The Story of Chookie’s Ninh Binh: A Little Name, A Big Journey
Published by Chookie’s Travel · Ninh Binh, Vietnam
There’s a small street in Ninh Binh called Luong Van Tuy. Quiet, unhurried, the kind of street you’d walk past without thinking much of it. But if you’d passed by in 2014, you might have noticed something new – a little café, freshly opened, still smelling of paint and possibility.
That café was Chookie’s Ninh Binh. And it started, like most good things do, with two people and a shared dream.
Two Hearts, One Passion
Amanda came from Australia. Van Vu was from Vietnam. Different languages, different cultures, different ways of seeing the world – but the same belief that hospitality, done honestly, could bring people together.
They named the café after a nickname Amanda’s family had called her since she was small: Chookie, meaning “little chick.” Warm. Personal. A little playful. Exactly the kind of place they wanted to build.
From the very beginning, Chookie’s wasn’t trying to be a famous restaurant or a trendy hotspot. It was trying to be something rarer: a place where strangers felt welcome, where every cup of coffee came with a little bit of care, and where the smallest details – a smile, a recommendation, a conversation – actually mattered.
How Chookie’s Ninh Binh Grew, One Table at a Time
By 2017, Amanda and Van Vu had found a new piece of land in Tam Coc, raw and green and full of potential. They built it up piece by piece. Table by table. Chair by chair.
Out of that patch of earth grew Chookie’s Beer Garden: wood-fired pizzas, cold beers, and the kind of relaxed open-air atmosphere that makes an afternoon stretch into an evening without you noticing. Guests arrived and found something unexpected – a space that felt genuinely alive, not manufactured for tourists, but grown from real love for the place.
A year later, in 2018, the original café relocated to 147 Nguyen Hue in the heart of Ninh Binh city, becoming Chookie’s Hideaway. For five years it served as a refuge: green, comfortable, familiar. For international travellers and local regulars alike. People came once and kept coming back.
When Everything Went Quiet
Then 2020 arrived, and with it, the pandemic.
The Beer Garden fell silent. Tables sat empty. Dust gathered on chairs that had once hosted hundreds of conversations. Chookie’s Hideaway closed its doors after five years of steady, joyful operation.
It was a hard stop. The kind that forces you to sit with things.
But Amanda and Van Vu used that quiet time the way it deserved to be used – to reflect, to regroup, and to remember why they had started in the first place. The dream didn’t disappear. It just waited.
Starting Again
In November 2022, Chookie’s Beer Garden reopened.
Not with a grand launch or a full team – just five people, a lot of determination, and the same spirit that had been there from the beginning. Tourism in Ninh Binh was still finding its footing. Things were uncertain. But Chookie’s showed up anyway, step by step, the way it always had.
Slowly, the garden filled again. Guests returned. New faces arrived. The kitchen got busy. The bar got lively.
What Chookie’s Is Today
From one small café on a quiet street, Chookie’s Ninh Binh has grown into something much larger – three venues, over 60 people working every day with dedication and quiet pride.
There’s the Beer Garden with its wood-fired food and open-air energy. There are the bars where creative bartenders put real thought into every drink. There are the kitchens run by chefs who genuinely care about what they’re serving. And there are the dozens of staff members, many of them local, who show up each day and make the whole thing work.
But the heart of it hasn’t changed. Chookie’s is still built on the same values it started with: true value, real passion, lasting impact. Not slogans – a way of operating, learned slowly over more than a decade.
A Story That Includes You
Every guest who has sat at a Chookie’s table, ordered a pizza from the wood-fired oven, or watched the sun go down over Tam Coc – they’re part of this story too.
That’s the thing about Chookie’s. It was never meant to be a business people visit and forget. It was meant to be a place they remember – because someone made them feel genuinely welcomed, in a corner of Vietnam that deserves to be known.
We are Chookie’s. And you are part of this story.
Planning a visit? Come find us at Chookie’s Beer Garden in Tam Coc, Ninh Binh – or keep reading for travel tips, food stories, and more from the people who call this place home.