Latest Ranking – Cà Phê

It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated this list, but here are Mr. Nguyen’s latest rankings for the San Jose coffee shops.   There are some new cafes that have sprung up as well as a few that have changed locations. Some have closed as well. The rankings reflect the cafes as a whole (girls, venue, coffee, food, service, girls, smoking/non-smoking, and girls).

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*The opinions expressed by the mrnguyen.org bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of mrnguyen.org. Mrnguyen.org is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the bloggers.

1.  Em Quyen
1998 Tully Rd.
San Jose, CA 95122
I believe the general consensus is that Em Quyen is the best café right now.  Most guys on this forum love this place, and it’s a constant subject of conversation. I’ve decided to move it to #1. It’s a great place to grab a cup of coffee in the morning before work.  With smoking banned all day, this place is one of the cleanest.  Deanna, Alina, and Melanie keep EQ one of the best cafes in San Jose.  Quyen is still one of the prettiest owners around SJ.  This place gets packed frequently, and due to the small size of the café, it’s not uncommon to share tables with complete strangers.  There are plenty of HD TVs to watch your favorite soccer matches or football games. No food is served here, but you can run next door to Subway or the taqueria, and bring your food over to enjoy the games on TV.  Coffee is $6/cup.  The shop closes around 5PM.

2. Paradise Cafe
2400 Monterey Rd.
San Jose, CA 95111
www.instagram.com/cafeparadise408
Paradise remains #1 in my books because of hospitality and talent. Their staff remains top notch in San Jose, and at any given time, they have about 3 or 4 girls working in lingerie. Their notables include Christine, Kelly, Janet, and Jenny. Sadly, Ruby Renegade left, and she will be greatly missed. They have plenty of TVs for your sports viewing pleasure and a nice outdoor patio with umbrellas and heaters for cold weather. Parking can be problematic at times, but I just park across the street at the motel if it’s full. The location is somewhat out of the way for those working the tech scene, but they do have some great food options at their shop as well as many options around the café for those engineers looking for a spot to eat and drink Viet coffee. I believe this is the only remaining SJ coffee shop with $5 coffee.

3. HS Coffee & Juices (a.k.a. Hotspot Café)   (www.instagram.com/hs_sj)
2133 Morill Ave.
San Jose, CA 95132
Hotspot remains high in my book because of the great service.  The location is a bit far from the hustle and bustle of Little Saigon, but it is well worth the drive.  The attire is strictly PG, but it’s a somewhat refreshing change from the more risqué cafes.  They’ve branded the Hotspot name and have been known to pass out T-shirts and sweaters with their brand on it.  The venue is spacious, and the waitresses are extremely friendly and attentive.  They make an effort to remember the regulars by name here, which actually gives this place a more intimate feel. Smoking has been banned completely. Some of the notable waitresses include Kathy, Nhi, Nhi, Jaylynn, and boss lady, Thuy-Anh and sisters, Mai and PA. They have plenty of TVs to watch your favorite sporting event, Vietnamese and Korean pop, or EDM and hip hop music videos. During football season, it’s probably one of the best places to watch every single football game on TV. They offer a variety of food and drinks for a very affordable price.  Beer is now on the menu. Coffee is $6/cup.  Visit their Instagram site to get updates on who is working.

4. Fantasy Café
1040 McLaughlin Ave
San Jose, CA 95122
Dream Café
2444 Alvin Avenue
San Jose, CA 95121
https://www.facebook.com/Fantasy-Cafe- 820415021345938/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dream-Cafe/1506502706241235
Fantasy Café (formerly CN1) and Dream Café (formerly CN2) have slipped a little in the last year. They’ve lost Nicole, arguably the hottest viet café waitress of all time. The cafés are lingerie/bikini only, but their uniforms are probably the most creative of all the cafes and leaves a little bit to the imagination. Boss lady, Chi Uyen, has a great eye for Vietnamese café fashion. The waitresses are by far some of the hottest girls in the history of Vietnamese coffee shops in San Jose.  Tran, Kathy, Missy, and a few other waitresses round out their roster.  These two cafes are a great place to take people who are new to the Vietnamese coffee scene.  No one I have brought has ever been disappointed.  Fantasy and Dream Cafe have banned the smoking inside all day and night.  Coffee is $6/cup.

