Couple closes pioneering Vietnamese restaurant in Tacoma’s West End after 30 years

For 30 years, Kim Anh has been a staple of Tacoma’s West End, a true mom-and-pop restaurant owned and operated by a Vietnamese couple that moved to the Untied States in search of a better life for their two young children. It closed April 22 so Thinh and Nghiep Nguyen, after making thousands of egg rolls by hand, could retire.

Well, sort of — Thinh, 66, said he looks forward to remodeling their house (“that job never ends,” he joked) and spending time with their grandchildren. His wife Nghiep, 62, said she will likely work elsewhere for a few more years.

As we talked in the almost-empty restaurant this week, ladies from the Tu Tam Temple on 82nd and Portland were toting out the last of the kitchen gear, tables and chairs, most of which the Nguyens donated.

We traversed the linoleum-tile floor, checkered light red and off-white, to view a plaque of a 2009 story in The News Tribune, accompanied by a photo of Thinh serving their banh xeo and green papaya salad, two of the restaurant’s most popular dishes. In the back corner, Thinh pointed to community fliers on a bulletin board. They just catered an annual luncheon for the Asian and Pacific Islander Club at nearby Tacoma Community College, which they have for many years, he said. They asked him, “We’ll see you next year?”

The couple decided to close this long chapter of their lives last November. The lease was up, but for the first time in decades, it didn’t feel prudent to sign on for another 365 days. They opted for six months.

Not frequent posters on Facebook, or any online forum — they built a website only in 2020, compelled by the necessity of online ordering as the pandemic took hold — the Nguyens asked for potential buyers on April 10, writing in Vietnamese. A few more posts in English followed. They received a few offers, said Thinh, but the space needed a lot of work, from general renovations to upgrades to meet current health and building codes.

“I miss my restaurant,” said Nghiep, surveying the custom neon “Vietnamese Restaurant” sign by the register and the pergola built into the wall that her husband built by hand.

They recalled the mother and daughter who would visit once a week, the customers whose orders they knew by heart, the one who suggested they add snow peas with pork to the menu.

“We had three generations eating here,” added Thinh. “It was sad, when we closed. But they understand, it’s time to go.”

Thinh and Nghiep left their home in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) — and their catering company — in April 1993. With her sister, they opened Kim Anh at 2719 North Pearl St. in Westgate that August.

The region was not yet dotted with Vietnamese restaurants on many corners, they said, but people were willing to try their food. Favorites grew to include Kim Anh’s special combination plate with rice or vermicelli, wonton soup, spring rolls and fried egg rolls. There was never enough time to make as many egg rolls as their customers would order, they laughed.

Despite pleadings, they never served alcohol. It was a choice made in part because they don’t drink (though they drink plenty of cafe sua da to stay caffeinated, they said), but more so because they wanted to find some semblance of work-life balance. They closed the restaurant at 9 p.m. every night.

Until the final days in April 2023, you could still fill up on more than 100 dishes, now reaching into other Asian cuisines, for under $12 at lunch and $15 at dinner. A spring roll went for $1.50 in 1999, according to a story in the Tacoma City Paper, up just a touch to $3.50 today.

“We tried to go one more year,” said Thinh, “but the economy is so slow.”

He noted the rent, cost of ingredients and the challenges coming out of the pandemic. He said he put any profit toward paying Nghiep, while he went three years without an income. “We were able to keep it steady,” he continued, and they were able to fulfill their dream of supporting their son and daughter. Now in their early 30s, they graduated from the University of Washington and both work for federal agencies.

In 2000, the Westgate plaza was emptying out, recalled Thinh, and they could have used more room. Their landlord offered them the space at 1620 South Mildred St. now occupied by Golden Teak Thai. It didn’t have enough windows, joked Thinh. So he said, “Mr. Chen, can I take your office?”

He replied, “Why not?” recalled Thinh.

Since then, said Nghiep, “Everything changed around us, but we stayed here.”