Telescope Coffee to Open in SoMa

The new cafe's menu will be reflective of owner Jenny Ngo's childhood and world travels.
Telescope Coffee to Open in Soma
Photo: Official

Telescope Coffee, a counter-service, takeout-only cafe and coffee shop, will soon be opening in SoMa, at 451 9th Street, on the corner of 9th and McLea Court.

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Owner Jenny Ngo and her business partner, with whom she’s been friends since childhood, decided to open the coffee shop after years of traveling the world together and separately as an homage to their travels and their childhood.

“We want the menu to have a very nostalgic feel,” says Ngo, who was born and raised in San Francisco. “It’s going to represent the sort of foods and drinks we grew up with. That’s why we’re calling it Telescope–it’s like a close-up view into our lives.”

In the interest of nostalgia, Ngo plans to feature Vietnamese coffee on Telescope’s menu, a drink she grew up with, which will be brewed using a phin filter (a type of coffee filter commonly used in Vietnam, sort of like a french press/pour over hybrid).

Ngo hopes to open Telescope Coffee sometime this summer, and for the time being, will only be offering takeout services. But if ever the world returns to complete normalcy, she hopes to eventually offer seating.

We’re hoping for a complete return to normalcy for too many reasons to count, but we’ll gladly add being able to enjoy a cup of sweet Vietnamese coffee in the comfort of a nostalgia-themed coffee shop to the list.

Sydney Rende

Sydney Rende

Sydney Rende is a freelance writer and soon-to-be graduate of Syracuse University’s MFA program in Creative Writing. Her work has been published in The New York Times Style Magazine, The Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Ohio Review online, and Carve Magazine. She lives in Southern California, where she’s completing her first short story collection and desperately trying to conform to surf culture.
Sydney Rende

Sydney Rende

Sydney Rende is a freelance writer and soon-to-be graduate of Syracuse University’s MFA program in Creative Writing. Her work has been published in The New York Times Style Magazine, The Michigan Quarterly Review, The New Ohio Review online, and Carve Magazine. She lives in Southern California, where she’s completing her first short story collection and desperately trying to conform to surf culture.

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