Cafe Cà Phê

Cafe Cà Phê is Kansas City’s first Vietnamese-owned coffee shop — founded by Jackie Nguyen as a single-table pop-up in October 2020, grown into a dragon-faced mobile trailer, and opened as a brick-and-mortar in Columbus Park on August 13, 2022. An independent, women-owned and AAPI-owned shop built around Vietnamese coffee and Asian-American representation.

Description

Cafe Cà Phê bills itself as “Kansas City’s First Vietnamese Coffee Shop” and is one of only a handful of Vietnamese-owned specialty coffee shops in the United States.¹² The shop’s program centers on Vietnamese coffee — robusta-forward, often served as cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk) and seasonal house drinks — and it positions itself explicitly as a welcoming space for people who feel “othered,” with a stated mission of championing Asian-American representation and minority-owned businesses.³²

The brick-and-mortar sits at 916 E 5th St in Columbus Park, the historically Italian neighborhood north of Independence Avenue that is also home to one of Kansas City’s largest Vietnamese communities. Founder Jackie Nguyen framed the location as a deliberate cultural bridge between the area’s Italian and Vietnamese histories, and preserved the building’s historic architecture during renovation while consulting neighbors throughout the process.⁴ Neighbors and the Columbus Park Community Council have credited the shop with helping revitalize the block.⁴

Ownership and history

Period	Operator / milestone
October 2020	Jackie Nguyen launches Cafe Cà Phê as a single-table pop-up; soon expands to a dragon-faced mobile coffee trailer touring KC56
2020–2022	Operates as a mobile / pop-up business, building a following; community raises ~$60,000 toward startup and brick-and-mortar costs16
August 13, 2022	Grand opening of the brick-and-mortar at 916 E 5th St, Columbus Park47
2025	Launches affiliated nonprofit Hella Good Deeds to support KC’s Asian communities8
Present	Open and operating under Nguyen’s founder ownership2

Jackie Nguyen is a first-generation Vietnamese American and former Broadway touring performer. Originally from San Diego, she relocated to Kansas City during the pandemic (her partner at the time was a KC native on the same Broadway tour) and has made the city her home since.¹⁵ She has cited the lack of Asian representation she encountered in KC as a core motivation for the shop, and has become a public speaker and advocate, recognized in KCTV5’s “Impactful Women of KC” (2024) and through the Women’s Foundation / United WE entrepreneurship programming.² No corporate parent or franchise relationship is indicated; the business is independent and owner-operated.²

Links

• Website: https://www.cafecaphe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cafecaphe.kc/
• Phone: (816) 266-8854 — sourced from aggregator listings, not the official site⁹

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-16 Source: Official site (cafecaphe.com/menu)¹⁰ Confidence: High (drink names, descriptions, and prices direct from the official menu page)

The program is built around Vietnamese phin-drip and Vietnamese-espresso drinks, with a rotating seasonal lineup and a roster of named house specialties. Prices below reflect the official menu page as of June 2026.¹⁰

Specialty coffee

• Saigon — $6.50 — the house traditional Vietnamese iced coffee: Vietnamese phin-drip coffee, condensed milk, ice (vegan option available)
• Dragon — $7 — Vietnamese espresso, matcha, condensed milk drizzle, sesame milk, ice
• Hella Good — $7 — Vietnamese espresso, ube syrup, oat milk, condensed milk drizzle, ice
• Dirty Thai-ger — $7 — Vietnamese espresso, Thai iced tea, condensed milk drizzle
• Electric — $7 — Vietnamese espresso, oat milk, cardamom, vanilla syrup, condensed milk drizzle, ice
• Mango Sticky Rice Latte — $7 — mango syrup, oat milk, Vietnamese espresso, coconut condensed milk, toasted mung beans
• The Mind — $7 — Vietnamese espresso, honey, Chagaccino mushroom blend, oat milk
• Paris by Night — $6.50 — Vietnamese espresso, sesame milk, cayenne syrup, mocha syrup, cinnamon

Classic drinks

• Vietnamese Cold Brew — $6
• Latte — $4
• Cappuccino — $4.50
• Cortado — $3.50
• Macchiato — $3.50
• Americano — $3.50
• Black Coffee — $3

Non-coffee

• Madoka — $6.50
• Mailman — $6.50
• Golden Excellence — $6
• Thaiger — $6
• Purple Dragon — $5
• Vietnamese Hot Chocolate — $4

Tea (Tian Tea)

• Ceylon, Chrysanthemum, Green Ginseng, Green Osmanthus, Oolong Peach — $5 each
• Earth’s Medicine — price not listed

Seasonal / rotating

Seasonal drinks rotate; recent examples listed on the menu page include Taiyaki, Fireplace Matcha, Spice Kabocha, and Congee.¹⁰ — seasonal lineup changes; confirm current offerings on the next refresh.

Food

House pastries and food are supplied by local partners — Mr. D’s Donuts, MooYuei Baker, and Liquid Garden Co.; specific items rotate and are not individually priced on the menu page.¹⁰ No standalone retail Vietnamese coffee beans were listed on the menu page on this pass; a separate merch store (cafecaphe.myshopify.com) carries branded merchandise.¹⁰ — retail bean sales not confirmed.

See also

• downtown-kc
• Registry

Sources

Footnotes

1. Daily Coffee News, “Cafe Cà Phê Puts Vietnamese Coffee in the Spotlight in Kansas City” (Sept 14, 2022). https://dailycoffeenews.com/2022/09/14/cafe-ca-phe-puts-vietnamese-coffee-in-the-spotlight-in-kansas-city/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. KCTV5, “Impactful Women of KC: Jackie Nguyen x Café Cà Phê” (Mar 1, 2024). https://www.kctv5.com/2024/03/01/impactful-women-kc-jackie-nguyen-x-caf-c-ph/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Official site — CAFÉ CÀ PHÊ. https://www.cafecaphe.com/ ↩

4. KCUR, “Café Cà Phê is finally opening, and neighbors say it’s breathing new life into Columbus Park” (Aug 13, 2022). https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2022-08-13/cafe-ca-phe-is-finally-opening-and-neighbors-say-its-breathing-new-life-into-columbus-park ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Startland News, “New in KC: Why Jackie Nguyen hit the brakes on acting to open a mobile coffee cafe” (Sept 2020). https://startlandnews.com/2020/09/jackie-nguyen-cafe-ca-phe/ ↩ ↩²

6. Feast Magazine, “After years on wheels, Cafe Cà Phê is set to open its brick and mortar coffee shop in Columbus Park” (2022). https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/after-years-on-wheels-cafe-c-ph-is-set-to-open-its-brick-and-mortar/article_6d3e1ba8-db7b-11ec-b71d-af2382be6a86.html ↩ ↩²

7. Asian American Chamber of Commerce of KC, “Cafe Cà Phê’s brick & mortar grand opening on August 13th.” https://www.asianchamberkc.com/posts/congratulations-to-cafe-ca-phes-brick-mortar-grand-opening-on-august-13th ↩

8. KCUR, “Cafe Cà Phê is launching its own nonprofit to support Kansas City’s Asian communities” (Jan 24, 2025). https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2025-01-24/cafe-ca-phe-hella-good-deeds-kansas-city-asian-culture ↩

9. Yelp business listing — Cafe Cà Phê, 916 E 5th St (phone number). https://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-c%C3%A0-ph%C3%AA-kansas-city-2 ↩

10. Official site — “THE DRINKS” menu page, CAFÉ CÀ PHÊ (menu items, descriptions, and prices verified 2026-06-16). https://www.cafecaphe.com/menu ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