Packed nights at Monster Pho in Oakland mean there’s vegetables to chop, pho broth to monitor and spring rolls to refry.
Amidst the din of noise, owner Tee Tran says, "50% of the customers here is coming to support because of what we're doing."
According to Tran, customers are showing Monster Pho love because the restaurant decided to make food free for kids whose families are on CalFresh. Monster Pho is also giving 25% off for their parents. Tran was inspired by a post he saw by Tony Alba, who runs a restaurant in San Jose, offering a similar service. He messaged Alba, asking if he could mimic him in Oakland — and Alba told him "that's a great idea."
The decision wasn’t spontaneous. It’s been a tough time for Monster Pho, with the tariffs. Tran taps plastic to-go containers as he says they used to be $40 a case. Now he says they're $85.
But Tran had to do it. Growing up as a refugee kid, his family also had to lean on help. He remembers waking up early in the morning with his family to catch a bus to West Oakland, going to a church food pantry.
"When I imagine myself being those kids, it hurts," he says. "It hurts a lot actually."
Since he made the post announcing the deal on Instagram, Tran says about a dozen parents have showed up for free food, and more will come. His voice gets thick with emotion as he recounts the visits.
"I see them not trying to look at their kids because they don't want to be embarrassed because they don't want to see their kid, that they're a failure. And so I try to make it as comfortable as possible."
In Alameda, over 100,000 people use CalFresh. The county has promised to invest $10 million to fund food assistance. But it costs $30 million a month to sustain SNAP in Alameda County. Which means, unless the shutdown ends soon, neighbors will need to rely on each other.
"If we do that in every pocket of every neighborhood," Tran says, "Everybody at least get fed for another day and we get to survive for another day."
Here is a full list of restaurants offering free and discounted meals to SNAP recipients.