The Vietnamese restaurant Pho & Cafe Saigon opened on Friday at 43rd and Spruce streets, replacing Campus Epicurean, an American restaurant and community staple for the past seven years.
One local resident said she "hadn't the foggiest" idea why Campus Epicurean had shut its doors. "They were here one day and gone the next," she said.
"They were never open," she added. "They were only open on the weekend and catered during the week."
According to co-owner Cuoi Eng, whose brother De Wong owns the property, the former tenants had been late on rent payments.
Pho & Cafe Saigon's weekend crowd exceeded the size the couple had anticipated, according to Loana Eng, wife of Cuoi Eng.
"It was very good," Loana Eng said. "We didn't advertise or anything, but it was still busy. There were lines out the door."
The restaurant seats 40 people, and over the weekend, extra tables were set up outside to hold the overflow of customers.
The rush came as a surprise in light of Hurricane Isabel, which was predicted to descend on the Philadelphia area Friday afternoon.
In addition, the only public indication of the Friday opening was a sign posted in the establishment's window.
"We thought we were just going to have friends and family here to congratulate us," Loana Eng said. "But it was busy by the afternoon, and by dinnertime there were lines out the door. We didn't expect that many customers."
College senior Brittany Henshaw testified to the busy opening day, commenting that when she was at the restaurant, there was a crowd of about 20 people waiting outside.
"We waited in line for 30 minutes," Henshaw said. "It was good. We had the beef noodle pho. They also have bubble tea milkshakes that are really delicious."
Henshaw added that, at the end of the night, employees had to turn customers away.
With menu items including $2.50 appetizers and $5 to $5.75 entrees such as 14 variations of pho, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup Cuoi Eng said that he is gearing his restaurant to cater to students, local residents and professors.
Eng began working in the food business as a pizza delivery boy for a pizzeria on 11th and Race streets. He spent six years working his way up until he owned the restaurant, which he has since sold.
He then went into business for his brother, who, at the time, was the landlord for the property on 40th and Spruce streets where Billybob's, a bar and restaurant, was located.
Eng's experience working at Billybob's was what prompted him to continue working in the University City area, he said. He began leasing the site of Pho & Cafe Saigon in July.
Despite complaints that the street sewer drain in front of the building is clogged -- occasionally flooding the walkway -- and that since starting work on Friday, Loana Eng has witnessed three car accidents at the 43rd and Spruce intersection, both she and her husband said they couldn't be happier with the location.
Saigon was closed yesterday to complete some finishing touches on the interior, which the Engs and De and Jan Huyan, the restaurant's chef and other co-owner, have been fixing up for the past month and a half.
Despite being closed, Loana Eng says nearly a dozen people stopped by yesterday asking for menus.
However, the restaurant does not yet offer take-out.
So far, all waitressing has been done by volunteer family members.
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