South Park’s Popular Asian-Tex-Mex Fusion Restaurant Is Closed

Well-received Phorale, the South Park mini-mart food counter specializing in a mash-up of Asian and Tex-Mex flavors, has closed after nearly two years in business. Despite a tiny kitchen, Phorale won hearts with dishes including twists on the banh mi sandwich, pho, spicy pork egg rolls, and curly fries smothered in habañero queso, cilantro aioli, and grilled spicy pork or marinated beef. On social media, owners Jimmy Bui and Young Cho said they hope to reopen elsewhere in the future, citing an issue with their landlord as the reason for closing.

To be more specific, there was a plumbing problem that would have involved expensive renovations with no guarantee of a lease renewal, Seattle Magazine reports. Bui and Cho want to relocate, “But with the way Seattle real estate is, I’m afraid that if we do find a new location, we won’t be able to keep our low prices because of rising rent,” Cho told the magazine.