It's a story of self-reliance and determination. Andy Poomsan came to the United States from Thailand more than a decade ago to live the American dream.
"The restaurant is my dream," Poomsan said.
A father of three with a slim budget to start, Poomsan opened Buddha Thai Bistro seven months ago in a Vacaville shopping center. Lined with big box stores and chain restaurants, it seemed an unlikely place for a small mom and pop shop, but this hidden hot spot has proven it deserves to be there.
Buddha Thai Bistro was recently featured on Yelp's Top 100 list for best restaurants, coming in at 20th best restaurant in the country.
Poomsan never imagined his restaurant would grow so popular so fast.
"I got a lot of phone calls! And they kept calling: 'Hey, can I make reservation?'" Poomsan said.
Often customers form a line out the door waiting to taste the fresh noodle and stir fry dishes.
So what's his secret??
"We use social. Social media which is like Facebook, Instagram and Yelp," Poomsan explained.
Customers write reviews on sites like Yelp, snap photos of their dishes and upload them to their social media accounts, and it's all at no cost to the restaurant.
"If you check in on Yelp, you get complimentary drinks from us. If we have 10 people, check in for us, I get 10 drinks for them. So it spreads the word so fast," Poomsan said.
So fast that he is considering expanding to a nearby city to keep up with his very loyal customers.
"You come hungry, you leave happy!" Poomsan said.
Buddha Thai Bistro is located in the shopping plaza on Nut Tree Parkway and Harbison Drive in Vacaville.
