New Nampa restaurant closes after 3 days because it’s too popular. It reopens Tuesday.

When Pho 7 Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant debuted Feb. 26, the plan was to be open seven days a week initially.

That lasted 72 hours.

The family-run restaurant at 732 Caldwell Blvd. in Nampa didn’t open Monday. Its official hours now are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays — and closed Mondays.

The decision to shutter on Mondays was made out of necessity, owner Vivi Nguyen says — at least this Monday. Pho 7 announced its updated hours Sunday on Facebook.

“We got way too many customers, and we’re burnt,” Nguyen explained in a phone interview. “The first two days, we got completely crushed. It’s a good thing, though.”

With Nguyen’s mother cooking, the restaurant served customers eager not just for pho, but dishes such as shaking beef with macaroni. On Saturday, Pho 7 ran out of supplies to make menu items such as beef stew, Nguyen said. “We also ran out of egg rolls,” she added. “Oh my gosh.” Pho 7 opened with a promotion of serving free egg rolls during its first week.

The restaurant never ran out of ingredients to make pho, Nguyen said. “We ran out of the other dishes because we didn’t think people were going to order it. But they did. So we have to prepare everything today to make sure we’re not turning customers down again because of a shortage like that.

“Because we’re new, we’re running slow. And customers, they were very nice,” she added. “They were understanding. But we just felt really bad. We weren’t perfect. Let’s just say that.”

After regrouping and trying to find time to rest, the family will return to action Tuesday. Pho 7 is their first restaurant, Nguyen explained.

“We thought we were going to be able to handle it,” she said. “This is our first time serving and doing all that. We didn’t expect it to be, like, this bad. We were all so burnt. We stayed up until, like, 5 in the morning just cleaning, preparing food and then going to work at like 7 the next day to come back. We were just burnt out.

“My mom didn’t sleep for like three days in a row. Even right now, she doesn’t have time to sit down, eat and rest.”

Pho 7 is looking to hire a dishwasher, Nguyen said, “because my grandma, she’s been washing dishes constantly.”

All this being said? It’s nice to be popular, Nguyen admitted. “I’m so happy about it. … We were scared no one would show up!”

This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 11:08 AM.