In the Bronx, Noodle War Takes Aim at a Growing Population

[lsanderson]

The restaurants Com Tam Ninh Kieu, left, and Pho Saigon No. 1 are right across the street from each other. “We need more Vietnamese community,” said Thanh Le, the owner of Pho Saigon.
By SAM DOLNICK
Published: February 26, 2010

In a Bronx neighborhood of Puerto Rican barbershops, Mexican taco stalls and Irish bars, an unlikely noodle war has begun.

On one side of Jerome Avenue sits Com Tam Ninh Kieu, a Vietnamese restaurant that serves big bowls of pho, heavy on the tripe and tendons. Directly opposite sits a new restaurant, Pho Saigon No. 1. A neon bowl of soup, with bright squiggles for steam, hangs in the window. More