Sap Sua Going on Strike…But Diners With Reservations Won’t Go Hungry

Doing good never tasted so good.

If you have a January 30 reservation at Sap Sua, the buzzy Vietnamese restaurant that was named one of America’s fifty best new restaurants by Esquire in 2023, take note: The place will be closed, and the doors at 2550 East Colfax Avenue locked, but you won’t go hungry.

Sap Sua is joining the National General Strike that day, to protest ICE and the actions of the Trump administration. “It has been increasingly difficult to watch what is unfolding in our country,” Sap Sua announced January 28 on Instagram. “We have felt so helpless and alone and it’s abundantly clear that no one will come to save us, so it is our civic duty to unite as a community in support of the most vulnerable. We understand how difficult of a position it is to be in as a small business owner, yet we fear that this may be the only way: Choosing to withhold our spending power to enact real change.”

And as a first-generation Asian American, Ni Nguyen takes his civic duty very seriously…and the small business he founded with his wife, Anna, will be taking a major financial hit for those principles — a harder hit than just cancelling a night of business.

As the couple explains, anyone who had a January 30 reservation is being contacted to arrange another date for dinner at Sap Sua…when their meal will be comped. And anyone who made a reservation who’s visiting Denver and can’t make a different day? Sap Sua (likely Anna, since only she and Ni will be working on January 30) will drop off a free dinner.

“We want to make sure that our activism is inclusive for everyone from our staff to our guests,” Ni says. “We want to make sure everyone is taken care of. We want to take care of the community.”

The extra work and expenses are a small price to pay for taking a stand, he adds. They’re making an investment in persuading others to take action. “To see restaurants like ours take a financial hit, people need to see that can be done,” Ni says. “We hope that inspires other restaurants to take action.”

And not just other restaurants. Sap Sua would have served 130 to 140 covers on January 30, and “maybe this will inspire 100 of our guests to do something in the same vein, maybe not as big a gesture, but a gesture they can do,” Ni adds.

So now he and Anna and the staff are busy contacting those with reservations — some made a month in advance, since tables at Sap Sua are still very much in demand — to arrange replacement dates or meal deliveries. And to deliver a message, sent in an email from Anna: “The goal of a general strike is to pause the economy, and limit the flow of tax dollars, which fund ICE. This hits close to home for us. As restaurateurs, it is our responsibility to protect and advocate for the people we employ — people we care so deeply about. It is also our responsibility, as a pillar in our community, to stand up for what is right, and to set an example. “

Because as Ni notes, this will not be over on January 30. “They should prepare for the next strike,” he advises. “That is the purpose of why we want to participate this time.”

On its Instagram message, Sap Sua offers suggestions for how people who can’t close their businesses can participate, since “we all play a part in the revolution.” They can donate a portion of the day’s proceeds to an immigrant rights organization, or allow employees to strike, or bring amenities to the community.

And Ni has one last suggestion, an act the Nguyens are making very easy for a reservation book full of diners: “Joy is an act of resistance.”

Viva the revolution.

Here’s a list of other local hospitality businesses participating in the National General Strike on January 30:

Closed for the day:

• Good Bones, 1201 East Colfax Avenue
• Die Die Must Try Beverage Co., 250 Steele Street
• Jade Cafe, 5600 West Dartmouth Avenue
• Outside Pizza, 3257 Lowell Boulevard

Open but making donations:

MAKfam, 39 West First Avenue, donating 30 percent of the entire day’s proceeds to Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network and Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.