Next, let's meet one of our neighbors.

We're headed to East Charlotte's Lang Van Vietnamese Restaurant what's been a staple here for more than 25 years.

"Carolina Impact's" Dara Khaalid and videographer Russ Hunsinger sat down with the owner to learn more about the woman behind the big smile.

♪ I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you ♪ ♪ I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you ♪ ♪ So would you be mine, could you be mine ♪ ♪ Won't you be my neighbor ♪ Hi neighbor - Thank you mommy.

How are you?

Long time no see.

- [Dara] She's got a lot of personality.

(Dan speaking foreign language) You can hear it.

- I got it.

- And feel it.

- Thank you.

- [Dara] When you walk through the doors of Lang Van in East Charlotte.

- What time you eat here?

- First time.

- [Dara] Whether it's your first time.

- Oh, she's lovely.

- I tell a long time I don't see them.

- [Dara] Or you've lost count of how many times.

- I've been coming here since 1987.

- Owner Dan Nguyen does her best to make you feel right at home.

- I remember they eat, no menu.

- No menu at all.

Exactly.

- I love people.

Mama, I can't tell, and I give hug, sometime I don't.

Take out, you know.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- [Dara] Aside from those long, warm hugs, she remembers orders.

- Chicken and vegetable, extra chicken, spicy?

- Yep.

- Of many who've stopped by before.

- I come in here, we sit down, I hear the machine going where she's making a jackfruit shake for me every time.

- Daddy, happy birthday.

- [Dara] Little things like this made Derryl Berry's choice easy on where he was gonna spend his 82nd birthday.

- Happy birthday, Bob.

♪ Happy birthday daddy - That's one of the reasons I come here, because I know that she knows me and makes me feel good.

- [Dan] Yeah.

- [Dara] And as the 52-year-old happily moves around the restaurant she's worked at since 2000, she hides a lot of pain behind her smile.

- My mom and my dad, no money, no take care of me.

I'm too young.

Me no sleep a lot.

I go to work, school, work, school.

Sometime I don't have food.

I go to school, I take food, my friend finish eat, I eat.

- [Dara] Dan opens up to me about growing up in Vietnam, a country at war when she was born.

However, in her early 20s, a glimmer of hope came when her husband Twen Tren migrated to the US shortly after they got married to create a better life for them.

But the new bride had to stay behind.

- I wait in my country five year.

I wait until citizenship.

He come back, he bring me here.

(Dan speaking foreign language) - [Dara] It wasn't an easy start for the couple when she arrived with very few clothes during the frosty 1999 winter.

- I say him I sleep in the car three month.

I tell him, "Don't worry, I apply job, I work."

I work 18 hour a day, 20 hour a day.

I work seven day a week every day.

- [Dara] Dan's first job was at another Vietnamese restaurant in town until she was hired at Lang Van by the old owner.

Her bubbly personality was a big hit with customers, which made the owner comfortable handing over the keys in 2005.

- Before she leaving, she hold me to cry a lot.

She ask me, "Stay here, you take care customer well."

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

You enjoy it.

- Okay.

- Thank you.

- [Dara] 20 years later, Dan is doing just that with the roughly 1,500 customers that come in every week.

- She has treated me like I am her only customer.

And it wasn't until 10 years later that I realized she treats everybody that way.

So we're not so special, but she is special.

(upbeat music) - [Dara] Dan's kindness isn't the only thing keeping customers full of joy.

- It's very, very good.

- Very tasty.

- [Dara] The 152 authentic Vietnamese dishes on the menu play a large part too, especially the crowd favorite, pho, which is the Vietnamese national dish.

It's made of broth, noodles, herbs, and a meat like beef or chicken.

They sell around 500 bowls a week.

- This is my first meal I got here, and I've been getting it ever since.

- [Dara] And certain items on the menu hold a special place in Dan's heart.

Like number 88, the catfish soup.

- I remember before grandfather, he cooked for me the younger with the sweet and sour soup, the fruit and vegetables, (indistinct) and tomato and pineapple inside.

Before I leave my country, I'm younger, I remember everything, and right now I keep the catfish soup.

- [Dara] As you might imagine, running a restaurant that's open six days a week requires a solid team.

Dan has 12 employees, including her husband Twen who works on the grill, and her cousin Thao Tran, who's a waitress.

- I love customer over here.

They're very friendly, and they think us like the family, whatever happen in their life.

Like okay, I'm divorced, I'm getting married, I had a baby, they gonna come and tell us all.

- [Dara] The same way the workers at Lang Van support their customers, the favor was returned when the pandemic hit in 2020 and the restaurant began struggling.

A longtime customer created a GoFundMe that raised over $63,000.

- We are grateful for that.

And then after the Covid over, my sister donate whatever the program for some hospital have the cancer support to cancer people.

We don't take that money.

We have to, you know, use that to support the other people.

- South Vietnam, people friendly.

- [Dara] Throughout the restaurant, you'll find remnants of the land Dan once left behind.

- I feel sometime I miss my country.

(upbeat music) - [Dara] But if you take a moment to look at the walls while you're there, you'll see hundreds of reasons why her leap of faith 26 years ago was worth it.

- I love you.

- I love you too.

- [Dara] For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.

- [Dan] Thank you love.