5. Remedy Cafe  (www.instagram.com/remedy.sj)
1150 Murphy Ave. Suite C
San Jose, CA
Remedy is a new café in San Jose located on the corner of Murphy Ave. and Old Oakland happens to be conveniently located near my office making it easy for me to come here during my lunch break. Ngoc (a.k.a Lily and Roxanne) of EQ fame owns this shop, and she wisely chose a location near all the tech companies along North First Street. Remedy is an excellent café, and from the start, Ngoc has run this place the way I would if I ever owned a café. The talent level is
excellent, the place is non-smoking and clean, there are plenty of TVs, food is great, music is good but not deafening, and the vibe is chill. At any given time, there are two waitresses working. They are extremely friendly and have been known to sit down and chit chat. Typical attire is skirts and bra or bikini. Coffee is $6/cup. You can visit their Instagram site to get updates on who’s working.

6.  Nguyen Espresso
1659 Tully Rd.
San Jose, CA 95122
I’ve decided to move NE up to the #6 spot. They have improved the talent level, but I still believe the top 5 have the best talent. Risqué factor is like EQ. Venue is small and cramped, but it is clean (relatively speaking) due to the non-smoking policy.  The service is decent. This place is recommended for newbies to the coffee shop scene if they want to see what these cafes are all about. Coffee is $6/cup.

7.  Palm Café (www.instagram.com/palm.cafe)
1969 Tully Rd. San Jose, CA 95122
I decided to move Palm Café to #7, but it could be higher if they banned cigarettes. The waitresses rank high on the hotness scale, and their uniforms do not leave a lot to the imagination, but the smoke absolutely kills this place. I would like to visit this place more often, but I can only stand the cigarettes for so long. Waitresses are generally hot. Julie, Tina, and
Kathy are their notables. You can view their roster on their Instagram. They do serve beer here, which bumps this place up a few spots.

8. Pandora Café (Closed.)
1174 N. Capitol Ave.
San Jose, CA 95132
I have mixed opinions about this cafe. Pandora is big with lots of TVs, but I can’t frequent this place much because of the cigarettes. The girls dress like they do at Hotspot, so essentially tank tops and mini-skirts. They have recently brought in waitresses from the OC, and if they continue to do this, it should draw a larger crowd to their shop. As a result, I’ve moved them up a couple notches. The venue itself looks nice and is very spacious, and they do serve food here as well.

9. Thoa Café
999 Story Rd., San Jose, CA – Vietnam Town
Thoa Café monopolizes the café scene in Vietnam Town.  Unfortunately, Thoa Café allows smoking all day now, and as a result, I have not moved this place up the ladder. My favorite waitress here is Jasmine. She is very easy on the eyes and very friendly at the same time. Waitresses are dressed in lingerie. It’s located conveniently next to Pho 90 and Com 90. Coffee is $6/cup.

10. Quynh Huong
2441 Alvin Ave
San Jose, CA 95121
Quynh Huong Café is formerly Courtyard/Vogue and is still located across the street from Chuck E Cheese off of Tully Rd. I haven’t been able to check this place out, personally. Phuong (formerly Ozone and Tao) works here. It’s a nice, big venue with plenty of TVs. They have a wide selection of food and drinks, including alcohol. The cigarettes ruin this place. It does not make sense to me why they have a huge courtyard if they are going to allow smoking inside. Non-smokers can’t escape the smoke, inside or out..

11. Tylan Café
Capitol Ave.
San Jose, CA 95133
Tylan is a decent, little café. Coffee is good, and they have plenty of TVs for sports. They allow smoking inside and out, unfortunately. But they do have their loyal regulars there.

12. V Café
1692 Tully Rd. Ste 1, San Jose, CA 95122 – behind National Summit bank. Next to former Quyen Café.

13. Xinh Xinh Café
1075 Tully Rd, at the corner of Mc Laughlin. Same plaza with Com Tam Dat Thanh.

14. Dolce Expresso
Located at the corner of Quimby and Tully Rd.  Same plaza with Michael’s.

15. Café Dạ Thảo
Located on Story Road across the street from Walmart.

2,454 thoughts on “Latest Ranking – Cà Phê”

  2. Couple places in OC gonna open 6/1. Stars and another

    SJ May follow suit.

