Let me say upfront: this article is aboutpurely personal taste. It isn't a ranking or an exhaustive guide, so please read it as a loose reference only.
Last time, I wrote about the cafés out on the street. Apart from that street-side style, Vietnam also has an endless number of café chains housed inside buildings — and the turnover is fierce. I imagine plenty of people get lost trying to figure out which chain is which.
So this time I'll introduce four places I actually frequent and genuinely rate. I've added the official sites and maps, so if any of them catch your eye you should be able to head straight there.
First, a Sense of Scale
Before getting into the individual spots, let me quickly lay out the lay of the land among Vietnam's café chains. The four I'm introducing here arenot necessarily the biggest players。
| Chain | Rough store count | Positioning |
|---|---|---|
| Highlands Coffee | over 1,000 stores | The runaway leader. A national chain you'll find in every city |
| Trung Nguyên (E-Coffee) | About 800 stores | A long-established local brand, expanding through franchising |
| Phúc Long | Over 200 stores | This article, No. 1. Effectively a tea chain. Owned by Masan |
| Starbucks | over 150 stores | The foreign-owned premium tier |
| Cộng Cà Phê | About 100 stores (roughly 40 overseas) | This article, #4. Retro concept. Most overseas stores are in South Korea |
| Every Half | 36 stores | This article, No. 2. A specialty-coffee upstart |
| Dolphy Café | 11 stores | This article, No. 3. A local chain found only in Ho Chi Minh City |
Lining them up like this, you can see that the places I like tend to be the smaller ones. Highlands is convenient and I use it often, but when it comes to a café I'll go out of my way for, it ends up being these four.
1. Phúc Long — Coffee in the Name, Tea at Heart
The first isPhúc Long (Phúc Long Coffee & Tea). The name has coffee in it, butit's really a tea house, the way I see it.
And that makes sense, because the company started out asa tea-leaf company founded in 1968. Its roots are in Bảo Lộc, a renowned tea-growing area in Lam Dong Province. It has since come under the major Masan Group and grown into a chain of more than 200 stores.
I'm quite fond of Vietnamese tea, sothis is where I go when I'm not in the mood for coffee. There are sweet ones and fruit-infused teas, but there are also plain, green-tea-like options, and the iced tea is genuinely good. As a coffee chain it might not leave much of an impression, but if you're after tea, it's a surprisingly good pick.
🔴 A note on ordering: stay quiet and it comes sweet
One important warning. Vietnamese tea drinks, including the ones sold at convenience stores,generally come with sugar. At Phúc Long too, if you don't say anything, what arrives will be properly sweet.
On the official ordering screen, the sweetnesscan be chosen in three levels: "Ít (light) / Bình thường (normal) / Nhiều (extra)". The default is "normal." So when you want it less sweet,saying "ít đường" (pronounced it-duong) = less sugaris the practical way to go. Completely unsweetened often isn't offered as an option, so I wouldn't set your hopes too high on "zero sweetness."
Official site:phuclong.com.vn（Store locator）
2. Every Half Coffee Roasters — For Those Who Choose by the Bean
The second isEvery Half (Every Half Coffee Roasters). A relatively new chain that opened in 2021, but it has been rapidly adding stores over the past few years.
It was launched by a team including Võ Duy Phú, a former executive of the major chainThe Coffee House. The Coffee House's own founder, Nguyễn Hải Ninh, is also among its leadership. Funding has progressed well, too, and in 2026 the company closed a Series A round of around 8 million dollars.
What's great about this place is thatit shares detailed information about its beans. Son La, Cau Dat in Da Lat, M'Drak in Dak Lak — they list not just the origin but the variety and processing method too.single-origin specialty coffeeis readily available, so you can order to taste — lighter or heavier, whatever you prefer.
The interior is stylish, too, and I think it suits Japanese tastes quite well.If you love coffee, this is the first place I'd recommend.
Also, for some reason,melon is a specialty here. The menu has a section called "MELON COLLECTION," with everything from unsweetened melon juice toa latte combining melon juice and espresso, and even curveballs like melon and matcha. Give it a try if you're curious.
Official site:everyhalf.vn（Store list）／Instagram
3. Dolphy Café — When You Spot the Blue Dolphin Sign
The third isDolphy (Dolphy Café). This is a local chain found only in Ho Chi Minh City, with around 11 locations centered on Districts 2 and 7 and Binh Thanh District. You won't see it in other cities, so it's one of the little pleasures of coming to Ho Chi Minh City.
