With numerous Chinese, Japanese and Thai restaurants dotting the local cuisine scene, it was only a matter of time before someone thought to add Vietnamese fare into the mix.

And that someone happens to be freshman An Nguyen, an international affairs major from Marietta.

Nguyen and her parents recently opened Just Pho, a small restaurant on Baxter Street that specializes

in Vietnamese noodle soup, or pho (pronounced “fuh”), and boba (or bubble) tea, a drink with tapioca pearls added.

As a few employees milled around after hours on Thursday night, Nguyen found time between tallying receipt totals to talk about the restaurant.

The idea, she said, was born “after three months of dining hall food, having no car and realizing that the nearest Vietnamese restaurant was 40 miles away [in Atlanta].”

“Forty-five miles!” interjected a voice from the kitchen.

“That’s a pretty large circumference of nothing,” Nguyen continued. “My two favorite things are pho and boba [tea], and so many people were saying how successful it would be here.”

After convincing her parents of the idea, Nguyen’s mother began to perfect the family’s pho recipe.

Pho is a noodle soup made of a specially seasoned broth with either beef or chicken added in. Raw vegetables often are provided on the side to be stewed in with the soup upon serving.

“It’s comprised of all the different food elements – vegetables, starches, meat and broth,” Nguyen said. “It’s easy and light, but also filling.”

Unique to Vietnam, the soup is considered the country’s national dish.

“That’s what Vietnam is known for,” said Peter Dinh, a junior biochemistry major from Marietta, as he finished his bowl Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s about the same as most pho restaurants in Atlanta,” he said afterward.

According to both Dinh and Nguyen, the key to good pho is in the broth.

“The broth is the hardest part in making pho,” Nguyen said. “If you don’t get the broth right, the entire dish is spoiled.”

Though Nguyen said her family plans to stick with just pho for now, they will add more dishes as they develop them, hence the “and more” addendum on the restaurant logo.

Unlike many Asian restaurants that serve an Americanized version of traditional dishes, Nguyen said they plan to keep their menu authentic.

While the restaurant began as a way to cater to the Asian-American student population, it quickly has attracted a wider range of customers than Nguyen expected.

“I’m very surprised at how many Caucasians were not only interested in trying Vietnamese food, but already had a background with pho,” she said.

Ngyuen said she hopes the trend continues and the restaurant becomes a mainstay in the community.

“I hope that our business will play a large role in the community,” she said, “not only in bringing in another aspect of diversity and culture, but also in teaching people about Vietnamese cuisine.”