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Beyond Bánh Mì: Vietnamese Entrepreneurship in New Orleans from the Fall of Saigon through Hurricane Katrina
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Beyond Bánh Mì: Vietnamese Entrepreneurship in New Orleans from the Fall of Saigon through Hurricane Katrina

Ava Nollen
University of Iowa
Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Iowa
Spring 2026
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Abstract

This thesis examines the entrepreneurship in the food industry and community building of Vietnamese in New Orleans, as well as the racial inequities they faced, from 1975 to 2011. It argues that food—food business and food culture--helped bind together the Vietnamese diaspora who fled their home country, established a community in New Orleans East, and established what became known as “Vietnamese New Orleanian cuisine”. The thesis examines their work in fishing and shrimping, backyard gardens, Saturday markets, food-based businesses such as restaurants and corner stores, and the community that was built within the Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church. The thesis also highlights the roadblocks they faced in integrating into the city of New Orleans, including a lack of support from the municipal government and larger negative responses among mainstream Americans about the Vietnam War which had a negative impact on the perception of the New Orleanian Vietnamese community, painting them as ‘helpless’ or without agency. In the tragedy and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Vietnamese community was underreported and used as a model minority juxtaposition to Black New Orleanians, when in reality they also faced significant issues after Katrina. However, in the wake of Katrina, the community organized and enacted grassroots movements. If you view the Vietnamese-New Orleanian experience through the timeline of their food culture, you can observe a narrative of how this community has grown, advocated, and worked together to form community projects and grassroots movements that define New Orleans history. This thesis draws from sources on New Orleans geography, American culinary history, various studies done on the residents of New Orleans East, and the primary sources of photographs by Mark Sindler and the Viet Chronicle Oral History Project.
 Entrepreneurship foodways food culture Vietnam War New Orleans community

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