Want ‘traditional’ pho, hibachi and boba? Check out this new Bradenton restaurant
Ryan Abbott was one of the first customers to give Food Hall a try after the new restaurant opened Feb. 24.
He had pho, the Vietnamese beef noodle soup, and liked it so much he returned a few days later with neighbors Jerry and Michelle Sandlin.
The second time around he had a rice vermicelli bowl with grilled pork and egg roll, pickled carrots and daikon, sprinkled with peanuts.
Michelle tried a bowl of pho, while Jerry had a grilled pork sandwich served on a crunchy bun, a banh mi.
“The food is very good and reasonable,” Abbott said.
Those are words to warm the hearts of the husband-and-wife owners, Tu Tran and Hanh Nguyen, who owned restaurants in Ohio before moving to the Parrish area.
For them, quality, authenticity and cleanliness are key.
Food Hall, located in the Orange Blossom Plaza at 465 Cortez Road W., took 18 months to open.
The couple worked to transform the space into a gleaming, attractive dining room where they could serve a diverse menu of Vietnamese and Japanese favorites.
Or as Hanh says: “We wanted to do something a little like a food court in a mall. We do a little bit of a lot of things.”
Hanh is the pho chef, cooking the bone broth for more than 10 hours.
“We use no MSG. This is straight, traditional pho,” she said.
Her husband Tu Tran, also takes a turn in the kitchen, cooking the hibachi meals.
The couple also have a food truck, T & T Hibachi Japanese Food. They got into the food truck business while the Food Hall was under construction.
“Some of my customers from the food truck are now coming to Food Hall,” Tran said.
“It’s a family-run business,” Hanh said, adding that two of the couple’s children also help out at Food Hall on weekends.
The menu offers a variety of appetizers, including egg rolls, spring rolls, chicken wings, calamari and more, starting at about $5.
The sushi offerings, starting at $6, include avocado, California, Hibachi rolls and more.
There are also a variety of rice vermicelli bowls, hibachi sandwiches, Vietnamese sandwiches, smoothies, boba teas and kids meals.
What to know about Food Hall
▪ Address: 465 Cortez Road W., Bradenton
▪ Hours: 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sunday.
▪ Seating: Food Hall seats 108. Takeout is also available, as is third-party delivery.
▪ Online: https://foodhallbradenton.com/
▪ Phone: 941-251-4638
