Supporters flocked to a daughter’s video of her father waiting for customers in an empty restaurant
Jennifer Lee, 21, has recently returned from graduate school to help out at their family’s business, Lee’s Noodle House, which is located on Hopper Avenue in Santa Rosa, California. Jennifer posted a Tik Tok video of her father waiting for customers in an empty restaurant earlier this year.
Her father was wearing a red winter coat and leaning on the counter, staring at the restaurant’s entrance, waiting for customers. Jennifer’s father, Vuong, was depressed as she recorded the video.
On January 18, she shared the video on her TikTok page, and it quickly went viral, receiving over 900,000 views and 111,000 likes.
«It breaks my heart to see my parents just waiting for customers to walk through the door to eat at their Vietnamese restaurant,» Jennifer wrote in the video caption. «TikTok, do your thing and help my parents’ Vietnamese restaurant.
My parents haven’t had a lot of customers and have been stressed out about money problems. If you want to go, they serve delicious Vietnamese food.»
@jennif3rle tiktok do your thing and help my parents out. 
Vietnamese restaurant My parents haven’t had a lot of customers and have been stressed out about money problems. If you want to go, they serve delicious Vietnamese food:)
Santa Rosa, CA 95403, 1010 Hopper Avenue #fyp #restaurant #vietnamesefood ♬ The videos that accompany this audio break my heart.
Their restaurant welcomed new customers after the video went viral. Lee’s Noodle House received a lot of love on social media, and Jennifer has since added three more videos to promote their restaurant.
She included photos as well as additional information about their restaurant and the Vietnamese dishes they serve. Her second video’s caption reads:
«The TikTok community’s love and responses have been insane!» Thank you also to the customers who have been coming for years! My parents and I were moved to tears by the comments section. We are extremely grateful for everyone’s help and attendance! We hope you will keep spreading the word about our small family business.
My parents are the hardest workers I know, and all I want for them is happiness and good health. Please keep in mind that they are the only ones working!»
@jennif3rle In response to @matthwlewis The TikTok community has been inundated with love and responses! Thank you also to the customers who have been coming for years!
My parents and I have been moved to tears by the comments, and we are grateful for everyone’s support and participation! We hope you will continue to promote our small family business.
My parents are the hardest workers I know, and all I want for them is happiness and good health. Please keep in mind to be patient.
In an interview with The Press Democrat, Vuong stated that their family’s restaurant business suffered during the global pandemic in 2020. He was initially unaware that his daughter had taken a video clip, but she had captured a moment when he was in a bad mood.
«She pleasantly surprised me. «I had no idea she did that,» Vuong explained. «But it’s true. Why is it that no one eats out at night? It’s extremely stressful. We used to close at 9, but we now close at 7:30 because you can’t afford to pay PG&E gas and electric, and you can’t wait for customers.»
Lee’s Noodle House first opened its doors in 2003. Ha Tran, Jennifer’s mother, is the head chef. Vuong also prepares and serves the food for the customers.
Her older sister worked in the restaurant before going on to become a nurse. Jennifer also worked in a restaurant during her high school years. The Lee family hopes they would maintain the success of garnering supporters that Jennifer’s TikTok videos have provided.
