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Hoa&PamLe Mother and Daughter Share Family's Journey of Popular Vietnamese Restaurant Le Pho House
RGVISION MAGAZINE
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MAY/JUN 2023
b y Sel ene G uer r er o | p h o t o b y B á r b a r a D e l g a d o
The matriarch of the Le family is Hoa Le, owner of the popular Vietnamese restaurant Le Pho House in Weslaco. This local favorite comes with a unique story and begins when Hoa started her journey when she moved to the United States from Vietnam at the age of 17. Determined to create a better life for herself, Hoa lived in Houston and learned how to run a restaurant she helped successfully lead for many years before moving to the Rio Grande Valley. She believed in the value of working hard and saw the opportunities that opened up when a person was determined. In the United States, anyone could create the life they wanted for themselves, and so she did. Hoa also did it for her children. As a single mother of four, her children added inspiration. They were who she worked so hard for so that they could learn from the power of hard work. “I love to work. I want to work so that way I can get what I need,” Hoa said.
“I love that my dream is to have my own business, now I do it, and I am so happy.” Hoa added that in the U.S., there is so much opportunity versus the chance for success in Vietnam. She is proud of herself and continues building on her successes. Once in the Rio Grande Valley, Hoa successfully ran a nail salon for more than 30 years, but the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, stopping things. At that time, her four grown children led their lives in different parts of the country. The economic effects of the pandemic brought the family back together for the first time in several years. Pam, who had been working in Dallas, gathered with the rest of the family during that time as they all faced the financial hardship the pandemic brought them. The family members were not bringing in much income, and the bills were piling up as the shelter-in-place mandates were instated. Then, over some of Hoa’s pho, Pam said
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