Nhina Chau, owner of Heavenly Asian Cuisine, will never put freezer-burned veggies in her egg drop soup. She crinkles her nose at the thought of it.
“I personally hate the smell of frozen peas and carrots,” Chau said, squirming in her chair.
Egg drop soup is a Chinese restaurant classic. The people of West Des Moines are used to having it with the frozen veggies, Chau explained. But her family has always made it with tofu.
“I’m educating some of our customers here, away from what they used to know and introducing them to something new,” she said.
Chau’s great grandparents were born in China. They fled to Vietnam in 1938, after China was invaded by Japan at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Years later, Chau’s parents met in Vietnam. They decided to settle there.
Chau’s aunt got married and moved to the United States. She convinced Chau’s father to follow suit. Foreseeing better opportunities for his five children in America, plus a better education in Iowa specifically, Chau’s father started the paperwork. She was 5 years old when she touched down in Iowa for the first time in 1980.
From 1970 to 1982, Iowa’s Asian population increased from 3,420 to more than 8,000. Not one Vietnamese person lived in Iowa in 1970, according to Matthew R. Walsh’s 2017 book The Good Governor: Robert Ray and the Indochinese Refugees of Iowa. Ten years later, Iowa was home to 2,476 Vietnamese people.
A variety of factors contributed to the rise of immigrants in Iowa. Some were fleeing the communist coalition that took power in 1975 in Vietnam. Some were escaping conflict in Laos and Cambodia. Others weren’t facing persecution, but were seeking better opportunities.
Regardless of what brought them, Southeast Asian immigrants were shocked by the food in Iowa, according to Vinh Nguyen, a Vietnam War refugee who is now the president of the Vietnamese American Community in Iowa.
“We missed Vietnamese food so badly,” Nguyen said.
A traditional Vietnamese meal includes rice, soup, a vegetable dish and a protein dish. However, Iowa’s restaurant scene mainly offered burgers and pizza.
“That’s why a lot of Vietnamese men at the time started learning how to cook, because [otherwise] we’d have to go for ramen noodles,” Nguyen said.
Chau’s family felt the same. “We would go out to a restaurant, we would taste it, and we’re like, let’s make this at home — and we can make it better at home.”
Her childhood kitchen was a lab, where she and her mom would test recipes. Chau did most of the prep work. Her mom made most of the sauces and marinades. When they were finished experimenting, they’d invite the aunts, uncles and cousins over for dinner.
Oftentimes, their loved ones would insist they sell the dishes at Shang Yuen, one of Des Moines’ first Asian restaurants. Chau’s parents opened it in 1990, on the corner of Merle Hay and Hickman Road.
Their Kung Pao chicken quickly became a staple in Des Moines resident John Dana Custis’ diet. He and his friends would get takeout, then watch The Simpsons. Even when he settled down and had kids, Shang Yuen was still a Sunday tradition.
“I would hate to think about the money I’ve spent at Shang Yuen over the years,” Custis admitted. “It’s got to be 40 grand.”
He was heartbroken, to say the least, when Chau’s mother became ill in 2020, requiring Shang Yuen to hire new management and the menu to transform. A couple years later, Custis received word that a member of the Chau family had opened a new restaurant in West Des Moines.
On his first visit to Heavenly Asian Cuisine, Custis reunited with the Kung Pao chicken of his dreams. “As if nothing had changed,” he said.
He was partly right — Chau didn’t change the Chinese dishes. But everything else about Heavenly was different.
Despite the encouragement at those family gatherings, Chau’s parents didn’t introduce Vietnamese food to the menu at Shang Yuen.
“You can tell what’s going to work and what’s not going to work,” Chau said. “You have to think: this is what people in Des Moines are used to eating, and you don’t try to make it too different.”
In 2023, Chau’s mother passed away. Chau took time off work, and traveled to China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Dubai and France. It gave her a sense of empowerment to not only open a restaurant, but add her favorite Vietnamese dishes to the menu.
“Through my travels, and having a very vast experience in palate and taste, I feel that I have a good sense of what would be good to introduce to the market,” Chau said.
Her spiral menus, in addition to orange chicken and mongolian beef, list variations of pho, bahn mi and her current food fixation, bao bao sliders.
She’s not too shy to sell her more experimental recipes. Chau offers two dozen different boba drinks. The Dragon Slayer layers tapioca pearls, mango and dragon fruit smoothie on top.
Chau has a strong client base after nine years in Valley Junction, but she’s reaching for the sky, hoping to grow and take chances.
“I want to introduce different cultures and traditions [to West Des Moines],” Chau said. “I want to make it good quality that people can enjoy.”
Heavenly Asian Cuisine
225 5th St, West Des Moines
Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m
Vietnamese Restaurants
Eastern Iowa
Iowa Pho, 53 2nd St, Coralville, Sun-Wed 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (Closed Mon); Thurs-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Annie’s Vietnamese Sandwiches Shop, 221 S Gilbert St, Iowa City, Sun 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Closed Mon; Tues-Sat 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Saigon’s Corner, 201 S Clinton St, Iowa City, Closed Sun; Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4:30-8 p.m.
Phong Lan Restaurant, 216 8th St SE, Cedar Rapids, Closed Sun; Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Pho House, 5300 Fountains Dr NE #108, Cedar Rapids, Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m.; Fri and Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Mai Pho Restaurant, 2315 Edgewood Rd SW, Cedar Rapids, Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Closed Mon; Tues-Thurs 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 4:30-9 p.m.; Fri and Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Yummy Banh Mi and Boba Tea, Coffee, 1950 Blairs Ferry Rd NE Suite 116, Hiawatha, Sun 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Closed Mon; Tues-Sat 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
California Pho, 3559 W Kimberly Rd Ste 5, Davenport, Sun-Mon 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (Closed Tues)
Pho Fusion & Bar Vietnamese and Thai Kitchen, 5266 Utica Ridge Rd, Davenport, Sun 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Mon-Fri 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.; Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Pho 9999, 808 W River Dr, Davenport, Sun 1 a.m.-6 p.m.; Closed Mon-Fri; Sat 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
Central Iowa
Pho & Tea, 725 24th St #102, Ames, Sun 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Closed Mon; Tues-Sat 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Pho 515, 801 University Ave, Des Moines, Fri-Wed 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. & 3-7 p.m. (Closed Thurs)
Pho 888, 1521 2nd Ave, Des Moines, Wed-Mon 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (Closed Tues)
Pho Viet Restaurant, 5002 EP True Pkwy, West Des Moines, Sun-Mon 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (Closed Wed)
Vietopia Asian Fusion, 6920 EP True Pkwy #113, West Des Moines, Sun 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Closed Mon; Tues-Sat 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
Zavy Kitchen, 111 E Grand Ave Ste 101, Des Moines, Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. (Closed Tues); Fri and Sat 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
TNT Vietnamese Restaurant, 3452 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy, Des Moines, Sun 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Mon-Sat 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. (Closed Wed)
Pho Real Kitchen and Bar, 200 4th St, Des Moines, Sun 11 a.m.-7:45 p.m.; Mon and Tues 11 a.m.-8:45 p.m.; Wed 4-8:45 p.m.; Fri and Sat 11-1:45 a.m.
Viet-Thai Taste, 208 S 2nd Ave W, Newton, Closed Sun; Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Viet Thai Star, 905 W 16th St, Pella, Closed Sun; Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-8 p.m (Closed Wed)
Don’t see you favorite spot on the list? Let us know: editor@littlevillagemag.com
This article was originally published in Little Village’s August 2026 issue.
