When you speak to Angelina Vang, owner and founder of the Lyna Cafe food truck, there is one thing she makes very clear: “[Lyna Cafe] is my passion.”
Born and raised in Thailand, Angelina and her family were forced to abandon their home and came to the United States seeking refuge. She was fourteen when her family arrived in Wisconsin in the dead of winter, and she remembers her first experience of Madison as being “super duper cold.”
Angelina decided to travel back to Thailand in 2018 in order to take cooking classes in her native language of Hmong. Upon returning, Angelina started Lyna Cafe alongside her husband Adam, who is originally from Laos. The name Lyna Cafe was inspired by Angelina’s birth name from Thailand: Alyna.
“I love to make food and to serve people,” Angelina explained. “I can feed them [to be] happy so I’m happy.”
Angelina and Adam’s three children also help run Lyna Cafe, and were a core motivation for why they started their business.
“I have three kids and they’re helping me too, so hopefully I can do Lyna Cafe for many many years to support my kids to go to school,” Angelina explained. “I need [the profits from Lyna Cafe] to help my kids go to school.”
Angelina described that what sets Lyna Cafe apart from other vendors and food trucks is that her food is all homemade, specifically her well-known egg rolls and crab rangoon.
Lyna Cafe began selling at the Monroe Street Farmer’s Market after customers asked them to, “because they love [our] egg rolls,” according to Angelina. She explained that she loves everyone at the MSFM, from the management to the customers.
“They’re all really nice,” Angelina said. “The customers really support me there.”
Lyna Cafe sells boba drinks, egg rolls, crab rangoon and ice cream. Make sure to stop by the Monroe Street Farmers Market on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Edgewood High School.
For more information on Lyna Cafe, visit their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Lyna151/