‘Pho Keene Great’ Restaurant Allowed to Open

Photo: Pho Keene Great / Facebook
Photo: Pho Keene Great / Facebook

KEENE, New Hampshire — Officials in a New Hampshire city have approved a restaurant sign that initially was removed over concerns that it sounded profane.

The name of the Vietnamese restaurant in a public building next to City Hall in Keene is a play on words. It calls itself by the name of a soup, which in English is spelled Pho and is pronounced “fuh,” followed by the words “Keene Great.” It’s scheduled to open March 1.

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“What do we serve? Where do we serve it? How does it taste? The answer is Pho Keene Great,” the restaurant’s website reads.

City Manager Elizabeth Dragon said in an email the sign was approved Friday and is in compliance. She said no one had submitted written permission to put up any sign until Jan. 4.

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Dragon said officials decided to let the community “decide what they think of the sign and how they interpret it.”