Our Story
Ông Bà was inspired by our parents' extraordinary journey - a story of love, courage, and sacrifice that continues through every meal we share.
Ông Bà Vietnamese Eatery
A Legacy of Love, Courage, and Freedom
Some stories are too powerful to fade with time.
They live on through the people who carry them, the sacrifices that shaped them, and the generations that continue to tell them.
Ông Bà Vietnamese Eatery was born from one of those stories—a journey of love, resilience, and compassion that began decades ago in Vietnam.
Bố was a captain of a supply boat from a small village in Hạ Long Bay.
Mẹ was a young woman from Hải Phòng, working as a cook at the docks to help her family survive during the war.
Their love story did not begin with a grand wedding. When Bố brought Mẹ home, he gave her a sewing machine - at the time the most valuable thing they owned.
To Mẹ, it meant far more than its worth.
It symbolized love, hope, and the life they dreamed of building together.
Love Tested by War
After the war ended, many people were trying to escape communist Vietnam. Bố risked everything to organize a boat that would carry more than one hundred people toward freedom. He believed deeply that everyone deserved the chance to live freely.
But he was discovered.
Bố was arrested and imprisoned, leaving Mẹ alone with four young children and an uncertain future. In those years, prisoners were not provided food. If families did not bring supplies, many inmates simply did not survive.
Every month, Mẹ made the long journey to the prison - sometimes traveling for days and walking miles - just to bring Bố food and see him for a few brief moments.
Four years passed.
Four years of uncertainty.
Four years of absence.
Four years of love that refused to break.
The Escape
Hope finally came through an act of kindness.
A close friend offered Mẹ a small sailboat so our family could escape Vietnam.
In return, she gave him the sewing machine Bố had once given her - the most precious thing she owned.
On the day of the escape, Mẹ rode her bicycle to the prison and waited near a hidden meeting place. By then, Bố had earned the rare privilege of working outside the prison walls.
When the moment came, he ran.
He jumped onto the back of the bicycle, and together they rode toward the shore, where the boat - and the rest of the family - were waiting.
That bicycle carried them toward freedom.
At that moment, the bicycle and the sewing machine were everything my mother had. Those two simple things helped carry our family into a new life.
Today, they live on symbolically in our restaurant - a reminder of where we came from and the sacrifices that shaped our journey.
Seventy-Five Days at Sea
Our escape from Vietnam lasted seventy-five days at sea.
For many others, reaching Hong Kong took only a few days.
The ocean was relentless. More than once, it felt like the small sailboat would not survive the waves.
But somehow, we did.
When we finally arrived at a refugee camp in Hong Kong, we had nothing.
No country.
No certainty.
No guarantees.
Only love, faith, and a family determined to survive together.
A Life of Paying It Forward
Eventually, Canada gave our family the chance to begin again.
Like many refugees, Bố and Mẹ arrived with almost nothing. They worked tirelessly—often multiple jobs—doing whatever they could to rebuild their lives and support their children.
But even during those difficult years, they never forgot others who were still searching for hope.
Bố became a minister, dedicating his life to serving the community and helping newcomers find their footing in a new country.
Together, Bố and Mẹ helped sponsor hundreds of refugee families to come to Canada, giving them the same opportunity that had once been given to us.
Their home became a place of refuge for many newly arrived families who had nowhere else to go.
Even when space was tight and resources were limited, they always opened their doors.
To them, helping others was never a burden.
It was simply the right thing to do.
The Legacy of Ông Bà
Years later, their journey inspired us to open Ông Bà Vietnamese Eatery.
The restaurant was created to honor their story and the values they lived by - family, generosity, resilience, and love.
Every dish we serve carries a piece of that journey.
Every meal is a reminder of where we came from.
We named the restaurant Ông Bà because we want our children - and the generations that come after them - to understand the love of their grandparents, the values they lived by, and the sacrifices that shaped our family.
It is our way of preserving their story and honoring the legacy they left behind.
Our hope is that everyone who walks through our doors feels the same warmth we felt growing up - like gathering around the table for a comforting meal with family.
Because to us, Ông Bà is more than a name.
It is family.
It is memory.
It is love passed down through generations.
