Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Since 2018, Red Lantern Asian Fusion has prided itself on serving the local community high quality Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese style meals, and soon, the restaurant will be opening its doors at a second location in Olympia.
Tiffany Lin, co-owner of Red Lantern Asian Fusion in Yelm, told the Nisqually Valley News on Friday, Nov. 7, that her family believes the timing is right for opening a second location of the restaurant in Olympia. She expects the restaurant to open up in December, and said it will be located at 120 5th Ave. SW, in Olympia.
Though the restaurant will be new to Olympia, Lin said her family already has a sense of familiarity with the region as their family business, Kawaii Donut House, has frequented the Olympia Farmers Market selling their product.
Though Lin’s name is on the business certificate of Kawaii Donut House, it’s the brainchild of her 13-year-old son, Brandon Pham. She noted that the pastry business, along with bubble tea refreshments, will also operate out of the new Red Lantern Asian Fusion location in Olympia.
“The Yelm community has been really supportive of us since we opened,” Lin said. “We have a lot of good customers all around the area, and we think Olympia is a good fit for us. We want to bring our food into Olympia.”
Lin added that the Olympia-based location of Red Lantern Asian Fusion will use the same food vendor and feature the same authentic tastes as the Yelm-based restaurant. She noted there will be some minor changes, such as a smaller menu and different offerings.
The Olympia restaurant, according to Lin, will include beef noodle soup daily — which has only been featured as a special in Yelm. She added that beef short rib pho will also be included on the menu, along with Yelm’s popular dishes like Pad Thai and curry. It will also specialize in Vietnamese beef noodles, she said.
“We will keep the same vendors, same recipes and quality because we know how customers feel. We care about how our food turns out and we listen to feedback,” Lin said. “I told my husband (Hung Pham) that we have to keep things the same and how we’ve been doing it. It’s a hard time for the food industry, like restaurant businesses, but we try to hang in there.”
Lin said once customers got wind that Red Lantern Asian Fusion would be opening a second location in Olympia, people began to ask her if there would be major changes to the Yelm restaurant. She reiterated that everything will remain the same at their original location.
“We actually plan on keeping all of our old staff here to make sure that everything still tastes the same. The food and everything will be the same. We try to keep the same quality of the food, otherwise there’s no point in opening a second restaurant. We will try really hard to stay consistent,” Lin said. “We opened here in 2018. People have been really supportive of us. People are really nice. We really appreciate the community’s business and how they are always supporting us.”
Additionally, Lin and those involved in Red Lantern Asian Fusion have been spending countless hours in Olympia preparing the new restaurant as their opening date goal of December looms closer.
“I was in there yesterday. We tried to get everything working properly and set up all of the kitchen equipment. I think that in maybe two or three weeks it will be open out there,” Lin said. “I’m so excited, and my son is really happy too because he’s going to be helping me down there. He’s 13 and has been helping us since COVID when the schools were closed.”
