Founders Story
Women Founded | Women Led
Our Journey
Little Green Cyclo began in 2010 with one gourmet food truck serving up healthy & delicious Vietnamese meals throughout the Bay Area. LGC has since evolved into a food and beverage company and brand known throughout the Bay Area for consistently offering delectable Vietnamese fare along with quality service.
Our Bistro along the Brisbane Marina is where you can come in and savor a Cà Phê Sữa đá, an ube latte or a classic cappuccino, all freshly brewed with specialty coffee beans sourced directly from small family farms in Vietnam's Central Highlands. You're also going to want to try our banh mi with house made pate paired with free range lemongrass grilled pork or our famous garlic noodles with Snake River Farm Wagyu beef.
We've catered for thousands of companies and events including Google, Apple, Meta, Gilead, Intuit, Impossible Foods, Indeed, UCSF, Skydio, Netflix, SaaStr, SOCAP and many more.
In 2021, our Classic Vietnamese coffee received the SFA's sofi award for best new product in the ready to drink coffee and tea category. We were the 1st Vietnamese brand to have ever received this distinction. In 2022, we won again, this time for our Coconut Mocha flavor. We are the only brand to have ever won back to back in this category.
In 2023, we introduced our Black Vietnamese coffee with 0 calories and 0 sugars. You can find our line of ready to drink Vietnamese coffee in several hundred locations including, Berkeley Bowl, Gus's, Bi-Rite, Draeger's, Rainbow Grocery, Sacramento Co-Op, SFO Airport and many more establishments throughout the Bay Area.In addition to our RTD Vietnamese coffee line, we've also got your coffee needs covered with 3 different whole bean coffee blends.
Our coffee cherries are 100% hand gathered and roasted locally in small batches for maximum freshness.
Monica Wong
Co-founder & CEO
Monica Wong graduated from Wellesley College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. Having started her career as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles, she then moved over to trading at Montgomery Securities in San Francisco and eventually joined Prudential Financial as a portfolio manager.
Monica grew up in Massachusetts and was introduced to the food and beverage industry when her family opened the first Chinese restaurant in downtown Boston. Growing up, Monica wasn’t interested in the family business, she wanted to strike out on her own and follow a different path. And that she did; for 20 years she was successfully fostering her career in finance.
When Monica decided to retire from finance, there was nothing she wanted to do more than start her own food business. She had come full circle, remembering what she loved most about her family’s restaurants and was determined to make this her new career.
In 2010, Monica Wong joined Quynh Nguyen to establish LGC, Bay Area’s first gourmet Vietnamese food truck serving up healthy & delicious Vietnamese street food. LGC was the winner of the 2011 Chase Sapphire’s San Francisco Favorite Food Truck award. In 2017, UCSF designated LGC as a Living Green Vendor & Diverse Supplier. In 2018 Visa named LGC as one of 50 Small Business National Winners of the Visa Cashless Challenge. In 2019, LGC was one of the first partners featured by DoorDash in their Kitchens Without Borders program.
LGC has evolved into a food service company with 3 food trucks, a 5,000 square ft commercial kitchen/commissary, a bistro, a full line of packaged food products, smart vending kiosks and our signature line of ready to drink Vietnamese coffee products.
Quynh Nguyen
Co-founder & Executive Chef
Quynh Nguyen graduated from San Jose State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems. In 2005, after spending five years as a Webmaster, Quynh opted for a career change when she discovered Cajun food and started Gumbo Jumbo, a full-service Cajun Fusion restaurant in downtown San Jose. This was Quynh’s first foray into creating an entire Cajun menu featuring fresh crawfish & crab, along with etouffee, gumbo, jambalaya & beignets.
Quynh grew up in Saigon and traveled throughout Vietnam as a professional table tennis player on the country’s national team. When visiting all the different regions, she was able to experience the truly amazing delicacies Vietnam had to offer.
While creating Cajun delights was satisfying, Quynh wanted to cook food that she grew up with and loved. In 2010, Quynh joined Monica Wong to establish LGC, Bay Area’s first gourmet Vietnamese food truck. For the past 10 years, Quynh has created over 300 food and drink specials showcasing all the different regions of Vietnam.
In 2019, LGC collaborated with Monterey Bay Aquarium to raise awareness about ocean sustainability. During this 3-month partnership, Quynh crafted a special menu featuring local rock cod on Seafood Watch’s Green List that could be served on our food trucks using only minimal service ware and no utensils. LGC proudly served local, sustainable fish tacos, onigiri rice balls and banh mis at events like Hardly Strictly Blue Grass, Menlo Park SummerFest, Off the Grid Presidio, Ft Mason & Eat Real.
Vietnamese coffee was one of the first menu items we served 10 years ago and has remained one of our most popular drinks. Being able to finally source premium single-origin beans from farms directly in Vietnam, we are now able to offer our signature line of Vietnamese coffee products. Look for many exciting new releases in 2021!
