Meet Kim Nguyen | Marketing Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Nguyen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I would pick up my daughter from school and our routine would be to go grab a healthy lunch and then frozen yogurt or Boba afterwards. The problem were there weren’t many kid friendly, quick service and healthy simple lunch spots around. So we basically went to Bolay everyday for their cilantro noodles, chicken, and brussels sprouts then make the drive to grab dessert. I was always thinking how I wished there were a Vietnamese version of Bolay with a Boba Tea spot next door.

My husband and his friends were in another field of work and was getting burnt out. Their longtime dreams were to open up a Vietnamese Restaurant. I mentioned to my husband that I cannot be the only one wishing for a fast healthy lunch spot that’s also kid friendly. And since we all had limited experience in the food and beverage industry, we decided the Chipotle/Bolay style Vietnamese concept was a no brainer.

We started researching the concept and looked for any Vietnamese build your own concepts in the country and even flew to a few. There weren’t many of these Vietnamese concepts out there and no build your own PHO that was made in front of your face on the order line so we did a lot of mock-up trials to make sure everything would work. Let me tell you, there’s a reason there’s no build your own Pho on the line is out there! It is not as easy as it seems but luckily we figured out how to make it work.

Then we started actively searching for a location and found the perfect spot. The space was 2 bays so it was huge! That’s when the idea of having a boba counter inside came about. Every true boba lover knows that restaurant bobas just isn’t the same as a stand alone boba place that focuses mainly on boba instead of an afterthought in restaurants. We decided to have two separate teams, one to concentrate on the food and another to focus on the boba. That’s how Nine Five Pho and Boba + Chill was born.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I believe what sets us apart from other restaurants and boba shops are that we aren’t your typical restaurateurs. We opened up this concept from a consumer’s standpoint. There were a void in the market for a clean, healthy and fun spot to take my daughter to after school in the neighborhood that caters to both adults and kids alike, so our concept was born out of that. It makes me so happy when I see mothers and fathers taking their kids in for a treat after school. I often hear from the parents that we’re their kids’ favorite spot!

What we do to keep the customers from getting bored is offer our “Pop Ups”. We roll out different dishes such as Chicken Curry or Vietnamese Papaya salad depending on the season for about a few weeks and then take them off. We’re very interactive with our customer base on instagram and love to get their input on what our next Pop Up should be. For the boba side, we roll out seasonal and holiday theme drinks with their respective colors and toppings. For instance, for Father’s Day, we had a “Daddy’s Golf Day” drink that looked like a golf course consisting of Thai Green Tea (grass), Crema (sand), and crumbled oreo cookies (dirt). We love coming up with these drinks and will even pass out samples while we’re concocting them up.

We’re so happy our concept was well received by the community. The most challenging part of this is that there weren’t that many Vietnamese restaurants in the area so a lot of the locals are pretty new to the food. The build your own concept helps us overcome those challenges by letting the customer sample some flavors and choose the ingredients they’d like to have in their meal. I believe every culture serves the same types of food – rice, bread, noodles, salads, chicken, shrimp, meats – just cooked and seasoned differently. That’s what Nine Five Pho is all about, giving Vietnamese food that South Floridian flavor!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Day 1 -Stay and play at The Hard Rock. Brunch at Kuro, Day club at Daer, Dinner at Council Oak, and try our luck at the baccarat table!

Day 2
– Grab a cuban coffee at La Colada Gourmet and cuban breakfast at a random hole in the wall – those are the best!
– Tour Wynwood, do some shopping and people watch in the Miami Design District, happy hour because Miami has the best mojitos, dinner and drinks at 1800Lucky.

Day 3
– Nine Five Pho for lunch, Boba + Chill for boba, shopping at Aventura, people watch and maybe celebrity sighting at Bal Harbour, dinner at Panya Thai. This is a hidden gem and has the most authentic Thai menu in south Florida.

Day 4
– Grab some wine and cheese from Trader Joes and relax at the beach. I like Dania beach because its a local spot that almost feels like a private back yard.

Day 5
– Girls spa day at the Fountainebleau, happy hour and oysters at River Oyster Bar, hang out and do some window shopping at Brickell City Center, dinner at Komodo’s and then grab drinks at Sugar on the roof top.

Day 6
– Charter a fishing boat and have the freshest sushi onboard – can’t forget to pack all the things that will make that sushi delicious and a few bottles of champagne! Then bring todays catch to Dragon City Chinese Restaurant in Davie and have the chef cook up whatever his heart desires.

Day 7
– An easy day at The Wharf in Ft. Lauderdale, Bodega for tacos, eat drink and chill before heading home!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Bronco Ho – Chef | Thai Nguyen – BOH Manager
Long Nguyen – FOH Manager
Tony Nguyen – General Manager
Mai Nguyen – Lead Bobarista

Instagram: @NineFivePho @BobaandChillFL

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NineFivePho/ https://www.facebook.com/bobaandchillfl

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nine-five-pho-pembroke-pines?osq=nine+five+pho https://www.yelp.com/biz/boba-and-chill-pembroke-pines-2?osq=boba+and+chill

Other: Ordering App: https://apps.apple.com/be/app/nine-five-pho/id1585790405

Image Credits
Nhan Pham, Melissa Soto