From Pho to Coffee, Vietnamese Cuisine Is Spreading Across KC

Several longstanding restaurants—Cafe Vie, Vietnam Café, Pho Lan, to name a few—have long formed the backbone of Kansas City’s Vietnamese dining scene. Vietnam Café and Pho Lan sit in Columbus Park, where, along with much of the broader Northeast, many Vietnamese immigrants settled after the Vietnam War. Together, these restaurants defined what Kansas City understands as a proper bowl of pho, a bun bowl or a plate of broken rice.

Today, however, a steady new crop of restaurants and cafes is expanding what Vietnamese food looks like here in the Midwest. Their arrival begs the question: Is Kansas City having a Vietnamese food renaissance?

When news that Columbus Park’s Vietnam Café will open a second location in Overland Park broke this year, locals rejoiced as if the Chiefs had just clinched another AFC playoff spot. I can only imagine how long that drive-thru line will be once the doors open (yes, there will be a drive-thru). Another opening that sparked excitement is Origin Coi Nguon, a proudly Vietnamese coffeehouse off North Oak Trafficway pouring brews made with dark, chocolatey Robusta beans, occasionally topped with a pinch of salt. Origin Coi Nguon follows Café Cà Phê, the city’s first Vietnamese coffee shop, which opened in 2020 and helped build the city’s appetite for Vietnam’s coffee culture.

And it’s not just coffee. The banh mi—a wondrous handheld stacked with grilled meats, pickled carrots, herbs and jalapeños, all tucked into a crisp baguette—is having a moment of its own. Paris Banh Mi opened toward the end of 2023, and BB Banh Mi followed this year (also rolling out a drive-thru). More openings continue to pile on: Banh Mi KC inside Overland Park’s 888 International Market, Pho Noodle Go in Lee’s Summit. The list keeps growing.

Call it a renaissance; call it a long-overdue awakening. Either way, KC’s Vietnamese food scene is booming. If you’re not already exploring it, now’s the time to grab a spoon, a banh mi or a salt-dusted cà phê and dive in.

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