Hurriedly rushing over from his pickup truck, Tony Ngo greeted me with a huge smile and a firm handshake. Since 2014, Da Nang Vietnamese Eatery has been his heart and soul. Whether he is taking orders, cooking in the back, or working on his new restaurant, Tony always shows enthusiasm for his work. He said that it is his calling to do so.

Tony was a business student at the University of Oregon and always had a love for food. The idea of having a food cart came to him after nights of hanging out with friends that always ended up cooking and trying new dishes. After graduating, he decided to turn his hobby into a career by opening up Da Nang, along with a business partner.

Da Nang is named after his parent’s hometown, expressing Tony’s desire to make traditional Vietnamese food more well-known. However, he quickly found out that the demographic in Eugene wasn’t familiar with many of the dishes. Additionally, the cost to run a food cart was a problem. Needing a new direction, Tony and his partner took a three-month trip across Southeast Asia. He used this time to reflect on the business, as well as get in touch with his culture. These eventually became annual trips that would spark the success of Da Nang.

Back in Eugene, Tony compromised by taking more traditional dishes off the menu. The food cart skyrocketed in popularity, even though his wish of making Vietnamese cuisine known for more than just Pho couldn’t come true. Still, he is just as happy that he could make a living. “You wanted something enough, you don’t care what you do to get it right?” said Tony.

Tony is currently working on opening a new restaurant serving Malaysian food. This will be his second business opened in nine years. Ever since graduating, he has worked tirelessly to spread the popularity of Asian cuisine in Oregon. When asked on how he decided on the menu for the new restaurant, he said: “No one else is making this type of food in Eugene, so I want to be the first.”