Last week, Pho Ca Dao & Grill founder Duke Huynh posted a suggestion on the Facebook page of his seven-store San Diego chain that his restaurants’ Vietnamese noodle soups can be ordered for takeout with cook-at-home noodles.
Anyone who has enjoyed a bowl of pho knows the tender noodles tend to stick together in clumps as they cool, and Huynh was acknowledging that his namesake product isn’t ideal for the now takeout-only service requirement for restaurants under the new state health order.
Since his family launched their first location of Pho Ca Dao in City Heights in 2001, the company has grown, thrived and won several awards as the best pho in town. But since the pandemic began, the company has struggled.