Name: The Bangkok Village
Address: 22 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville
Phone/website: 630-369-9756 and 630-369-9757; www.thebangkokvillage.com
Owner: Wijid Fay, 57, of Naperville
Years in business: 36; she has owned it 20 years
What does your business do? “We’re open for lunch and dinner. This restaurant has introduced Thai food to a lot of people. Our food is different from a lot of Thai restaurants,” Fay said.
What’s the background? “I am from Thailand. I moved here in September 1990 to help a family friend, Ida Pasty, who opened the restaurant in December 1989. It was the first Thai restaurant to introduce Thai food to the western suburbs. She needed help. She’s the reason I’m here.
“I was 23 when I moved here. … I studied hotel management at the College of DuPage. (My education) does help here. … I met my husband here. We were friends before we dated. We got married in 1995. … I helped her here until 1995. He said, ‘You can stay at home and do nothing.’ I said, ‘No, not me.’
“I went to work at Benihana in Lombard. I applied as a server but they started me in bookkeeping. I said, ‘OK, why not?’ After six or seven months, they wanted me to be on the floor and got me to be a supervisor on the floor. Then, they put me in management. I worked there at Benihana for 10 years. … I became an American citizen in 2006. Then, I bought this restaurant. (The founder) had sold it to a girl who worked with me. She sold it to me.”
You met your husband here? “Yes, I did. He was a customer but never liked Thai food before. Said it was too spicy. A friend of his told him to come, that he’d find something he’d like. He lived five blocks from here. His name is Steven Fay. We just celebrated 31 years (of being married). We met in 1992.”
How do you describe your restaurant? “When you come in, we treat you like family. We have a lot of customers who have been coming here since 1990. They know me.”
What sets this restaurant apart? “Everything here is homemade.”
What are your hours? We are open 11:30 until 8:30 at night Monday through Thursday; Friday 11:30 to 9; Saturday noon to 9; Sunday 4 to 8:30.” (They take a break between lunch and dinner.)
Do you enjoy working in the kitchen? “I do. When I started, I didn’t know how to cook. I have to thank Ida, the first owner. She taught me about cooking. … When you cook something and someone says, ‘Oh, it’s so good,’ you enjoy that.” … The kitchen is very small.“
More Top Picks Annex Room
Do you cook at home? “Yes, I like to cook. I like to host parties.”
Is this location good? “Yes. But a lot of people don’t know we are here. Last week, customers said they live five blocks away and didn’t know we were here. I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ … It was horrible with the construction (on Washington Street). But business is picking up.”
You are close to North Central College. Do many students eat here? “We don’t have many, but teachers and professors come in. … When we first opened, on Fridays and Saturdays, I didn’t get home until midnight.”
What do you order when you are hungry? “I love this one, Soldiers In the Red Sea. You are the soldier. You have to fight for it. It’s really spicy. … No other Thai restaurants do the Panang Curry with peanut butter, but here we do. We try to have American and Thai together.
Why do you like your job? “When you make people happy with the food you make, it just makes you happy.”
How many employees work here? “We have eight to 10. We have part-time help.”
Do you offer carryout? “Yes, we do a lot of take out.”
What about competition? “We have so much, but we have loyal customers.”
What does her husband say? “I like the Mussamun Curry and I like the Cashew Chicken, which was the first thing I ever ordered here. I grew up in Naperville. I walked past the restaurant for a year after it opened. I heard how spicy Thai food was. … Wijid was our waitress. Actually, we had been friends for a while before,” Steven Fay said.
What’s your advice for anyone starting a business? “You have to be patient. You have to know what you are doing. … You have to put your soul and your heart into it. You have to invest time. You have to be consistent.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at [email protected].