Pho Scene in the United States – Part 2

The pho dish seems rather out of place in the food trend of America, which veers more towards the convenient quick-service and drive-through food segment. Pho, quite the contrary, happens to be very hard to prepare as it literally takes hours just to prepare the broth and extract the flavor from beef or chicken bones and meat. And it is not convenient to serve, certainly not at a drive-through window. Nonetheless, it is currently enjoying its share of popularity among Americans, and restaurants serving just the noodle dish are sprouting everywhere in the United States, with major locations all over California, Chicago, Texas, Nevada, and several other states. This noodle dish may not be as easily accessible as the thriving fast-food chains of the U.S., but where there is a restaurant in the vicinity, the area is just overcome with pho fever.

Expanding Pho Influence

Currently, pho restaurants are still expanding, though the current expansion state has pretty much already conquered the United States where it could. Aside from that, experts such as Andrea Nguyen and Tom Nguyen now operate websites, the VietWorldKitchen.com and the PhoFever.com respectively, which are dedicated to Vietnamese cuisine or to pho alone. Mai Pham, a well-known restaurateur and owner of the Lemon Grass Grill in Sacramento, California, is also a loyal supporter of the dish and possibly the most popular Vietnamese chef in the United States. These three, along with other fans, express their dedication to the Vietnamese staple food. Mai Pham has even teamed up with Campbell Soup for the creation of commercially available, ready-to-eat quick packs.

Pho Franchise is the Next Natural Step

PhoFever.com, for its part, has compiled a comprehensive list of restaurants that offer tempting bowls of this noodle all over America. One extremely popular name in the list, which you are likely to come across with several times, is Pho Hoa. Pho Hoa is currently the world’s largest pho restaurant chain. In fact, even something as specific as the history of this franchise, however, is a testimony to the food’s popularity that has overwhelmed the United States.

Pho Hoa is actually a San Jose, California native. Founded in 1984, the chain now has 40 locations only in the North America region and 35 locations scattered in other countries. This number is continuously growing, with 4 more locations in the works for North America. Much of the success of Pho Hoa can be traced back to the thriving Asian communities in the West, but the dish is also continuously growing even in non-Asian areas. And with the entrance of commercially sold instant packs, there is no doubt that it will become even more famous.

In the early days of its existence in America, the dish was only found in Vietnamese restaurants and shops. Today, it can also be enjoyed in specialty, fusion style restaurants, and not only within the vicinity of a Vietnamese community, but also in previously unheard of places like big shopping malls and even Las Vegas. Many shops are already offering take-out options. So in the near future, it’s not too farfetched to imagine drive-through and home delivery too. Indeed, this beloved noodle dish has come a long way in the great U.S. of A.