Geena Xayavong brings unique flavors to Asian Pho Bistro

FAIRFIELD — Geena Xayavong owns Asian Pho Bistro in Fairfield, an establishment that was just named the town’s Restaurant of the Year by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

The restaurant’s blend of East Asian cuisines has made it one of the most popular eateries in Southeast Iowa, drawing people from all over to try its unique flavors. Xayavong’s parents, Phou and Kham, run Thai Noodle House just over a block away on North Court Street. And although Xayavong credits her parents for teaching her many of the ins and outs of cooking, she’s always putting her own twist on her dishes so patrons can get a different culinary experience from the dishes her parents serve.

Xayavong’s parents are Laotian, but they left the country during a period of political upheaval in 1980, so Xayavong was born in neighboring Thailand. Her family was actually on their way to being resettled in America thanks to a group of missionaries that found a place for them to live in New Mexico. At the time, Xayavong’s uncle was living in Fairfield, and he convinced the family to get jobs in Southeast Iowa. Her father got a job working at Hormell in Ottumwa, and that’s where the family ended up settling when Xayavong was just 5 months old. She attended Ottumwa schools throughout her childhood, and graduated from Ottumwa High School.

After high school, Xayavong attended Indian Hills Community College and Kirkwood Community College before finishing her undergrad at the University of Iowa. She worked at Cambridge Investment Research for eight years, but decided she needed a career change. She went back to school to study radiology, and was planning to do a couple more years at Mercy when a business opportunity arose that she couldn’t turn down.

Xayavong had always wanted to open a pho restaurant, which is a kind of Vietnamese soup. Fairfield did not have such a restaurant, and Xayavong wanted to change that. In March 2017, Shokai Sushi moved out of its space on West Burlington Avenue just off the Fairfield square.

“My dad told me, ‘You have something open now, so you can go for the pho restaurant, or you can finish your bachelor’s,’” Xayavong recalled.

Xayavong decided to put her radiology plans on hold and to jump head first into the restaurant business. It was a tough decision, but she felt that working at a restaurant would give her greater flexibility since she had two little boys at the time. Also, she could resume her studies right where she left off within four years if the restaurant didn’t work out. By the time those four years had come and gone, Xayavong had built one of the most popular restaurants in Fairfield.

The early years of the restaurant were intense and consisted of 10-12 working hours per day from Monday through Saturday. Even Sunday was spent running errands for the business, such as traveling to Des Moines to purchase ingredients at Asian stores. Luckily, Xayavong was able to find a capable night chef so she can focus on being the main daytime chef. Just recently, the restaurant added a Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Xayavong said it felt great to see the hard work she and her employees have poured into the business pay off when Asian Pho Bistro was named Restaurant of the Year in April.

“I felt very humble about it, and it was a big surprise,” she said. “It felt good to know that we were nominated by quite a few people who know about us and love our food.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com