Restaurant owner and pho connoisseur Andy Hoang keeps a 56-ounce jar of peanut M&M’s and a cup of Vietnamese instant coffee with him at all times while at work.
“I’m down to an average of three to four hours of sleep a night on average, the coffee and sugar are what get me through,” Hoang explained.
He dedicates his late nights to creating modern twists on Vietnamese classics and running Franklin Street’s newest restaurant, Pho Happiness, located on 508-A West Franklin St. Hoang immigrated to the United States from Vietnam, where he was raised on traditional Vietnamese cuisine, when he was 13 years old.
Hoang grew up going to potluck dinners at church, and the exposure to this food-centered community made him realize he wanted to open his own restaurant one day.
Growing up in Stockton, California, an area surrounded by fruit orchards, Hoang got the chance to get an early start on his dream.
“When I got my license my sophomore year [of high school], I decided I would drive my Pinto down to orchards after the harvests and collect whatever was left before the birds got to it,” Hoang said.
The young entrepreneur sold the leftover fruit to save up money. After graduating high school, Hoang opened a restaurant with his mother in Stockton that was successful for two years before it was destroyed by severe flooding. Unfortunately, Hoang and his mother were never able to rebuild the restaurant.
After this brief stint in the restaurant industry, Hoang attended college for a few months before he was approached by an Army recruiter.
“When I told my mother that I was planning on enlisting, she said she thought it was a good idea to give back to the country that accepted us,” Hoang said. Hoang also said he felt tied to the Army because his father lost his life serving for South Vietnam.
Hoang earned a bachelor’s degree in finance while in the Army, then was deployed in Germany. When he returned, he worked in finance in Dallas and Washington, D.C. before taking a position in Raleigh. But he soon grew tired of finance work and decided to give the restaurant industry another try.
When he found a location on Franklin Street, it took more than three and a half months of renovations to get everything in the building up to safety code. While it was a stressful start, Hoang said he is glad the process is finished and he can have confidence in his customers’ safety.
Hoang identified one upside of the property is the location, which is on West Franklin Street, near Al’s Burger Shack.
“I am lucky to be at this corner with Al, Vinny, Angelo, and other experienced restaurant owners who give me advice,” Hoang said. Al owns and operates Al’s Burger Shack, and Vinny and Angelo are the Italian-born brother team behind Italian Pizzeria III.
Pho is a type of Vietnamese soup typically made from beef stock with rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, and herbs.
The pho broth at Pho Happiness exemplifies the restaurant’s mission statement of putting a modern twist on traditional Vietnamese dishes. The traditional practice is to boil the bones, take them out of the broth, rinse and place them back in the pot. Instead, the chefs at Pho Happiness char the bones before putting them into the broth.
“This fortifies the flavor once the bone is cooked for 48 hours and also reduces the number of times that the meat is handled, making it a more sanitary process,” Hoang said.
He said he uses this approach to pay homage to the traditional method while also upkeeping his exceptionally high standards for the restaurant.
The two most popular dishes on the menu are the vegetarian and curry pho, which are made to order.
“All of our pho noodles are gluten-free, and we garnish with microgreens grown in house,” Hoang said.
Hoang’s personal favorite, which he also says is the best value on the menu, is the katsu burger. Katsu is a fried chicken dish popular in Japan, and is one of the cultural twists Hoang has worked into the menu. For $6, customers are served chicken or pork katsu with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a special sauce on a soft bagel bun.
“The katsu burger is one of my personal creations, so I am definitely biased towards it,” Hoang said.
While Hoang may not spend many hours sleeping, he works tirelessly to bring unique, exciting Vietnamese food to Chapel Hill. With instant coffee and $6 burger deals, Pho Happiness might just be a fresh new hangout for UNC students and Chapel Hill residents alike.
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