What The Pho closes in Newmarket: Why Savannah Kitchen rebrand didn't work, what's next

NEWMARKET — What The Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant and tiki bar, has shut down after only two months of operation.

Owner and head chef Chris Caddy blamed the closure on high costs and low customer turnout at the 55 Main St. location.

“I love Newmarket, it’s a great town with great people,” said Caddy. “It’s just that (What The Pho) was probably the most expensive restaurant in town… it’s not off (Route) 101, it’s not off (Route) 16… Newmarket is small, so just counting on the population of Newmarket to support it and every other restaurant in town is not realistic.”

What The Pho was the rebrand of Savannah Kitchen, a Cajun-Creole fare restaurant that Caddy opened in 2020. The revamped menu featured Bahn Mi sandwiches, Pho noodles and rice bowls along with cocktails such as Put Da Lime In Da Coconut and Mezcal in Maui.

Caddy said the decision to rebrand in November was due to the higher number of ingredients needed for Southern cuisine and extensive prep work, which heavily impacted operational costs.

Looking back, Caddy admits What The Pho opened at “the worst time,” right around Thanksgiving and weeks before the holiday season. He said during that time, “business was going down and down and down.”

Caddy said he believes Savannah Kitchen and the rebrand didn’t work financially because of the location.

“If Savannah Kitchen or What The Pho were in downtown Portsmouth… we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now – we’d be super busy,” he said. “… Just the foot traffic or traffic in general would have taken care of that issue.”

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What The Pho owner plans move to Manchester

Caddy said he’s not giving up on the concept of What The Pho. He plans to open the restaurant in Manchester, an idea he's been working on since August before the rebrand of the Newmarket space.

“I’ve gotten a really positive response in Manchester for this noodle bar/ tiki bar concept,” he said. “That’s encouraging.”

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Located at 836 Elm St., Manchester, Caddy plans to open What The Pho between the end of February to early March. He said the new spot will be in the middle of “restaurant row,” four blocks of local, independently-owned eateries.

Caddy said the menu will be “tweaked” a little bit, while the new interior will feature “a lot more bamboo” to play with the tiki bar concept.

“The main thing is – whether I stay in the same spot or move to a new spot – it’s always important to be moving forward as far as the flavors, the dishes, tweaking things and trying to make them better,” he said. “You have to adapt, if you stay stagnant, you’re going to be left behind.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: What The Pho, a Savannah Kitchen rebrand, shuts down in Newmarket