Update on the Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe in Portland

One of the creative drinks at Trung Nguyên Legend. — Their marketing photos are so pretty. Photo credit: Trung Nguyen Legend.

Back in June 2024, I noticed that a modest building on SE Powell was set to become a Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe. As I mentioned in that article, “Trung Nguyên is a major name in Vietnamese coffee, and along with their manufacturing and retail efforts, their cafes are some of the most popular in Vietnam.” I have a few updates to share.

The Location

I stopped by the location last December, and then this past weekend and saw that while it remains pretty nondescript from the outside, the exterior logo signage has been installed.

Looking west toward the front of the building.

You can also see on the side of the building the “ND” of “LEGEND” sticking out.

Looking at the side of the building. Off-street parking will be to the right.

Harmony Decor

The interior design firm Harmony Decor looks to be the folks designing the space. They have designed a number of commercial spaces that you may be familiar with: Better Days Cafe, Cha’ba Thai, Hong Phat Supercenter, Ba Mee Thai Noodle House, and many more. Their clients are overwhelmingly Asian-owned businesses, and prominent ones at that, so it makes sense that they would be hired to work on something as significant as Portland’s first Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe.

So how did I figure out that Harmony Decor was involved? Nestor Ngo, founder of and designer at Harmony Decor, was the Appellant in an appeal filed with the city having to do alteration of the structure and fire resistance. In that appeal is a filed plan of the interior that shows their proposed floor plan.

The Proposed Layout of the Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe

Floor plan for the Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe in Portland, Oregon. — Click to enlarge.

Definitely click to enlarge, as there is a lot going on here. On the right hand side would be the entrance off of SE Powell Blvd. Eight parking spots are to the building’s east, with one for disabled parking.

And while this schematic is full of “inside baseball” stuff from a designer’s standpoint, it’s still pretty interesting to see where they planned to put things. Also, a plumbing permit application was filed in November 22, 2024, so they are chugging along with the nitty-gritty work needed for this project.

I have contacted both Harmony Decor and the US-based Trung Nguyên Legend folks, but alas, no response. Perhaps they need some time. But whenever new details come my way, I’ll share them here.

Trung Nguyên Legend Cafe [projected opening TBD]
8435 SE Powell Blvd, Portland
trungnguyenlegend.us | Instagram