Her popular Wichita egg roll business was shut down last fall, but it’s making a comeback
Back in September, I told you about Tuong Huynh, a young entrepreneur who wanted to open her own restaurant so badly that she was doing anything she could to raise money, including launching a busy and productive egg roll business out of her home.
Now, despite a major bump that derailed her dream for several months, Huynh is getting her restaurant, and it should be open in a couple of weeks.
Huynh and her husband, TJ Huynh, have just purchased NamViet Restaurant at 1920 E. Pawnee and are in the process of turning it into their own place. They’ll call it Xing Xing, the same name they were using for their egg roll business.
When I first met Tuong in September, she was a couple of months into her home-based business, and she’d developed an impressive list of clients who would buy her hand-made Vietnamese egg rolls by the dozen. She’d learned how to make them by watching YouTube videos, and eventually, she added dumplings and char siu fried rice to her list of offerings.
The story I wrote helped Tuong get even more business and more attention, but it also caught the attention of the Sedgwick County Health Department, which informed her that she wasn’t licensed to run a food business out of her home. Suddenly, the egg roll business was no more.
The setback didn’t slow Tuong down, though, TJ said on Monday.
“She kept on pushing me to look for a restaurant so we can open one,” he said. “She really wants to do that.”
Xing Xing will not only get Tuong’s egg rolls back into circulation, it will also offer a menu of pho and other Vietnamese dishes. The couple plans to open the restaurant for both lunch and dinner.
Tuong had previously worked as a waitress at Saigon Bistro and at Pho Ong 8 at Harry and Oliver, a restaurant her grandmother started. She originally came to the United States from Vietnam as a high school foreign exchange student at Bishop Carroll High School and returned to attend Butler Community College. She married TJ in 2018.
TJ said he’s happy to have helped his wife make her dream come true.
“She’s very happy,” he said. “She’s feeling really excited about it.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 12:19 PM.
.jpg)