Owner Lambent Nguyen at The LA Squared Vietnamese Restaurant in Harrisburg
Lambent Nguyen knows there are a lot of positive and sentimental memories associated with his restaurant.
One married couple first met there, families have had kids grow up eating there, and it’s become a favorite spot for locals—especially for the pho.
With that in mind, Nguyen was careful to keep enough of the old, while bringing updates to his mother’s restaurant, Vietnamese Garden, in Midtown Harrisburg. After over 20 years of business with his mom Phuong Phan at the helm, Nguyen took over as owner, picking up where his mother left off.
And while much of the restaurant remains the same, a lot has changed, including the name, which Nguyen changed to The LA Squared, a nod to his wife’s, daughters’ and his first initials.
“I realized my mom’s restaurant needed an update, but I didn’t want to change too much,” Nguyen said. “I want customers to know we are still here, and I’m her son.”
Last summer, Nguyen renovated the space, located on Reily Street, to modernize it and brainstormed how to make the menu more expansive, easier to read and easier to mix and match items.
The new menu features a build-your-own style, where customers can choose, for example, which type of noodles, meat and broth they’d like in their dish. The menu includes the classic pho soups, rice and noodle dishes, while adding items from other cultures like Korean-style tofu soups, Thai fried rice, Taiwanese-style lo mein noodles and Vietnamese hoagies.
There is also a whole new drink menu with offerings like ginger herbal tea, fruit, boba and Thai tea, smoothies, Vietnamese coffee and juices.
Inside The LA Squared
“I learned from the customers,” Nguyen said. “They requested items, and I generated the menu that way. Customers are surprised. They love it.”
When his mother, Phan, opened the restaurant in 2001, she didn’t have much experience cooking. The family moved from Vietnam to the United States about five years before, and she was determined to build a business of her own. Phan would travel back and forth to Vietnam to learn to cook in the early days of the business. But running the restaurant was tough, and the area on Reily Street was largely blighted and undeveloped at the time.
With help from her husband and sons, she stuck it out through the challenges, most recently, the effects of the pandemic, and grew a following of loyal customers.
As she got older, Phan was ready to step away from the business, and Nguyen decided to take over operations. Like his mother when she first opened the restaurant, Nguyen had little experience with business or the food industry. His wheelhouse was mechanical engineering, as he still holds a full-time position with Lockheed Martin, one of the top U.S. defense contractors. Also like his mother’s early days, Nguyen has realized the difficulties of owning a business, especially while balancing it with another job and a family. But still, he’s hopeful about how the restaurant could grow.
“I never had a restaurant before, but I have a dream,” Nguyen said.
His goal is to eventually open more LA Squared restaurants in the area.
But for now, he’s happy to see old customers enjoying the updated restaurant and new customers checking out their food for the first time.
“Owning a business is very tough,” he said. “But I’m motivated by success. I’m thinking about the goal.”
The LA Squared is located at 304 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit their website.
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