It’s hard not to root for Bún DC, a new addition to Park View from the owners of Pho Viet, and the tireless family behind it.

Between construction delays and D.C.’s byzantine permitting process, the Vietnamese restaurant took nearly three years to become a reality. Phi Nguyen and Minh Chau, who also go by Nina and Michael, opened Bún DC to help Nyugen’s mother, Dep Le, finance her dream of building a small Buddhist temple in her hometown. And nearly their entire family is working as cooks, servers, or managing the business—often before or after other jobs.

It seems to be paying off. Since it opened in late August, crowds are regularly packing into the shoebox of a restaurant and digging into “homestyle cuisine” from Sóc Trăng, Nguyen’s hometown.

“We are from the south, south, almost by the end of the country,” she explains. “We have different popular foods,” including bún riêu, a tomato-based noodle soup traditionally made with crab.

Where pho is meaty and rich, bún riêu is a mix of sour and sweet. While some of the dish’s more exotic versions (like one with snails that my dinner companion assures me is one of the best secrets in Hanoi) haven’t made their way onto the Bún DC menu, there’s plenty here for the adventurous eater—think pork blood cakes, or chicken livers and gizzards. But even if you aren’t ready for offal, the tomato broth is where it’s at—there are versions with seafood, veggies, or shredded chicken.

If that doesn’t sound like your speed, try the cháo, a rice porridge that’s at its best if you order it with a side of savory doughnuts, or the restaurant’s namesake vermicelli bowls (consider the chạo tôm, fried shrimp paste wrapped around sugarcane skewers, if you’re good with changing up textures). Most of the menu’s entrees are in the $10-13 range. (On a budget? Dig into a bánh mì, the classic Vietnamese sandwich, for less than $6.)

The culinary experience feels more varied than at Pho Viet, where the signature soup is the undisputed star of the show. It’s also more personal for Nguyen, who didn’t even grow up eating phở (though Chau, her husband and business partner, did). She developed the vegetarian dishes in consultation with her mother, a devout Buddhist. And two of the rice dishes are an homage to Nguyen’s grandmother, who passed away five years ago.

“She used to be a chef. We didn’t call it that at the time, but she used to cook for the village for a wedding, funeral, when there was a newborn baby,” Nguyen says. “You’d just ask my grandma how many are coming, what you need, how many chickens you need … She’d just cook for the whole party,” and she did it all without a single recipe.

Look for rice dishes #55 (Cơm Chiên Tỏi Nước Mắm Của Bà Với Trứng Chiên & Lạp Xướng) and #56 (Cơm Chiên Tỏi Nước Mắm Của Bà Với Gà Nướng Xã) to get a taste of how her grandmother made culinary magic out of a few simple ingredients—rice, fish sauce, and garlic—in addition to some creative additions of Nguyen’s own; the former comes with a fried egg and sausage, the latter with grilled lemongrass chicken.

Nguyen has been an enterprising chef nearly all her life. As a child, she used to make dumplings in front of her house and sold them to neighboring kids. She still wants to be in the thick of it at Bún DC, even as she’s working behind the scenes: Nguyen specifically asked that their architect change the restaurant’s original plans so that the kitchen is open, and she can look out and interact with her customers.

Bún DC is attracting a neighborhood crowd, Nguyen says, along with longtime Pho Viet customers who would follow them just about anywhere (full disclosure: this author included).

Take note: With just 10 seats in the tiny space, you might have to wait a little while for a table. The restaurant also offers takeout orders.

Nguyen says they haven’t seen one particular item on the menu surpass any of the others in terms of popularity. Different things seem to be selling out on different days—Nguyen doesn’t make too much ahead of time, preferring to keep her dishes as fresh as possible.

One thing that’s decidedly not on the menu, though, is phở. The couple felt the two restaurants were too close. But Nguyen has also clearly enjoyed developing this suite of new recipes.

“I’ve been cooking this, I’ve been cooking that. I’m still learning, but I try as much as I can,” she says. “This is my new journey, too.”

Kim Vu contributed to this story.

Bún DC is located at 2905 Sherman Ave. NW. It is open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. every day except Tuesdays.