Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
April 29, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — One of the Northeast’s beloved restaurants is getting a makeover.

The Pho Hoa Noodle Soup, 1447 Independence Ave., will close its doors beginning May 1, for remodeling and a name change. Earlier this month, owner Spike Nguyen opened the French-Vietnamese bistro iPho Tower in Midtown, at the corner of Broadway and Valentine Road at 3623 Broadway Blvd. When the remodeling is complete at the Independence Avenue location, it will bear the same name as its Midtown counterpart.

Phong Nguyen, who helps Nguyen operate Pho Hoa, said the change comes because the lease to the name of the California-based noodle chain expired. Nguyen originally thought the naming lease was set to expire in June, and planned to make the changes then. But plans changed and everything was moved to be completed sooner when they learned about the early expiration.

“We’re not closing for good,” Phong said.

Along with changes to the name, Phong said the interior will also get remodeled. He doesn’t believe there will by many, if any, changes to the menu.

“There might be a little reshuffling [of the menu] but everything should stay the same,” Phong said.

Although there is no time table for the remodeling, Phong believes the restaurant will be closed for about three weeks. Since the changes will affect a lot of loyal customers, Phong wanted people to know they weren’t closing for good.

“Even though we won’t carry the Pho Hoa name, everything else should be the same,” Phong said.