Obituary: Jimmy Ho established the Tu Hai Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant

By MITCH MITCHELL

mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

HALTOM CITY — For years, the doors to Tu Hai restaurant in Haltom City never closed during the day.

Seven days a week — Thanksgiving and Christmas, too — owner Jimmy Ho opened his restaurant at East Belknap and North Beach streets, cleaned up a little and started cooking his Vietnamese-Chinese foods, which became a staple of meals for thousands of North Texans.

But the doors have been closed since Thursday, Mr. Ho, 57, collapsed at his Fort Worth home and died.

A ruling on his death is pending.

Mr. Ho spent more than 25 years turning his small eatery into a North Texas magnet for people who wanted good food and friendly service.

Repeatedly, Tu Hai was named by more than one publication as the best place for Vietnamese cuisine in the area. According to his family, some of his customers would not eat without him.

"Our customer base really valued my father’s presence," his son Tim Ho said. "He knew exactly what they wanted and how they wanted it. A good percentage of the customers didn’t want to deal with me. I’d come up, and they wouldn’t even let me take their order. They would be like, 'Where’s Jimmy?’ I’d say, 'Give me a minute’ and go tell him. He would stick his head out from the back, give them a wink and a nod, and it would be a done deal."

The restaurant was more than a business, relatives said. Customers were part of the family. His customers’ children would come home from college with their own children in tow, his sons said.

And those customers came from diverse backgrounds. They included state judges, lawyers, police officers, construction workers, priests, electricians and teachers.

Mr. Ho would greet them with a hug and say, "Hey, what are you doing here?" Now signs have been placed in the restaurant’s doorway announcing the temporary closure. Customers have called the family to ask whether the signs are true. Is Jimmy really dead?

Victoria Gutierrez of Fort Worth stood in shock Sunday afternoon as she read the signs.

"I’ve been coming here for more than 10 years," Gutierrez said in Spanish. "He was such a good man. I didn’t even know his name, but when I walked in he knew exactly what I wanted to eat."

Tu Hai is scheduled to reopen Nov. 16.

"When I go back, it will be hard," said Lee Ho, the oldest son. "There are so many memories of him around there. I will be reminded of him constantly. I will have to keep telling the customers the same story over and over. The wounds will never heal. But I know what he would want me to do. He would want me to be strong."

He is the logical person to keep the restaurant going — to keep this extended family intact, Lee Ho said. It will be difficult because Lee Ho and Mr. Ho were not just father and son but also best friends. They lived together, worked together, laughed together — a lot, the sons said.

"The night before he died we were joking around watching the World Series, watching the Mavericks," Lee Ho said. "My dad was a storyteller. I’m not sure how accurate the stories were, but they were entertaining. My dad was the comedian type."

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