Downtown Vietnamese restaurant closing

The Viet Nom Nom restaurant on Church street will serve its last meals on Feb. 24.

In a Facebook posting, owner Alan Moy announced the closing, along with the shutdown of his other location at the Norris Center at Northwestern University on the same day.

Moy did not give reasons, but did thank his customers and employees who purchased food or sold/served it over the past eight years, by his calculation nearly half-a-million meals.

“While it’s inherently a tough experience to close your business,” the posting says, “I can wholeheartedly share that I am more than proud & fulfilled by our journey.”

Moy said he has been able to “follow in my grandparents and parents footsteps as a 3rd generation restaurant owner and literally live out my lifelong dream.”

Moy added that he was particularly proud of being a community activist in a variety of causes.

He ended by saying he looks forward to serving his customers one more time before closing the doors for good.

Moy said he expects “tears of joy.”

“There’s no reason to hang our heads, only a million reasons to keep them high. These final days are going to be a celebration on so many levels.”

The Viet Nom Nom closing is yet another sign of how challenging the restaurant business is, even following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Within recent weeks, at least one other restaurant near Viet Nom Nom, the Flat Top Grill, has closed.

But two others close by, Le Tour and Fonda Cantina, have opened. And the restaurant formerly called the Farmhouse will reopen soon, rebranded as Thomas and Dutch.