For the love of pho: Urban Kitchen & Bar opens in Cape Girardeau

A new restaurant in downtown Cape Girardeau aims to bring the flavors of Southeast Asia to Southeast Missouri.

Urban Kitchen & Bar at 20 N. Spanish St. started its soft opening Wednesday, March 13. It will remain open through its official grand opening in four to six weeks.

"We have a passion for our culture and Vietnamese food in general," co-founder Kha Tran said. "One of my business partners is half-Cambodian, so pretty much we want to have a place for the community where we serve Vietnamese food specifically and Southeast Asian food generally."

Tran and his two business partners own other businesses around Cape Girardeau, such as Deluxe Nails and Mana Tea, but this is their first time opening a restaurant.

"Our style is to cook homemade dishes," Tran said. "... We're confident in our food because what we cook in here is what we cook at home."

Pho is the restaurant's primary focus. Other dishes include egg rolls and Korean barbecue.

Tran said he and his business partners tried various types of Southeast Asian cuisine and tried to recreate the dishes they liked the most.

The soft opening phase will allow the owners to see which menu items work the best.

"We like to show our culture," Tran said. "We want our clientele to come in and eat and experience our culture."

Much of the Vietnamese decor is yet to be installed, but Tran said it will be added in time. He and his partners did much of the renovations from the location's previous life as Italian restaurant Bella Italia.

"We all have day jobs, and after our day jobs we'd come in and fix stuff," he said.

Urban Kitchen & Bar will soon have its liquor license, and Tran said the restaurant's bar will be open at nights for guests to enjoy once the license is granted.

"We want this to be a little lounge where people can come have a drink after work and share small plates," he said.

The restaurant's hours are still being determined, but for the soft opening it will be open around 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Do you want more business news? Check out the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.