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Southeast Albuquerque's May Cafe closing its doors, iconic lumberjack will stay
Liem Nguyen, owner of May Cafe, poses for a picture. The cafe will close its doors Dec. 23. The restaurant first opened in 1992. May Cafe is located at 111 Louisiana SE.
Fans of Vietnamese food know it for the classics it serves up, like spring rolls, banh mi and, of course, pho, but it also can't be ignored as a Southeast Albuquerque landmark with that big lumberjack towering over the place.
On Oct. 1, 1992, Liem Nguyen opened May Cafe after buying the location from his in-laws. Now, after 31 years in business, he has decided it is time to retire.
Nguyen moved to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1981. Since then, he's lived in Washington state and Albuquerque and raised four children with his wife, Kim, who runs the restaurant at Central and Louisiana SE with him.
In an interview with the Journal, he discussed his retirement plans, what's next for the restaurant, and the difficulty of running a business in the International District.
Nguyen's responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
What will you miss about running the restaurant?
Doing your own business is tough, (but) you know the hours. It's a good thing; I like it and that I like to talk to people. I like to challenge myself to always keep it up ... all the quality service.
Do you have any favorite memories about your time running the restaurant?
Well, I'll miss the people. ... I see a lot and made a lot of friends. That's how you start; they became my friends, then became part of the family, you know?
What has kept you going?
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I have four kids ... and I had to raise them up and send them to school. They have all worked here before. I'm an immigrant, so we have to make sure they have a good life and good education.
What's next for you after you retire?
So, tell you what, in all the 32 years I've been living here, it's just my life, family, you know. And now I'm getting older, (I'll) just go back to visit my relatives in Vietnam. And also now we have the chance to go see the country that we live in. We were tied up with this for a long time, and for a long time we don't really have a chance to go. (My) kids are grown up, and now it's time for us to see the country.
What is next for the restaurant?
My son, he's going to take care of this for now and in the future. Maybe he'll open his own (restaurant), you know, with a different version, like a different generation. I'm not sure. He's going to decide later.
Will the lumberjack stay up there?
Yes, it was fixed in 2019, so, yeah, it will stay there. It's like an Albuquerque icon landmark, so let's just keep everything the same over here. Hopefully, nobody comes to mess it up.
Anything else you feel is important for people to know?
Well, I'll tell you what, as a business owner in this area right here for the last few years, it's really tough for us. And so we hope that the city will do something to help the other businesses over here in this area, so we feel safe in the future. ...It's really tough at night. That's one of the parts when I decided it was too much stress — not just working here, but too much responsibility to take care of everything. The police or the City Council or whatever, they have to clean up, like before. I've been here 31 years, and the last few years it's gotten worse.
May Cafe's last day will be Dec. 23.
May Cafe
