in Westminster
Phước Lộc Thọ at 7am on a Sunday: the aunties have already claimed every table in the food court and the bánh cuốn line is out the door. This is the most alive Little Saigon ever feels.
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in San Jose
Phở Hà Nội on Story Rd, five stars. The broth is clear the way northern phở should be and there is no hoisin bottle on the table, which is the correct number of hoisin bottles. Get the tái nạm with extra hành trần.
in New Orleans
Twenty years after Katrina, Mary Queen of Vietnam still rings its bell at 6am and the boats still go out. Village de l’Est isn’t going anywhere.
Mai Đỗ@maido
in SeattleSaturday heritage class: kinship pronouns. One kid asked why he can’t just say “you” to his grandma. Forty minutes later we were drawing a family tree with cô, chú, dì, cậu and bác on the whiteboard and nobody wanted to leave.
in Houston
Selling: barely used Cuckoo 10-cup rice cooker. $60, Bellaire pickup. Yes, it still sings.
in Falls Church
Eden Center’s Tết market dates are out. Clear your calendar for the lion dance, it is the loudest thing in Northern Virginia and that includes the Beltway.
Tết 2027 · Eden Center
in Garden Grove
Shot 200 frames on Bolsa today. The old hand-painted signage is disappearing one strip mall at a time. Documenting it before it’s gone, one storefront per day.
in San Jose
Bilingual parents: at what age did your kids start mixing languages? Mine just said “con muốn more” and I don’t know whether to be proud or worried.
in Westminster
The story of how my dad opened a phở shop with $300 and a borrowed pot is up in the Culture board. Bring tissues, and then go eat somewhere family-owned.
in New Orleans
Baton Rouge friends: which parish is doing the biggest Tết this year? Trying to plan a road trip and I need to know where the lion dance is.
in Houston
New in Houston. Where does everyone actually go for bún riêu on Bellaire? I have been to three places and I have three opinions.
in Houston
Hong Kong City Mall parking lot at Tết. If you know, you know. If you don’t, arrive before 9 or accept your fate.