Executive chef Phong Nguyen, right, washes dishes as employee Josh Viray clears plates at Pho de Nguyen in downtown San Francisco, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. 

In the past, Phong Nguyen’s attempts to hire a dishwasher for his family’s restaurants in San Francisco and San Bruno have been largely unsuccessful. 

The shortage of people in the area able to get by on a restaurant job meant that Nguyen and his wife and restaurant owner Jeannie Ho usually received little interest in these roles when they posted them on Instagram. The stamina and experience required to work a late-night shift at a highly trafficked Vietnamese restaurant, like their SoMa spot Pho de Nguyen, was a factor, too.

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The executive chef, whose restaurants are known for roast pho duck, garlic noodles and spring rolls, knows how grueling the work can be. He’s been a dish pit warrior for the better part of 15 years. And the shifts he’s trying to fill this time around — 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays — are the busiest. So, a few days ago, Nguyen decided to post how much the job actually pays, including tips: “Hiring dish washer … $50 an hour. Must be faster than me.” 

Executive chef Phong Nguyen washes dishes in the kitchen of his restaurant Pho de Nguyen in downtown San Francisco, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. 

Dishes sit ready to be washed at Pho de Nguyen in downtown San Francisco, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. 

This time, the Aug. 30 post went viral. Nguyen’s post has been viewed more than 87,000 times and he is currently slogging through 350 direct messages and holding open interviews until he finds the right candidate, he told SFGATE. He’s still responding to hundreds of people who said they were interested in the comments. Those range from snarky (“my moms been training me for this day my whole........

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