  3. Restaurants are starting to open, I think the cafes might be back around June 1 🙂

  4. You are right, KAG. There was a recall petition to remove Gavin Nuisance. Maybe it is still circulating. . . . I tried recalling my ex-girliefriend but she was smart enough to reject me ha ha 🙂

    1. It’s not my ex girliefriend. She’s ugly in places most women don’t even have places! 🙂 I hope Mel is doing well.

  6. I been working from home saving so much money, but I can’t spend it at Coffee and tip the girls. The Irony.

    1. When it reopens social distancing enforced. This is kiss of death for these shops.

      1. maybe not completely – CN1 has the floor space to separate the tables and the waitresses could wear masks and nothing else and we would all gladly pay a cover charge to get in. Anyways, I can dream can’t I?

        1. separate tables? one customer per table, right? you can’t have 3-4 sitting at one table. do i have to wait outside for a seat? how the hell can you make a profit to stay in business?

          2. restaurants can let a group of 4-6 people sit at a table, but each table has to be over 6ft away from each other.
            It can work, if CA recognizes that coffeehouses are effectively restaurants.

    2. To go back to the good old coffee shop days, go out and vote Trump and Republicans this November! And recall Gavin Newsom!

      2. You are right, KAG. There was a recall petition to remove Gavin Nuisance. Maybe it is still circulating. . . . I tried recalling my ex-girliefriend but she was smart enough to reject me ha ha 🙂

    1. According to Gavin Nuisance, the coffee shops will re-open in August. Coffee shops will only be served outside the shop and only for curb side pickups.

        1. I give up hope things will reopen or if they do, won’t be same. Was a fun ride. Only SJ OC and Houston has these type of shops not many experienced being in one. If they find vaccine maybe can go beck to past. Doubt vaccine will ever be made for this virus that mutates

          1. I think NE and EQ will eventually shutdown. who will go and pick up their crappy coffee? I go to sit down and relax for an hour or so and for the girls not the stupid drinks. i rather go to starbucks!

          3. Not my field but my understanding is this virus is not a rapidly mutating type do vaccine is possible.

  8. Hey guys, my coffee shop is open again. I renamed it as “Starbucks” so please come and visit me.

    LuvTran

  9. What if EQ changes it’s name to Costco, Home Depot or Safeway? Or Tesla? Can they reopen now?

  10. Tomorrow the Supreme Court is going to rule on a case. If the case doesn’t rule Trump’s way I will bet money Trump will ignore the Supreme Court. This will be interesting. If Trump ignores the Supreme Court Fox News will run to support him for ignoring the court and everyone here will do the same.

    2. That being said there might not be anything Trump can do about it since the bank might just comply.

  11. Obamagate! Trump said it’s a huge scandal! He said we all know! Obamagate!

  12. does anyone know what happened to the haircut ladies near Valleyfair, named Tu and Tao?

    1. If you believe that isn’t just an empty bluff, I have shares in the Brooklyn Bridge I want to sell you.

      1. Good point. Should the Coffee Shops retain you as their attorney to sue Santa Clara County?

      2. Don’t be so sure. He Musk may want out and this may be his opportunity to move to a cheaper location. Company burns lots of money.

        1. and most of the money he burns comes from californians and the state of California and santa clara county. follow the money.

          2. Money comes from multiple sources not just the county. Other states would line up to cut a deal.

          3. dollars 2 do-nuts he stays right where he is: too many suckers (government and individual) to bleed in Ca and he loves the spotlight – where better than in the Golden State?

      1. You won’t be able to tell that Janet works at coffee shop from her instagram page

        1. Not sure about that. Noticed how bad the strip clubs (even before Coronavirus) are at the center of Silicon Valley innovations? Any more innovation might totally destroy the scene LOL.

  18. Will the SJ Coffee Shops now open defying the current tyrannical lockdown laws, like many salons and barbershops with balls doing around the country? Will you support and go to these Coffee Shops now? I would because I’m too old to keep waiting and dying out of natural causes, and I hate to not being able to see Mel at least once more before I die. To each his own.

      1. I agree. Hopefully people of California will learn from this experience and finally use their power (votes) correctly this year.

  19. Tran is hotter than Mel, but my money goes to Mel because Mel knows my name, greets me when I walk in and says bye when I leave.

    1. I agree. I think Tran is hotter as well. Her shop is open for takeout. Stopped by last week. Go out grab a drink and support if you’re a fan.

