Business Spotlight: Pasteur Grill and Noodles
Dennis and Lily Lien Chung, owners of Pasteur Grill and Noodles
Pasteur Grill and Noodles
85 Baxter Street
(212) 608-3656
www.pasteurgrill.com
Welcome to Chinatown is excited to spotlight Longevity Fund recipient Pasteur Grill and Noodles. After escaping the Vietnam War by boat, Dennis Chung came to New York with his family at the age of 21 to start a new life. In 1995, Mr. Chung purchased Pasteur Grill and Noodles (originally founded in 1987 as “Pasteur”) to showcase the cuisine from his childhood. For the past 25 years, Pasteur Grill and Noodles has been serving traditional Vietnamese dishes such as phở, pork chops, and bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwiches).
How did you start your business?
I worked at Nha Trang One (next door to Pasteur) for a year before buying the restaurant. One day, as I was leaving Nha Trang One to go home, the owner of Pasteur stopped me and told me that he wanted to sell his restaurant and retire. He’d seen me working as the manager of Nha Trang One and asked if I wanted to take over his restaurant. I replied, “Are you kidding?” He said, “If you want it, I will sell it to you.” That same day, I gave him a $5,000 deposit. I hadn’t even seen the inside of the restaurant but knew it was a good location.
At that time, there were few Vietnamese restaurants in NYC. I remembered the food I ate growing up and thought this was a good opportunity to teach New Yorkers about Vietnamese food. It had the potential to become really popular because it’s well-balanced — sweet, savory, fresh, not oily, not spicy, and served with fresh vegetables.
“The best way to support us is to keep coming back and recommend our restaurant to new customers, which is the biggest compliment.”
Tell us about yourself.
I was born in South Vietnam. My father had 7 children and owned a rice factory. I never finished high school. In 1975, the Viet Cong took over the South, and the North Vietnamese government took over our rice factory. We could barely make a living and used up all our savings just to survive. In 1979, we escaped Vietnam by boat. We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the boat. During the first 2 days, we only had cup noodles and water. Then, for the last 3 days, we had nothing to eat or drink until we got to the refugee camp on an island in Indonesia.
One year later, our family of nine immigrated to the U.S. and lived together in an apartment in Queens. My first job was at a fish market in Chinatown. While taking ESL and Chinese classes, I made deliveries for a restaurant. Two years later, I got a job at an accounting firm. During the day, I worked as an accountant and at night, I worked for a cleaning company. Around the same time, I also opened a fast-food restaurant and worked there on weekends. Eventually, I left the accounting firm and became the manager of Nha Trang One.
“Our revenue has gone down 60% percent. When all the bills came due, I couldn’t pay them all.”
How have you been faring during COVID?
Our revenue has gone down 60%. When all the bills — rent, payroll, property tax, utility bills, and raw materials — came due, I couldn’t pay them all. Time Warner and Con Ed threatened to cut the phone line and electricity. The only thing I could do was apply for a PPP loan to pay the bills for the first few months.
When we reopened in May, no one else on the block was open. Chinatown was completely dead. I was scared but told myself that it will be okay. We haven’t increased prices, but most of our raw material costs are more expensive.
How has Welcome to Chinatown and the Longevity Fund helped your business?
Welcome to Chinatown helped us a lot by sharing our story so people understand how hard it is for Chinatown right now. The Longevity Fund will help us pay rent, which hasn’t gone down since COVID hit.
What are your favorite dishes from your menu?
My favorites (also most popular) are beef cubes with fried rice, shrimp or squid with salt and pepper, bún riêu (vermicelli in savory tomato soup), hủ tiếu nam vang (clear noodle soup), bún bò huế (vermicelli soup), phở xe lửa (rice noodle soup with beef), bbq rolled beef with vermicelli and chả giò (fried spring rolls).
What are some interesting facts that people don’t know about Pasteur Grill & Noodles?
The restaurant is the oldest Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown and was named after the scientist Louis Pasteur. Also, my wife created a few new dishes based on her mother’s recipes (her mother is an amazing chef.)
How can people support your business?
The best way to support us is to keep coming back and recommend our restaurant to new customers, which is the biggest compliment.
To learn more about Pasteur Grill and Noodles’ history and story, visit our volunteer and content writer Alice Huang’s blog, HangryAlice.com, for the full interview.
Chinatown establishments like Pasteur Grill and Noodles are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support to keep that spirit alive. Please consider donating to The Longevity Fund, our small business relief fund, or help us spread the word of what’s at stake. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and help keep Chinatown open for business.
Photo Credit: Fuxuan Xin and Pasteur Grill and Noodles
