Taiwanese bakery 85°C Bakery Cafe has opened its first Houston location, in the Texan city’s Chinatown – the company’s 1000th store worldwide.

All stores have an in-shop bakery, and the menu features Taiwanese, Japanese and European breads as well as pastries such as danishes, and cakes. Drinks include sea-salt beverages, espresso, teas, smoothies and slushies.

When Wu Cheng-Hsueh was having coffee with his wife in a five-star hotel in 2003, the idea came to him that he could serve coffee and breads for customers at a far lower price. He had already owned a barbershop, a shoe-material processing plant, a marble factory and bubble-tea and pizza chain stores, so moved into the bakery business.

He opened his first shop near Taipei a year later and was soon serving about 2000 guests a day, so opened two other outlets in quick succession. The third store in Taichung marked the launch of the 85°C franchise in November 2004. Its name refers to Wu’s belief that 85deg C is the optimal temperature at which to serve coffee.

Now, run by Gourmet Master, 85°C has more than 900 locations worldwide including Australia, China and Hong Kong.