Helen Nguyen’s restaurant aspirations are moving up the Peninsula.

The owner of two Vietnamese restaurants and an upscale French-Vietnamese restaurant/sports lounge in the South Bay will open her third Pho Ha Noi on a prime corner in Palo Alto.

She expects to be in business at University Avenue and Emerson Street by spring 2023.

The San Jose entrepreneur is an international trade veteran who added “restaurateur” to her résumé after opening her pho restaurants in San Jose and Cupertino in 2016 and 2019, respectively. In 2021, she created La Barrique; both of the San Jose restaurants are located in the Vietnam Town center in the city’s Little Saigon.

In downtown Palo Alto, Nguyen will move in and renovate Wahlburgers, part of the gourmet burger chain founded by Wahlberg brothers Mark, Donnie and Paul. The celebrity brothers had taken over that space from Sam’s Chowder House in 2017 and closed recently. Meantime, a long-anticipated Wahlburgers has opened in downtown Burlingame.

At Pho Ha Noi, look for rich beef broth with your choice of Harris Ranch flank steak, brisket, tendon, meatball or short rib — or, in the case of the Special Combination Pho, all of the above; chicken, pork and seafood noodle soups; rice plates; and spring rolls and chicken wings on the appetizer lineup. For the Palo Alto dinner menu, Nguyen is thinking Vietnamese steak and cocktails.

The San Jose (969 Story Road) location is open daily for lunch and dinner. Cupertino (10100 S. De Anza Blvd.) serves lunch and dinner six days a week (closed Wednesday). La Barrique (969 Story Road) is open Thursday-Sunday.

Details: Coming to 185 University Ave., Palo Alto; www.phohanoisanjose.com

Source: www.mercurynews.com