Wedding venue in Blue Ridge, GA for couples in Greensboro, NC

Featured photo: L-R: Owner Kieuanh Ho with her employees Yubania, Callie and Katie on March 14. (photo by Sayaka Matsuoka)

“It’s nothing dramatic.”

That’s what Boba House owner Kieuanh Ho says about the decision to close her and her husband Kiet Nguyen’s vegetarian restaurant after two decades.

It’s not staffing or revenue or any other financial distress that’s causing them to close; it’s much simpler than that.

“We’ve been blessed to do what we do, but we think it’s a good time to focus on our children,” Ho says. “We have four sweet boys and my oldest, he is a sophomore. And I realized, you know, in two years, I will not have all of my four boys under the same roof, traveling, eating dinners, driving them to school and so on.”

When the wider Greensboro community first learned of Boba House’s imminent closure via a Facebook post on Monday, word traveled fast. As the city’s only fully vegetarian restaurant focused on Asian cuisine, people were understandably dismayed.

“I hate this,” posted one commenter. “It’s the only restaurant my vegetarian wife will eat. You will be missed! Thank you so much for your delicious food and memories.”

Another person noted that Boba House has been their favorite restaurant for the last 18 years.

By Thursday afternoon, the post had garnered more than 470 reactions and had been shared 169 times, with many stating they would come one last time before the restaurant officially closes on March 23. It’s a reflection of what the restaurant has meant to the community.

When Boba House first opened its doors in 2003, the idea of a vegetarian restaurant near downtown Greensboro was kind of a crazy idea.

“We had a lot of doubts, and we had a lot of nonbelievers who said, ‘What are you doing? How are you going to survive with a niche clientele because you are limiting yourself?’” Ho recalls.

But Ho, who has been vegetarian since she was 13 years old, says that both she and Nguyen were young, passionate and willing to take a chance on a novel idea. They combined Ho’s passion for plant-based cooking with Nguyen’s affinity for boba tea, which was just becoming popular in the states, and created what became one of the most beloved institutions in the city.

“Had we known and had more fear or had more to lose, we may not have done it,” Ho says. “But at the time, we just wanted to do what we wanted to do and what we were passionate about. And passion is so key in restaurants.”

The menu, which is inspired by Vietnamese and Thai cooking, was created by Ho’s mother’s best friend, Jennifer Gregory, a Vietnamese woman who was a close family friend. They taste tested options over the years, whittling down their multi-page menu to the more streamlined items that patrons have been picking from for years. Popular dishes like the Hula Pot — a Thai red curry-inspired bowl packed full of veggies with an option for rice or vermicelli noodles, or the mixed bowl — a robust salad-type dish with a bed of greens topped with a protein, created diehard fans over the years. The contributing factor was the restaurant’s signature “meats” — beef, chicken, shrimp or ribs — which predate the mainstream options like Beyond Meat or Impossible Meat which are sold in stores now.

When asked about her favorites on the menu, Ho lists off a bunch of options from the Hula Pot to the pad Thai to the buffalo chicken sandwich and the vegan pho, which is made over the course of several hours.

“It’s really a love dish,” Ho says. “It’s something that you know, only a mom would do because they love you that much. To spend hours making you a hot bowl of pho.”

That love is reflected not only in the menu, but the roots of the business itself, Ho explains. In fact, without her and her husband’s parents, Boba House wouldn’t exist, she says.

“They both loaned us money,” Ho says. “And usually with Asian parents, they loan us money and they say, ‘Hey, this is my life savings so you need to make sure that you put it to good use.’ But they don’t expect you to ever pay it back. And that’s still the case. I guess you could say that we owe the restaurant to our parents.”

Ho also says that she and her husband had the support of the landlord, Becky Patterson, who took a chance on them despite the fact that they didn’t have any restaurant experience.

“She’s the type of landlord that makes you a good tenant,” she says. “They believed in us and they saw something in us.”

Over the years, Ho has repaid that debt by keeping a welcoming, wholesome business alive, through both prosperous times and more difficult ones like during the pandemic. She’s changed the menu by adding gluten-free items and making things vegan to keep up with customers’ palettes, even when it cost the restaurant more money.

And customers have been loyal and receptive to the changes.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jim Ingram and his wife Elizabeth Strater basked in the afternoon sun as they waited for their to-go orders outside. They live in the Westerwood neighborhood and have been coming to Boba House for the last 12 years.

“I’m sad,” Strater said. “It’s an education in vegetarian food. People have stereotypes about vegetarian food but I’m sure they’ve broken that stereotype.”

Inside, Nagatha Tonkins sat near the entrance waiting to take home her mixed bowl. She had been coming to the restaurant for the last two years and visited again after hearing the restaurant’s plans to close.

“The food is just good,” Tonkins said. “It’s fresh, healthy and everyone is always pleasant.”

Over the years, Ho says she’s developed close relationships with many of her customers who she’s watched grow up.

“It’s good to grow with them,” Ho says. “Our customers have been lifelong friends now. We know them on a personal level…. We’ve had people that we became groomsmen and bridesmaids for…. So when we think about Boba House we just don’t think about the food, we also think about the relationships.”

Ho also attributes much of the business’ success to her dedicated employees who have helped her along the way like her chef Yubania, her manager Katie and her evening shift manager Gelly. In fact, the three have been so integral to the business that when Ho and her husband decided to retire, she approached them and asked if they would want to keep the business going.

“What I had wanted was to gift it to my three staff who had been here with me,” Ho says. But the realities of running a business kept them from taking her up on her offer, she says. And that’s okay.

“I was a little sad and disappointed, but I told them to do what’s right for their families,” she says.

And she understands because that’s why she’s making the difficult decision to close.

“For a year, I felt such a weight on my shoulders that said, Hey, we need to be here to make sure that people have a place to eat,” Ho says. “But now I know there are other places available for them. I feel like it’s okay to quit now. And I’m sure someone else young and passionate will come in and do great as well. So I feel at peace, that it’s okay.”

Boba House’s last day is Saturday, March 23. They will be open until 9 p.m. Find their menu and hours at bobahouse.com.

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- No. 13 NC State fell victim to an upstart UNC-Greensboro squad, losing 18-3 at Doak Field Tuesday night.

The Wolfpack (12-3) became the latest midweek casuality of the Spartans (9-7) who upset then-No. 1 Wake Forest in Greensboro back on Feb. 20. Another great start by Julien Peissel against an ACC squad coincided with nine UNCG runs in the first three innings, a deficit which proved too much to overcome.

"They're a good team," Avent said. "I knew they're a good team. I talked to Billy Godwin, who has been a good friend of mine forever, who left there in January. He said he left a good team. They are a good team. They beat us in every aspect of the game."

Peissel set the tone by not allowing a Wolfpack hit in his first 11 batters, only broken up by a Makarewicz bloop single to lead off the fourth. Locating his 93-94 mph fastball well and generating soft contact against the Pack, the UNCG hurler put the red and white in a bind while the Spartan offense piled up nine runs by the end of the third. Though NC State managed three runs in the fifth as Peissel ran out of gas, a great start on the UNCG mound force State to play catch-up all night.

"We got beat in every aspect of the game tonight," said Elliott Avent. "From ready to play to pitching to base running. Every aspect of the game tonight, we got beat."

Those nine early Spartan runs didn't help matters either. Cooper Consiglio started strong with a 1-2-3 inning, but the wheels quickly fell off in a six-run second powered by five hits for UNCG, a walk and three wild pitches. Consiglio simply could not locate his pitches and UNCG made him pay. Jacob Cozart's older brother Caleb smacked a home run off the left field foul pole to start the third, leading to three more runs on four hits and another wild pitch in that frame.

NC State's bullpen managed to keep hope alive despite a lackluster showing by the offense. Jaxon Lucas stepped up in third to stop the bleeding, starting a string of solid bullpen performances to keep the Spartans off the board. Ryan Marohn helped settle the game with a scoreless 1.1 innings of his own before Hollis Fanning, Shane Van Dam and Jacob dudan each contributed a scoreless inning.

The bullpen magic didn't last forever, though. If the wheels fell off in the second and third inning, the whole car burst into flames in the ninth. UNCG posted nine in the final frame against four Wolfpack pitchers faced in that inning. From a multiple RBI walks to a Caleb Cozart grand slam, nothing NC State threw seemed to stick. Only an Andrew Shaffner K following the Cozart clobber managed to mercifully stop the bleeding once again.

NC State's offense mustered a few runs in the fifth, but that was about it. Three straight one-out walks loaded the bases for Garrett Pennington, who managed to put the Pack on the board with an RBI groundout down the first base line. Makarewicz followed up with a two-out, two-run double to make it 9-3 and boosting his season RBI total to 34. After that frame, the Pack9 bats went cold again for the remainder of the night.

The Pack9 resumes ACC play this weekend with a trip down to Georgia Tech March 15-17. First pitch of Friday's series opener is set for 6 p.m.

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Almost three years in the making, North Carolina A&T’s real estate foundation will finally move dirt on its planned mixed-use development across from campus called The Resurgent.

However, the project will look a little different from the $60 million, 275,000-square-foot building that was originally announced in fall 2021 as the North Carolina A&T Real Estate Foundation will be getting an assist from Cone Health, Greensboro’s independent health system.

In a joint venture, the foundation and the health system will construct a $32 million, 54,000-square-foot, five-story building on East Market Street near Benbow Road, across from N.C. A&T’s campus and close to U.S. 29. Plans for the apartment, retail and restaurant building will be announced in a later phase, the foundation said.

Three floors, or approximately 60%, of the new building will be occupied and owned by A&T and Cone Health will occupy and own the first two floors.

