REXBURG — The Kingdom of Pho, a popular Vietnamese restaurant on Main Street in Rexburg, has recently expanded its menu and is offering more than 20 varieties of large-portioned boba and lemonade drinks.
After opening a very successful shed in an outdoor food court, Vitali quickly moved “the Kingdom” into a restaurant location on Main Street in 2023.
In July 2024, Vitali also started a line of boba and lemonade as a separate business entity, housed and sold in the same venue as the Kingdom. Just like his original recipe for pho, Vitali created the formula for 10 boba varieties and 10 distinct lemonades with popping boba, which he sells under the new Sumo Boba brand.
Each drink is sold in a 32-ounce cup, and Vitali isn’t offering any smaller sizes – hence the “Sumo” brand, which is meant to invoke the hefty portions for the new drinks.
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Vitali mentioned his experience in buying boba, which is often sold in smaller portions, such as 12 or 16 oz.
“Why not offer 32-ounce cups and charge around the same price, maybe just a little bit more? (At Sumo) our customers are getting 12 ounces more for $1 more.”
Sumo boba flavors include honey dew, iced mocha, coffee pudding, pumpkin spice, tiramisu, creme brulee, mango, brown sugar, thai tea and taro. Lemonade varieties include kiwi, raspberry, pineapple, peach, lychee, cantaloupe, blueberry and watermelon.
Sumo boba is served in 32-ounce “buckets,” while lemonade orders are served in a taller, more narrow cup with a different design intended to fit cup holders.
David George, EastIdahoNews.com
“We added boba because I was just sick and tired of paying overkill for a cup full of ice,” Vitali said. “We also added an orange chicken dish, for people that don’t know what they want to eat. It’s a little Asian fusion.”
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David George, EastIdahoNews.com
Customers can buy anything from the Sumo drink menu in person at the Kingdom of Pho or through the DoorDash app, in addition to the food already on the menu.
Of course, the Kingdom of Pho specializes in its namesake dish – pronounced “fuh,” but spelled “pho.”
“‘I grew up eating pho,” says Wayne Vitali, the owner and operator of the Kingdom of Pho in Rexburg. “The area I was raised in was heavily Asian, and the place across the street from my work was a pho place. I ate there almost every day.”
Vitali was born in Southern California, close to Los Angeles, but ended up moving to eastern Idaho in 2019, after serving a two-year mission for his church in France and later a term of service in the Navy.
Vitali came to Idaho to be close to his brother, who was living here at the time, and ended up staying.
“When I first came to Rexburg, there weren’t a lot of food options, aside from fast food,” Vitali recounts. “I thought for my own health, I needed to get something healthy.”
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Thus, the Kingdom of Pho was born, with some help from Vitali’s wife.
“One of the most important things for me is having a good partner, like my wife, Sarah,” Vitali said. “She constantly pushes me to do as much as I can. At the beginning we thought we’d only sell like maybe 14 bowls a day, but we do well over that amount. We haven’t had a negative day since we opened.”
David George, EastIdahoNews.com
According to Vitali, “‘Pho is a healthy food option with lots of flavor. Most of the people that try it for the first time love it. People say they don’t really feel weighed down after eating a bowl of it.”
The recipe for pho Vitali uses come entirely from scratch. “There’s no cubes, paste or powders. We use all the normal spices: cardamom, cinnamon, bark, yellow rock sugar, coriander, cloves, lots of ginger.”
Visit the Kingdom of Pho on Facebook or its website.
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JACKSON, Wyo. — Springtime conjures images of adorable baby animals. Unfortunately, sometimes well-meaning humans feel compelled to interfere with Mother Nature by “rescuing” baby animals who appear to be alone.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) issued a spring reminder discouraging people from intervening when they assume a wild animal is lost, abandoned or orphaned.
“While these folks typically mean well, the sad reality is they are often doing more damage than good when they intervene — and typically, mom was not far away to begin with,” IDFG shared in a press release.
“Here’s the hard truth,” the agency wrote. “Animal parents will periodically leave their young for an extended period of time for a myriad of reasons, whether it’s to search for food, to rest or to divert attention from their vulnerable offspring, especially if they sense danger. When it comes to wildlife babies, wildlife mothers know best.”
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In short, in an encounter with a lone duckling, gosling, deer fawn, baby bird, red dog or moose calf, do not disturb it. Instead, contact the state’s wildlife agency to report it. In Jackson, call the Wyoming Game and Fish Department at (307) 733-2321. In Idaho, reach IDFG at (208) 525-7290.
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I remember watching a documentary about Idaho’s wildlands. A narrator said there were probably many parts of the state where no human being has ever set foot. I believe that, but I stay relatively close to the highways. If I were 30 years younger, I would probably enjoy exploring the back country, but today, unless a plane takes me in and out, it’s not happening. I can’t say definitively that there is one spot that I find better than others. We’re surrounded by beautiful terrain, however. One place keeps calling me back.
Like a Scene from a Legendary Movie
When I go over the mountain between Gooding and Fairfield, I take time to stop at the overlook above the Camas Prairie. It reminds me of a scene in Exodus, where the Paul Newman character takes an American woman to look across a flat plain leading to Mount Tabor. He explains that’s the site where Deborah gathered her armies. It makes me feel there is something godly about the Camas Prairie. I keep going back to this spot. Sometimes I take along a folding chair and sit and look at the world below.
Slow Down and See the Work of the Creator
Fairfield may be nothing more than a blip as people speed down Route 20, but it’s their loss. On the other side of the highway is some of the prettiest country in Idaho. It’s going to be a lot less lush this spring, but drought conditions haven’t been nearly as severe in the central highlands. But if I’m granted a few more years by the Almighty, I plan to see the prairie for many more springs.
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