Armed with the experience of owning a business in her homeland, Quyen Tran coupled her passion for food to open Pho 36 in Lynnwood. Her mission with the business is to bringing the flavors and healthy cuisine of Vietnam to south Snohomish County.
“We are used to eating well-prepared and delicious meals every day in Vietnam,” she said. “The types of food we like are not readily available here.”
Originally taking over the restaurant from a Cambodian family, she transformed the spot, at 19417 36th Ave. W., just one year after moving to the United States from Vietnam.
“We saw the need to introduce the authentic Vietnamese cuisine and culture to the Northwest,” Tran said.
Q: What convinced you that this was the job for you?
A: Three things: we love to cook, we enjoy meeting people and we enjoy running a business.
After we moved to the U.S., a new country with multi cultures, we felt that it was the time to make my passion a reality: to meet new people and make them happy with the traditional flavors and tastes from my country.
Q: What does it take to blend your passion with your livelihood?
A: Sometimes it is a big issue for people to pursue their passion and try to survive. But for me, I feel it automatically blends together.
I love to serve people with the best food and best services and I feel happy when my customers are happy.
Q: What are the crucial elements for success for your business?
A: We strive to maintain a consistent and high-quality product and service to our customers. We really enjoy what we do and love our customers every day, and we believe our food and services are a cut above in the Northwest market.
But the most important element is that there are more and more people now discovering the health benefits of Vietnamese cuisine. It was recently listed in CNN’s article as the third healthiest cuisine in the world. We offer a wide selection of delicious and healthy dishes including pho and salad noodles that burst with healthy flavor from many spices, fresh herbs and vegetables.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge and how did you meet it?
A: Our challenge is to familiarize the general public that Pho 36 is more than Vietnamese soup. We have an extensive menu including more than 50 other healthy, fresh and delicious Vietnamese dishes. As a start-up with few dollars for advertising, we are building our reputation in the old-fashioned way, by word of mouth.
Q: How did your friends and family react when you told them you were getting into this business?
A: They all were excited and supportive because they believe in our ability to bring the Vietnamese culture to the Northwest. And they love it as now they have a place to go for a taste of home.
Q: What motivates you?
A: Our goal is to build up a successful business and at the same time share our love of Vietnamese food with people we meet every day.
Q: What personal abilities do you think are needed to excel in this business?
A: It’s our openness to our customers’ feedback and commitment to providing consistent, high-quality, delicious food and service.
Q: When you’re not working, how do you enjoy spending your time?
A: Cooking … it sounds funny, because I work in the restaurant all the time. But that is true. We enjoy spending time with our children and visiting our friends and family, which of course always involve food and cooking.
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