Pho Grand Is Coming Back to South Grand, But Details Remain Elusive

The return of the iconic South Grand restaurant is not just a fever dream

Jan 4, 2024 at 8:26 am

Pho Grand has helped to shape the city's dining landscape. Vu Phong

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It's been a whisper. A tantalizing rumor. We've heard it from seemingly everyone, yet no one has been able to verify it.

Pho Grand is coming back.

The idea seems like a fever dream borne of the desperate hopes and dreams of South Grand diners who have been mourning the loss of the 33-year-old Vietnamese restaurant since it closed in June. The idea that the Trinh family would pick up the reigns again was just too good to be true.

But then a most reputable source confirmed the rumors: In a forward looking end-of-the-year post on its Facebook page, the South Grand business district announced that Pho Grand is COMING BACK, BABY!

It was the last line on the district's list of cool things happening on South Grand. "Last, but not least. Pho Grand is making a return. More details on this coming soon," the post said, following that with the little "shh" secret emoji. (Sorry, South Grand business district, you can't write that on Facebook and expect the RFT not to report on it.)

click to enlarge

Vu Phong

Andrew Trinh (left) seems set to pick up the reigns from his mother, Tami, on a new Pho Grand concept.

So that's what we know. We admit it isn't much. Here's a little unverified context though. In early December, a Facebook post from House of Paint & Design Co. purported to have gotten the go-ahead to share news from the daughter of the original Pho Grand owners, My and Tami Trinh.

"After speaking with Monica Trinh, the daughter of the owners of Pho Grand, she wanted me to relay that, 'I can confirm that the Pho Grand chapter will remain closed, but a new chapter will be opening in that same location with a new concept, after renovations, under my brother,'" the post read.

Our attempts to get someone in the Trinh family to confirm the news on the record at that point were for naught. However, the news relayed from Monica Trinh suggests the new restaurant would be in the hands of Andrew Trinh, who spoke to the RFT when his parents decided to close.

In retrospect, he might have hinted that he would be taking the helm at a new concept down the line.

"We've thought about what we can do to change it, but we don't want to change it overnight," he told the RFT. "People know my mom. They know the food. It's not my baby, and it's not mine to change, but it's not sustainable."

We're looking forward to finding out what that new, sustainable concept is going to look like. Andrew, if you want to talk details, we're looking forward to listening.

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