Wichita restaurant owner, burned out and losing employees to chains, announces closure
Huyvu Nguyen said he assumed that the COVID-19 pandemic would be what took down his 5-year-old Vietnamese restaurant — VietNom Nom, which has operated at 13th and Tyler since late 2017.
But the restaurant, which is in the Tyler Pointe shopping center, survived COVID only to be taken down two years later by staffing issues.
Now Nguyen says that the time has come for him to move on from the restaurant and for him and his family to restore some work-life balance. He’s hoping he can find someone to buy the business, he said, but if not, its final day will be Sept. 3.
Nguyen, who five years ago was a longtime Walgreens store manager who dreamed of having his own business, said that the timing of his decision has to do with his lease ending.
“We just couldn’t commit to another five years with the uncertainty of everything,” he said.
Things have been tough recently, mostly because he’s been unable to find staff. The workers he does have are heading back to school, and others have been lured away by higher paying jobs at chain restaurants, he said.
Nguyen has been working insane hours, he said, and his mother and brother have also been constantly working to keep the restaurant open. His mother lives in Manhattan and has been traveling back and forth.
“It’s also time to let them live their lives,” he said.
He’s had a few people inquire about buying the restaurant but has so far not had any serious offers. If someone was interested, he said, they could try to negotiate their own terms with the landlords of the space.
Though he’s built a strong customer base, in the end, it just wasn’t enough.
“The support has been nothing but great, and we’ve grown every year,” Nguyen said. “It’s just we really can’t keep up anymore. We don’t really want to compromise the quality or the service.”
Nguyen said people have asked him if he might try to reopen a version of the restaurant in the future, and though he doesn’t have an answer, he won’t completely rule it out.
In the meantime, he has to decide what he’s going to do next.
“I’m going to try to recharge batteries a little and see where it takes me,” he said.
Anyone interested in talking about taking over the restaurant can call Nguyen at 316-207-4512 or send him a direct message on the business’ Facebook page.
This story was originally published August 18, 2022 at 11:51 AM.
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