Smoothies, tea drinks and coffee are all made in front of your eyes at Xago. So how do they get airtight covers on top?
With a special-ordered "sealer."

"Instead of having those lids, we have the sealer instead," said Riozelle Morales, a manager at the store. "It just looks cooler. You can actually turn it upside down, and it won't spill at all."

The plastic covers are reminiscent of the metal top on a child's fast-food orange juice cup. And like those cups, it takes a nice jab of a straw to penetrate. And these aren't just any straws - they're extra wide and pointed on the end to break through the seal.
Which raises another question. Why the giant straws?

They are to suck up the boba, or bubbles, in the drinks the store serves. The chewy, centimeter-in-diameter balls, which first gained popularity in East Asia in the 1980s, are also called tapioca pearls and can be added to everything from smoothies to hot cocoa.
Jizelle Morales, Riozelle's sister who is general manager of the store, said her family opened its first store in Midland in March 2008 after her brother's then-girlfriend saw bubble tea stores while living in California.

"These stores are really popular in California, Austin, New York - the big cities," Jizelle Morales said. "We felt it was a really good idea for us to start one here because you don't have competition. It was a good opportunity."  

Morales noticed that many of the customers at the Midland location, which is managed by her brother Jingson Morales, came from Odessa. And as a University of Texas of the Permian Basin student who commuted from Midland, she saw the demand for such a place firsthand.

"I'm always looking for someplace like this where I can have a drink or study," she said.
Morales had experience in the business from working at a Starbucks, and she helped design logos and other aspects of the Midland store. So with funding from her mother, she opened a second Xago on March 27 in Odessa.  

Richard Siler, owner of the BYOB Water Store next door, stops in every day for a strawberry smoothie with tapioca boba. He said it's "different."

"I like the taste, and it's cold," he said.

To newcomers, Morales recommends the taro smoothie, made from a tropical root. She figures that since boba are already different, why not try something "really different."

"I just tell them to try it," she said. "They love it most of the time."

And if you don't like tapioca, you can get fruit-flavored jellies at the bottom of your drink instead.

Some come from the atmosphere. The front half of Xago includes a television where customers can play Guitar Hero, as well as a coffee table with board games and jigsaw puzzles. The back of the store, which has Wi-Fi Internet access, is designed for those who want to study.

The walls of the store are decorated with philosophical quotes. Customers can also sign their name to a "tag board," which Morales said makes them feel like they're a part of the store. Morales envisions the kind of atmosphere the cast of the sitcom "Friends" had at their favorite hangout, Central Perk.

The Rev. Ivy Shelton, pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church, said Xago is a good place for coffee and getting work done.

"I can always seem to find a quiet corner to study and prepare my sermons," he said.

The store plans to have a grand opening Saturday, featuring live bands and discounts on drinks. If it's successful, Morales said she'd like to have bands perform regularly.

The store's name is a tribute to the family's homeland. Xago comes from sago - the Filipino word for "tropical pearl," Morales said.
"We just had to make it look cool and nice," she said.

Morales, 23, has balanced her time managing the store with studying for a biology degree and working as a nurse at a Midland assisted living facility. But she said business has remained as strong as the Midland location had when it first opened, even though the Permian Basin economy has dropped off considerably in the past year.

Eventually, she would like to expand the business. Morales sees Lubbock as a place needing a bubble tea shop.

"We want to stay in West Texas for a while," she said. "I just want to stabilize this one, and then we can start something else."

XAGO
>> Location: 4555 E. University Blvd., Suite E-2.
>> Hours:   8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. Starting Monday, the store plans to extend hours from 7 a.m. to   9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to   9 p.m. Saturday.
>> Call:   366-9246.