Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant Mi Lay Cay will close its doors on Oct. 29, after 34 years in business.
The outside of Mi La Cay. Via Mi La Cay’s Facebook page.
Restaurant co-owners and brother-sister duo Ha Ong and Trinh Ong announced the upcoming closure in two Oct. 21 Facebook posts, a shorter one in Vietnamese, and a longer one in English. They did not specify exactly why the restaurant would be closing in the posts, but told King5 that it was a combination of health challenges, no family successor, neighborhood conditions, and rising costs.
The restaurant, which is now situated on 12th Avenue South in the Chinatown-International District’s Little Saigon, first opened its doors in 1993 on Rainier Avenue and Dearborn Street. On its front page that year, The Seattle Times dubbed the restaurant’s noodle soup the best in town.
“The name ‘Mi La Cay’ was well known to almost all the people who lived in Washington state and the Asian community in other states and countries as well,” the Ongs wrote. “Mi La Cay was a popular spot for everyone: young, old, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Lao, Cambodian, Thais, Malaysian, Singaporean, Burmese, Filipinos, American, Mexican, Russian, African, and many more.”
Ha, left, and Trinh, right. Via Mi La Cay’s Facebook page.
Trinh and Ha thanked their years-long patrons, and said that they had become friends with many of the customers. Sometimes, they said, customers who originally went to Mi La Cay as children would return as adults, along with their own families.
“There are stories of those who came as a family, grew old, children grew up & left the house, and the parents still come as old couples,” they wrote. “Then half was gone, and the other half still came with their jacket on the chair & ordered their other half’s favorite bowl of noodles when they were alive. They sit there, eat noodles and reminisce [about] the other person enjoying it with them. And many, many more stories.”
The Ongs closed the post by thanking the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda) for being the first to send them a check, during the initial stage of the COVID pandemic. They also thanked Laura Clise from the Intentionalist, who “came & handed me a check and left. I was overcome with emotions and ran out to the parking lot to catch her but was speechless. A word of thanks is not enough to describe my appreciation at the time.”
“My sincere appreciation to Friends of Little Saigon, who always supported us, helped us look for resources & apply for loan assistance as we needed it & are always there for us. And to all the organizations who were reaching out and helping us through awarding grants to get us through the most difficult of times– thank you,” the Ongs continued, before closing: “Us at Mi La Cay thanks everyone one final time for all your love & support. We, Ha & Trinh, will miss you all.”
“Love you always. Ha & Trinh (brother & sister)”
Leave a Reply