fried from a waffle-like batter and filled with sweet red bean paste, house fruit jam, Nutella or chocolate-marshmallow s’mores.

Bodart thought he’d have a drinks shop with a great bakery, but as it turns out the neighborhood wants a diner with drinks and baked goods, so breakfast and lunch sandwiches are also taking center stage.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are offered, with different menus for each. Many worldly ingredients are incorporated, adding unexpected and interesting flavors. Breakfast items include diner-style egg and meat platters and biscuit sandwiches including The Mexicali Blue with chorizo, egg, provolone, grilled poblano chile peppers and greens; and the Ms Jackson with pork sausage, bacon, sharp cheddar and gravy.

Gravy may be enjoyed in sausage or bacon versions, and many vegetarian items are offered. House-made jams are always fresh and come in a variety of seasonal fruit combinations.

Lunch includes sandwiches served on your choice of sourdough or country white bread, such as the Marker in the Sand with avocado, Nepalese tikka spice spread, tomato and olive oil on toast; and the Seas of Cheese with chicken, provolone, Parmesan, tomato and pesto.

The pesto is made without nuts but with a little roasted poblano chile for a touch of spice.

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At dinnertime, a special smashburger menu is offered with your choice of pepper jack, provolone or sharp cheddar cheeses and toppings choices from the expected to items such as green olives, egg, pesto and barbecue.

There is even a kids’ menu, and a drive-through window may be utilized for picking up drinks or pre-ordered takeout.

There is a full coffee menu with hot and iced coffee and espresso drinks and, of course, boba tea made with freshly brewed tea and fruit juices and flavorings. Have a boba refresher with fruit juice, boba fruit tea, or a creamy blended boba frappe in flavors such as matcha green tea, taro, Thai tea, and vanilla chai as well as classics such as orange and banana.

The Bobaccino is the house specialty drink. It is a horchata frappe blended with cold brew coffee and enhanced with coffee boba.

Refreshing lemonades with fresh sliced lemons in flavors such as watermelon, raspberry, green apple, pomegranate and more are now available as well.