Rolling Spring Roll Vietnamese closes in Commack

After three years, the Vietnamese restaurant Rolling Spring Roll has closed in Commack. Owner Joe Bui said he would be consolidating operations at his larger Syosset location, which opened in 2016.

He cited the increase in wages and ingredient prices as major factors, but took a philosophical approach that might be described as Rolling with the Punches. "I do what the business tells me. I’m getting older. I don’t want to stress myself out looking for workers, I want to stress myself out making this dish perfect."

With its larger kitchen, comfortable dining room and full bar, Syosset’s menu has always been more extensive. Bui said that he wants to "evolve the cooking to be less quick-serve and more hands-on Vietnamese." He’s already been turning up the volume here with beverages such as chanh muoi (a sparkling Vietnamese limeade made with salt-preserved fruit) and the "three-color" dessert, featuring layers of red beans, yellow mung paste and green pandan jelly, served over crushed ice with coconut milk.

Digging deeper into the Vietnamese repertoire is an appropriate next step for a local culinary pioneer. In 2012 Bui gave up a career in finance to open a food truck, The Rolling Spring Roll, parked alongside Spagnoli Road in Bethpage. At that time, there were no fried Vietnamese spring rolls on Long Island, no translucent summer rolls, no banh mi sandwiches overfilled with meat, herbs and pickled carrots and daikon radishes. (Our first Vietnamese restaurant, Maxia, opened in 1997 in Bethpage and closed the following year.)

The Rolling Spring Roll truck was a sensation, and a year later, he opened a pint-sized eatery of the same name in Farmingdale, adding pho (rice noodles in broth), bun (rice noodle bowls) and com (rice bowls). With an even larger kitchen, Syosset delved further into the glories of the Vietnamese table. By contrast, the Commack store was tiny and primed for takeout. When Bui signed the lease in 2018, he thought he’d be open in six months — it took five years. A year later, in 2024, he was stretched too thin and closed the Farmingdale store.

Bui recalled that when he opened in Farmingdale "we were selling pho (rice noodles in broth) for $8 — and people thought it was expensive." Now, that bowl costs $18. Those numbers are closely related to the minimum wage, $8 in 2013, $17.50 now. And, he noted, "most people won’t walk in the door for less than $20." For that kind of money, he wondered, why wouldn’t you get an easier job than working in a kitchen?

Luckily, there are people out there like Bui, who has been toiling in a restaurant kitchen for 14 years, and has no intention of stopping.

The Rolling Spring Roll, 228 W. Jericho Tpke., Syosset, 516-677-9090, therollingspringroll.com.