A Vietnamese restaurant with a devoted following has closed its doors after two decades, following a change in ownership at its University Avenue building in St. Paul.
When Tay Ho opened in 2005, University was lined with Vietnamese, Hmong, Thai and Cambodian restaurants and markets.
“Opening a restaurant on University Ave in St. Paul with existing Vietnamese restaurants surrounding us was a risk that we were willing to take,” Phuong Nguyen wrote in a Facebook post announcing the restaurant’s closure.
Nguyen said the family had to close the restaurant on May 28 due to “an unfortunate situation.” She and owner Michael Nguyen did not return messages seeking more details.
In recent months, Tay Ho’s building was sold by longtime owner Thinh Phan to Kim Properties LLC, which registered as a Minnesota business in March. It is managed by Republic Registered Agent LLC located in Houston, Texas.
On the restaurant’s final day, longtime customers filled the shop, hoping to place their last orders of pho, bún bò Huế, fried rice and other favorites.
Maria Huynh, a friend of the owners, first ate at Tay Ho when it opened in 2005. Over the years, the restaurant became her go-to place for dishes she grew up eating, surrounded by friends and members of her community. Last Thursday, Huynh came to support the owners and have her favorite, bún bò Huế for the last time.
“They have [the best] bún bò Huế in St. Paul,” Huynh said. She is not planning on finding a new Vietnamese restaurant to replace Tay Ho. “We will [wait] until they open again.”
Tim Patterson and his wife Elena have also been the restaurant’s loyal customers since 2005, when the Nguyen family first opened their place. Before Patterson retired, he ate at Tay Ho at least three times a week during his lunch break. Looking back, he believes he must have eaten here at least a thousand times.
“It’s always been fun here,” Patterson said. “I remember children would run up and down, it was very family-like and that was always a wonderful thing. They always treated me very well and I’m not going to forget that. [We’ve always been] on first-name basis. It’s wonderful to have that camaraderie.”
While Tay Ho’s closing came as a shock to its customers, it is not a surprise considering the detrimental impact of Operation Metro Surge on small businesses in St. Paul. The restaurant first showed signs of financial struggles in 2021, when it received a $5,000 COVID-19 Restaurant Relief Grant from DoorDash. Following the pandemic, however, the Nguyen family was able to get their business back on track, thanks to their devoted customers.
Laurie and Steve McGraw have also been eating at Tay Ho for many years. Even during the COVID outbreak, they got their favorite Tay Ho dishes delivered to their home.
Similarly to Huynh, the McGraws are very close to the owners, which becomes apparent when one looks at Laurie McGraw’s wrists, which are covered by bracelets she has been given over the years by a member of the Nguyen family working at the restaurant. While enjoying his last Tay Ho-made Mongolian beef soup, Steve McGraw got a bag full of fortune cookies from one of the waiters.
The couple recently spoke to the restaurant’s owner Michael Nguyen, who told them that he is working on finding a new location for his family business.
“[Though] I am sure this neighborhood will miss this place,” Laurie McGraw said, while her husband joked that if a new restaurant opens in Tay Ho’s place, he and his spouse will boycott it in Tay Ho’s honor.
Giovanni Carlevarino was introduced to Tay Ho first by his father. Now he works nearby and he and his coworker ate at the restaurant every other week, coming for the pho or pork fried rice. Carlevarino echoed the disappointment of the other customers, but remains hopeful that the restaurant will reopen in a different part of the city.
“I’m sad but this is not a kind of end-all be-all kind of situation. It is more of a ‘see you later,’” Carlevarino concluded.
After Patterson and his wife finished their meal, some of the Nguyen family members came out of the kitchen to say goodbye and take a last photo with the couple. While Patterson is upset that the family can no longer keep the restaurant running, he remains hopeful he will see them again.
“I’ll miss it, definitely.” he said. “I go by all the time [and when] I’ll drive by now [I won’t] see life here. There will be a hole there. It’s a big mystery about what the family is going to do now. It’s sad. But I hope they find success somewhere else.”
