Seattle tea shop mogul opens Strip location featuring ‘instant’ cans
It’s way cooler than the usual lid.
When you order a Hanoi coffee or other beverage at Trà Viet Coffee & Tea, which just opened in the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, the drink is mixed in a clear plastic vessel akin to a 16-ounce beer can. A sealing machine affixes an aluminum top with a pop-up opening: again, akin to a beer can. Grab, go, sip.
Jacqueline Nguyen founded Trà Viet in 2020 in the Seattle area. She made it through the pandemic to open three other stores in the region. Las Vegas, where she has frequently visited The Venetian, is the first Trà Viet outside Washington state.
“I like to be where I feel safe. We were daring enough to build out a space with no water, no sewer, no grease tap,” Nguyen said of the location, a former gift shop and clothing store. “I want to share Vietnamese culture through drinks.”
The footprint and procedure in Vegas are the same as in Seattle. You order and pay at the flat-screen menu, then head to the counter for pickup. There’s no seating. The menu runs to Vietnamese iced coffees, iced lattes, milk teas, flower teas, iced teas and lemonades. Nguyen added the Red Bull boba drinks for Vegas (because party). Drip coffee is on the way.
Drinks are $9. Honey boba, crystal boba, lychee jelly and chia toppings are additional.
Once The Venetian shop has settled in, Nguyen said, she will begin considering stores in other casinos. Trà Viet Coffee & Tea is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and is located by the South Canal turnaround of the Grand Canal Shoppes. Visit trateabar.com.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on X.
