JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER: BEST CHEF MIDWEST 2024 CHEF CHRISTINA NGUYEN
JAMES BEARD FINALIST: BEST CHEF MIDWEST 2019 & 2020, SEMIFINALIST IN 2018, 2023

ESQUIRE’S 20 BEST NEW RESTAURANTS IN AMERICA 2018 / EATER’S 18 BEST NEW RESTAURANTS IN AMERICA 2018
THRILLIST’S 13 BEST NEW RESTAURANTS 2018

Hai Hai is our love letter to the flavors & street food of Southeast Asia by Chef Christina Nguyen - James Beard Award winner of Best Chef Midwest in 2024 and first female Vietnamese chef to win a Beard Award. Located in Northeast Minneapolis, HAI HAI means two two in Vietnamese - a nod to the building's past life as the infamous 22nd Avenue Station (aka Deuce Deuce), a dive bar & strip club.

Inspired by dishes that Chef Christina grew up eating at home, at family celebrations, in Vietnamese Sunday school basements & during several trips through Southeast Asia, you can expect to find more than just the standards like pho & pad thai on the menu. Hai Hai shines the spotlight on regional dishes, along with original dishes and tropical craft cocktails using the Southeast Asian palette of flavors. 

During their most recent trips to Southeast Asia, Christina & Birk (the duo behind Hola Arepa) searched down winding streets to find alleyway food oases, followed the smell of charred meats & smoke to the grills they came from, had unforgettable meals at street food stalls next to roaring traffic, went on scavenger hunts for specialties at local markets, pulled up short stools at sidewalk cafés & ordered whatever the people next to them were having.  They tried it all so they could bring with them the best dishes & most inspiring flavors for you to enjoy back home.