The world's biggest fast-food chain just landed in NYC. We tried Mixue — and the hype is real.

Mixue's three US locations opened in December. Another New York location is currently being built.

The Herald Square location stood out with its bright red exterior. Several passerbys stopped to take photos.

Even though it was two weeks out from Mixue's grand opening, the chain still had the red carpet rolled out — and the line was full. I counted over 20 people queueing up.

While waiting in line, Mixue blasted its song on a loop. It was sweet at first; after 10 minutes in line, it became head-pounding.

The line snaked inside, where it fed out to a set of tablets and a human cashier. On the other side, a pack of customers waited for their items.

Across the ceiling hung a long banner, congratulating the store opening.

I made it to one of the tablets, scrolling the menu of teas, coffees, and sundaes.

Mixue has a fairly limited menu, and many of its items were unavailable. I spotted 10 sold out items. Of the fruit tea offerings, only three of nine could be purchased.

But, among the items that were available, I was struck at how low the prices were.

I ordered a cone of soft serve and an oolong tea with coconut jelly. The tablet prompted me to sign up for its rewards program, and I immediately got 15% off my order.

With the discount, my total was a mere $3.63.

A Mixue employee quickly served up my cone of ice cream, while the tea took a bit longer.

The soft serve tasted exactly as you'd expect. It was sweet, creamy, and I finished it within a few minutes. Nothing miraculous, but solid for the price.

My cone had three solid swirls stacked on top of each other. While waiting for my tea, I noticed some customers — especially those who ordered matcha-flavored cones — had shorter stacks.

The oolong tea came out a few minutes later. I popped the lid with the straw, gave it a big sip, and savored the coconut jellies inside. I had customized it just right: 70% sugar, less ice — delicious.

There's a Gong Cha two blocks from the Mixue location. A similar tea at this location would cost $7.10 on Grubhub. That's almost three-times the price.

Could Mixue undercut the American market with its low prices? I walked two blocks over to a McDonald's, which also offers a cheap cone of vanilla ice cream.

At $3.29, the McDonald's cone was over $2 more expensive than Mixue.

The ice cream and bubble tea chain went public in March, and it had a blockbuster first day of trading.

The company's shares jumped 30% from their IPO price after the market opened.

On its first day of trading, it offered close to 17.1 million shares, which amounted to 3.45 billion Hong Kong dollars, or about $444 million.

At market close on Friday, Mixue's stock was up over 60% from its IPO price, trading at HK$419 per share.

Mixue's retail footprint, with more than 46,000 stores globally, has far outpaced other global F&B giants like Starbucks and McDonald's, which have about 40,000 and 43,000 stores worldwide, respectively.

Although its presence is largely concentrated in China, it also has a significant footprint in Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

It has some outlets in Australia and New Zealand as well. However, the Tribeca store is its first foray into North America.

Mixue outlets in Singapore are designed for convenience, with all of them being to-go counters.

When Business Insider visited the Mixue Singapore store in March, there was a queue of about five people before the counter. The store's bright sign and its "Snow King" mascot — a snowman wearing a crown — were enough to catch the attention of passersby.

The price tags were likewise conservative. The most expensive item in the store was a cheese strawberry drink for 4 Singapore dollars, or about $3.12. The cheapest was the SG$1.50 Signature King Cone soft serve ice cream.

The soft serve tasted just as good as McDonald's, with a much bigger, crispier cone. The strawberry cheese drink, a rather suspicious combination, turned out to be very refreshing.

Most of the store's drinks were priced from SG$2.50 to SG$3.50.

Mixue's US debut is the latest example of Chinese companies trying to get a slice of the US food and beverage consumer pie.

Its store opening comes shortly after its competitor, Luckin Coffee, opened its first two stores in NYC in June. According to its Instagram, the Luckin Coffee chain has five outlets in the city now.

Luckin Coffee, which is known for its budget coffee and aggressive promotions, is Starbucks' biggest competitor in China.

Bubble tea brand Chagee, which also went public this year in April, opened its first US store in Los Angeles in May.