Pho 14, I’m watching you
Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Every time Lee and I go out to eat Vietnamese food, the conversation invariably devolves into us lamenting that there are no Vietnamese restaurants in our neighborhood. We always imagine how much better our lives would be if we could get Vietnamese within walking distance. We’re certain we’d eat there all the time and that we’d surely be skinnier if we went on an all pho or all bun diet.
The closest place to us is Nam Viet in Cleveland Park, but it’s a pain to catch the H bus across Rock Creek Park, and driving there on the weekend always turns into a parking nightmare. Plus their food still isn’t nearly as good at what you can get at Eden Center or at Pho 75 in Arlington. So, Vietnamese has become a bit of a special treat for us.
We’ve even taken to stopping at this pho place in Harrisburg on to see Lee’s family at Christmas time. Every time I eat there, I think about or mention how I wish I could get some pho in Columbia Heights for Christmas. You can therefore imagine my shock when last month I was walking home from the Metro and I spotted a giant sign on the side of a building that read, “Pho 14 Coming Soon.”
I stopped. I stared. And then I pulled out my cellphone and called Lee to announce my discovery. Sure, I was less than 2 blocks from my apartment, but this news could not wait.
Now on my walks home from work, I peer into the window, trying to figure out how close they are. For a long time, the windows were covered in brown kraft paper and I hadn’t been able to divine much except for the fact that they’d installed light fixtures in the ceiling. Around mid-February, purple bubble letters appeared on the window that read “Coming in Mid-March”.
Well, my friends, it is now mid-March. The kraft paper has come down and I can confirm that there is a big flat screen tv, a tiki-themed bar area, and a very kitchy-looking fake stone fountain. The decor might not be the greatest, but I don’t care as long as the food is good. Apparently tonight was the soft opening, and Prince of Petworth gives it the thumbs up. Pending final inspections, they will be opening on Thursday. I will be there, ready and hungry.
Pho 14 Vietnamese Restaurant
1436 Park Rd Nw
Washington, DC
