A storefront next to Stanza coffee and across from Monk's Kettle on a typically busy strip of 16th Street between Valencia and Guerrero Streets is showing signs of life. In the last few days, the boarded-up storefront has been unmasked to reveal signs for Katea, indicating a tea shop bound for the address.

Things are mostly set up inside, and SFist has reached out to the business for comment. So far, an employee at a neighboring business tells us that the store will sell boba tea, traditional Chinese snacks, and may even be gearing up to serve spiked boba or cocktails in the evening with the addition of a liquor license.

Boba spots in town are more concentrated in the Sunset than in the Mission area, but not terribly far from this 16th Street store, the Boba Guys have two spots — one on 19th street and one just north of Market Street on Octavia Boulevard.

Katea is similar in name to KitTea Cafe, the Hayes Valley shop where patrons can pet kittens and sip coffee, but peeking inside Katea, I couldn't see any cats anywhere. Disappointing.