Crab Hut & Kingfisher
About
Quan Le
Quan Le was born in the highly French-influenced Vietnamese town of Don Duong, Da Lat. After immigrating to the US, Le graduated from San Diego High School before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from San Diego State University. While pursuing a career in graphic design, working at the firm Bennett Peji Design and then Media Direct, he concurrently helped open Crab Hut in 2007 with his girlfriend at the time, Kim Phan. In the years that have followed, he’s played an instrumental role in Crab Hut’s expansion and in the creation of Kingfisher by working alongside the restaurant’s management teams to oversee all operations. Le is also credited with the design, branding and artwork at all Crab Hut and Kingfisher locations.
Kim Phan
Kim Phan grew up in a small town in South Vietnam, surrounded by rivers and farm land. Her dad struggled to get a job following the Vietnam War due to his background fighting for South Vietnam freedom so he was forced into a job as a farmer with an ill-equipped amount of knowledge for the trade. After many unrewarding harvests, her father and mother (a teacher), immigrated the family to Houston, Texas in 1994 through the Humanitarian Organization
which was created to help the remaining US allies left behind. Following their time in Houston, the family relocated to San Diego where Phan’s father started working at several local Vietnamese restaurants. After attending Hoover High School in San Diego and then UCSD to major in Computer Engineering, she wasn’t sure that was the career path she wanted to further pursue so instead she transferred to San Diego State University to obtain a degree in business. At the time, Phan knew a business degree would be beneficial to helping her dad’s restaurant Panda Rice, not knowing how applicable it would remain today. After witnessing the hard work her parents put into their work everyday, she wanted to be able to contribute to their retirements so she and her sister Ky along with her now-husband Quan opened the first Crab Hut on Convoy in 2007. In the years that followed, the much loved seafood restaurant expanded to three locations with the addition of Mira Mesa and Downtown. Catapulting off that success, Phan opened Kingfisher in January of 2022 as a way of honoring her family’s Southeast Asian heritage. Phan’s love of food is complemented by her dedication to providing a healthy working culture for all employees. Through the restaurants she operates, she’s become an advocate for fair living wages, health benefits and paid maternity leave. Her dedication to the industry earned her recognition by the Asian Business Association as one of the 2023 Asian Pacific Islander Leaders of Influence Honorees.
See me at:
Love Thy Neighbor(hood) Expedition: Convoy District
