Bloomington restaurant shows heaping serving of resilience re-opening its doors after tragedy

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- It was a welcome as warm as a bowl of Pho. Cô Tu', a Vietnamese restaurant in Bloomington, proved its strength opening its doors back up to customers on Tuesday, less than two months after a shooting that left one customer dead, and a server injured.

"It's good to be back, but I don't think it'll be the same as it used to be," said Quang Au, who intervened during the shooting, trying to protect the victim.

Forty-nine-year-old Tu Phan was eating lunch when Aaron Le allegedly fired bullets into the restaurant on Nov. 23. Bloomington Police said the motive was jealousy over Phan's alleged involvement with Le's ex-wife.

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Au says he used a chair to deflect bullets away from customers and tackle the shooter. In the process, Au was shot above his foot and on his backside.

"Even though many people said that what I did was brave, I do feel that you should always prioritize your safety," said Au.

Au says he was happy to be back in his family's restaurant serving again and thankful for all the people who showed up for lunch.

"When I heard they're coming back, I rushed to come here right away," said Austin Nguyen, a customer, "There's a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in Minnesota, but this is my favorite, this is my go-to."

"We are so happy they reopened, it's just wonderful," said Gail Buck, a customer.

"I didn't think they'd come back this quickly, and I'm really glad they did," said Kari Kardelle, a customer.

While Co Tu was closed, they received community donations that they put towards paying the bills, as well as a renovation of the restaurant, which included reupholstered chairs, new flooring, two new TVs on the walls, and brighter paint color.

"It's just elegant, it looks wonderful. I'm sure everyone that comes in here is going to notice how nice it is," said Buck.

Re-opening was only possible through community support, which was seen in every occupied seat during Tuesday's lunch rush.

"It's a family. You can tell it's a family when you come here," said Kardelle.

There is still some damage left behind from the shooting. The restaurant continues to accept community donations to help fix it.