Meet the Family Behind Pho By Night: 26 Years in the ByWard Market

Most restaurants have a menu. Ours has a story — and it starts with two people who left everything behind in Vietnam to build a new life in Ottawa.

Built From the Ground Up

Pho By Night has been serving the ByWard Market for over 26 years. My parents founded it after immigrating from Vietnam, and they built it the way immigrant families build everything: from the ground up, one long day at a time. There were no investors and no shortcuts — just two people who believed Ottawa deserved real Vietnamese food, made the way it's made at home.

More than two decades later, they're still here. Not in photos on the wall — actually here, in the restaurant, every single day.

The Heart of Our Kitchen

If you've ever wondered why our pho broth tastes the way it does, the answer is my mom.

Before Pho By Night, she spent over 30 years as a pastry chef at The Westin Ottawa. That's three decades of professional discipline — precision, consistency, and an obsession with getting the details right — that she carried straight into our kitchen. She still oversees our recipes and food quality today, and the broth is her masterpiece: refined over decades, tasted and adjusted until it meets a standard only she gets to set.

My dad has dedicated his life to the restaurant alongside her. Together, they built the foundation everything we do stands on — the recipes, the work ethic, and the belief that every guest who walks through our doors should be treated like family.

The Next Chapter

I grew up in this restaurant, but I didn't come straight back to it. I spent several years in the international corporate world first, working in sales, marketing, branding, leadership, and business strategy. Those years changed how I see our family business — not as something to simply preserve, but as something to build on.

Now I've stepped into the leadership role, and my vision is clear: honour what my parents created while transforming Pho By Night into a modern Vietnamese restaurant brand that stays true to our family's roots and values.

Where We're Going

Our long-term vision is ambitious, and we're not shy about it. We want Pho By Night to become the face of Vietnamese food in Ottawa first, then Ontario, and eventually Canada.

But we don't want to be known only for great pho. We want to be known for authentic Vietnamese culture, genuine hospitality, innovation, and a customer experience you don't forget. That's the standard my parents set 26 years ago, and it's the standard we'll carry forward.

Come Meet Us

The best way to understand our story is to taste it. Visit us in the ByWard Market, order a bowl of the broth my mom has been perfecting for decades, and you'll see why three of us — my mom, my dad, and me — still show up for this every day.

From our family to yours: thank you, Ottawa, for 26 years. We're just getting started.