Giang Nguyen and her family outside their Windsor restaurant, Pho Xic Lo (PROVIDED BY G. NGUYEN/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
Giang Nguyen had never owned a restaurant or even worked in a kitchen when she moved to Canada three years ago with her family.
A trained teacher with a master's degree in teaching English as a second language from her home country of Vietnam, Nguyen came to Windsor to pursue a master of education at the University of Windsor.
Three years later, she's earned her degree and traded the classroom for the kitchen, becoming the owner of two Vietnamese restaurants in Windsor-Essex.
“It was a coincidence,” Nguyen says of her unexpected career change.
The previous owner had been seeking a successor, and Nguyen was ready to take on something new. Although her professional background was in teaching, she enjoyed connecting with people and had a deep love for Vietnamese cuisine.
Her husband had worked in the tourism industry for many years, so together they decided to turn the challenge into an opportunity by purchasing Pho Xic Lo on Wyandotte Street West. They were determined to carry the more than 20-year-old restaurant forward, continuing to serve Windsor-Essex and remain a gathering place for many UWindsor students.
"That's something I have to be grateful to the University of Windsor for," Nguyen says of taking on this challenge. "My courses not only gave me educational insight and the opportunity to study the educational context back in my country, but through the communication and classwork with my professor and friends there, I also built up my leadership skills."
At UWindsor, Nguyen studied under Dr. Clayton Smith and Dr. James Oloo, researching the influence of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) on English-language education in Vietnam.
Her research found that while the test motivated students seeking to improve their English and study abroad, it also influenced how teachers structured their lessons, sometimes encouraging them to teach to the test.
She also examined how stress, limited support and unequal access to preparation resources could place students from lower-income backgrounds at a disadvantage.
Beyond her research, Nguyen says the support she received from Smith and Oloo helped her feel at home from the moment she arrived.
"I felt like I made the right choice to be here because I feel so safe, so supported and everything resonates with what I believe in," she says.
That sense of community would prove equally important as Nguyen and her husband expanded their business, opening a second restaurant in Amherstburg in 2025.
"I took a walk with my husband along the King’s Navy Yard Park, and it's a very beautiful town," she says.
"I told my husband I want to have something to come here every day for, so we started doing research on the market and learned that there is no Vietnamese restaurant."
To gauge interest, Nguyen posted a question in a local social media group asking whether residents would welcome a Vietnamese restaurant. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
"The whole town welcomed us," Nguyen says of the opening of Little Vietnam on Sandwich Street South.
Despite operating two restaurants and earning a second master's degree, Nguyen hasn't ruled out a return to academia. She hopes to pursue a PhD in educational studies at UWindsor once her business and family commitments allow.
Her family's connection to the University is also growing.
Her son, who was in Grade 11 when the family arrived in Canada, has been accepted into UWindsor's biomedical sciences program and is expected to begin his studies in January 2027.
"My daughter wants to go to law school here too," Nguyen says, "so I guess I will spend a lot of years here with them."
As to what the highlight of her time at UWindsor has been so far, for Nguyen or her family, she says that every day is a highlight.
An easier question, perhaps, is the highlight of her menus.
"My favourite dish, of course that is pho," she says. "My favourite one is the rare beef and brisket. It is very Vietnam. It makes me think of my hometown, the capital of Vietnam all the time. We have pho every day, and that's just the taste of Hanoi."