'SCRATCH KITCHEN,' INCOMING. Husband-wife duo Huy Nguyen and Vivian Duong, the restauranteurs behind Minnesota's Norvary, will be joining the downtown Eau Claire community with the opening of Chao Eatery  (420 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire) later this summer.

After the downtown Eau Claire community said its goodbyes to Guac N’ Roll, the former food truck-turned-restaurant operated by the Hernandez family, at the end of May, the future that of corner storefront – 420 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire – was seemingly up in the air.

Now, per signage taped to its front door and windows, that future is clearer. Chao Eatery, which plans to open its door sometime this August, is a family-owned business boasting boldly flavored, scratch-made Asian cuisine and drinks.

A peek into what to expect is shared through QR codes on the forthcoming restaurant’s window signage: Chao Eatery will be a “scratch kitchen” with “no preservatives, no seed oils.”

Of the menu items shared, there will be at least five sections for future customers to peruse, including small bites (“crispy rolls,” “K-town Tacos,” glazed wings, etc.), pasta, slow-simmered pho, grain bowls (bulgogi bowl, cajun garlic butter bowl, basil bowl, etc.) and what appears to be a seafood boil selection (shrimp, mussels, snow crab legs).

Owners Vivian Duong and Huy Nguyen introduce Chao Eatery online by sharing their hopes for the restaurant – “our mission is to serve scratch-made dishes that are healthy yet full of flavor” – and offers some insight into their previous experience.

The husband-wife duo, first-generation Vietnamese Americans, opened their first restaurant just over an hour away from Eau Claire, in the riverside city of Winona, Minn.

Norvary, a northern Vietnamese bistro, opened its doors there in 2022 and has since garnered a near five-star online rating from over 270 reviewers. The bistro serves pho, ramen and seafood boil alongside a range of specialty drinks including Vietnamese coffee, tea and tea lattes, among other items.

For now, while Volume One awaits an email response from the owners, folks can peruse the current menu shared online by scanning the storefront signage's QR codes (and for those looking for work, Chao Eatery is now accepting applications for kitchen staff, front-of-house and prep crew).

This is a developing story. Chao Eatery is shooting for an August 2026 opening, per signage at its future location at 420 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire.