Updated 03-16-22. Pho Empire is a small pho noodle restaurant and franchise, with locations in Arlington and Irving, Texas. Pho Empire offers the pho noodle that people have come to love, while also getting a little creative with noodle dishes called tofu and seafood pho. Pho Empire also serves other regular Viet fare, such as various rice meals, rice vermicelli and other noodle dishes, and vegetarian selections.
Despite of its name, a quick review of Pho Empire's menu tells me that it's more of a typical Vietnamese restaurant than a pure pho shop. In addition to pho, the extensive menu offers other staples of Vietnamese cuisine. The selections range from breakfast dishes, lunch, and dinner offers, with many one-dish meals, various rice and vermicelli (bún) dishes, vegetarian, appetizers, and chef's specials. A quick read on various review sites reveals sporadic quality and consistency before late 2008 time frame, but customer satisfaction has much improved since then. So restaurant management may have their act together now.
Some of the dishes on the menu really look delicious, but my own personal feeling about pho restaurants is that if you serve all kinds of dishes then you can't do justice to pho itself. And having this many selections on the menu will certainly hinder effective management and growth of the franchise, for both the pho franchiser and franchisees.
 Pho Empire bowl of beef pho. Courtesy Pho Empire. |
Pho Empire is open to all seeking franchise opportunities, offering a thriving and promising business venture in the age of health-conscious eating. As in other franchises, franchisees will open business with the already established Pho Empire name along with help in training, operation, and development. According to the company, staff training is thorough and the tried and tested operation system of all Pho Empire franchises will be applied. The initial investment cost will depend on the projected cost of construction and development needed. The royalty fee is at 5% of gross sales, and the marketing fee at 1% of gross sales, which will ensure that the brand is well-promoted and recognized throughout the market. For additional information visit Pho Empire franchise [Note: It looks like Pho Empire no longer offers franchising]. As in any other business venture, consider consulting with a professional counsel.
It will take a little more work and development to really define Pho Empire's own strong brand image and quality as a franchise. The two restaurants may be doing just fine, continuing to attract old and new clientele. But while the company may be trying hard, I think Pho Empire still has a way to go as a franchise.
Do you have personal experience eating at Pho Empire? Share with us.
Pho Empire in Irving is the best! Great quality, clean and fresh. Definitely or of the top places to get a of bowl of pho in the DDW metroplex! The one in Arlington didn’t do so well due to location and is now closed.
Hi Tien: thanks for your input. So based on your assessment, the Arlington location was not a good choice for a pho restaurant? Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? Although location choice can be a tough thing to get right every time, I would think a franchise would have done complete examination of the location and its market potential before opening a store there. I don’t live in the area but would love to know your opinion on Pho Empire’s success and failure.
It went out of business because the location was in a place where there was a lot of construction then, so it was extremely difficult to even get to the restaurant in the first place! There was also a few other different factors that can come into play, one being there was no advertisement for Pho Empire in Arlington. It is prominent for any business in the DFW metroplex to advertise their business using the Vietnamese radio, SBTN, newspaper, etc. My father owns a Vietnamese newspaper company based in California, distributing newspaper to over 50+ cities in the US, and Pho Empire refused to place an ad with out newspaper. I would have to say with no cockiness that if they placed an ad in our newspaper their Arlington location would still be here today.
I see. You have to make it easy for customers to get to your restaurant, a basic but important criterion for a successful food business. With advertising, I would agree with you, mostly 😉 I assume Viet readership of the paper in the Arlington area is strong so that would be a valid point. Other factors like competition, quality and service, etc. are also important too. But as you said, if it’s hard to get too, then people wouldn’t bother getting to.