Phở Cow Cali opens at UCSD

Thao Le and Kailey Le • May 18, 2026

Photo by Justin Lu/ UCSD Guardian

Phở Cow Cali, a new Vietnamese cuisine restaurant at UC San Diego, officially opened on Wednesday in Pepper Canyon West. The restaurant operates from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Phở Cow Cali is open to the general public, accepting both regular payment and Triton Cash. Customers can join the in-person waitlist to eat inside the restaurant. They can also call ahead for take-out or order online through DoorDash and Uber Eats.

By 6 p.m. on the day of the grand opening, the walk-in waitlist time had reached two hours. Students arriving past 6 p.m. were met with a closed waitlist due to the restaurant’s crowds.

For its first week of business, Phở Cow Cali offered 10% off all orders. The ordering system was met with technical issues on the first day following discrepancies with the discount application. On Monday, the restaurant issued an apology on Instagram in response to some customers not receiving the discount, offering 10% off coupons to students who returned with their receipt.

The original owner and cook of Phở Cow Cali, Tuyen Nguyen, and his partner Tu Nguyen were interested in a UCSD on-campus location for about 20 years and have been waiting for a restaurant space opening. Tuyen Nguyen was also interested in the location because of his past sponsorship of UCSD Vietnamese Culture Night. Tuyen Nguyen saw an opportunity to expand the chain into Pepper Canyon when his frequent Mira Mesa customers, coincidentally UCSD faculty members, brought up the Pepper Canyon expansion. Tu Nguyen’s daughter, Amy Nguyen, a current fourth-year UCSD student, will begin overseeing the UCSD location next year following her graduation.

In 1989, Tuyen Nguyen opened the first Phở Cow Cali location in Mira Mesa under the name Phở HoaCali, using a southern-style Vietnamese family recipe passed down by his older sister. The pho chain opened its second location, Phở 7 Cow, in National City in 2017.

As a key figure in designing the UCSD location, Tu Nguyen emphasized that he wanted to create a “nice and young” environment for students to come and enjoy the food.

About the Contributor

Justin Lu, Photographer

Events, portraits, concerts and esports photographer! When not binging video essays on design, trivia and gaming, can be found at events or working on silly programming projects. Hit me up for music recs, to give music recs, or for macOS keyboard shortcuts!

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