San Jose has more Vietnamese residents than any city outside Vietnam, about ten percent of its population. The first wave arrived after the fall of Saigon in 1975, and the community’s first hub was Lion Plaza near Tully and King roads. In the 2000s its center moved out to Story Road and McLaughlin Avenue, around the Grand Century Mall and, later, Vietnam Town.
The city officially recognized the district in 2007. Its first refusal to use the name Little Saigon led to protests and a hunger strike at City Hall. Lee’s Sandwiches and the Pho Hoa restaurant chain both opened their first locations in San Jose, and the Viet Museum at History Park tells the community’s story.