The story
Cheo Leo has been brewing ca phe vot (cloth-filtered coffee) in an alley of the Ban Co neighborhood since 1938, when founder Vinh Ngo started selling it. The coffee is made over a charcoal stove, strained through a fabric filter and kept warm in clay pots, and the family says it still makes it exactly the same way. The blue-and-white room with soot-darkened walls draws decades-long regulars as well as younger visitors looking for old Saigon.
Serves ca phe vot, the cloth-filtered coffee tied to old Saigon. Its history goes back to 1938.
Founded in 1938 by Vinh Ngo. In 2016 his daughter Co Suong and her sisters ran it. In 2022 Dan Viet named his daughter Nguyen Thi Suong (Co Ba) as the operator, helped by her sister and a nephew.
What to order
Iced milk coffee
Saigoneer found it lighter and less syrupy than typical street coffee, with a clean finish
Milk coffee with butter
Butter versions are on the menu
Coffee with coconut cream (weekends)
Only served at weekends
Local tips
Try a coffee with butter added, one of the menu's unusual options.
Come at the weekend if you want coffee with coconut cream. It is only served then.
Check the date before you go: the cafe was reported closed on the 1st and 15th of each month in 2022.
Say it in Vietnamese
“Cho em một ly cà phê vợt nhé.”
One sock-filtered coffee, please.Plan your visit
Opening hours
- Monday
- 06:00–18:00
- Tuesday
- 06:00–18:00
- Wednesday
- 06:00–18:00
- Thursday (today)
- 06:00–18:00
- Friday
- 06:00–18:00
- Saturday
- 06:00–18:00
- Sunday
- 06:00–18:00
When to go
Go in the morning
Getting there
The cafe is at 109/36 Nguyen Thien Thuat, in an alley in the Ban Co area of former District 3. Ask your driver for the alley at number 109.
Open in Google Maps →Where this comes from
History and details come from named press or official sources. Hours and prices can change — travelers help keep them current.
- Google Maps listing · Traveler reviews · 2026
- Dan Viet · Press · 2022 · danviet.vn
- Saigoneer – Hem Gems: A Cuppa in Saigon's Oldest Cafe · Press · 2016 · saigoneer.com
- Ngoc Trai Nui Ca Phe · Traveler reviews · 2024 · ngoctrainui.vn
- Vietnamese press (research report) · Research
