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- Pho City restaurant has opened in the site of the former Not Your Average Joe’s. Delivering bowls of noodle soup called pho tai nam are servers Jasmine Ley (left) and Peter Tran. Photos by Steve Whipple
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- Back on Dec. 6, 2022, the owners of Salem’s Yang Ming restaurant purchased Gaythorne Hall, the headquarters, bar and function hall owned by the Knights of Columbus, for $1.35 million. The 3.75-acre property at 462 Broadway remains empty. Piles of recently trimmed shrubs are in front of the building. Economic and Development Director Jack Wilson said Shirley Chen Weng and Jason Chenghui Weng will use the existing structure for a new restaurant called Wengs Garden.
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- The former Santander Bank at 489 Merrimack St., was razed and a new building is well underway. The upscale restaurant will be operated by the same people who own the Fusion House restaurant a mile away.
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- The Skyport, Jackson’s, Jules by the Water, Tavern on the River, Jon Ryan’s Pub — the stately white building at 478 Lowell St. (Lowell Boulevard) will eventually be an Asian restaurant. The property was purchased more than two years ago, but has yet to re-open. Recently new lights and surveillance cameras were installed.
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- Also on Pho City’s server roster is this un-named working robot.
Starting a couple decades back, Methuen became a magnet for Mexican restaurants. Mi Mexico Lindo, Tekila’s, Plaza Azteca’s, Margarita’s, Chipotle and Casa Blanca arrived in the city that previously had no place to hang your sombrero.
The trend these days is to bring your Asian restaurant to Methuen. Three are on the way and a fourth opened earlier this summer.
After Not Your Average Joe’s closed at The Loop during the COVID pandemic, a handful of Vietnamese friends opened Pho City. The restaurant retains its bar and same seating area, featuring bowls of thick noodle soup called pho (pronounced “fuh”). Months earlier, the same group of friends opened Gong Cha Tea.
