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When Mai's Restaurant, Houston's iconic Vietnamese restaurant, reopened recently after a devastating fire last year, the owners realized that longtime customers would be looking for continuity.
But even though Mai's wanted to keep things the same (some of the most popular dishes retain their old "numbers," such as No. 97, garlic beef), the renovation forced a new look at all aspects of restaurant operations, including the menu. Fear not, Mai's devotees, all the popular dishes are back. But what's most important is that the menu got some much-needed tweaking and the kitchen has rededicated itself to quality. In fact, Mai Nguyen is very much at the stoves — and customers will be able to taste it.
Let's start with Mai's beef stew. Nguyen makes it daily from her secret recipe, said her daughter, restaurant general manager Anna Pham. "Nobody knows how she makes it. To this day, she won't share the recipe with us," Pham said. "So she has to make it every day. She's so proud of that recipe."
The Mai's menu also now sports desserts that are Vietnamese takes on American classics: fried Bananas Foster with coconut-pineapple ice cream; "Saigon Rocky Road" (chocolate, butterscotch and walnuts on a cookie crust served with vanilla ice cream); banana pearl jellies in warm coconut pudding; and a Vietnamese spin on cheesecake.
What else is new? Well, the entire restaurant, which was destroyed by a wok fire on Feb. 15, 2010. Fourteen months later, the family can be proud of its struggle to bring Mai's back from the ashes. The place is a knockout. Gone are the garish neon lights ("It was like Christmas in here," said Pham, who didn't care for the old décor), the walls of mirrors, the cashier's stand near the front door and all the mismatched furniture that populated the no-frills dining room. Longtime Mai's customers might gasp upon seeing the new designer digs painted a soft, earthy green (Nguyen's favorite color) and decorated with dark tables and chairs, plush banquettes, artistic bamboo dividers and Asian prints. There's a double-height vestibule with an elegant lighting fixture that extends up to a completely redone second-level dining room that accommodates overflow customers and doubles as an event space for parties, meetings and private lunches.
Pham said she realizes there will be Mai's purists who might balk at the new look, but she wants to assure customers that much of Mai's food and prices (not to mention late hours) remain unchanged. But there are differences: The menu now has about 130 preparations, down from 250. There's more seating: 211 seats instead of 107. And there's more parking: Before there were 30 spaces; now there are more than 100.
But the constants are important: Nine original waiters from a waitstaff of 15 have returned to Mai's. The executive chef, head chef and sous chef all return to their former positions. Overall, more than half of the former staff is back. The food - from the Vietnamese spring rolls, pho, vermicelli bowls, Vietnamese "fajitas," rice plates, tofu dishes - will be just as customers remember, Pham said.
"For me, there was not a doubt in my mind we would rebuild," said Pham, who took the leadership role in getting her family's business back on its feet. "There was no way I was burning down with that fire. I knew we were going to reinvent, rebuild and renew. I knew it wasn't the end of Mai's, it was the beginning. The best was yet to come."
And now it's here. Welcome to a new chapter of Mai's.
Want to try it out?
Mai's Restaurant
3403 Milam
713-520-5300
maishouston.com
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