These days, Lion Plaza doesn’t get nearly as much hype as San José’s newer, splashier Vietnamese malls like Vietnam Town and Grand Century. But OGs know the Tully Road strip mall as the heart of the South Bay’s original Little Saigon, and the plaza has never lost that grassroots community vibe.
Case in point is this Saturday’s Cà Phê & Bánh pop-up, which aims to recreate the feel of a Vietnamese open-air sidewalk cafe right out in the strip mall’s parking lot.
Organized by the Tully Road Eastridge Business Association, the morning cafe pop-up plans to deck out the parking lot with the iconic plastic red stools and tables found at coffee shops and street-side restaurants all over Vietnam — a point of nostalgia for so many Vietnamese Americans…