In San Francisco's Chinatown and on Valencia Street, Vietnamese-style street cafés with rows of low plastic chairs have appeared, drawing one-hour-long lines. Behind it is "Nau Coffee," run by young entrepreneurs Han Tran and Kien Nguyen, both from Ho Chi Minh City.
The founders' story — "There's no real Vietnamese coffee in SF"
Han Tran and Kien Nguyen both grew up in Ho Chi Minh City and studied at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). They searched the Bay Area for authentic Vietnamese coffee but couldn't find a cup they were satisfied with. "We want to bring Vietnam's café culture over as it is. Not just to drink coffee, but to recreate the whole experience of spending time on the street" — from that thought, Nau Coffee was born.
It started as a small pop-up, held about once a month. Word of mouth spread on Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram, and in no time it became a talked-about presence in SF's food scene.
Menu and prices — four kinds brewed with a phin drip
| Menu | Price (USD) | Yen conversion (1 dollar = 155 yen) | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saigon coffee | 6–7 dollars | About 930–1,085 yen | The standard with condensed milk, extracted with a phin drip |
| Pandan coffee | 6–7 dollars | About 930–1,085 yen | Adds the aroma of pandan leaf |
| Egg coffee | 6–7 dollars | About 930–1,085 yen | Topped with egg-yolk cream, originating in Hanoi |
| Salted coffee | 6–7 dollars | About 930–1,085 yen | A salty flavor brings out the coffee's sweetness |
The coffee beans use Robusta from Buon Ma Thuot, a city in Vietnam's central highlands. It's characterized by the rich, bitter flavor unique to Vietnamese coffee. Extraction uses a stainless steel phin (Vietnamese coffee filter), dripping slowly one cup at a time.
The method of recreating the "street café experience"
Nau Coffee's biggest feature is recreating not just the coffee's flavor but the very "experience of drinking coffee on Saigon's streets." Low plastic chairs are placed densely on the sidewalk, creating the intimate "Vietnamese-style" space where customers are close to one another.
This experience is Instagrammable, and on TikTok the hashtag "#NauCoffee" spread rapidly. Comments line up like "It's really like being in Saigon" and "I never thought I could have this experience in America."
Pop-up event information
Nau Coffee has no permanent store, operating in a pop-up format several times a month. It's held at places like Waverly Place in Chinatown and Fellow (820 Valencia St.) on Valencia Street. Collaborations with the bakery "To You SF" are also done, offering pastries such as chanh muoi olive oil cake, black sesame and red bean cream puffs, and roasted sesame banana bread.
The dates and times are announced on the Instagram account@nau_coffeeso following it before your trip to the US is the surest bet.
Local reactions: media and social media
Local TV station KRON4 ran a feature titled "Why do SF residents line up for an hour," reporting on Nau Coffee's line phenomenon. On Reddit's San Francisco community too, posts like "When's this month's pop-up?" go up regularly, with active information exchange.
As comments from Vietnamese Americans, voices like "It was so nostalgic I almost cried" and "It tastes like the coffee I drank in front of Grandma's house" stand out. Americans' reactions are favorable: "I've never had coffee this strong" and "The plastic chairs are surprisingly fun."
Vietnam's five biggest café trendsNau Coffee embodies the global spread of egg coffee introduced in.New York's After EdenWhereas proposes Vietnamese coffee on a cocktail-bar route, Nau Coffee differentiates itself with an approach of exporting the street experience itself.
Impact on Japanese travelers — experiencing Vietnam in SF
San Francisco is about 9.5 hours by direct flight from Narita and Haneda. Chinatown is in the city center, within walking distance of BART's Powell station. Pop-ups are often held on weekends, and going in the morning means relatively short wait times.
It's also interesting to visit as a bit of "pre-study" before a Vietnam trip. If you experience street café culture at Nau Coffee and then visit the real Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, the experience on the ground should feel deeper.
Ripple effect on the industry — accelerating Vietnamese coffee's overseas expansion
Ho Chi Minh City's jazz café COILike this, café culture keeps evolving within Vietnam too. Nau Coffee's success proved that Vietnamese coffee can be exported not just as "flavor" but as an "experience." It also contributes to raising the international reputation of Buon Ma Thuot's Robusta beans.
Practical info summary
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Shop name | Nau Coffee |
| Format | Pop-up (several times a month, no permanent store) |
| Locations | SF Chinatown, 820 Valencia St. (Fellow), and others |
| Price range | 6–7 dollars (about 930–1,085 yen) |
| Coffee Beans | Robusta from Buon Ma Thuot |
| Extraction method | Drip via a phin (Vietnamese coffee filter) |
| Latest information | Instagram @nau_coffee |
| Estimated wait time | About 1 hour at weekend peak times |
Summary — sit on a plastic chair and have a cup
By offering "coffee flavor" and "time spent on the street" as a set, Nau Coffee brought Saigon's atmosphere to San Francisco. If you get a chance to visit SF next time, try enjoying the time spent sitting on a low plastic chair, waiting for the phin-drip coffee to fall.
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