Yen Happa closed

Unfortunately, Yen Happa closed permanently today.
The sign on the door says to visit them at Annie's Cafe.
Shame they couldn't make it work. Nice guys with good food.

[Robin Garr]

That is the former Banh Mi Hero? If so, I'm sorry to hear it. Annie's son seemed like a nice guy.

That is correct Robin. They worked hard everyday but just couldn't make it work. Nice guys.

So sad, they had delicious food. I wonder if they will proceed with the food truck they were developing?

I really liked their soups. That is a shame.

This breaks my heart. Great Banh Mi and excellent noodle bowls. Those kids worked hard to put out great food. I always wondered about the location, though. I'm sure in a better place they could have thrived.

I'm also upset that, with the closing of Yen Hapa and Rumplings, there are fewer places to get real noodle bowls. I know it's personal taste, but my heart sinks when I hear of another Mexican or pizza place and so few real ramen/noodle/dim sum/asian places in the East End. And why is there still no Indian food truck?

I drive/walk past that spot almost daily and there was rarely more than one table taken. I never went in myself, never heard any positive word of mouth. It's not an ideal location, but Oishii did well enough to springboard to a bigger (and usually crowded) building.

I saw the restaurant space was listed for lease on Craigslist last week.

I'm also upset that, with the closing of Yen Hapa and Rumplings, there are fewer places to get real noodle bowls. I know it's personal taste, but my heart sinks when I hear of another Mexican or pizza place and so few real ramen/noodle/dim sum/asian places in the East End. And why is there still no Indian food truck?

I share these same sentiments. Anytime an ecclectic ethnic restaurant is replaced with another rendition of pizza, Mexican, or hamburgers it is not an ideal trade.

As for Lee, he should consider a more modest location where he can duplicate his mother's menu. You can't go wrong with just a bluechip type of stock such as old-fashion pho and other Vietnames dishes. His family, Vietnam Kitchen, and Cafe Tuy Van stand as my witnesses.

And why is there still no Indian food truck?

My thoughts exactly...

I drive/walk past that spot almost daily and there was rarely more than one table taken. I never went in myself, never heard any positive word of mouth. It's not an ideal location, but Oishii did well enough to springboard to a bigger (and usually crowded) building.

Every time I was in there, under either the Bahn Mi Hero or Yen Happa moniker, I was the only one present. I'm not surprised it closed, though I agree with others that the food was pretty good. The location certainly isn't the best, though there is a lot of through traffic that way. For better or worse, they would have sold 100x more as a food truck _in that exact location_.

Sad to hear! We stopped in for the first time for takeout on Monday and the Phnom Penh noodle bowl was great! There was only one table occupied though.

It is a shame. But he is so young, and to have that experience behind him at such a young age is sure to make him a better business person in whatever field he chooses. That corridor is sparse and though he was right on the road, the sign, the decor, the building, never called out to you to stop. He had less than ideal kitchen space and I think he was reluctant to take advice from other restaurant veterans. Annie's is one of my go to places, but even they struggle some nights, and lets just face it, this is a hard ass way to make a living. Best of luck to him in whatever direction he goes. I also think the food truck would have kicked butt.

At one of the Phood Truck Phridays they did at Phoenix Hill, they had a trailer that they were cooking in, and it worked really well for a simpler menu. They had bahn mi, some sort of stir fried thing, and so on, and they seemed to do really well. Hopefully the loss of the brick and mortar won't keep him from going for the food truck idea, because I think that's a great idea and his execution in the trailer was top notch.