Pho Hoa to close briefly, will reopen as second iPho Tower

Nearly three years after local restaurateur Spike Nguyen ignored naysayers (they criticized his choice of a debut location) and opened the first Kansas City franchise of the California-based Pho Hoa Noodle Soup chain, at 1447 Independence Avenue, he has officially severed ties with the Vietnamese-cuisine national chain.

Nguyen says he will shut down the popular fast-casual Pho Hoa (it’s pronounced fuh wa) tomorrow – Wednesday, April 30 – and spend the next three weeks remodeling the interior of the building; Nguyen leases the back half of the former Scimeca’s Market.

When the restaurant reopens in May, Nguyen says, it will be the second location of iPho Tower, the more upscale French-Vietnamese bistro he opened earlier this month with his wife, Jessie.“We’ll make the interior much nicer,” says Nguyen, who spent a small fortune converting the restaurant space at 3623 Broadway (last occupied, and ever so briefly, by Clark’s American Caribbean Restaurant) into a stylish bistro. Because iPho Tower offers a full bar, Nguyen says, he’s applying for a liquor license for the Independence Avenue location, which currently serves only wine and beer.