Business: Noodles Pho U
Address: 3124 Route 59, Naperville
Phone/website: 630-778-7888, www.noodlesphou.com
Owner: Thuy Mai, of Aurora
Years in business: 12 in Naperville
What does your business do? “Basically, it’s fusion Asian food. The main dishes are Vietnamese,” Mai said.
What’s your background? “I am from Vietnam. I came to America in 1981. I was one of the boat people. … You know how many times I escaped? Fifteen times. I was in jail three times. … Every time they caught me, I told them I was 15. …. When I got out, I went to Hong Kong. … They rescued us after the fifth day on the ocean. You either die or survive.
“I lived in Glen Ellyn. I went to school (at the University of Illinois) at Champaign. (I majored in) electrical engineering. … I worked I California after I graduated. I visited friends in Chicago, went back to California, came back here. My friend told me, ‘Why don’t you open a restaurant?’”
Is this your only restaurant? “We have three locations. Lombard, Bolingbrook, Naperville. We opened the first one Lombard in 2008. … We had one in Bridgeport, one in Glenview.
“This was a Chinese restaurant before. … At first, I thought I’d sell only Vietnamese food, but he had (customers) for Chinese food. So, we have Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and a bit of Korean.”
What does an employee say? “I worked here through high school and I’m back after college. I like how it feels like home and I love Thuy. She’s very flexible. She taught me everything I need to know here,” said Margaret Orr, 22, of Naperville.
Did you cook a lot as a girl? “No,” Mai said. “I did work as a buyer in wholesale for food before. I knew a lot of the core ingredients for the food. … I never cook at home. But if you tell me some things are in dishes, I can figure it out.”
What do you like best about your job? “I like to promote the Asian foods.”
What does a customer say? “I come back because of Thuy. She creates a good relationship where she talks with us. She laughs. She knows our orders. She knows us by our first names. We feel connected,” Miguel Villarreal, 49, of Naperville, said.
What’s your business philosophy? “I know how to make (customers) happy. If you don’t like something, if it’s not what you expect, no problem, you don’t have to pay for it. I provide another dish. Don’t like that? I bring you another one until you like something. … You try to make people happy when they come in here. So, maybe (I) lose, 50, 60 or 70 dollars. … When they walk out of here, they’ll tell people how they were treated.”
What challenges do you face? “You survived that long already. Whatever you do, you try to find a way. It’s hard to find workers. I’ll be honest with you, if I don’t stay here to work, I may have closed a long time ago.”
What misconceptions do people have? “That we are a Chinese restaurant. But online we say Vietnamese fusion. When they see the menu, they know right away.”
What are the hours? “We are open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. On the weekend, Friday and Saturday, we are open until 9:30 p.m. We are closed on Tuesday.”
Any memorable stories? “We had just closed,” Orr said. “We heard the ‘ding’ for an Uber Eats order. All the chefs were gone. Instead of canceling the order, Thuy said, ‘OK, I’ll make it.’ She goes in the back. I hear all these pots and pans clanging. She knows how to make everything here. She made their order and it was all good. She doesn’t let any order be canceled.”
Will you add a fourth restaurant? “No. I want to try to maintain this business.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Don’t do it. That’s a very odd answer, right? … It doesn’t matter what kind of business you want to start, you have to remember one thing. You have to have a passion about it. Even if you see the (new) business not doing well, you have to try your best. You have to find a way to maintain your business. You have to have the will for it. … You will find a way. But you have to try. Don’t give up.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at [email protected].
