At 7 a.m., Theresa Hoang, 49, is already on the road.
Before Viet Thai Deli, located at 930 Main St. in Grinnell, opens every morning, Hoang has driven from her home in Des Moines to Newton, prepared the day’s food and transported it back to the restaurant. She closes at 8 p.m., leaves around 8:30 or 9 p.m., and arrives home near 10 p.m.
“I leave the house at seven in the morning,” she said. “I don’t have a kitchen yet. I have to go grocery shopping, bring everything to Newton, cook and bring it here.”
Hoang said her workload was constant. “It’s not eight hours, it’s 15 hours a day,” she said. “Even when I eat, I have my bowl on the counter. I grab a bite, go do something, come back, grab another bite.”
Hoang’s work in Grinnell builds on decades in the restaurant industry. She also owns another restaurant, Viet Thai Taste, in Newton that has been open for six years and is run by her former husband, son and daughter.
Hoang immigrated to the United States in 1989 from Dalat, a city in southern Vietnam, and opened her first restaurant when she was 20.
“I’ve always worked for myself,” she said. “I went to one year of college and quit. If it’s not mine, it’s not mine. I prefer to be self-employed.”
Before returning to restaurant work, Hoang owned a Vietnamese and Laotian bar in Des Moines but retired after four years because of the toll it took on her.
“The customers fought a lot,” she said. “I had to get drunk every day because customers expected you to drink with them. If you didn’t, they felt disrespected. I had three young kids. I would drop them at school and pass out in the parking lot.”
She said she decided to open in Grinnell after hearing that a Thai restaurant might be opening in town. “I have to be here first,” she said.
When she first saw the storefront of what would come to be Viet Thai Deli, she said she hesitated. The space had previously been divided into multiple small rooms. “I signed the contract and then backed out. I said, ‘Man, it’s not going to work. It’s too tiny for me.’” She later re-signed the lease and opened, despite not having a full kitchen.
Hoang said installing a kitchen requires more than just appliances. “It’s not just the stove — it’s the exhaust fan and everything. That costs a fortune,” she said.
“The sink and pipes alone were around $10,000. After COVID, everything doubled. I pay everything in cash. No loans. That’s why it’s hard.”
Despite difficulties prior to opening, Hoang said the first week was busy. “We had students and people from town come in excited. We had a line outside,” she said. On weekends, she said, customers waited almost an hour while she worked alone.
She has since hired Kayla Nguyen `28 and A’aishah Azam `28 to assist with drinks, cashiering and packaging. “It’s wonderful. Now I can focus on cooking,” Hoang said.
Hoang said she has had little time to connect with other business owners in the community. “The only person I talk to is my landlord. He comes in three times a week to eat and make sure I can pay rent. Everybody is nice and supportive. I have no complaints,” she said. “Thanks to the college students and professors, they give me a lot of business.”
She said she plans to expand the menu once the kitchen is completed. “I’ll have beef stew and at least four more dishes,” she said. “Right now it’s limited, but I’ll expand once I have a kitchen.”
Hoang said her lease in Grinnell is for three years. “Once I have the kitchen, I can’t leave,” she said. “I plan to stay as long as I can.”
This article has been updated to include the location of Viet Thai Taste Deli in Grinnell. Updated on 3/4/2026.
