Since 1983, Pho Tau Bay has been a New Orleans trademark known for its fresh, simple and delectable selections of authentic Vietnamese recipes.

In early September 2005, the family was displaced by the devastating hurricane named Katrina. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the family had 4 of the most successful Vietnamese Restaurants in the Greater New Orleans area. The history of this close family explains why the success of their businesses has been so great.

Founders, Chau & Anh Thu Cao, were forced out of their country due to the Vietnam War. They fled their homeland with no clothes, money nor valuable or personal belongings. Thu's entire family fled to the United States hoping for a new life and new beginning. Hoping for a better life for their family in America, they finally saved enough money and moved their family down to New Orleans in 1981.

Thu had heard that New Orleans had a thriving Vietnamese population and thought that this was a great opportunity to open one of her family restaurants. Finally in 1983, the young couple opened the first Vietnamese restaurant in New Orleans named Pho Tau Bay simply meaning "Flying Soup Boat."

By 2005, the Cao's and their three children and their spouses ran 3 of the 4 most successful Vietnamese restaurants in the Greater New Orleans area. All of their restaurants suffered substantial damage due to the Hurricane. It was so hard for the family to believe that in one day their lives would change forever.

The family first evacuated to Houston, TX, but the hotel stays began to dissipate their funds. Thu's oldest sister Nga Buu, a widower that lives in Lancaster, had extra rooms for the family to stay. As a family, they agreed to travel twenty-nine hours in a motorcade up North. They arrived in Pennsylvania not knowing what their future had planned for them. They knew as long as they stayed together they would be okay. Their family of nine and one along the way, Thu's sister family of eight and Nga Buu, which owns the home, stayed in a small 3-bedroom 1.5 bathroom home. After exactly thirty years from fleeing from their homeland of Vietnam, once again the Cao family left everything they own and knew behind in New Orleans.

Uncertain of what lies ahead for their family, Thu and her husband decided to immediately settle in Lancaster, PA and they knew that they needed to get some income started as soon as possible. The family's restaurant finally opened in mid-July 2006. Because it was a new start, time and place in our their lives, they decided to change the name of the restaurant to Rice & Noodles Restaurant.