By Olli · Updated 29 September 2026
Making friends as an adult is hard. Making friends as an adult after moving to a new city, where you don’t know anyone, is even harder.
One reason I think Thảo Điền is such a soft landing when you first move to Saigon is that it makes building a community easier. The neighbourhood is small, and foreigners mix with Vietnamese locals. There are always things happening: running clubs, art classes, open mics, karaoke nights, community spaces and neighbourhood bars where people actually become regulars.
But you still have to make the effort.
I don’t necessarily mean forcing yourself to go to networking events. You don’t need to walk into a room determined to talk to as many people as possible. One of the easiest ways to make friends is much more natural: find places you genuinely like and keep showing up.
Become a familiar face
The more you go somewhere, the more familiar people become. You recognise the bartender. You see the same person at the Wednesday open mic. Someone from your running group starts saying hi when they see you at a café. Eventually you start talking, and over time those familiar faces can turn into actual friendships.
It takes some of the pressure off having to go out and make friends, which, honestly, is an awkward thing to try to do.
If you’re new to Thảo Điền, or you’ve been here a while without finding your people, these are some of the places I’d start. You can comfortably go alone. More importantly, they’re places you can keep going back to.
Event programmes change. Check the organiser’s latest announcement for the date, venue and any booking requirements before heading out.
W.A.L.L.
W.A.L.L. (Wild Art Local Life) on Street 50 is probably one of the first places I’d look at if I wanted to become part of a little neighbourhood community.
It’s a small art and community bar that always seems to have something going on: quiz nights, games, music, creative events and other random things that are hard to put into one category.
What I like about W.A.L.L. is that you don’t have to arrive intent on meeting anyone. Find an event that sounds interesting, have a drink and enjoy your night.
If you like the place, you come back.
It’s small enough that you actually have a chance of recognising people the next time you’re there.
Open mic at Twist
Twist Cafe & Baron Xuân Thủy has hosted Wednesday open-mic nights. Check the latest event announcement before going. It’s an easy place to start if you’re going out alone.
There’s music, people are coming and going, and you can sit with a drink without feeling like you’re the one person who showed up to a bar by themselves.
That’s important because sometimes you don’t want an “event.” You just want somewhere to be where being alone doesn’t feel awkward.
If you like it, an evening at Twist can just become one of your regular things for a while.
Karaoke at SHOUT
SHOUT Bar Thảo Điền has hosted Thursday karaoke nights. Confirm the next session with the bar before making plans.
It’s a small crowd, but that’s part of why I like it for this list. There are regulars. After a few visits, you start recognising people.
Karaoke also does some of the social work for you. Someone sings. Everyone reacts. Someone is terrible. Someone is suspiciously good. You already have something to talk about without having to walk up to a stranger and introduce yourself for no reason.
A small weekly night like this can sometimes be much better for actually getting to know people than a huge social mixer.
Mundo Lingo
If you actually want to meet a lot of people, Mundo Lingo Saigon is probably the most obvious place to start.
The organiser currently lists Thursday meetings at The Green Box (Soma Saigon), 6 Lê Văn Miến, in Thảo Điền and attracts Vietnamese locals, foreigners, travellers and people who have recently moved to Saigon.
You wear little flags representing the languages you speak, which basically gives strangers permission to start talking to each other.
It’s probably the most deliberately social thing on this list.
If you’ve just arrived in Saigon and literally know nobody, deliberately social might be exactly what you need.
Hustle Run Club
Not every attempt at making friends needs to involve alcohol.
Hustle has a running community in Thảo Điền, and honestly, something like this might be one of the easiest ways to build friendships because you’re doing something together rather than standing around trying to make conversation.
You start seeing the same people. You chat while you run. Maybe you grab coffee afterwards.
There’s no pressure to make an impression in one night. You have another run next week.
Get Arty
Get Arty on Street 46 runs adult art workshops and longer courses in painting, drawing, mixed media and other creative things.
If meeting people is part of the reason you’re doing it, I’d probably choose one of the longer courses over a one-off workshop.
A one-off workshop is fun, but everyone can disappear afterwards and never see each other again. A course means you’re sitting with roughly the same people every week, which gives you time to actually get comfortable with each other.
And if you’re someone who hates networking, this is probably a much easier way to meet people.
You don’t have to be interesting for two hours. You can just paint.
Lang Spot
Lang Spot on Street 47 is one I’d bookmark rather than wait for someone to tell you about a particular event.
It’s a small community arts space with performances, exhibitions, workshops and classes, so there’s always something different happening.
Some weeks there will be something you’re interested in. Some weeks there won’t.
But that’s what I like about having places like this in your neighbourhood. You check what’s happening, something catches your attention and suddenly you have somewhere to be that evening.
And because you’re showing up for something you actually care about, there’s a decent chance the other people there are interested in it too.
Kloud Art
Kloud Art Thảo Điền on Street 47 runs painting, pottery, mosaic and other creative workshops.
I’m not going to tell you that you’ll walk into a pottery class alone and leave with four new friends.
You probably won’t.
But it’s an easy thing to do alone, you’re around other people and you don’t have to wait until you’ve built a social circle before you start enjoying your neighbourhood.
That’s part of this too.
Start doing things. Find your places. Notice the people you’ve seen before.
Eventually the neighbourhood gets smaller.
You don’t need seven new hobbies or a completely booked social calendar. Find one or two things you genuinely enjoy enough that you’d still go even if you didn’t meet anyone that night.
Give it some time and let yourself become a familiar face.
That’s really it.
For more neighbourhood context, read the Thảo Điền guide. Once you have someone to meet, our Thảo Điền happy-hour guide offers ideas for an evening out.
