After Palo Alto opening, Pho Ha Noi restaurant setting its sights on Milpitas, Fremont

Helen Nguyen’s pho empire is expanding — with a new restaurant in Palo Alto, and a new one coming to Milpitas later this year. By early 2024 there will be a Fremont location, for a total of six Pho Ha Noi restaurants in the Bay Area.

The South Bay entrepreneur is an international trade veteran who added “restaurateur” to her résumé after she and her husband, Harry, opened pho restaurants in San Jose and Cupertino in 2016 and 2019, respectively. In 2021, she created a high-end concept, La Barrique, that has now become Pho Ha Noi Elite; both of the San Jose restaurants are located in the Vietnam Town center in the city’s Little Saigon.

In downtown Palo Alto, Nguyen renovated the prime corner space at University and Emerson that was formerly home to Wahlburgers. Here, the beef and chicken pho options are supplemented by several specialties: The Vietnamese Sizzling Steak is a prime filet mignon from Harris Ranch, sliced and served with pate and sides. There’s a Green Apple Salad with Flank Steak, and a pound-size Short Rib with Noodles. The classic shaken beef — her version is called Rock and Roll —  is made with a choice filet.

Now under construction are a Milpitas location at 1228 S. Abel St., expected to open this fall, and a showcase location in Fremont’s Pacific Commons, in the former PF Chang’s space on Christy Street. Nguyen predicts a spring 2024 opening there.