VALDOSTA — The interview for this story took longer than usual. Tan Nguyen, owner of Valdosta’s first Vietnamese restaurant, constantly had to break away to take care of customers, working the register or distributing take-out orders.

Saigon Pho, located at the former Blazin’ Wings location at 2910 N. Ashley St. Suite G, had only been open for four days as of Monday and already a steady influx of customers kept Nguyen and his sister, Chau, on the move all day long.

“Business has been pretty good,” he said. “Word of mouth and a good community have helped.”

Next to bottles of sriracha and hoisin sauces, a stone plaque on one of the tables pays tribute to the year 2006 — the year Tan Nguyen came to the United States from southern Vietnam.

After working in the restaurant business in Atlanta, he decided to move to Valdosta because he wanted to start his own business. Nguyen said he is also working toward his U.S. citizenship.

Several men and women in uniform could be seen carrying take-out plates from the restaurant at lunch and dinner. Nguyen said he’s gotten many customers from Moody Air Force Base.

The “pho” in Saigon Pho refers to a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs and beef or chicken.

The most popular item on the restaurant’s menu so far, Nguyen said, is house combination pho, made of fried rice, rice noodles and meatballs.

Other items on the menu include rice porridge with chicken, clay pot braised catfish, Jasmine rice with pork chop, Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk and sweet hut cake.

Many customers could be seen eating with traditional chopsticks. Nguyen said most of his customers come in already knowing something about using chopsticks properly.

Saigon Pho is open 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday; 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Wednesdays. The restaurant’s telephone number is (229) 251-0460.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.