A restaurant called “Pho King Way” has opened in Mission Viejo.
By now, everyone is aware of the tendency of a few phở purveyors to name their restaurants that it ends up sounding like an obscene verb in the present participle.
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Google
lists no less than a dozen Pho King's from Washington state to
Virginia. And there is no shortage of variants with such
names as “Pho King Delicious”, “Pho Kym”, and “What The Pho?”
The latest is actually not the only “Pho King Way” in the
world. Though it is the first in OC, the Mission Viejo branch is part of a franchise that
has stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Carson, all called
“Pho King Way”.
And according to an e-mail sent to owner Alex Le, which he posted on their Facebook page, some neighbors are already offended. One wrote:
“To bad you have to include a tacky pun which is in VERY poor taste as the name of the restaurant. No 'fuh king way' will I give you my business…Many other neighbors of mine feel the same way. You picked a quiet 'family oriented neighborhood' for your establishment, shame on you.”
But the restaurant already has its defenders, including Harrison Kho, owner of Irvine's Harry's Deli, who wrote on their wall:
“What's all these stuffy bastards picking on the name? I consider myself a pretty conservative guy, and I even love your name.
Came
for dinner tonight, before we left my 5yo daughter asked where we're
going. I said, 'Pho King way' and she says, 'Pho King Way?' I started
busting up, and she innocently asks, 'why are you laughing?' LOLOL.Anyway, awesome Pho, Alex. Keep on rocking it!”
To check out their menu, click HERE.
24000 Alicia Pkwy. Ste. 23, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 472-5464
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.