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Popular Rock Hill Vietnamese restaurant Mi Linh is getting a major beauty makeover. Owner Dee Dee Tran has closed the restaurant for renovations and will reopen in October as Mi Lounge and Spa, a cafe with Mi Linh’s most popular menu items on one side and a spa on the other side. Mi Linh’s last dinner service was Saturday, Aug. 23.
Although Mi Linh was successful, Tran said the long hours operating a restaurant were taxing. Mi Linh, which opened in May 2013, saw the departure of its executive chef, Tran’s brother Nelson Tran, in January. Dee Dee Tran said while her brother’s passion was food, hers is beauty. She also owns Jasmine Nails and Skin Care in Brentwood and said she has always wanted to operate a spa that also serves cocktails and food. “I wanted people to be able to come in and have lunch or dinner while they have their spa service done,” Tran said.
The lounge side will offer Mi Linh mainstays like its Canh Ga Chien (fried butter garlic chicken wings with sweet chili sauce, named the No.1 dish of 2013 by Sauce critic Michael Renner), egg rolls, spring rolls and buttermilk shrimp. The menu will also include bun, a classic Vietnamese dish of cold rice noodles served in a bowl with shredded lettuce, cucumber, herbs, sauteed green onions, roasted peanuts and meat. Tran will also add a selection of banh mi, traditional Vietnamese sandwiches.
On the beverage side, a full bar will serve cocktails, as well as healthy smoothies. Tran said food can be ordered in the lounge or delivered to spa patrons at their manicure or pedicure stations. She also plans to offer weekly spa specials featuring a cocktail and matching spa treatment, such as a margarita manicure featuring the cocktail to sip while the customer receives a salt and lime hand scrub.
-photo by Jonathan Gayman
This article appears in August 2014.