Saigon Noodle House

Saigon Noodle House is a Vietnamese restaurant which first opened in April 2009 in the former Cheeburger Cheeburger space in the River Ridge Shopping Center at 4606 U.S. Highway 280.

The restaurant was founded by sisters Thao "Syndy" Vu and Oanh "Kim" Vu, and their husbands, Phuong "Mike" Hoang and Van Pham. They based the full service menu on specialties that their father, Can Vu, had sold from his noodle cart in Vietnam. The family members furnished and decorated the space themselves, and purchased kitchen equipment from a former Bruno's supermarket. Business grew gradually as word got around.

One repeat customer, Nick Pihakis, befriended the owners and helped them get repairs made to a cooler and to the restaurant's sign. Eventually he offered to partner with them to expand to a second location. In 2016 a second Saigon Noodle House opened in the former Bottletree location at 3719 3rd Avenue South in Avondale as part of the Fresh Hospitality group. The second location offered a more "streamlined" menu designed for fast-casual service, and added a full bar. The Avondale location was decorated with a cartoon mural referencing Can Vu's street cart which was created by Smallwoods Studios. The Avondale location was closed in early 2019 and converted to Rodney Scott's BBQ, also a partner with Pihakis.

References

• Carlton, Bob (June 9, 2016) "The Saigon Noodle House family's remarkable journey from Vietnam to Alabama." The Birmingham News
• Carlton, Bob (July 3, 2020) "The story of Rodney and Nick, brothers in barbecue." The Birmingham News