The “Four Amigos” behind the noodles talk to Street about Disney World, MSG and the perfect $5 pot of Pho.
Street: When did the idea for Pho King arise? Is there a story behind its origin?
4 Amigos: Amigo 1 and Amiga 3 are Vietnamese, and upon coming to Penn, realized that there was no good Pho around campus. With an insatiable hunger, the two embarked on a quest to make and share the perfect pot of Pho, a process that took a hundred phone calls to their mothers and dozens of pots of Pho over two and a half years. A few months ago, Amigos 2 and 4 presented the Vietnamese Pho-crazy pair with the question: How would you make a thousand dollars to go to Disney World? Amigos 1 and 3 told them about their dreams of selling delicious Pho, and the idea snowballed into what is now Pho King.
Street: How are the Disney plans faring?
4A: While we haven’t made enough yet for an all-expenses paid trip to the magical kingdom, we are still going to Disney World regardless of how much we actually make. To be honest, it's not that profitable and we are doing this just for fun and living out our dreams before we have to grow up. We have already booked tickets, but most of that was from our own pockets.
Street: Some basics. Where is the restaurant located? What are your hours?
4A: We can’t tell you the location, but we can guarantee that if you ask your friends, someone will know! We’re open once a week, on Mondays 11p.m. — 1 a.m. [Ed. note: sources say Rodin]
Street: Are the four of you in the kitchen, or have you contracted other cooks?
4A: The four of us work the kitchen and do everything from buying the ingredients to serving the Pho.
Street: How many different dishes do you offer? Do you plan on expanding the menu?
4A: As of now we only have beef Pho. We’re considering expanding to chicken, but that’s as far as expansion will go.
Street: Who or what inspired the recipes? Family? Friends? Love for Pho?
4A: Everybody loves a good pot of Pho. In just about every Vietnamese household, there is a recipe and we wanted to share ours. Pho King is also about having fun in college. The Four Amigos are just your regular college buddies who love to hang out and enjoy good food.
Street: Do you view Pho King as a long term fixture on the Penn Dining scene?
4A: We’re college students, so of course we can’t do this forever. But we now know that we have a backup plan in case we fail at getting jobs after we graduate.
Street: Will you pass on the tradition to four more amigos pequenos?
4A: We would totally pass on this tradition if people were interested, but as of right now we have no heirs to the Pho King throne.
Street: Who is the mastermind behind the name?
4A: All of us! We brainstormed names and just loved this one.
Street: You refer to yourselves as the Four Amigos. Why?
4A: Honestly, we decided to call ourselves that because when Amigo 1 was creating a folder on his desktop for our photos and other documents, he decided to name it The Four Amigos. Amigo 2 likes to call herself Guidette 3. It’s really random.
Street: Any notable stories from before opening?
4A: A few weeks ago, we went “undercover” to a popular Pho restaurant in Chinatown as part of our “research and development.” We pretended that we all had food allergies and asked the manager if they used MSG in their Pho. He said that everything in the restaurant had MSG in it. Of course, we still ate the food (in spite of the manager’s puzzled glances towards our table), and in the end all of us felt really thirsty and sleepy and a little bit sick. This is why we decided not to use MSG.
Street: Can you explain the reason for the secrecy around your identity?
4A: We’re trying to keep this as underground and fun as possible. None of us is doing this to make tons of money or to make a name for ourselves. Seriously, we don’t want our names or faces plastered in any newspapers. It’s just more fun that way.
