From left to right: Dan Nguyen, Van Le and Tony Nguyen.
Photo credit: Dan Nguyen
EAST LONGMEADOW — When Tony Nguyen and his wife, Van Le, immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 2000, it was his lifelong dream to open a restaurant and share Vietnamese culture.
26 years later, that dream has come true with East Longmeadow’s soon-to-be opened Tony Phở at 51 Prospect St.
Tony Phở’s plan is to embrace Vietnamese identity directly into the menu, featuring a variety of classic and modern dishes and drinks.
Tony, Van and their son, Dan Nguyen, have called East Longmeadow home for over 15 years.
Tony and Van grew up in Sài Gòn, Vietnam, known today as Ho Chi Minh City. The pair is basing their menu around traditional dishes they grew up eating.
Dan grew up in Springfield and East Longmeadow, adding his own spin to the menu’s Vietnamese-style coffee and matcha. He is attending Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and serving as Tony Phở’s communications director.
He told Reminder Publishing the restaurant has always been his dad’s “American dream.”
“I think when they first immigrated here, it was hard making ends meet,” Dan said. “My dad ultimately had to sacrifice his career of opening a restaurant just because the barrier to entry was so much and he wasn’t sure how to navigate that … he ultimately had to sacrifice that American dream to pursue a higher education and work at MassMutual.”
When an opportunity opened up right next to Van’s hair salon, VL Hair Salon, Tony jumped at the chance to finally open a restaurant.
“My parents were stable enough financially to take this on and make this dream a reality,” Dan said. “My dad went full on. He quit his job, which he loves, loves dearly, and started to pursue his own American dream of opening a Vietnamese restaurant in East Longmeadow. It’s been history since then.”
Dan said it’s very special and humbling to witness his parents get Tony Phở off the ground. He said most of his mom’s salon clients are East Longmeadow residents and have become a second family.
“We’re so excited that a lot of them are really excited about our restaurant,” Dan said. “We’re just so fortunate to have so much love and support.”
He said the restaurant focuses on a small quantity of dishes that “Vietnamese people actually eat at home on a daily basis” to hone in on ingredient quality and the authenticity of a home cooked meal.
The restaurant also puts a lot of focus into the drink selection, especially with Vietnamese coffee and matcha.
“It’s famously known for being a very strong type of coffee, but it is really delicious,” Dan said. “It’s made with Vietnamese coffee beans and then served with condensed milk and it’s the perfect level of sweetness. It’s so refreshing and definitely gets that buzz. We ultimately wanted to preserve the authenticity of that coffee, as well as introducing other types of coffee drinks.”
He said he’s been inspired by a variety of Vietnamese cafes across the United States, Vietnam and Japan, turning that inspiration into experimentation to capture different flavor profiles.
“We’re just really excited to share Vietnamese cuisine with a lot of people who might not be familiar with it,” Dan said. “I think Vietnamese cuisine is really centered on a lot of different flavor profiles. We have sweetness, saltiness, spiciness, sourness and then a little bit of bitterness. It’s really complex and really balances all those flavors.”
For a “go-to” recommendation, Dan said nobody can go wrong with a bowl of phở — a Vietnamese beef noodle soup.
“For a lot of our family and friends, it’s become their new chicken noodle soup, like the typical soup you would eat when you’re sick and when you’re healthy,” Dan said. “It is so refreshing, light, full of protein and herbs and just so well balanced. I might be a little biased, but I have traveled to Vietnam a few times. I’ve had Vietnamese restaurants across the United States, and my dad’s phở is easily the best I’ve ever had in the world. I think he just does an exceptional job at capturing the depth of the beef broth. We make a house-made, 12-hour beef broth that we simmer overnight and use the best quality beef bones to really extract the flavor. You really can’t go wrong with it, it’s so refreshing.”
Tony Phở will also have vegan and vegetarian options to try and make the menu accessible to everyone, as well as a rotating selection of weekend specials.
Dan said he is also excited about the restaurant’s interior, which strives to capture the essence of Vietnam street food.
“I think the majority of eating in Vietnam is eating on the street,” Dan said. “I think we just really wanted to capture that nostalgic factor, not just for the Vietnamese-American community and Western Mass, but also for people who haven’t been to Vietnam or had the opportunity to go to Vietnam.”
He said the family hopes to officially open up within the next month or two after the interior and inspections are complete.
Tony Phở’s full menu and hours can be found at sites.google.com/view/tonypho. The restaurant is also hiring full and part-time wait staff and baristas.
Dining and Cooking