Vien Vong, owner of Andaman Thai, is cooking up a delicious cultural change of pace for the community.
Vong and his wife bought the restaurant just over four years ago and have been rocking and
rolling ever since.
“We started here right before Covid, which no one could have predicted happening, so at first it was a scary struggle, but we made it work. We did orders where we would take them over the phone and then bring them to people’s cars, and that worked for a while. After things picked back up, though, it was great. We have made good relationships and friendships with most of our regulars and see a lot of them every week. The community here is great and has made all the difference for us since then.” said Vong.
Since opening, Vong has amassed quite the crowd of local regulars, a lot of whom are students. His kitchen crew includes him and his wife, which makes things easier for the couple because according to Vong, they already know how each other work, so they have been able to create an easy functioning environment that makes filling orders a breeze, and for Vong, knowing he is serving the most authentic and tastiest cuisine is of the utmost importance. Nearly every year he takes a trip to Thailand to visit his family, but also to get back to his roots and bring back even more of that Southeastern Asian flair that the community here has grown to love.
“It was important that we kept the menu the same when we bought the restaurant, but of course we changed a few recipes and made things unique to our place. We wanted it to be a place where people come in and they recognize us every time and feel welcomed, and that is what I feel like we have created here. My wife and I do all the cooking, and we have a great team here of wait staff that helps out. It’s like a family here because we are family!” explained Vong. “I could not do it without any of them.”
One of the restaurant’s long-time waitresses, Milly, commented saying that the place was special for her even before Vong became the new owner. “I’ve worked here for a long time and have seen the changing of hands and been a part of it and it’s been really fun and cool. Vien is always here and puts a lot of work into this place, and it’s fun to be a part of it!”
As far as the go-to dish to order from the menu? Vong recommends the house special of Andaman Thai, but a few popular options are the drunken noodles, the pad thai, or the pho rare. Regardless of your palette preference, there is sure to be something for everyone at Andaman Thai.
