A San Diego-based specialty coffee concept is making its Northern California debut in Elk Grove.
Em Coffeehouse, founded by Nick Truong in the fall of 2024, is set to open at 7440 Laguna Blvd, Suite 111 in the city’s Laguna Pavilion. Truong told What Now Sacramento that this will be the café’s first Northern California location, with several additional outposts currently in development elsewhere.
Designed as a welcoming community hub, Em Coffeehouse aims to be a place where guests can slow down, connect, and “BE IN THE MOMENT”—the café’s tagline and guiding philosophy. The Elk Grove location will offer seating for approximately 20 to 30 guests, including a lounge-style area and a central island where customers can plug in their laptops, work, or linger over a drink.
“[Em] is more than just your average mom-and-pop coffee shop,” Truong said. “My vision is to create a space where people can get together and enjoy what I call modern Vietnamese coffee culture… Coffee is not just a drink anymore—you know, grab-and-go—but it’s more of a cultural experience that brings people together.”
The café specializes in Vietnamese phin drip coffee, premium espresso drinks made with Arabica beans imported directly from Vietnam, and ceremonial matcha from Japan. Truong also highlighted Em’s viral coffee flights, which allow customers to sample multiple visually stunning and Instagram-worthy beverages in one order.
At the Elk Grove location, the menu will feature a variety of innovative drinks, including White Truffle Tiramisu Cream Coffee, Banana Matcha, and Royal Pink Lychee Tea, a delicate blend of oolong and hibiscus with a hint of lychee that gives the drink a naturally pink, picture-perfect hue. A few fresh pastries and light bites will complement the beverages.
“We have a lot of new, innovative, and aesthetic drinks for customers to try out versus a vanilla latte or something like that,” explained Truong. “We acknowledge that there are going to be many people from many different backgrounds… We’re not just looking to serve the Asian community, but we also want to serve and attract other customer bases—whether it’s Hispanics or Americans or different communities.”
Em Coffeehouse is currently under construction, with a projected grand opening in March 2026. Looking ahead, Truong hopes to continue expanding in Northern California, with Roseville already on the radar.
“This is definitely my first rodeo in the Northern California community,” he said. “We hope to bring a touch of aesthetic and a spirit of innovation—unique drinks and fresh ideas for people to try. That’s really the vision behind Em Coffeehouse. We love experimenting with flavors and getting creative with our drinks, so you can expect to see a lot of bold, unique, and exciting flavors.”
