According to Pho Ha Noi co-owner Helen Nguyen, the restaurant just recently signed its lease. Nguyen said construction is expected to take at least a year.
PHO HA NOI
Press
Mini Bay Area pho empire expanding to Berkeley's most polarizing building
A mini Bay Area pho empire is expanding once again — this time into a polarizing building near the UC Berkeley campus.
Pho Ha Noi, which has locations in Fremont, Milpitas, Palo Alto, Cupertino and San Jose, announced on Instagram it will open its sixth location at 2435 Telegraph Ave. The buzzy pho spot is slated to join Sourdough & Co and TKK Fried Chicken at the Enclave, a seven-story, mixed-use student housing project at the corner of Haste Street. The building, which has a rock-like facade reminiscent of “Fantastic Four” rock-humanoid superhero the Thing, is also set to soon welcome the Yard Milkshake Bar.
“We are trying very hard, but I think we will be able to open it around the summer of 2026 [at the] earliest,” Nguyen told SFGATE.
Nguyen said they chose Berkeley for their sixth location after seeing the success of Pho Ha Noi in Palo Alto, near the Stanford University campus. In addition to the regular menu of beef or chicken pho and garlic noodles, the Berkeley restaurant will serve specialty dishes from 9 p.m. to midnight “for students who eat late,” she said, though she did not share what those dishes might be. Some Pho Ha Noi locations also serve Korean dishes such as Korean short ribs. It is unclear whether the Berkeley outpost will also serve Korean specialties.
Helen and Harry Nguyen opened the original San Jose location in 2016. Three years later, they expanded to Cupertino. By 2024, they had five locations across the Bay Area, according to the San Francisco Chronicle (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms).
The couple has just over a decade of experience in the restaurant industry, but they took an unconventional path to get there. They previously owned a car export shipping company. Harry also worked as a software engineer, the Chronicle reported.
Several Cal students have already posted about their excitement over the new restaurant — one even called it “THE BEST HANGOVER CURE.” Several comments on the TikTok post also showed support for the restaurant. One intimated that they would be living in Enclave next year, writing, “I WIN I WIN.”