Trung Nguyên, the Starbucks of Vietnamese coffee, opens its largest U.S. location in South Philly

The largest U.S. outpost of the popular Vietnamese coffee brand Trung Nguyên Legend is open in South Philly.

Packer Park residents Estelle Nguyen and husband Vandy Doopened their Trung Nguyên Legend franchise at 113-117 Washington Ave. late last month. The couple transformed a one-story cabinetry showroom into a 5,000-square-foot cafe with two floors and a year-round roof deck, where customers can sip on citrusy espresso tonics, frothy Vietnamese egg coffees, or strong phin pour-overs, paired with a small array of European pastries (macarons, eclairs, mille-feuille) delivered daily from an off-site bakery.

Founded in 1996, Trung Nguyên is one of Vietnam’s largest coffee brands, known for turning robusta beans from the country’s Central Highlands region into a well-regarded line of ground and instant coffees sold internationally.

Not every Trung Nguyên coffee shop is as massive —or luxurious — as the new Washington Avenue outpost. The chain operates more than 800 locations across Vietnam, China, and Europe, the majority of which are grab-and-go stores. Legend stores, however, are the brand’s version of a Starbucks Reserve, with more seating and higher-end touches like interactive coffee services.

Most of Trung Nguyên’s U.S locations are Legends. The first franchise opened in Southern California in 2023, with six outposts across Portland and Texas following soon after. Nguyen and Do’s location is the only one on the East Coast, a fact Nguyen brags about.

“I wanted to do something gorgeous,” said Nguyên, 52.

Under her careful supervision, baristas at the first-floor counter crouch down to ensure that the amount of cold foam is level across matcha, sesame, and tiramisu lattes. Nguyen folds napkins printed with the Trung Nguyên logo into perfect equilateral triangles. As she greets customers, Nguyen promises tours of the rooftop lounge to people she hopes will become regulars.

Nguyen and Do, both Vietnamese, moved to Philadelphia in 2005 to become big-time entrepreneurs: Together, they own a South Philly daycare, a wedding planning business, and Asian Palace, a Chinese restaurant at 2001 Oregon Ave. that doubles as a banquet hall.

The Trung Nguyên franchise, Do said, is the couple’s first venture that pulls directly from their culture. Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee exporter, known for strong coffees brewed through phins, slow-drip coffee filters that help retain the heat and intensity of coffee grounds. The country’s coffee shop scene is also somewhat different; shops generally stay open past 10 p.m and gladly let customers linger.

“We’ve lived in Philly for over 20 years,” said Nguyên. “We didn’t see any spot like this where you could hang out with coffee and dessert.”

The final result is a Trung Nguyên unlike any other in the U.S. The couple paid $130,000 to sign a franchise agreement in February 2024, Nguyên said, and invested “significantly more” to add a second-floor dining space to the former showroom.

The size was Nguyen’s idea, like most everything else in this Trung Nguyên. (Do, her husband, mostly nods in agreement while snapping photos of his wife at work.)

“This is all me, honey,” Nguyen said. “I wanted a pop.”

The space is decorated in tones of black, beige, and brown — Trung Nguyên’s signature colors — with grand couches and plush fabric chairs that Nguyen said she lobbied the company to include, breaking with their standard look.

A 17-foot tree covered in fake fuschia flowers looms over the main staircase. It was another of Nguyen’s visions: After spotting a barren tree on the side of a South Philly road, Nguyen had Do cut it down, the branches hanging out of his trunk on the drive home. She spent roughly a week gluing strands of flowers onto the salvaged tree. Its stump sits on the cafe’s patio, surrounded by a plant wall and a water fountain.

That, Nguyen said graciously, was her husband’s idea.

South Philly’s sprawling Trung Nguyên also offers a choose-your-own adventure element: Depending on which floor one visits, customers have the option to order coffee brewing experiments reminiscent of a high school chemistry class.

“It’s like playing” with your coffee, Nguyen said.

All of the store’s coffee beverages are made with Trung Nguyên-brand arabica and robusta beans — the latter of which is stronger with double the caffeine content. Baristas use both phins and a traditional espresso machine, depending on the order.

Though there’s plenty of seating throughout, downstairs is mainly intended for to-go coffees. Customers can watch baristas prepare drinks with military precision. Nguyên said the most common orders thus far have been yuzu coffee — an espresso tonic spiked with fresh-pressed yuzu juice — and a “matcha cloud” with matcha-oat milk cold foam floated atop iced coconut water.

Open from 3 to 9 p.m. daily (hours are subject to change as Nguyen hires more staff), the upstairs is the only level where customers can order Trung Nguyên’s signature Zen, Ottoman, and Legend coffee services, all of which include a 20% gratuity.

Each service comes with percolating coffee that’s been arranged on a tray with the appropriate phins or kettles for the customer to finish the process, along with finishing accoutrements like milk and sugar, and an amaretti cookie — Nguyen’s personal touch. QR codes display instructions on how to create the perfect pour.

Nguyen’s favorite service is the Legend. To get the perfect sip, customers must wait for grounds to finish passing through a phin before adding a thimble-sized serving of condensed milk to the brew and pouring the mixture over a glass of ice. Another option is the elaborate Ottoman service, a five-step process that involves transferring the coffee from a jug to a traditional Turkish ibrik to a petite teacup. The end result of this coffee theater tastes like a smoother, slightly bitter version of cafe con leche.

Also available on both floors: creamy Vietnamese egg coffee, which became Vietnam’s signature drink in the 1940s after bartenders in Hanoi started subbing milk for whipped eggs to cope with a dairy shortage. Trung Nguyên’s version comes blended with ginger to neutralize the smell of the egg; it goes down easy, in layers of frothy foam and slightly sweet coffee. Do recommends trying it upstairs, where the drink is served hot over a bowl of warm water in order to retain its temperature.

The concoction will run dine-in customers $8.34 for an 8-ounce cup. If they want to recreate the experience at home, they can purchase Trung Nguyên-branded products.

“A lot of people told me I was crazy to sell $10 coffees and invest so much,” said Nguyen. “This is my big challenge.”

Trung Nguyên Legend, 113-117 Washington Ave., 215-755-1953, trungnguyenlegendphilly.com. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily