The Eggroll Ladies is now a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Des Moines

Trang Pham sold egg rolls out of her car during the pandemic.

She wanted to bring what she calls “legit Asian food,” Vietnamese family recipes with a fresh take, to the masses while donating profits back to the community.

Her passion grew into The Eggroll Ladies food truck at local events, and three years later she opened a storefront at 5548 NW Second St., Unit 118 in Des Moines.

“With everything that’s going on in the world outside of these doors, we just want one common language to connect you and that’s food,” Pham, 29, told the Des Moines Register.

The Eggroll Ladies bring ‘legit Asian food’ to the Des Moines metro

Pham and her family moved to central Iowa from Vietnam when she was 6 years old. Later, the Valley High School graduate enrolled at DMACC and Upper Iowa University. She also joined the Iowa Army National Guard.

In August 2020, she became the city of Des Moines’ first Asian American female firefighter, a role she’s since left. Around the same time, she starting selling her egg rolls and growing The Eggroll Ladies.

Pham started crafting recipes with her mother, who is affectionately known as “Mama Cathy” to customers. They start with traditional Vietnamese favorites and create an original take on those dishes.

The menu includes spring rolls, including pork and shrimp traditional rolls and a non-traditional marinated pork and shrimp or lemongrass teriyaki chicken and shrimp. Egg rolls come in pork and veggie flavors and sizes vary. Pork or chicken pot stickers pop up on the menu alongside crab Rangoon.