The Bay Area’s First Kerala-Style Chai Shop Opens in San José

At Chayakada in San José, chai baristas juggle a meter-long stream of tea through the air like master waterbenders, effortlessly filling each cup to the brim with hot, frothy chai.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, the shop was buzzing with late-2000s pop hits while friends sipped chai huddled around tables loaded with egg puffs and boardgames. Open since June, the cafe takes its name from the chaya kada, a kind of small tea shop or tea stall found in the state of Kerala, India. Chayakada claims to be the first one in the United States — a small slice of South India tucked away in a South San José strip mall.

Owner Aleena Thomas got her start in the food business in 2023, when she quit her job as a program manager at Meta to open Bread Bae, a San José–based ghost kitchen operation focused on baked goods and chai from Kerala. Thomas grew up in Kuwait, but has fond memories of visiting her grandparents and uncles in Kerala. She became nostalgic for the food from her childhood and wanted to share it with others who might be feeling the same way. And while there were other restaurants specializing in the food of Kerala, there weren’t any Kerala-style chai bars.

“We didn’t have a single chaya kada in all of America. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,’” says Thomas. “How come we don’t have one? I wanted to have that in the U.S.”

Chaya kadas are known for meter chai, a style of tea preparation that involves pouring the tea from a great height to aerate the drink. Thomas suggests the pouring method may have started as a way to attract customers to the tea stalls. But the technique isn’t just for show — it helps create a thick layer of froth in the chai glass, imparting a smoother mouthfeel. The height of the pour also cools the drink to a temperature where the tongue can detect more flavors.

“Before we had coffee machines and frothers, you needed to get air into your beverages,” says Thomas. “Most of the people who do it are taller than I am and have longer arms. So their arm actually goes up to a meter. I don’t know if my wingspan is that large. We try to get it as far as we can.”

It isn’t just the eye-catching pour that makes Chayakada’s drinks special. The cafe is one of the few Bay Area spots sourcing its tea and coffee from small farms in India. The coffee is from Le Mils, a Bay Area roastery that gets its coffee beans from the owners’ family farm in Chikmanglur. Chayakada is also one of the only shops in the Bay Area that serves traditional Indian filter coffee, a sweet, chicory-infused drink.

As for the Kerala-style chai, Thomas believes a lot of people don’t see the full spectrum of the drink. “If somebody asks, ‘What’s your favorite chai?’’’ she says. “You’re like, I’m not really sure, what Starbucks gives me?” She wants people to understand that, as with coffee, you can alter a chai’s flavor intensity, roast level and sweetness. At Chayakada’s chai counter, you can also get your tea flavored with saffron, masala, white chocolate or salted caramel. For customers looking to take their chai game to the next level, Thomas offers tea blending and tasting workshops.

Chayakada serves the same street food snacks typically found in a traditional chaya kada in Kerala. Specifically, the menu is reflective of the cuisine of the Malayali people who are native to Kerala and make up a majority of its population. The most popular dish is a puff pastry that envelops a boiled egg and caramelized onions. A close second is the pazhampori, which Thomas likens to a plantain tempura. Heartier options include goat biryani, fish cutlets and slow-roasted beef sandwiches. There’s also a large selection of curries served alongside Kerala staples like porotta (a flaky flatbread) and kappa puzhukku (mashed tapioca).

“There’s no other place doing this,” says Thomas. “So, I want to make sure authentic food is served first. Eventually, we could add some fusion flare. Right now, I want people to understand I’m not just Indian, we’re Malayali.”

Thomas is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the history of chaya kadas in Kerala. The tea shops first appeared in Kerala during the 19th century, when tea plantations were established in the rural town of Munnar, and soon spread all across Kerala. “For every chaya kada, there’s a community that is built with it,” says Thomas. In particular, the tea stalls in Kerala have a history of being places of congregation where patrons commonly read the newspaper out loud, making them places for lively social and political discourse. The intermingling of people from different castes at chaya kadas is even credited with helping to ease caste barriers in the region.

Thomas continues the tradition of chaya kadas being more than a place to sip tea. “I have a 4-year-old,” says Thomas. With that parental mindset, she designed Chayakada so that guests of all ages could enjoy it. The shop features a mini library, foosball, boardgames and carrom — a popular Indian tabletop game. She has a Bring-Your-Own-Boardgame policy to encourage crowds to come in and kick back. She’s even hosted Charades nights, tea party–themed birthday parties and an Onam celebration.

Chayakada is only a few months old, but it has already hooked a community of regulars who pack the dining room during high tea for a late-afternoon snack. Thomas says that half of her customers come in already familiar with chaya kadas and Malayali cuisine. She enjoys having the opportunity to introduce the food to those unfamiliar.

“America is considered a coffee country,” says Thomas. “There’s millions of people who are tea drinkers. I really want to get chai to where coffee stands.”

Chayakada (117 Bernal Rd. Ste. 80, San Jose) is open Wednesday through Monday, 9 a.m.–9 p.m., except Mondays when the shop closes at 7 p.m.