Matt's Basement brings nostalgia and vintage games to Stillwater

BY NOELLE OLSON EDITOR

Something unique is making its mark in Stillwater — a boba tea lounge with a touch of nostalgia.

Matt's Basement opened its doors on St. Patrick's Day this year. Owner Matt Watkins moved to Stillwater in April 2020 from La Jolla, California.

“Stillwater reminded me a lot of my hometown,” he said. “I wanted to create some diversity here, and I think we've done that here with vintage gaming, a NA (nonalcohol) bar, an artist display and gourmet boba tea and waffles.”

The lounge features vintage gaming consoles available to rent and play like NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), Nintendo 64, Atari and classic board games.

“Nostalgic gaming was really something extra I wanted to do here,” Watkins said. “I wanted to create the highest quality boba tea possible using authentic ingredients from Taiwan. We have traditional Taiwan tapioca pearls, and all of our boba teas are nondairy.”

“Strawberry Fields” is the top-selling boba tea at Matt's Basement. It features green tea, fresh diced strawberries and pearls. Watkins said kids who played Pokemon — or still do — will love the “Floaroma Town Tea.”

“I'd say it's one of the more unique teas here,” Watkins said. “It's a lavender-based jasmine tea with pink rose bursting pearls. We have a really amazing lavender syrup that we coat on the inside of the cup, and it's very floral.”

Other boba teas on the menu include:

• “Meet your Matcha” — Oolong tea, matcha and brown sugar boba.

• “Nothin' but Mango” — Mango green tea, natural mango milk tea flavor, fresh diced mango and bursting mango pearls.

• “My Thai Tea” — Ceylon tea, flavorful spices and brown sugar boba

• “Tiger Ube” — Oolong tea, natural ube flavor, tiger-striped ube cream and brown sugar boba

The gourmet boba waffles on the menu come with a variety of flavor combinations, including traditional boba, chocolate chip, strawberries and cream, matcha, maple bacon, fruit and make-a-custom waffle.

The “Banana Foster's Home for Imaginary Waffle” has banana waffle batter, sliced banana, whipped cream and caramel sauce.

The lounge has a variety of vintage and modern TVs. An outside patio overlooks the St. Croix River where people can see the historic Lift Bridge.

“We have NA craft beers on tap and we're going to bring in some NA wine,” Watkins said. “We do sell coffee, and have light and dark roast all day long.”

The Lotus Creamery in Hudson, Wisconsin, provides Matt's Basement with ice cream.

“I'm not a 'sweets' person, but that is literally some of the best ice cream I've ever had in my life,” Watkins said. “So I brought in their vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. Again, there's that nostalgia of the traditional Neopolitan.”

Watkins is teaming up with the Lift Bridge Brewery to get kegs of black cherry soda and root beer.

“I really want to support local businesses, and I'm the manager of a liquor store, so I already had a good relationship with them,” Watkins said. “Having black cherry and root beer floats goes back to the 'nostalgia', because my grandfather loved black cherry floats.”

Every six to eight weeks, Matt's Basement will feature a gallery of local artists.

“Our very first artist is Linnea Marie Maas — Inside the Robot — and I absolutely love her,” Watkins said. “She is very unique, and I think it really fits our vibe.”

There's a room in the lounge called the “basement” that has a 120-inch projector TV that people can rent for birthday parties or gameplay, or just to hang out.

“This is a space that I can always come to,” Watkins said. “People can rent the room for $20 an hour. However, with a 24-hour advance reservation notice, you get the first hour free, and we've already had a few birthday parties here.”

The tea lounge is working on getting sports on the TVs for people who want to watch the Minnesota Vikings, Twins or other local sports teams.

“It's a unique tea lounge here in Stillwater,” Watkins said. “We specialize in boba tea and waffles, nostalgic gaming; (and) have recurring artists, a NA tap bar and memory foam beanbag chairs. There's really something here for everyone.”

Matt's Basement is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily and is located at 413 Nelson Street East in Stillwater.

For more information, go to https://bit.ly/3mMOgW5.

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