The wait is over. An Thinh Asian Cuisine opens this Wednesday at 11 am bringing to Leander, Liberty Hill, and the greater Williamson Country area delicious Asian food. Offering more than authentic Vietnamese food, An Thinh offers cuisine from Japan, China, and Korea.
Owned and operated by Thu Nguyen, An Thinh, leverages the expertise of Nguyen, who owns three restaurants back in Vietnam. Nguyen first arrived in the US in 2016. She soon came to Texas because she was attracted to the people, the economy, and to the fine schools found in our area. Nguyen grew up in Vietnam and is no stranger to hard work. She grew up in a poor family in Vietnam and soon realized she needed to help her parents raise her four brothers and one sister. She worked hard, eventually went to university and secured her degree in accounting.
Nguyen worked for 17 years at the International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon. She wanted to do more than what she was doing in accounting and she opened up three successful restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City. To give you a scope of her expertise in Vietnam, one of her restaurants is a large outdoor wedding venue that hosts very high-end weddings for over 400 people. The other two restaurants are Korean Barbeque restaurants, which are very popular in Vietnam. She still runs these restaurants in Vietnam.
Thu Nguyen
I met Nguyen through my daughter in law, Dash Real Estate agent, Sue Smith. Sue was the agent that helped Nguyen find her shop location in Leander, and the land for her personal home. Sue is a real estate specialist in this area and also for the Vietnamese community. Sue is also from Vietnam and Saigon. She has been here in the United States since she was 18.
Sue Smith
Today, was a soft trial of some of the dishes as the kitchen came alive for the first time. I sat down with Thu Nguyen to chat about her journey to Texas and to make her home right here in the Leander/ Liberty Hill area.
"I love Texas, the good economy, and the people here are so friendly." Thu Nguyen
Nguyen LOVES business and she is not afraid of hard work and her success shows. I admired her for her stories about her venues in Vietnam and she showed me images on her mobile phone that were impressive. So for now, Nguyen brings her hard work and expertise to us here in Williamson County. I look forward to seeing the full menu in the coming weeks. Nguyen has applied for her beer and wine license and she is still waiting for approval. The restaurant is is open and modern design and she has Vietnamese art on the walls. She designed the interior herself, there is nothing that has not been touched by Nguyen.
We sampled some chicken wings that were delightfully crispy and just enough spice.
We sampled some lo mein and fried rice, and their sushi chef was on fire. I was very impressed with the sushi. I sampled some pure white tuna sashimi, which I had never even heard of, there was also some yellow tail tuna sashimi. There were various sushi rolls and each one rocked the house.
Pure white tuna
Yellow Tail Tuna
Lastly, before I left, out came some crispy freshly made egg rolls. Sue told me how these are not frozen, institutional egg rolls but hand rolled with taro root, mung bean noodles, pork, and wood ear mushrooms. These crispy perfections were the best I have ever had.
Nguyen is not stopping here. She has plans to open a nail salon next. You can be assured Nguyen fully embraces the American Dream...and she has done it all on her own and with the help of good friends and lots of hard work.
An Thinh seats 88 people but due to Covid, seats are limited to 68. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 11 am to 9 pm. Friday and Saturday hours are 11:30 am. to 10:30 pm. You can find her Facebook page here. An Thinh is located The Shops at San Gabriel Ridge on the southwest corner of 183A and Whitewing Drive.