Larry's Ca Phe

Larry's Ca Phe is a Vietnamese coffee shop on Woodpoint Road in Williamsburg, founded by Tuan Nguyen and named in honor of his adoptive father, Larry Hilton. In the year 2000, Larry Hilton — a dedicated public high school math teacher in Bushwick who also tutored students on the stoop of his Brooklyn home on weekends — traveled to Vietnam and adopted Tuan. A little over a year later, he adopted a second child from Vietnam. Growing up, Tuan always aspired to own a cafe, witnessing firsthand the power of human connection that gathering spaces create. Opening Larry's Ca Phe was also a way for Tuan to reconnect with Vietnamese culture — as an adoptee, he didn't grow up around many Vietnamese people, and the cafe became a means of bringing that community in and sharing it with others. The shop opened on June 18, 2023, in the former home of Tar Pit, a beloved motorcycle-enthusiast cafe that operated at the same address for twelve years. The intimate space is decorated in warm yellow and emerald tones with bar-style seating, creating a cozy atmosphere that feels more like a neighborhood living room than a commercial cafe. Larry's Ca Phe specializes in traditional Vietnamese coffee preparations that are difficult to find elsewhere in Brooklyn. The Ca Phe Sua Da — strong iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk — anchors the menu alongside Ca Phe Muoi (salted coffee, a trending Vietnamese preparation), Egg Coffee (topped with a creamy, velvety egg foam), and coconut matcha shakes. The food menu features banh mi sandwiches and summer rolls, rounding out an authentically Vietnamese cafe experience. The personal story behind the cafe — rooted in cross-cultural adoption, family, and community — has earned Larry's Ca Phe coverage in Greenpointers and a profile on coolstuff.nyc, and a documentary film about the cafe won the Grand Prize at the Shops of New York Film Festival. A second location has since opened in Park Slope at 384 Seventh Avenue.