From prying old flat screen TVs off of the walls to taking nearly decade-old ketchup bottles off high top tables, Nengher Vang and Choua Her have been hard at work to transform 5100 Erling Ave. in McFarland.
The couple is in the process of creating a new identity for the property which been vacant since 2018.
What was once 5100 Bar & Grill in McFarland, and before that the Park Ponderosa Ballroom, is set become a new cultural hub: The Mekong.
The business is poised to be the first Hmong-centric gathering and event space in the entirety of Dane County. Serving culturally authentic foods and creating lasting memories for the Southeast Asian community are primary goals for Vang and Her.
Dane County is a community that continues to see its population of Hmong residents grow; 5,229 Hmong persons call the county home as of the 2020 Census.
However, the area has yet to see many businesses, especially gathering spaces, open up to reflect this growth.
“There is not really a space for them to hold special events or parties. We have always been thinking of a way for them to host cultural or festival celebrations... We need to find a place to serve our community,” Vang said.
To do this, the couple are renovating the space into a banquet hall equipped with a commercial kitchen to be privately booked from Friday-Sunday.
On those days when the space is not booked, and from Tuesday-Thursday, The Mekong is set to become an open music and entertainment space for Hmong acts, musicians and bands.
Vang and Her plan to open their kitchen and full bar for alcoholic and N/A beverages as well as traditional teas during these days as well.
The Mekong will specialize in Southeast Asian drinks and cuisine, drawing from the cultures of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and other cultures.
Out-of-house catering will also be available to anyone who hope to bring traditional Hmong food to their own gatherings or parties outside of the venue.
The Mekong business plan names papaya salad, pad Thai, pho noodles, deep fried shrimp, fish with curry sauce and deep friend Lao sausage as possible offerings once their doors open.
As a professor at UW-Whitewater and a policy analyst for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, respectively, this endeavor hasn’t been without its challenges for Vang and Her.
“We didn’t even know how to write a business plan. We just went online and searched through Google for the questions that we needed to have answered,” Her said.
Over the course of two weeks, the couple taught themselves how to put together their robust and now complete plan for The Mekong. In total, they said the process took three months after finding the property was available.
They travelled to other surrounding Hmong restaurants in the area and Minnesota, where much of Her’s family resides, to spark inspiration for their own menu of food and cocktails.
In addition to honing The Mekong’s identity and offerings they also put together full business projects and strategies to attract their target audiences.
The final product was a plan that even lenders at the bank were impressed by, according to Vang.
While the experience was surely a challenge, and Vang admits to wanting to give up at times, the couple was driven by their desire to one day become business owners and make a better life for the next generation of Hmong Americans.
Throughout the process, Vang and Her’s foundationally strong work ethic and past personal experiences pushed them to the finish line.
“I think that came through as we were struggling with this whole process, from the beginning up until now. It takes tremendous hard work, but at the same time sort of incredible personal resilience on our part,” Vang said.
Both Her and Vang experienced tumultuous upbringings in Southeast Asia, having come into the world just after the United States pulled out of the Vietnam War.
The U.S. recruited Hmong people to fight on their behalf during the war. After backing out of the conflict, Hmong people were persecuted in their own countries for their participation by the communist regimes that began to take over.
Vang, born in Laos in 1976, and his family ran from persecution for the first four years of his life until making it to a refugee camp in Thailand, where they lived for the next eight years before emigrating to California.
The family, and many others like them, crossed the Mekong River, running between the two countries to find refuge. The experience, and the river’s role in it, are what gave the couple’s new business it’s name sake.
Her was born in a Thailand refugee camp and a world where she also immediately had to avoid persecution. She emigrated to Minnesota in 1988.
The couple met in America and married in 2003. Now they are parents of two boys ages 13 and 7. The family first moved to Wisconsin in 2015.
Quickly, they realized the area’s need for a Hmong gathering space.
“I think that was one of the things we noticed right away when we moved to Wisconsin, and ever since we’ve always been looking for some kind of venue,” Her said.
Thus, the couple has taken it upon themselves to fulfill this need.
When asked what made them believe they were up to the task, both Her and Vang cited their history in giving back, staying connected to their communities and a desire to continue doing so.
“Both of us grew up pretty connected in our communities, this had a tremendous influence on the way that we were brought up,” Vang said.
As much as they both want to create a space for the Hmong people of Dane County to create authentic memories, the couple emphasized that The Mekong is open to everyone. Getting to know their new McFarland neighbors has also been a fun experience.
“We’re just excited to be able to meet everyone that will come through here. We’ve met some of the neighbors around here and we want to get to know them more. We want to get to know the community here in McFarland. We’re ‘people’ people,” Her said.
Soon, the couple will have the opportunity to welcome McFarland and Dane County through their doors.
They hope to close on the 5100 property in the near future and after cleaning and organizing the building. The Mekong could be open by the end of September 2024.
Local Wisconsin State
Most Popular
Comments / 0