Vietnamese coffee brand draws crowds across San Francisco with citywide pop-ups

Not only members of the Vietnamese community but also many local customers were willing to wait 30 minutes to nearly an hour to try a cup of Vietnamese-style Robusta coffee brewed using a phin, a traditional Vietnamese metal filter.

Unlike most coffee shops in the U.S. that use Arabica beans and machine brewing, Nâu Coffee chooses Vietnamese Robusta beans, brewed manually with a phin and combined with condensed milk.

According to co-founders Tran Hieu Han, 27, and Nguyen Duc Trung Kien, 25, Vietnamese foods like pho and banh mi have already secured their place in San Francisco, but distinctive Vietnamese Robusta coffee is still absent from the city’s coffee culture.

This sparked the team’s interest in the accessibility of Vietnamese-style street coffee brewed with a phin.

“We don’t just sell coffee, we want to bring the experience of sidewalk coffee culture, where people can slow down and talk,” Han said.

Building on this idea, Nâu Coffee set out to recreate that experience in San Francisco, bringing familiar scenes from Vietnam, a small coffee stand, a few red plastic stools, and strong phin-brewed coffee to a street corner in the U.S..

To reduce risk, the team did not open a fixed store immediately but instead operated in a pop-up format, selling for one day at different locations and collaborating with various brands.

In this testing phase, the menu is kept simple, featuring ca phe sua da (iced Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk), egg coffee, and salted coffee.

Occasionally, variations such as pandan coffee or black sesame coffee are added.

All drinks are made from specialty Robusta beans imported directly from Vietnam.

Social media posts and customer feedback show that drinking phin coffee in a sidewalk setting, where people sit low, chat, and sip slowly, stands in contrast to the fast-paced consumption habits in the U.S.

Breaking even after 3 pop-up sessions

After the first few sales events, customer numbers grew faster than expected.

At some pop-ups, long queues stretched along the sidewalk.

Several videos capturing the phin-brewing process, coffee being poured, and customers sitting on the sidewalk were widely shared on Instagram and TikTok, attracting strong engagement with hundreds of thousands of views and shares.

Kien said each pop-up sold around 300-400 cups and often sold out in about three hours.

At a price of US$7 per cup, equivalent to a standard medium coffee in the U.S., each event generated over $2,000 in revenue.

The business broke even and began making a profit from the third pop-up session.

“Even though we keep moving locations, customers are still very supportive, so we are now considering opening a permanent store,” Kien said.

Han, who handles communications for the brand, said social media platforms continue to be the main PR channel.

Nâu Coffee has also collaborated with local brands such as Aurora Studio to organize pop-ups combining Vietnamese coffee and banh mi, expanding the customer experience.

It has also partnered with major brands such as coffee equipment brand Fellow and Vietnamese dairy producer Vinamilk.

According to the founders, these collaborations help the brand reach a wider young audience.

Vietnamese coffee’s growing presence

Beyond Nâu Coffee, more Vietnamese coffee pop-up models are emerging in the U.S., such as First Phin First and Hien From Vietnam in New York, and Là Vì Cà Phê in Texas, among others.

Consumer feedback shows Vietnamese coffee stands out for its strong flavor, high caffeine content, and pairing with condensed milk or fresh milk.

On a larger scale, some Vietnamese brands are also expanding their presence in this market.

In late 2025, Trung Nguyên Legend opened its fourth 'Trung Nguyên Legend Coffee World' space in Philadelphia.

This trend shows Vietnamese coffee is gradually expanding its role, moving from material exports toward deeper participation in the value chain through business models and brand positioning.