Inside the Push to Preserve Falls Church’s Vietnamese Strip Mall Eden Center | Eater DC

"Tucked back into one of Eden Center’s interior hallways, this modest shop can be easy to miss but consistently draws a crowd for its eponymous chewy, steamed, fermented rice rolls filled with seasoned ground pork and shrimp and other Northern Vietnamese favorites like bun rieu oc (a conch and crab meat noodle soup). Owned and run for 27 years by restaurateur Suong Nguyen—who opened Banh Cuon six years after emigrating to the U.S.—the restaurant has endured crime, recession, and mounting competition, and Nguyen has actively fought for tenants’ rights (she was one of 16 tenants who sued the landlord for mismanagement in 2012). Faced now with the possibility of redevelopment and rising rents tied to a city small-area planning process, she is fearful of displacement but remains determined to keep fighting to preserve the community that has sustained her business." - Stephanie Ganz