          1. Nah, Tran’s face is the best part of her.
            She can wear socks and nothing else.

          2. Seriously? You mean no glove during pandemic? I prefer she wears matching white gloves and socks… ONLY!!!

          3. Did anyone visit any cafe during Shelter in Place? Who is open for coffee to go?

      2. I’m not going to buy over priced coffee just to get a 10 sec peak of Tran wearing street wear.

    2. Where does Tran work? I’ve never seen her. Does she have an Instagram acct?

  21. Heather!

    I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day
    When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May
    Well I guess you’d say
    What can make me feel this way?
    Heather (Heather, Heather)
    Talkin’ ’bout Heather (Heather)
    I’ve got so much honey the bees envy me
    I’ve got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees
    Well I guess you’d say
    What can make me feel this way?
    Heather (Heather, Heather)
    Talkin’ ’bout Heather (Heather ooh)
    Hey hey hey
    Hey hey hey
    Ooh yeah
    I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame (ooh hey hey hey)
    I’ve got all the riches baby one man can claim (oh yes I do)
    I guess you’d say
    What can make me feel this way?
    Heather (Heather, Heather)
    Talkin’ ’bout my…

    1. I just wrote this and I want to share it with you.

      You must be a special lady
      And a very exciting girl
      You gotta be a special lady
      ‘Cause you got me sittin’ on top of the world
      Sittin’ on top of the world

      Somehow I knew it would be you
      To change my gray skies to blue
      And it was strange when you called my name
      Ever since that day I haven’t been the same, ooh

      Before I met you, my sun didn’t want to shine
      Then all of a suddenly you slipped up from behind
      Pop (Pop) went the reason in my mind

      A sweet special lady
      And a very exciting girl (ooh, so exciting)
      You gotta be a special lady (what a lady)
      ‘Cause you got me sittin’ on top of the world
      Sittin’ on top of the world

      I was like a song so out of key
      Then you came and gave my soul a melody
      Thanks to you, for pullin’ me through
      I’ve always lost but now I win with you

      Before I met you, my sun didn’t want to shine
      Then all of a suddenly you slipped up from behind
      Pop (pop) went the reason in my mind

      (You must be a special lady) you’re a lady
      (And a very exciting girl) so exciting, woo
      (You gotta be a special lady) you’re a lady
      (‘Cause you got me sittin’ on top of the world)
      Oh, sittin’ on top of the world
      You’re a lady
      (Sittin’ on top of the world)
      (Sittin’ on top of the world)

      Before I met you, my sun didn’t want to shine
      Then all of a suddenly you slipped up from behind
      Pop (Pop) went the reason in my mind

    1. Do you have their Instagram/snap/onlyfans link? Need to make sure we are talking about the same person

          1. Nam not raunchy anymore. (She used to be though). I’d try the dishwasher for extras if that’s what u r looking for.

          1. I’m not sure how far you’ll get with the dishwasher either but better chance than with Nam.

    4. Tran, even though a bit older. But she’s way too conservative for SJ or LA Coffee, IMHO.

      1. Conservative!?!

        Tran is good looking and she has a nice body; but she isn’t flirtatious nor seductive! And let alone playful/connective!

        Heather is playful and she tries to connect with her customers. Jessica of CQ is older but she connected with her customers; I don’t question her motive.

        I wonder where Tiffany is these days.

        1. You mean CN1/2, and I forgot the other shop opposite of Walmart, … that Tiffany? The one for whom we used to debate which color dental floss she would wear the next day? Damn man, you just killed me with that golden memory

          3. CQ Tiffany Was a girl that most every guy that came into Café Quyen wanted.(but got stuck with Jessica) For the most of her 10 years working there she was conservative. Just bikini and loose fitting bra. You could see her nips when she sat next to you. The last few months of her career she went to pasties and sometimes TL Only one time did I see her shaved BL. For some of us regulars she liked. Would get to go in the back and play with great titties. Miss those titties and her butt. I used to see her walking her dog. Not seen her for awhile now.

          4. My recall is the two Tiffani’s are way way different. If you not seen them before, CN Tiffany
            was a great performer. CQ Tiffany she was more reserved but found her sexy hot and enjoyed interaction towards the end.

          5. Tiffany would not do anything in the open. Like the other ones did. She was taking customer in the restroom the last month before they closed. One time she come out with this really old guy. She had goo in her hair. He could hardly walk.

          6. I wish Tiffany/Jessica/Mindy were there the last time I was at CQ before they closed for good.

          7. Has anyone seen Jessica lately. Is she still doing her own thing?

        2. No idea. I never made contact outside of CQ but as they say. Dreams and reality rarely match up.

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