Business owners celebrate long-awaited reopening

Whether one speaks English or Lao, the language of the heart is the same.
Laotian immigrants Tho and Phoudone Naovarath, speak well of their Stanly County community.
“We have a good business, and my children have good schools,” said Phoudone.
The Naovaraths have shared their hearts along the way by offering good food to all who come through the doors of Tho’s Pizza and Hot Subs in Badin.
Aug. 31 was a day of joy for the Naovaraths. It was the day they closed the original Walnut Street shop and reopened their restaurant in the newly renovated building on Falls Road in the company of family, friends and their professional team.
Phoudone gives untiring effort in speaking English, but words can’t convey all she feels. According to Badin resident Sue Dalton, big smiles and lots of tears accompanied Saturday’s ribbon cutting. Anyone familiar with the Naovarath’s saga understands the joy was hard earned.
After taking over the small pizza and sandwich shop in 2017, the Naovaraths decided to apply for U.S. citizenship. They began the process in 2018 while working seven days a week cooking and serving lunch and dinner for their customers. Phoudone’s teenage son and daughter, Terrence and Tere, coached them in reading, writing and speaking English so that they passed the test and realized their goal in 2019.
Since the original eatery could seat only eight patrons at a time, the new owners doubled that capacity with outdoor seating in good weather. They also offered take-out meals, and business was brisk, but the Naovaraths wanted to do more.
Around the corner on Falls Road, Gill’s Tackle Shop and Bogan’s Radiator Shop went up for sale, offering the Naovaraths a way to expand their food service business. They had to demolish the radiator shop, but renovation of the former tackle shop proceeded, meeting with ordinary delays and setbacks.
Still the Naovaraths anticipated moving into the new location during the summer of 2021. Thousands of dollars’ worth of new equipment and commercial food items had been placed in the building, but in early May of that year flames and smoke from an electrical fire destroyed the interior and the couple’s dreams, or so it seemed.
Soon, neighborhood volunteers joined Tho in a cleanup effort, sweeping out sooty debris and carting away damaged goods and charred building components.
Family friend Doug Hinson was on the scene then and could say more about the hard things the Naovaraths faced, but prefers talking about how much his friends mean to him.
“They’re like family to me,” says Hinson, as he recalls the meals they shared with him after his wife died.
In the spacious, light-filled space with seating for 50, Hinson points to the new ceiling and remembers the days spent pulling down electrical wires after the fire’s destruction.
While the couple have had other struggles in their mission to bring good food to more people in their adopted community, they prefer to focus on gratitude.
Phoudone insists, “We love Stanly County and Badin. Many people have supported and helped us. We love America.”
On her phone Phoudone points to various names —names of professionals who joined their team, like bankers Roger Dick and Mandi Rogers, attorney John Webster, architect Krista Kartson and contractor Robert Lovin. She wants to thank everyone who has given advice, shown sympathy and shared monetarily.
The Badin Town Council and staff who share an adjoining wall. Also, community donors joined with Better Badin, Inc. to present a $10,000 check to the Naovaraths in the wake of the fire loss.
Many Badin customers have become friends, as has Krista Butler who organized a GoFundMe account, raising nearly $20,000 for the Naovaraths, according to a July 2021 issue of The Stanly News & Press.
Phoudone shares a special word of appreciation for her family and for her sister, Kit Liu, who made frequent trips between Badin and her home in Tennessee to serve as a translator while the Naovaraths negotiated contracts and worked through legal issues.
“She fought for us,” said Phoudone.
After the fire, the Naovaraths received many cards from people who wanted to express their love and concern for the couple.
“I’ve saved the cards,” said Phoudone, and she plans to display them in the new restaurant behind a glass frame.
“For our memories,” she said. And what about the heartache? “I let it go.”

Jo Grey is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.

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