Pho Keene Great – Opens Tomorrow March 8th at 3pm!
Owner Isabelle Rose didn’t back down in the face of the city’s attempt to intimidate her and the media coverage quickly spread across the globe, with readers and viewers outraged at the oppressive, humorless “City of Keene”. Though the city manager had originally demanded Rose meet with her about the sign, the meeting never happened. Within three weeks of the original story breaking, the city people backed down and the “offensive” sign was approved and installed.
Thanks to the viral story, Pho Keene Great t-shirts, hats and bumper stickers have been selling fast at official vendor Route 101 Local Goods as people who do have a sense of humor wanted to show their support of the as-yet-unopened Vietnamese restaurant, from as far away as Australia and Afghanistan. Even celebrities like magician and comedian Penn Jillette got in on the fun.
Isabelle Rose, at her food truck in 2016.
Now with a newly renovated kitchen, stocked bar, and full staff behind her, Rose is ready to graduate from her successful dream of running her own food truck to the next level – running a sit-down restaurant. I’m excited to see this all coming together for her, and a lot of it is thanks to the bumbling City of Keene making itself look like petty tyrants on the world stage (again).
Here’s some recent media coverage featuring WCAX TV’s Galen Ettlin being given an exclusive look inside Pho Keene Great during construction in February. In the package, Rose explains the story behind the restaurant and takes the reporter on a tour:
Pho Keene Great is located at 11 Central Square in downtown Keene, New Hampshire, right next door to city hall.
This place is going to be packed on opening year. I think I’ll wait till next year to check it out. Good luck Isabelle with your new location!!
Yes! This is great news 🙂 I think I just might make it down there tomorrow for the grand opening.
“Victorious”? Are you serious? It was more of a misunderstanding and it was taken care of quickly. You constantly slam Keene. If it’s so bad why not move somewhere else. Freekeeners obviously are dying for a hero. By the way, did she hire any of you freekeeners that need to have a job instead of living off of SSDI?
Jacks honey, Ian is slamming the government of Keene. Not its businesses or its inhabitants. It’s a right shame you don’t have the common sense necessary to recognize that these sorts of things are actually very different from each other, eh pookie bear?
Oh, and Jacks? Why don’t you take your own advice and move back to Keene for awhile? I’m sure you could afford it – you being a successful entrepreneur and all. And just think of how convenient it could be for you, Jacks. For one, you could call the cops on all of your political rivals. And in person of all things! You know, instead of being forced to beg your Stop Free Keene pals on Facebook to do it for you? There’s a lot of advantages to being here where all the action is, pookums. I hope you have… Read more »
Jacks likes to conflate the two. Not the brightest tool in the shed.
I know, Kk. Jacks realizes this too – deep down underneath. But isn’t it hilarious to watch him try to hide his insecurities with poorly worded nonsense about his dream job? I’m still laughing at his gaffe about the “health care short term rehab facility” he keeps trying to convince everyone he owns. Can you imagine this mush mouth as a drug counselor, much less the owner of a rehab facility?