Local Vietnamese restaurant Friends and Pho announced that they would be re-opening on Friday, Oct. 14. Located at 3 Lebanon street in Hamilton, Friends and Pho serves a variety of Vietnamese dishes, from soup to sandwiches to noodle salads. Owner Nhut Ho originally opened up the restaurant in Hamilton on Jan. 26, 2019. 

Senior Lauryn Johnson spoke about the merits of the business, noting appreciation for the added variety it brings to the village.

“My first impression of Friends and Pho was that it was very quaint,” Johnson said. “It is definitely very unassuming from the outside but that doesn’t make the food any less delicious. I think it was also very welcoming because it added to the variety of cuisines offered in Hamilton.”

Providing a larger sense of diversity to Hamilton’s dining options, Ho’s restaurant is widely appreciated amongst students of Colgate University and the surrounding communities. 

“It’s so hard to choose my favorite thing on their menu because everything I’ve had is super good, but I’d definitely say the Vietnamese beef stew soup,” Johnson said, “The first thing to try would definitely be their basic beef pho or their matcha and coffee drinks.”

The restaurant had been closed throughout the Fall Semester until its reopening last week. A reason for the closure was not advertised publicly aside from a small index card posted in the window of the restaurant noting a temporary closure.

The Colgate Maroon-News attempted to contact the owners of Friends and Pho via email and an in-person visit to the location, however, the owners declined to comment at this time.

Friends and Pho have continuously expressed their appreciation of patience within the local community and regulars. With the help of Ho’s sister and son, they were able to serve fellow Colgate University students during Family Weekend, according to the Friends & Pho Facebook page. 

Students that regularly go to Friends and Pho have also expressed their excitement over the reopening. Friends and Pho serves a variety of Vietnamese cuisine, including Pho Ga (Chicken Noodle Soup), Pho (Beef Noodle Soup), Banh Mi Ny (Steak Sandwich), as well as matcha and iced coffee drinks. Students have a variety of favorites from the menu, according to senior Giselle Wong.

“I enjoy their pho, the original beef noodle soup, and I have a bad addiction to their giant Vietnamese coffee,” Wong said. 

Spring rolls and egg rolls were taken off the menu for the time being, but a new vegetarian addition has been added to their menu, Pho Tofu, according to the Facebook page.  

Senior Emily Wang expressed her excitement of the reopening after a long period of time deprived of the restaurant’s food.

“I would recommend their pho! I’m so happy because I’ve been deprived for so long, basically, all year since I went abroad,” senior Emily Wang said. “I am looking forward to the next time I’m free to go Downtown and eat there!”

Friends and Pho will continue to stay open from 11:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m., however, will be closed Mondays and Thursdays for the time being.

“It’s pretty much the only place we’ll go when my friends and I are in town specifically for food, especially because they have later hours. But even if they didn’t have late hours I’d still go there all the time,” Johnson said.