Through the years, people from all over the world have come to Bisbee to see what the buzz is all about. There are many reasons why they come, and there are many reasons why they stay. For Thuy Dang, owner of Thuy’s Noodle Shop at 207 Tombstone Canyon, she came to Bisbee in 2011 because of love, and, at the time, it had nothing to do with the love for cooking food. That love would later blossom.
Born and raised in rice growing country in the Kien Giang province of Vietnam, which is part of the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam, Dang has never been one to shy away from hard work. And although it wasn’t until she moved to Bisbee in 2011 that she learned how to cook well enough to run her own restaurant, she had been around rice and food most of her life.
“When I was a child, I spent more time working with my dad in the rice field, and building and fixing things, than I did at home with my mom and sisters cooking,” said Dang. “I was very big and strong for a Vietnamese girl and could carry a 50-kilogram bag of rice at 12 or 13 years of age.” When she was 15 years old, she exchanged the country life for the city life to go live and work with relatives in Ho Chi Minh City, the most populous city in Vietnam.
She met her now husband, Tom Holtz, in Vietnam in 2007, where he had been living since 2005. In 2009, Holtz found a job in Bisbee and moved back to the U.S., with the goal of getting Dang to live with him as soon as possible. Dang received her visa about two years later, and the two got married that next year (in 2012).
At first, she was a little unsure about how she would fare in a dry, mountain town with a population of 5,000 after living in a humid, river city of over 4 million. “It took me some time to fall in love with the town,” said Dang. “It seemed very small, and I wasn’t sure there would be any opportunity for me here.”
With previous experience as a business owner selling wooden souvenirs to tourists at Ben Thanh Night Market in Ho Chi Minh City, she hoped to have her own business when she moved to Bisbee.
When Dang first moved to Hi Chi Minh City, she also worked in her relatives’ coffeehouse and salon, which gave her both customer service and food service experience. Working at the salon was also the catalyst to her branching off on her own. “I met an aspiring pop singer, and I worked as her assistant for several years,” said Dang. “I drove her to performances and interviews, and I made costumes for her, among many other things.”
Based on a suggestion Holtz gave her while she was waiting on her visa, and wanting to be her own boss, Dang decided to learn more about cooking and how to speak English to open her own Vietnamese restaurant when she arrived. “Before I opened the restaurant, I cooked all the time at home to learn recipes for a restaurant if I had that opportunity,” said Dang. “So, I cooked for myself and my husband and friends, and I talked to friends and relatives in Vietnam to learn more about cooking.”
It was more difficult for her to learn English than it was for her to cook; however, she had daily practice once she opened the doors to Thuy’s Noodle Shop in November of 2013. “My English was not good when I first got here,” said Dang, “and I learned a lot talking to my customers and employees.”
The first location was on Naco Road, next to Old Bisbee Roasters, where it remained for almost seven years until 2020 when it moved to where it is today, with much more space and plenty of patio/outdoor seating. Dang is happy with where the restaurant is now, with a good mix of both locals and tourists who find their way to the noodle shop.
Serving fresh, fair-priced Vietnamese food in a casual setting, Dang has a loyal following indeed. “We have regular customers from Cananea, Sonora to Tucson and from all over Cochise County,” said Dang. “And we have winter visitors who become regular customers, and we are always glad to see each other when they come back.”
Dang offers fewer menu options than other restaurants to focus on quality over quantity, which requires her make weekly trips to buy many of her ingredients at Lee Lee International Supermarkets in Tucson.
Her favorite food at is the beef pho, which she eats almost every day she works. “I am also very proud of my curries- vegan and chicken- and noodle salads, which are served with grilled pork or fried rolls,” said Dang. “Curries are a very special dish in Vietnam- something we usually only eat at big family parties.”
Although it was an adjustment for Dang to overcome moving somewhere so different than what she knew, the welcoming nature of the community has helped her in the process. “I am very grateful for the local community,” said Dang. “I haven’t felt home sick much because the people here support me and care about me.”
Thuy’s Noodle Shop is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m-7 p.m.