OLD TOWN — The first thing Vung Nguyen sees every morning on her way to Cassava Café is a neon orange “Work Zone” sign at the intersection of North LaSalle and Division streets.
At the onset of what promises to be a warm summer, Nguyen worries about keeping sales up and gaining more customers at her typically bustling bubble tea shop, one of Chicago's first independently owned outposts for the Taiwanese drink.
“People choose to walk on the other side of the road now,” said Nguyen, owner of the Old Town cafe at 1211 N. LaSalle Drive. “It’s easy to miss."
McHugh Construction Co. is building The Sinclair Luxury Apartments right next door, slated for a January 2017 opening. There is also a Jewel-Osco being built in the area.
Nguyen opened Cassava Café in summer 2015 as a place for people who wanted to stay out late at night without having to drink in a bar. The café has a colorful shelf filled with board games and books that can be rented for as little as $5. If you buy something, you can play the games for free.
But what makes Cassava Café truly special, apart from its use of 100 percent organic ingredients, is the owner’s remarkable story.
Nguyen and her family fled from Vietnam to a refugee camp in Hong Kong when she was only 3 years old.
Throughout her life, Nguyen said she's been a fighter. Despite facing serious health problems during her time at Occidental College in Los Angeles, she dreamed of becoming a doctor and started on that path by taking a job in the health care industry in Colorado.
But her life took an abrupt right turn after a short trip to Chicago that year.
“I would crave bubble tea late into the night, but most shops, like Kung Fu Tea and Vivi Tea in Chinatown close early,” she said. “When I found this space, I decided to open a bubble tea café that would appeal to the people in this area and offer others like me a space to hang out till midnight or 1 a.m., without having to go to a bar.”
But an independent bubble tea café in one of Chicago’s wealthiest areas comes with its own share of troubles, particularly with heavy construction right outside the location.
One recent Saturday, the café had to stay closed as the water supply was shut off from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Eunice Ro, a regular customer, said she lost out on the chance to have a fun evening.
“My boyfriend’s family was in town, and we really wanted to come to Cassava, but we had to go elsewhere as the café was shut,” she said.
“There’s a sense of community here that you don’t find at a Starbucks, and personally I would be quite sad if this café wasn’t around for my usual fix of bubble tea.”
Despite more people walking into the store for a cool drink as temperatures climb, Nguyen also worries about the food trucks that are parked on the street every morning.
“Our regulars keep coming, but we’ll lose out on random customers. During the summer, we were really banking on them to increase our sales ... now they have to walk on the other side of the road.”
What adds to her worries is the recent news of a Starbucks opening up inside the upcoming Jewel-Osco.
“The people living here, I feel like because they’ve been around for so long, all they know is Starbucks. It’s always in your face.”
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