Nearly decade-old Vancouver restaurant to reopen in new, larger space
After closing the doors to its original Vancouver location on Denman Street, Ông Bà Vietnamese Eatery is preparing to return in a big way with a larger location set to open in Coquitlam this summer.
Ông Bà shared that this decision to move comes from something deeply personal for the team: the desire to create a space where more people can experience the warmth, comfort, and sense of family that has always been at the heart of the restaurant.
“We wanted to build a place where people can slow down, gather around the table, and create memories together,” said Viet, co-owner and son of the restaurant’s namesakes, who operates it with his wife Quynh. “A space filled with warmth, conversation, and the feeling of being cared for. That’s what our parents taught us — food is not just about eating, it’s about bringing people together like family.”
Rendering of Ong Ba’s new Coquitlam location
The restaurant opened in Vancouver’s West End in 2016 by Viet and his wife, Quynh. For them, the name carries far more than its translation (Ông Bà meaning “grandparents” in Vietnamese, with Viet’s grandparents being Bố and Mẹ).
Viet and Quynh shared that Ông Bà stands as a reminder to never forget where they came from, the hardships endured after fleeing Vietnam as refugees, and the legacy of resilience, compassion, and unconditional love that shaped their family’s journey in Canada.
After rebuilding their lives in Canada, Bố and Mẹ had dedicated themselves to helping others find new beginnings as well. Over the years, the restaurant shared that Bố and Mẹ helped sponsor hundreds of refugee families to Canada, offering others the same hope and opportunity they were once given themselves.
This same spirit became the foundation of Ông Bà. Viet and Quynh opened the restaurant to continue what had started at home: bringing people together through the warmth of Vietnamese food, family, and hospitality through the recipes and care passed down from Mẹ’s kitchen.
Expanding to Coquitlam
Rendering of Ong Ba’s new Coquitlam location
The new Coquitlam location will feature a much larger space that will allow people to truly gather. Quyn said that they wanted it to be “somewhere warm and welcoming where you could sit for hours and feel the presence of everyone who came before you. That was always the dream.”
Expect more tables to gather with your family, as well as a full bar and an expanded menu where more of Mẹ’s recipes can shine.
This new location also coincides with a brand refresh for Ông Bà, which includes a new logo showing Bố and Mẹ later in life, representing the happy ending of their journey.
“Sometimes a table carries more than food,” Viet said. “It carries stories. It carries memories. And sometimes, it carries the loving reminder of people who are no longer with us, but stay in our hearts.”
The new location is expected to open in Coquitlam’s Henderson Place this summer. As for its West End location, it officially closed on April 30.
Rendering of Ong Ba’s new Coquitlam location
The Story of Ông Bà
Bố was a captain of a supply boat, while Mẹ was a young woman working as a cook at the docks. When Bố brought Mẹ home, he had given her a sewing machine, which was the most valuable thing they owned at the time. To Mẹ, it symbolized more than its worth: it represented love, hope, and the life they dreamed of building together.
After the war, Bố helped others escape Vietnam by organizing a boat to carry more than one hundred people towards freedom. He was captured and imprisoned for four years, during a time when inmates received no food from the government. Mẹ made the long journey to the prison month after month, sometimes walking for miles, to bring Bố food and see him for a few moments.
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When an opportunity to escape came about, Mẹ traded the sewing machine for a small sailboat. She rode her bike to the prison, and when Bố came out, he jumped on the back of the bicycle. Together they rode towards the shore where they escaped Vietnam in that small sailboat with four young children, and spent seventy-five days at sea before reaching a refugee camp in Hong Kong.
Eventually, Canada gave the family a chance to start anew. Bố became a minister dedicating his life to serving the community, and the two started sponsoring refugee families looking to come to Canada.
When Bố and Mẹ started showing signs of age, and especially after Mẹ had passed away from leukemia, Viet and Quynh wanted a way to preserve their legacy. Thus, Ông Bà Vietnamese Eatery was born, acting as a living monument to the values Bố and Mẹ embodied: family, generosity, resilience, and love.
“My mother spent her whole life caring for others, bringing people together, feeding people,” Viet said. “That was her way of loving the world.”
Ông Bà Vietnamese Eatery — Coquitlam
Address: 1045-1163 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam
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