For multiple decades, Ann Straile has been a numbers person by trade.
She worked as an accountant for 26 years, but food was always there in the margins of her days; cooking for family and friends, and even helping her mother run a coffee shop out east in New Jersey.
At her Overland Park restaurant, Pho Solar, her passion for cooking has moved from the margins into the center of her days.
“This is the (first) full-time restaurant that I am running on my own,” Straile said. “Before, my mom ran it. I cooked for her and did the paperwork. Now it’s my turn.”
Pho Solar opened at 9066 Metcalf Ave.
- The restaurant occupies a space just off 91st Street and Metcalf Avenue, at the Glenwood Plaza shopping center.
- Chinese eatery Sacred Wok previously occupied that space, and before that, it was home to Jen Jen’s Chinese Restaurant.
- Pho Solar is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Pho Solar serves classic Vietnamese dishes
The restaurant is primarily known for its pho, an early standout among customers.
Pho is a slow-simmered soup that’s popular in Vietnam, served with flat rice noodles and meats like beef or chicken.
Another popular item so far at Pho Solar is the banh mi hoagies, a Vietnamese sandwich with meats like grilled pork and chicken served between fresh-baked bread.
The menu also offers other dishes like vermicelli rice noodle bowls, rice platters, appetizers like egg rolls and steamed buns, and beverages like Vietnamese coffee and limeades.
Pho Solar is a family business and a family dream
Straile is sharing this new chapter with her nephew, Alex Tran, co-owner of Pho Solar.
Tran and his father, Hung Tran, also own Kansas City eatery Luna’s Chicken N Seafood.
Between the two of them, Straile and Tran said their unique perspectives have worked well in creating something new.
Straile steers the food firmly toward tradition, following recipes her own family used. Tran brings in a different perspective, shaped by growing up in the United States.
“He’s the next generation,” she said. “He brings in all the new trends and ideas. We want to keep the food traditional, but add new flavors and a new look.”
To Tran, Pho Solar is an exciting opportunity to deepen his connection to the dishes he grew up eating — and to share it with others.
“(I’m excited about) getting to share that experience of Vietnamese cuisine in the traditional way,” he said, “but also in a way that (Straile) can creatively come up with and share with people.”
The familial passion for food goes back even further than Luna’s, though. It goes back to a loaf of bread, and a promise made across the world in Vietnam.
More than a decade ago, her brother, Hung Do, began to imagine a different future. An electrician by trade, he told Straile he wanted to try something new: He wanted to open a bread bakery that served the loaves of bread they’d grown up eating.
Then Do became seriously ill with cancer, and he ultimately died before he could carry out that dream. For him, Straile rolled up her sleeves and started baking.
“None of us knew how to make bread back then,” Straile said. “But because I love him so much, and I wanted to fulfill his dream, I started baking and testing and everything until the bread became perfect.”
Today, Straile still bakes for fun — and the bread served with Pho Solar’s banh mi hoagies are a culmination of that dream.
“The most important thing is I want to fulfill my brother’s dream,” Straile said. “I want to let him know that I made it come true.”
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