Nguyen sisters open new Vietnamese restaurant in family’s old building
AURORA, Colo. — For Thoa Nguyen and her four sisters, it feels like only yesterday they were doing math homework at their parents’ restaurant, frequently interrupted by a rush of customers. The girls’ parents would call them into the back of the restaurant to help make boba as orders came in.
As much as they helped out with the register, hosting guests and packing to-go boxes, they also caused chaos. Thoa, 36, recalls mixing up the sugar and salt quite often.
“It was also our playground,” Thoa said, laughing.
That playground had a name: New Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant that anchored Denver's Little Saigon district for nearly 30 years. Ha Pham and Thai Nguyen, the sisters’ parents, bought the restaurant in 1987. They sold it in 2017.
The restaurant closed in 2024 and remained vacant — until now.
This summer, the Nguyen sisters are opening up a new Vietnamese restaurant, Rễ Tre, at the same building on Federal Boulevard, continuing their family’s culinary journey in Denver.
Rễ Tre, which means bamboo root, is not a traditional Vietnamese restaurant, according to Thoa. While there will be familiar flavors and recipes, the sisters hope to expand on their family’s traditional cuisine and adapt it to their culinary visions, while still honoring the recipes from their childhood.
“We’re calling it Rễ Tre because we’re going back to our roots. We’re going back to where our parents built a legacy and now continuing that legacy in our own way,” Thoa said.
The one-mile stretch of Federal Boulevard between Alameda Avenue and Mississippi Avenue in west Denver serves as the official Little Saigon Business District, home to many local Vietnamese-owned businesses like the former New Saigon.
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese refugees, immigrants and community leaders settled along Denver’s Federal Boulevard. The city officially designated the area as the Little Saigon Business District of Denver in 2014.
The district has several grocery stores, including New Saigon Supermarket, that carry traditional Vietnamese ingredients such as lemongrass and shrimp paste. Phở restaurants are abundant in the area.
Opening a business isn’t unfamiliar territory for the sisters; they’ve each launched their own restaurants since their days of running around New Saigon.
After studying baking and pastry arts in France for a year during college, Thoa returned to Colorado in 2012, when her parents opened up New Saigon Bakery, next door to New Saigon, as a homecoming gift. The bakery sold bánh mì, Vietnamese street food and pastries.
For the next six years, Thoa ran the bakery with her sister, Thu. Although Thoa gained a lot of skills and experience, she didn’t feel fulfilled creatively. She stepped away from the family business.
“I lost passion along the way, and I just couldn’t find my happiness there,” Thoa said.
It wasn’t until 2022 that Thoa opened up Bánh & Butter Café in Aurora, combining her experience in France with her Vietnamese heritage. The bakery — which sells French classics like pain au chocolat and Asian fusion sweets like a pandan coconut cupcake — consistently ranks among the best in the state.
An Nguyen, Thoa’s older sister, climbed the ranks in her parents’ restaurant, starting as a server and ultimately becoming the wok chef. In 2019, she opened Savory Vietnam, where she served her own Vietnamese fare, just a few blocks from New Saigon.
“The foundation for the food was always from my mom’s recipes; however, I’m redefining the dishes — putting my own flavors and twist on them,” An said. The restaurant closed in 2023 due to rising rent costs. The following year, she opened a new restaurant, Dân Dã, with her other sister, Thao Nguyen.
Her tried-and-true recipe is a rendition of Bò Lúc Lắc (Vietnamese shaking beef), a classic Vietnamese dish that centers around quickly cooked beef, coated in a sweet, salty, garlicky sauce. While she learned the recipe from her mom, she’s taken a few liberties of her own with the dish, using tenderloin for a delicate bite and adding red wine vinegar for some acidity. It’s a best-seller at Dân Dã.
“It’s modernized, but when you eat it, it takes you back to your childhood,” An said.
Inside Dân Dã, An’s daughter sits in the kitchen watching videos on her iPad. Her husband helps with the front-of-house staff. An recognizes how similar it is to her childhood.
Last year, the Colorado Restaurant Association’s HOSPYs honored An as Colorado’s “Chef of the Year.”
“I think that’s when my mom truly saw me. I proved to [my parents] that I’m good enough,” An said.
As for Rễ Tre, Thao said that they hope to make the restaurant a brunch and dinner spot. The mornings will feature items like Vietnamese coffee and pastries, while the dinner menu will feature family-style food and seasonal chef specials.
“This is what [my parents] have been working for since the beginning. They did it all for us, to see us girls carrying on their legacy,” An said.
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