A new Vietnamese restaurant, Cần Thơ Bistro and Bar, quietly made its entrance on Main Street in downtown Greenville July 29.
The new restaurant is operated by Lisa and Charlie “Chuck” Doan, along with local restaurateur Cheng Yap. Although the Doans are new names to the local food community, the restaurant game isn’t unfamiliar to them.
“We promised ourselves that when we left the restaurant business in Minnesota that we’ll never go back to restaurant business again. Never say never,” Chuck said. It was Yap – owner of Sushi Murasaki – who convinced them to return from their hiatus by reminding the couple that there weren’t any Vietnamese restaurants in downtown Greenville.
Their life’s journey took them from Vietnam to Greenville by way of Louisiana. Both were refugees of the Vietnam War. Lisa is from Vũng Tàu, on the coast of southeast Vietnam. Chuck is from the city of Cần Thơ, which inspired the name of the restaurant and is located along the left bank of the Hau River.
The two met in high school in Louisiana while Chuck was getting into a fight and Lisa was asked to be a translator by her school. He spoke English so her services were not necessary but the chance encounter was.
Lisa left Vietnam in 1975 just after the fall of Saigon and Chuck left in the mid-1980s. Both of their parents fought alongside the U.S. armed forces against communism. However when Saigon fell, their families became targets of the new government.
He chronicled his time growing up during and after the war in his book “Sand in their Eyes.”
“I lived during the war, during wartime, and after wartime, and when we escaped,” Chuck said. “So the whole journey, and how different when I came here and actually learned how it [was], the history of the Vietnam War there and here are two different stories. Because the story told here is not the story that how I grew up and lived in.”
For both of them, the war ended long after the fall of Saigon. Their fathers both became prisoners of war after the U.S. exited the country,
“If the war was over, they wouldn’t have imprisoned my dad, they wouldn’t have executed people,” Chuck said. “They wouldn’t have seized our property and kicked us out of our home.”
Cần Thơ is located in Southern Vietnam which is less famous for phở (more commonly served in Northern Vietnam) and more famous for hủ tiếu, a seafood noodle soup.
“[Hủ tiếu] is almost pork and seafood based,” Lisa said before gesturing to phở on the menu. “And this one is just beef.”
The menu reflects Vietnam’s history with dishes like lúc lắc, a Vietnamese dish inspired by French cuisine indicative of the European country’s involvement in Vietnam. The dish features tender, cubed steak with onions and peppers fried until a light crust forms.
Cần Thơ is known for its Cái Răng Floating Market, depicted at the entrance of the restaurant. In some ways, the Doans have recreated home all around them and invited others to come in and experience it.
Cần Thơ Bistro and Bar is located at 111 S. Main St. in Greenville.
Bite-sized bits:
- Haywood Road’s Wine House has been teasing its Hartness location since September 2024 and its downtown Greenville location since January. The team announced Aug. 4 that they would be closing the flagship location, with its final day of operation Sept. 26. Along with the closure, the team announced the opening dates for its new locations: Sept. 1 for Hartness (2000 Society St.) and Oct. 7 for downtown (301 N. Main St.).
- Restaurant Week is Aug. 13-23. Be sure to check out restaurantweeksouthcarolina.com/city/greenville to see which local restaurants are participating.
