Restaurant opening this weekend on the south side specializes in a new-to-Wichita dish
Ooo LaLa Stone Pho, the new restaurant with a fun-to-say name in the old Chuyitos Birrieria space at 1415 W. Pawnee, will start its soft opening on Saturday.
But in advance of that day, the owners offered a sneak peek at the restaurant and demonstrated exactly what stone pot pho is.
Vu Nguyen and his wife, Nisa Dang, moved to Wichita from Oklahoma City, where they had operated a restaurant, and decided to introduce Wichita to a concept they’d experienced in their home country.
Stone pot pho is a lot like hot pot: Diners who order it get a steaming bowl of fragrant broth plus a plate full of toppings like noodles, sliced onion, bean sprouts, lime wedges, basil and jalapenos. They also get another plate loaded with various meats, including rare steak, brisket, beef meatballs, well-done flank and tendon. They’re able to load their bowls with whichever toppings they want.
The stone pho option costs $19.50, but customers also can order traditional bowls of pho served in regular bowls and choose from any of the above meats. Chicken also is an option. Those range from $13.50 to $15.50.
The rest of the menu includes appetizers like egg rolls, spring rolls and chicken wings as well as banh mi sandwiches, rice dishes, lo mein and chow fun. The restaurant also offers boba tea and smoothies. Eventually, it will serve beer from its bar, but it doesn’t have its liquor license just yet.
The giant dining room, which seats 181, has been redone with red table coverings, and a giant chandelier has been installed in the center of the room. Television screens hung throughout the room play footage of food travel in Vietnam.
The couple also has come up with a few unusual gimmicks for the restaurant. For one, they plan to serve customers tortilla chips and cheese dip while they wait for their food. They also have several refrigerated drink dispensers in the restaurant filled with canned and bottled beverages, and customers ordering anything other than tea and boba will be invited to grab whichever beverage they want themselves.
Also, the owners have stocked the restaurant with a huge selection of candy they’ll pass out to kid diners, who also can get popcorn from a popcorn machine set up in the restaurant.
Ooo LaLa Stone Pho’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Ooo LaLa Stone Pho menu
