T-Yummi Cafe and Vietnamese Pho Bowl joined Butler Plaza’s growing list of restaurants set to open in August. The Vietnamese shop plans to reinvent the tradition of healthy, fresh and great-tasting food, according to a press release.
T-Yummi Cafe will open up near Bolay on 42nd street, located at 2905 SW 42nd Street, Suite 60.
The restaurant will have a fast-casual concept, which is a high-quality form of self-service that allows customers to eat without full table service.
Butler Plaza’s director of marketing John Dickerson said there was an increase in quick-service restaurants like T-Yummi Cafe because of the speediness and quality of the meals offered.
He said many customers expressed T-Yummi's boba as the best they’ve had. He added Butler Plaza prides itself on having diverse food options, but a quality pho place was something they’ve always searched for.
“There's just something comforting about a great bowl of warm pho,” Dickerson said. “If you've ever had a bowl of pho on a cold day, then you know what I'm talking about. When we saw T-Yummi's concept, we knew right away that they would fill that gap.”
The cafe is locally owned by second-generation Vietnamese American My Duyen Ti Ho and the press release said she is excited to bring banh mi, rice paper rolls, phở and bubble tea to Gainesville.
Fourth-year nursing major Justin Nguyen, 21, said pho is an essential family dish, often signifying weekend family gatherings. He said Gainesville’s selection feels limited in comparison to other Florida cities, so it’s nice to see a place like T-Yummi Cafe open up. Nguyen said nothing compares to a homemade meal, but he’s excited to try T-Yummi Cafe once it opens its doors in the Fall.
“I think my favorite part of Viet cuisine is that there are so many other elements to it,” he said. “There's a lot of dishes associated with fish sauce, so that's another thing I like about it too. It's a very pungent taste, but it’s sweetened up with sugar and garlic.”
Tran Le, a third-year health science major, said pho has great significance in her life. The 20-year-old said, to her, it's almost a blend of Vietnamese and other cultures because each place adds its own twist to the dish.
Le said she knows other Vietnamese places in Gainesville, but she always supports new Vietnamese restaurants so her peers become more immersed in the culture. She said she loves learning the complexity of Vietnamese dishes and how recipes can change for different families.
“Even just being at home and seeing my mom make it, it is so complex,” she said. “It takes so long, so much preparation and spices that I didn't even realize.”
Dickerson said he anticipates the Gainesville community will appreciate having an option for real authentic Vietnamese cuisine and boba tea, and he hopes people think of Butler Plaza as a place where one can pick up whatever is essential without driving all over town.
Contact Melissa at mhernandez@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @mhernandezdlc.
Melissa Hernandez de la Cruz is a fourth-year journalism major at the University of Florida. She loves to travel, create photography, enjoy new cultures, and is a fellow history junkie. Apart from being a citizen of the world, she also shares birthdays with legendary artists Bruce Lee, Jimi Hendrix, and Bill Nye.
