Senpais Cafe Brings Boba and Anime to Sacramento Area

Looking for a place dedicated to boba, Japanese treats, and anime/manga in the Sacramento area? Senpais Cafe has it all, and is the perfect spot for anime lovers to study, work, and hang out in between conventions.

Senpais Cafe

Located in Roseville, California, Senpais Cafe offers a selection of anime-themed drinks such as boba, coffee, and lemonades. The cafe also offers food such as takoyaki, ramen, waffles, and pastries imported from Japan. For first-time cafe-goers, owner Brad Jackson recommends tiger milk tea, salted caramel coffee, or dragon lemonade, depending on the customer’s preference.

Upon entering the cafe, customers are greeted by the anime decorations. Anime banners and artwork adorn the walls, and there’s plenty of fun anime props, from the Anya Forger statue next to a faux cherry blossom, to a classroom photo opportunity with desks, where customers can feel like the main character sitting in the back of the class.

In fact, that’s how Senpais Cafe earned its name. “The idea behind (the name Senpais Cafe) was that when you come in, you’re ‘senpai.’ When you sit in the back of the classroom, you’re the main character,” Jackson said. The cafe is designed to feel like a place where the customer is welcomed to hang out and stay awhile, with fun props, board games, manga and anime playing throughout the day to keep guests entertained.

Marin Kitagawa and Gojo Wakana from My Dress Up Darling accompany customers as they enjoy their boba and treats.

Anime plays all day, every day. Decorations cover the cafe, including popular shows like One Piece and My Hero Academia

Senpais Cafe has a photo opportunity where customers can feel like the main character in the back of the class.

Anya at senpais cafe — Anya Forger, Spy x Family, greets customers at the front door.

Brad Jackson opened Senpais Cafe in late 2023/early 2024. He was inspired by Food Wars to create an anime-themed boba shop

Bringing the Anime Community Together

Senpais Cafe opened at the end of 2023 / early 2024. Jackson was inspired by the anime Food Wars to open some kind of anime-themed restaurant, and ultimately decided on a boba shop. “It all started when I was cooking Food Wars food, and one day I thought to myself that it would be cool to open a restaurant that cooked anime food,” Jackson said. “Because who doesn’t want the food that they see in anime?”

Popular nearby convention SacAnime and Sac-Con events happen throughout the year, but Senpais Cafe brings the anime community together in between conventions for anime-themed events, such as anime trivia. At Senpais Cafe’s grand opening, local artists had the opportunity to become vendors, and Sacramento’s Anime Car Meet group Yonaka Matsuri hosted a car meet. Jackson is a car enthusiast himself, modeling his own car after the Toyota AE86 from Initial D.

“I would go to (Yonaka Matsuri’s) events and thought it was fun, so when I opened Senpais Cafe, I thought it would be really cool if they had a car meet here,” Jackson said. “I reached out to them and they were like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’”

Senpais Cafe’s next upcoming “unofficial” event is a Haikyu!! custom cupsleeve event from June 21-23, in honor of Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle’s recent U.S. release. The cupsleeve design was created by one of Senpais Cafe’s employees and will be included with drink purchases. Jackson hopes to host more events in the future, including a summer cultural festival with a takoyaki seller, street vendors, goldfish game and much more.