Photo by JJ Velasquez

Photo by JJ Velasquez

Photo by JJ Velasquez

Photo by JJ Velasquez

In 1996, Son Nguyen left his job at AMD—one of the foremost developers of computer processors in the world—to become one of the earliest purveyors of an Austin phenomenon.

Nguyen, whose chain of local pho restaurants now totals six, has seen the Vietnamese noodle soup go from curiosity to household name.

Named Pho ThaiSon, an amalgam of he and his wife's names, the restaurant opened in Kyle in 2007. The nearby H-E-B Plus was the centerpiece around which the pho restaurant and many others were built.

Nguyen has seen the increase in development in the city.

"It is growing very fast," he said. "Six years ago, this area was almost nothing."

With the arrival of the Austin Community College Hays campus in January and a Walmart store slated to start construction in the coming months, Nguyen said business should tick up even more.

He recently renewed his lease and feels confident his business will remain strong in Kyle for years to come, he said.

When the pho craze hit the United States in the 1990s, Nguyen's Pho ThaiSon was one of the first on the scene in Austin.

Nguyen, who emigrated from Vietnam to Canada in 1979, moved to Austin in 1987.

He decided in 1996 to leave his job as a technician and begin what he said was one of Austin's first pho restaurants.

"I used to work in a restaurant, and I loved to cook," he said. "So I said, 'Hey, there are not so many Vietnamese restaurants here.' That's why I decided to open the first one.

"Then the first one did OK," Nguyen continued.

Word seeped out around town about the affordable nutrition packed into the warm bowls of Vietnamese noodle soup, and after some attention in the press, pho took off, he said.

Pho consists of three main ingredients: usually one type of meat, rice noodles and broth.

A number of vegetables and condiments can be added to the bowl if desired. Typical ingredients include bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, chile peppers, lime, hoisin sauce and sriracha.

Nguyen said his ingredients are always fresh.

"You're guaranteed to have the best bowl of pho," he said.

Nguyen has said other restaurants have tried to capitalize on the pho craze, but many have failed.

"People open a few years," he said. "They close, but I stay."

Nguyen said many customers from San Marcos ask him to set up shop there. He said he is considering it.

The friendly atmosphere at his restaurants as well as the hearty pho and other Vietnamese offerings leave his customers satisfied, he said.

"Most of the time, people are very happy," Nguyen said. "And that's why they come back a lot of the time."

5401 FM 1626, Ste. 370, Kyle

512-268-3205, www.phothaison.com

Hours: Mon.–Sun. 11 a.m.–10 p.m