The N.C. A&T Real Estate Foundation will move its headquarters into the building as will A&T’s human resources office. The building is also set to include an entrepreneurial hub with the university’s Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and an office for the N.C. Small Business and Technology Development Center, which is currently housed in the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship.

“We believe The Resurgent will serve as a catalyst for the redevelopment of the East Market Street corridor and create a significant economic impact on East Greensboro,” said Kimberly Cameron, executive director of the N.C. A&T Real Estate Foundation.

A groundbreaking is scheduled for April 24.

“We estimate $1.6 million of new annual payroll from the project alone and an increase in accessible jobs,” Cameron said, adding that the project will create about 144 construction jobs and 75 jobs to be housed in the building. “Finally, we are excited about the creation of new Black-owned businesses graduating from the entrepreneurial hub, with an anticipated 150 students participating annually.”

Cameron explained to TBJ that this is a “scaled-down” version of what was originally announced in fall 2021.

The original plan, at a $60 million price tag, called for more than 70 apartments, with 10% as affordable housing, retail and restaurant space as well as parking deck on the 7.15-acre site. CT Wilson was intended as the general contractor, but Samet Corp. took over the project in summer 2022.

Cameron noted that this office building, on the east part of the site, was always part of the plan but was going to come later than the larger apartment and retail building.

“We’re doing this first because, when Covid-19 hit, the interest rates went up and the construction pricing went crazy,” she said. “Because it was a smaller portion, we were able to get this off the ground first [as] interest rates are stabilizing, and construction prices are coming down.”

Because of the delay, the real estate foundation was able to increase the office building’s height by one story, which means that the main building will also be five stories. Cameron said, because of the additional story, they might redesign it and so she does not have an estimate on the price for the second phase yet.

The foundation was able to access financing from the Department of Treasury as well as other equity to fund the first phase, it said.

Cone Health plans to offer urgent and primary care services at The Resurgent, helping to address the medically underserved neighborhood of East Greensboro.

Cone has been on a mission to “CATCH 5 in 5,” improving life expectancy by five years in five years, even partnering with the city of Greensboro on this initiative. Within Guilford County, life expectancy varies by almost 20 years, with East Greensboro on the lower spectrum.

“What we looked at [for this particular project] were how many patients were coming to us from within a certain drive time of that location and so it only made sense to make our services more convenient,” said Deno Atkins, senior vice president of ambulatory and consumer services.

Adkins explained to TBJ that many health systems, Cone included, are locating at mixed-use or retail developments for the convenience of the consumer.

“We’ve learned in health care that an experience somewhere is an expectation everywhere. People expect convenient parking [or] they expect quickness of a service,” he said. “It’s our goal in health care to deliver on that very same promise and being located nearby allows us to do that.”

And ultimately, Cone and A&T working together on this goal will be better than each of them working individually, Adkins said.

“The ability to have high-quality health care close to where people live and work cannot be overstated,” said Dr. Mary Jo Cagle, CEO of Cone.

The regular season for the North Carolina A&T Lady basketball team was filled with new accomplishments and historic achievements. The Lady Aggies capped off the regular season, winning some first-time player awards and a 19-10 record. They held a top-two spot in the conference throughout most of the season, but with a few late-season losses, they stumbled to the fourth seed in the upcoming Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament.

With their fourth-place regular season finish, the Aggies have also clinched a two-round bye. The Lady Aggies will suit up today, Friday, March 15th, against the Hofstra Pride.

When asked about their two-round bye, junior guard Jordyn Dorsey said, “Having a double bye was very important to us as far as recovery. Our bench isn’t that deep due to injuries, so it should help a great deal.”

As the regular season ended, the CAA announced their conference awards for the 2023-2024 season. Two of the Lady Aggies made all-conference teams: Jordyn Dorsey was named first-team all-conference, and senior guard Maleia Bracone was named the all-defensive team.

“I’m very grateful that my hard work throughout the season has been rewarded with such an honor,” said Dorsey about the accomplishment. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without my team.”

The Aggies started off hot early in conference play, going 8-2 in their first 10 conference matchups before dropping three of their last six to close out the regular season. “For the tournament, we want to focus on playing team basketball.” Dorsey said, “Dictating on defense is what got us in the position we are now, along with moving the ball and making sure we get high-percentage shots on the offensive end.”

The Lady Aggies are seeking to clinch their first CAA tournament title since joining the conference in 2022. With a conference title, they would clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, the 6th in school history and first since 2021. Though the Lady Aggies have made it to the big dance before, they have never won a game in the NCAA Tournament, and the team is determined to put an end to that streak this season.

“ It would be great to have all of our hard work end with a CAA Championship and a NCAA bid,” said Dorsey, “It has been a goal of mine and the program to always reach the postseason.”

The Lady Aggies will look to bring a CAA tournament championship back to A&T, and Aggie fans surely have a lot to be excited about this March. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 pm on Friday, March 15th, at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington D.C.

How do the Aggies Stack Up Against Opponents? N.C. A&T Women's Basketball Schedule, Live Stream & TV Info - March 15

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