Cafeography
Ho Chi Minh City · District 1

Cafés in District 1

Café apartments on Nguyễn Huệ, floor coffee beside the cathedral and 24-hour cafés downtown.

Photo: Đức Đỗ, Pexels License

District 1 is the old downtown, and since July 2025 it has officially been four wards: Sài Gòn, Bến Thành, Tân Định and Cầu Ông Lãnh.1 Sài Gòn ward holds Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, the Opera House and Nguyễn Huệ; Bến Thành ward has the market, Independence Palace and the Bùi Viện walking street.23 Hotels and guides still say District 1.1

For coffee, it is the district of reused buildings. Cafés fill the floors of the mid-century apartment block at 42 Nguyễn Huệ and the century-old one at 14 Tôn Thất Đạm, and on the pavement beside the cathedral, cà phê bệt, coffee drunk sitting on the ground, has gone on for years.567 Around them are three cafés that never close and a few specialty bars.

Local tip: At 42 Nguyễn Huệ, ride the lift to the top once and pick a café on the way back down the stairs; some refund the lift fee with your bill.5

At a glance

443Cafés listed
32With opening hours
06:00Earliest opening
00:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Con soc Caffee, from 06:00 (Daily 06:00–21:00).
  • Closes latest: Cà Phê F.r.i.e.n.d.s, until 00:00 (Daily 09:00–00:00).
  • Most listed streets: Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai (14), Nguyễn Du (11), Trần Hưng Đạo (11).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (9%), open late (4%), outdoor seating (2%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Ho Chi Minh City.

Coffee chains in District 1

Chain

Trung Nguyên Coffee

Show 31 locations
Website Facebook
Chain

Highlands Coffee

Show 28 locations
Website Facebook
Chain

Phúc Long Coffee & Tea

Show 12 locations
Website Facebook

Getting around District 1

Metro Line 1, running since 22 December 2024, starts underground at Bến Thành and stops at the Opera House and Ba Son before it crosses the river toward Thảo Điền. Single tickets cost 7,000–20,000₫ in cash or 6,000–19,000₫ cashless.9

Most of the rest is walkable. Nguyễn Huệ, a 670 m boulevard from City Hall to the river, has had a pedestrian square down its middle since 29 April 2015.4 It began as the Grand Canal, which residents asked to have filled because of the smell; the work was finished in 1886–1887.4

Café apartments: 42 Nguyễn Huệ and 14 Tôn Thất Đạm

The block at 42 Nguyễn Huệ has nine floors, two wings on each level above the ground floor, and a slow lift that cost 3,000₫ a ride in 2024; some cafés refund it when you pay.5 Over the decades it housed government staff, US military advisors, naval officers and shipyard workers, and it has been threatened with demolition.5 Cà Phê Boo is one of the cafés with an address there.

The building at 14 Tôn Thất Đạm is lower and older. In 2014 Tuổi Trẻ described it as a century-old block where mostly retired residents lived alongside seven or eight cafés and fashion shops, Mockingbird among them.6 Cà Phê Mocking Bird is at that address today.

Floor coffee around the cathedral

Công viên 30/4 (30 April Park) runs along the side of Notre-Dame Cathedral and has long been the meeting point for cà phê bệt: the vendors have no tables or chairs and give you a sheet of newspaper to sit on.7 Evenings and weekends are crowded, weekday mornings quieter.7 A short walk west of the cathedral, Cà Phê Đá is at 4 Alexandre de Rhodes and Cà Phê Press at 14.

The cathedral has been under restoration since 1 July 2017. Its two gilded crosses went back onto the spires on the morning of 19 March 2026, and the priest leading the work said no completion date had been set.8

Early, late and specialty coffee in District 1

Cà Phê Snob at 147A Trần Hưng Đạo, LOWKEY COFFEE LC at 159 Nguyễn Du and YoshiYoshi Coffee & Tea at 132 Calmette are open 24 hours. Cà Phê Betta Fish at 152 Võ Văn Kiệt and Đen Cafe, in an alley off Nguyễn Cảnh Chân, open at 06:00. At the late end, Cà Phê F.r.i.e.n.d.s, down an alley off Thủ Khoa Huân, serves until midnight and Cà Phê Bookworm on Đỗ Quang Đẩu until 23:30.

For specialty coffee, Tonkin Speciality Coffee is at 91 Lý Tự Trọng (08:00–21:00) and Every Half Coffee Roasters at 19A Ngô Văn Năm (07:00–21:30).11 The Workshop Coffee, at 27 Ngô Đức Kế, opens 08:00–21:00 and charged 60,000–110,000₫ a drink in August 2026.10

Sources

  1. A Post-Merger Guide To Ho Chi Minh City: Understanding The City, Vietcetera (July 27, 2025), accessed October 2026
  2. Sài Gòn (phường), Wikipedia (Vietnamese), accessed October 2026
  3. Bến Thành (phường), Wikipedia (Vietnamese), accessed October 2026
  4. Nguyễn Huệ Boulevard, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. The Café Apartment on Saigon's Walking Street, Vietnam Coracle (updated October 2024), accessed October 2026
  6. Old apartment buildings in Vietnam now bustling with cafés, fashion shops, Tuổi Trẻ News (September 30, 2014), accessed October 2026
  7. Vị Sài Gòn ở cà phê bệt, VnExpress (July 25, 2014), accessed October 2026
  8. Khoảnh khắc hai thánh giá mạ vàng trở lại đỉnh nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn, Tuổi Trẻ (March 19, 2026), accessed October 2026
  9. Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line 1, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  10. Vietnam coffee deep dive: prices checked August 2026, Vietnamspot (August 11, 2026), accessed October 2026
  11. Every Half: Vietnam Specialty Coffee Roasters Exemplifies Vietnam's Evolving Coffee Industry, Saigoneer (June 2, 2023), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Ho Chi Minh City

Đa Kao & Tân Định

130 cafés

District 3

310 cafés

Phú Nhuận

249 cafés

Bình Thạnh

420 cafés

Thảo Điền & District 2

313 cafés

District 5 & Chợ Lớn

373 cafés

District 7

328 cafés

In District 1, also browse: Specialty coffee Wi-Fi Open by 6am Open late 24 hours Outdoor seating

FAQ

District 1 cafés: questions

What is the café apartment at 42 Nguyễn Huệ in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City?

It is a nine-storey apartment block on the Nguyễn Huệ walking street whose flats are now mostly cafés and shops. It once housed government staff, US military advisors, naval officers and shipyard workers. A slow lift cost 3,000₫ a ride in 2024, and some cafés refund the fee when you pay; the stairs are free.

Where is cà phê bệt near Notre-Dame Cathedral in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City?

Cà phê bệt, coffee drunk sitting on the ground, gathers in 30/4 Park beside Notre-Dame Cathedral. The vendors work without tables or chairs and hand out newspaper to sit on. Evenings and weekends are busiest and weekday mornings calmer. The cathedral has been under restoration since July 2017; its gilded crosses returned to the spires in March 2026.

Which District 1 cafés in Ho Chi Minh City are open 24 hours?

Cà Phê Snob at 147A Trần Hưng Đạo, LOWKEY COFFEE LC at 159 Nguyễn Du and YoshiYoshi Coffee & Tea at 132 Calmette never close. For an early start, Cà Phê Betta Fish on Võ Văn Kiệt opens at 06:00, and for a late one Cà Phê F.r.i.e.n.d.s, off Thủ Khoa Huân, stays open until midnight.

For café owners

Own a café in District 1?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design