Look forthe blue sign and the dolphin mark. A dolphin swims inside the "O" of the logo. Its official Facebook bio is written in the first person — "My name is Dolphy, I'm a dolphin. I serve nothing but pure coffee" — which is somehow endearing.
As for taste,it's well regarded for its café latte. It uses relatively heavy beans, so they hold their own against the milk and come together nicely in a latte. The interior uses a lot of wood for a natural feel, andit's a wonderful place to relax.
Official site:dolphycafe.com／Facebook／Instagram
4. Cộng Cà Phê — The Strongest "I've Arrived in Vietnam" Feeling
Last isCộng Cà Phê. It's a famous spot that turns up in guidebooks all the time, so many of you already know it — but it simply can't be left off the list.
It started in 2007 from a small shop in Hanoi, and counting the stores listed on its official site today, there are about 60 in Vietnam. On top of that, italso runs about 40 stores overseas.
The overseas breakdown is a surprise:most of them are in South Korea. There are more than 20 in Seoul, Busan and other cities, with the rest spread across Canada, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and a single store in Paris. That a Vietnamese retro coffee house has been embraced this widely in Korea
That Retro Interior — What's the Theme?
The real draw here is, above all, the interior. Dim lighting, olive-green walls, uniforms reminiscent of army fatigues, wooden schoolhouse desks — everything evokes "old Vietnam."
It's often described as being "themed on the Vietnam War," but that seems a little off. According to third-party accounts, the motif isthe postwar subsidy era (bao cấp, roughly 1976–86)— nostalgia for that time. In other words, rather than the war itself, it recreates the mood of an era when goods were scarce.
For what it's worth, the brand itself never explicitly mentions the subsidy era or the war. By its official account, the name "Cộng" is taken from the initial of Vietnam's formal country name, and its stance is that the founder brought in the simple atmosphere of their childhood memories. Viewed with that in mind, the place takes on a different kind of interest.
The signature drink iscoconut coffee (cà phê cốt dừa). Coconut drinks line the top of the menu and are the house specialty. You can also ordersunflower seeds(a paid menu item, not free) and nibble on them while you sit.They also sell souvenirs and coffee beans, so it's handy for finding a small gift to bring home.
Personally,it's the place that gives me the strongest sense of "I've really arrived in Vietnam". If you spot one nearby, do step inside.
Official site:congcaphe.com（Store locator／Official shop）
Lining up these four, what struck me is that I don't choose cafés on the taste of the coffee alone. I go to Phúc Long when I want tea, and to Cộng to soak in the interior. I drop by Dolphy simply because it's comfortable to sit in, and I keep going to Every Half because reading the descriptions of the beans is fun. Vietnam has such an enormous number of cafés that you get to pick a place based on "what kind of time do I want to spend today" — and that, I think, is the luxury of it. Turnover is fast, too, so there's no telling what will become of the places listed here a few years from now. That's exactly why I felt like putting on record the spots I like right now.
Where to Go, by Mood
| Not in the mood for coffee | Phúc Long. Tea is the real draw. Don't forget the ít đường |
|---|---|
| Want to be picky about the beans | Every Half. You can choose by origin, variety, and processing |
| Want to sit and take it slow | Dolphy Café. Wooden interior and a good latte. Ho Chi Minh City only |
| Want to soak up the Vietnam feel | Cộng Cà Phê. Retro interior and coconut coffee |
As I said at the start, this is a matter of personal taste. Vietnam has so many cafés to choose from, so do go and find your own regular haunt.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is the biggest café chain in Vietnam?
-
Highlands Coffee, with more than 1,000 stores. Next is E-Coffee, part of the Trung Nguyên group, at around 800. All four spots in this article are smaller chains than those.
- How do I order tea that isn't sweet at Phúc Long?
-
Sweetness comes in three levels — Ít (light) / Bình thường (normal) / Nhiều (extra) — with normal as the default. Just say "ít đường" (it-duong), meaning less sugar. Fully unsweetened often isn't an option, so it's safest not to expect too much.
- Is Cộng Cà Phê's interior themed on the war?
-
It's sometimes described as "themed on the Vietnam War," but more accurately the motif is nostalgia for the postwar subsidy era (bao cấp, roughly 1976–86). The brand itself explains that the name comes from the initial of Vietnam's formal country name and reflects the founder's childhood memories.
- Which chain do you recommend for coffee lovers?
-
Every Half Coffee Roasters. It offers single-origin specialty coffee and displays the origin, variety, and processing method, so you can choose to match your taste.
