Kim Son

Our venue, Kim Son, holds a special place in our hearts. Named after Trent’s paternal grandparents, Kim Son is a family restaurant and Houston icon with many locations throughout the greater Houston area. Though his grandparents are now retired, Trent works for the family business alongside his father, uncles, and aunts. Please read below for Kim Son’s fascinating history!

Kim Su Tran La (known affectionately as “Mama La”) founded Kim Son Restaurants in Vinh Long, Vietnam, with the knowledge of traditional Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine passed down to her through family. She learned Vietnamese recipes from her mother-in-law and Chinese recipes from her Chinese father, Hien Tran, who immigrated to Vietnam from China in the 1930s.

In 1979, after the Communists overtook South Vietnam, Kim fled from her home country to Malaysia and Indonesia with her husband, Son, and their seven children. The family then journeyed by boat over the South Pacific enduring rough seas, inclement weather, and even a pirate attack before arriving in Houston, Texas on August 16, 1980.

In 1982, Mama La re-established her Kim Son restaurant with Son in Houston’s old Chinatown. With more than 250 recipes committed to memory, she tapped into her extensive knowledge of restaurant operations to put her new restaurant on the map.

Kim Son quickly became an institution serving thousands of patrons and earning accolades from some of the toughest food critics in the United States in top publications like Bon Appétit, Esquire, and Food & Wine.

Today, Kim Son continues to thrive and Mama La is grateful to her thousands of fans and guests who have enjoyed her cooking since 1982. Now she is happy to share the warmth, tradition and culinary treasures of her Vietnamese culture with even more people through the Mama La’s line of products that you can find in grocery stores now!