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Kansas City Vietnamese coffee shop opening a second spot, a ‘mini’ version, next week

Jenna Thompson
·1 min read

Cafe Cà Phê, the Kansas City Vietnamese coffee shop bedecked in bright colors and serving “Hella Good” lattes, will soon return to the West Bottoms for its second location — the “mini” version of its brick-and-mortar shop.

It will soon serve coffee inside the 12th Street Post business building at 1501 W. 12th St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and every first Friday of the month.

The new location, with seating and a limited menu, will open July 7.

A former Broadway actress who performed in the tour of “Miss Saigon,” Jackie Nguyen opened Cafe Cà Phê — named after the Vietnamese words for “coffee” — as a pop-up and mobile coffee business in 2020 after COVID-19 derailed her performances. In cooler months, the shop took up residence in the West Bottoms.

Then, in 2022, Nguyen opened her Columbus Park brick-and-mortar at 916 E. Fifth St.

The coffee shop serves Asian American, Pacific Islander-inspired drinks like the “Thaiger” and “Purple Dragon” — a drink sweetened with vanilla and ube, a purple sweet potato.

Nguyen, a first generation Vietnamese American, aims to bring visibility to the AAPI community.

Cafe Cà Phê serves AAPI-inspired flavors, like its “Hella Good” latte with oat milk and Vietnamese espresso.
Cafe Cà Phê serves AAPI-inspired flavors, like its “Hella Good” latte with oat milk and Vietnamese espresso.

“My activism is through my coffee shop, not through protests or rallies, because my original goal, my vision is to create a safe space for someone,” she said in a previous interview with The Star.

Cafe Cà Phê will join several other local businesses inside the 12th Street building, like West Bottoms Plant Co. and Annie Austen.