Trang Tien Ice Cream's 68-year-old flagship store to close on September 15

The flagship ice cream store on Trang Tien Street, a short walk from the Opera House in central Hanoi, will close its doors on September 15, 2026. Since opening in 1958, the shop has spent 68 years as a place where Hanoi locals lined up on summer afternoons and foreign travelers dropped by, guidebook in hand. The brand says the building has “fulfilled its historic role” after 68 years, and describes the closure as part of a network development plan to create more modern store spaces and improve the customer experience. The word “closure” naturally brings a sense of loss, but the flavor itself isn't disappearing. Three sister stores a few minutes' walk away have been operating all along, and the same ice cream will still be available there after the closure. That's exactly why the days leading up to September 15 are the last chance to enjoy it inside the original store.

Even after the flagship store at No. 35 closes, the same flavor is available at three nearby stores

According to VnExpress International (September 9, 2026), the store closing is the original flagship at 35 Trang Tien Street, and the closing date is September 15. A brand representative said the building has “fulfilled its historic role” after 68 years in business, and invited customers to “take their time to treasure their last memories” of the place. The closure is described as part of a network development plan to build more modern spaces and improve the customer experience. It's positioned not as a withdrawal, but as one step in renewing the brand's store presence.

The same flavor is available at three sister stores, all within walking distance: 18 Hang Bai, 44 Trang Tien, and 18 Ngo Quyen. These aren't new stores opened to coincide with the closure — they're existing shops that have been operating all along. From the flagship, 18 Hang Bai is just one street over, 44 Trang Tien is further down the same street, and 18 Ngo Quyen is a few minutes' walk behind the Opera House. In other words, this isn't a case of “you'll never be able to eat that ice cream again” — it's that “the experience of eating it inside that particular building ends on September 15.” If the flavor is all you're after, there's no need to move up your trip, since the three nearby stores will keep serving it just the same.

Traditional flavors like young green rice and mung bean have been loved for 68 years

Born in 1958, this ice cream has been sold across generations, a neighborhood flavor whose memory has passed down from grandparents to grandchildren. According to VnExpress, TasteAtlas experts named the shop one of the world's “100 Legendary Ice Cream Parlors” in 2023 — meaning a corner ice cream shop in Hanoi made it onto an international food list.

The stars of the flavor lineup aren't flashy Western-style confections but ingredients close to Vietnamese home cooking. VnExpress reports that “traditional flavors” such as com (young green rice), mung bean (đậu xanh), and coconut milk still draw fans even as modern options have multiplied. The 21-year-old student featured in the article also comes for these old-fashioned flavors — a quick treat to cool off on a hot afternoon, woven into everyday lifeIce creamThis simplicity is probably why it has been loved across generations.

How visiting will change after the September 15 closure

Here's a rundown of how this reorganization changes the route for travelers. Only the names and dates confirmed in VnExpress's reporting are included.

Only one location is closing, and access to the flavor remains at three others. There's no need to panic that “if I don't go now, I'll never taste it again.” That said, the experience of eating it inside the original building does come to an end on September 15. For anyone whose travel dates fall in that week, stopping by No. 35 is clearly worth it.

Farewell visitors are pouring in, and the line keeps growing

VnExpress spoke to people who came to the shop. Pham Thi Duc, a 60-year-old regular, said, “A place packed with memories from my youth is about to disappear, and I feel a real sense of loss.” For a generation that has grown older alongside this ice cream, the building at No. 35 was clearly more than just a shop — it was a scene from their youth itself.

On the other hand, younger customers also come for the old-fashioned flavors, like 21-year-old student Nguyen Tu Anh. Since the closure was announced on September 4, the number of visitors has jumped sharply, with one staff member saying customer numbers have doubled. On September 7, the line stretched past the sidewalk and into the street from around 7 p.m. That's how many people are coming to make one last memory. If you want to avoid the busiest hours, it's worth giving yourself extra time.

How the memory of No. 35 carries over to the new store lineup

This closure isn't simply a long-established shop shutting its doors. It reads as a case of a brand reshaping its store network without letting the memory fade, even as it closes a symbolic flagship. Trang Tien framed the closure not as a “withdrawal” but in a forward-looking context of “building more modern spaces” and “continuing at existing nearby stores.” Even as more customers come to say goodbye, the brand isn't stoking the frenzy — instead it quietly asks people to “take their time to treasure their last memories,” a composure befitting a long-established name.

From the perspective of someone who has worked in food production and communication in Kyoto, this thinking applies just as well to brands handling traditional foods like dried vegetables or dried fruit. Tell the story at “experience venues” like flagship stores and events, while keeping everyday purchases available at multiple nearby locations. Run the symbolic locations in a concentrated, high-intensity way, while keeping the supply channels spread out. Even something as small as a closure announcement, if framed not as an “ending” but as “everyday life continuing in a new place,” lets a brand's memory pass on to the next generation without a break. Trang Tien's messaging is one example of that.

Hanoi's food culture is loved across generations precisely because of this attitude of protecting everyday, humble dishes over the long term. The way a line stretched outside a long-established pho shop on National Day morning was covered inHanoi pho: lines stretched outside historic and Michelin-listed shops on National Day morning, and both ice cream and pho share something in common: a dish rooted in everyday life across generations, carried on as the city's collective memory.

5 things to know before visiting No. 35 by September 15

Here's a summary of the key points for visiting the flagship store at No. 35 before it closes. Crowds have been continuing, so plan extra time.

If your Hanoi trip overlaps with Mid-Autumn Festival, it's efficient to combine ice cream hopping and photo spots into a single day. We introduced cafes where you can photograph Mid-Autumn decorations without waiting for the full moon in5 Hanoi cafés for Mid-Autumn photos, without waiting for the full moon, and pairing that with a half-day walking route from No. 35 to a nearby cafe lets you take in Hanoi's Old Quarter all at once before the closure.

Eat one at No. 35, then save the three nearby stores to your map

Trang Tien's ice cream isn't a flavor that's disappearing with this closure. What's closing on September 15 is just the one building at No. 35 — you can still buy the same com or mung bean bar at the three existing nearby stores. So the move for travelers is clear. If you're in Hanoi by September 15, eat one at the original location, then note the locations of 18 Hang Bai, 44 Trang Tien, and 18 Ngo Quyen — whichever is closest to you — on your map. That way you keep both the memory of the flagship store and a place you can keep coming back to. Being able to say goodbye and plan a return visit in a single walk is the quiet pleasure of this closure.

Sources

• VnExpress International, “One of world's 100 legendary ice cream parlors in Hanoi to close flagship store after nearly 70 years” (September 9, 2026)