[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 87 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 RECOGNIZING PHO 79 FOR BEING AWARDED THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. HARLEY ROUDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 22, 2019

  Mr. ROUDA. Madam Speaker, today I'd like to recognize Pho 79 for 
receiving the James Beard Foundation Award in the America's Classics 
category. These awards are also known as the ``Oscars of the Food 
World'', and the America's Classics category rewards, ``quality food 
that reflects the character of their communit[y]''. Pho 79, founded by 
Lieu Tran and Thq Tran, is in California's 48th Congressional District 
in Garden Grove and was one of the original businesses that comprised 
what would become Little Saigon.
  Founded in 1982 as one of the first pho restaurants in Southern 
California, Pho 79, with its cozy and modest atmosphere, belies the 
nondescript corner of Garden Grove it sits on. The restaurant 
introduced Americans to that eponymous broth soup of Vietnamese 
cuisine, served with meatballs, tenderloin, or tripe and seasoned with 
bean sprouts, lime, mint leaves, and pepper. But, of course, the 
restaurant continues to garner acclaim for its signature oxtail soup.
  Just as the restaurant introduced Americans to some of the best 
examples of Vietnamese cuisine, Pho 79, if only during a meal, 
reconnected Orange County's Vietnamese-American refugee community to 
their homeland--including those who came seeking asylum in the days and 
years following the Vietnam War and the children and grandchildren of 
those refugees. Those memories are reflected in the restaurant's name, 
which commemorates the year that the Trans arrived in the United 
States. Their story is a testament to entrepreneurship, hard work, and 
the strength of the Vietnamese-American community.
  With the Tran family continuing to prepare the food and work the 
restaurant, Pho 79 remains a fixture in Little Saigon and has played a 
crucial role in pioneering Vietnamese cuisine in California's 48th 
District and across Southern California. Their James Beard Foundation 
Award in the America's Classics category is richly deserved, and I give 
to them my warmest congratulations and best wishes for continued 
success.

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