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THE COFFEE CULTURE
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T
wo friends of mine, one above
twenty and the other nearly for-
ty, are loyal customers at side-
walk coffee shops. Whenever
they meet me, for work or simply for a
chat, their favourite venues are always
small sidewalk coffee shops. Above all,
comfort is the main reason my friends
favour these places.
Such places are often most animat-
ed from 5 to 7am and then the number
of customers dwindles as the heat of
the day kicks in. Still, a steady stream
of customers come and go throughout
the day. “In one morning, I can sell
hundreds of cups of coffee,” says the
owner of a coffee shop near Park 29-3
in Danang.
Diversification
While coffee street vendors are
faithful to a certain mould, with sun-
shades, small plastic chairs and a cart
fully packed with drinks, newly opened
shops are trying their best to lure young
affluent customers with WiFi, sockets
for laptops and flat-screen TVs.
Sidewalk stalls were once the do-
main of men, but now it is the norm to
see women enjoying a cup, often with
groups of friends.
Sidewalk coffee is also attractive to
customers because they can drop in any-
time without the need to dress properly.
Also, in an air-con shop, they would not
see the vibrant scenes outside.
Success story
One of Danang’s greatest successes
is Long Coffee, which was initially a
small casual shop on Danang city’s Le
Loi street. The shop’s owner, Do Long,
was reportedly a teacher before going
into the coffee business in 1980. Do
Long explored areas including Tam Ky
(Quang Nam province), Tuy Hoa (Phu
Yen province), Huong Hoa (Quang Tri
province) and Bao Loc (Lam Dong prov-
ince) to find the very best coffee beans.
Long Coffee is now one of most
well-known coffee brands in Danang. Its
reputation has also extended to other
central locations. The owner has recently
doubled his shop area to about 60sqm,
but he is still unable to meet demand.
Do Long has also now started dis-
tributing to other coffee shops in Dan-
ang and he has built a second shop, Bao
Nam Tram.
Bursting point?
It has been asked whether there
are now too many coffee shops in Da-
nang. Some wonder whether the high
number of shops is due to the high
rate of unemployment in the city. How-
ever, I would argue against this. People
in each region of Vietnam have their
own way of enjoying life. In Danang,
the habit of drinking coffee has gradu-
ally grown into a shop-based drinking
culture. People love to come to these
shops to talk and begin a new day. That
explains why there are so many full cof-
fee shops in Danang.
In the central city of Danang,
ca phe coc
, or sidewalk coffee, is still king. Almost
every street will have one if not many coffee shops, most featuring low plastic
chairs, minimal décor and cheap, but incredible brews. By
Thuy Hoang
Sidewalk coffee