Do you want somewhere to stop and try new food?  

Want to enjoy ramen and spend time with your buddies?  

My Lil’ Cube is a great place to relax and eat while hanging out with your friends. 

Xuan Fang is the owner of My Lil’ Cube, the local ramen shop in downtown Puyallup. She tells the story of how her life has changed since opening it eight years ago.  

Fang shows the journey of a business owner may be difficult, but it is worth it in the end. On the busiest nights, the customers would help with whatever the staff needed during rush hour. 

“The first few years when I just opened a restaurant, normally it was only me working at the front. But sometimes it was pretty busy and people just came in at the same time and I was pretty frustrated,” Fang said. “Since it was really busy, I didn’t get the chance to clean the tables. But a lot of customers when they see me, they would walk in and clean the table by themselves and put the dishes in the dishes cart. I never expected it, but they all did it for me.” 

One of Fang’s favorite aspects about running a business in Puyallup, is how patient and kind the people are to her and the staff. 

“I like the people here. I will see some customers and they’re pretty nice and patient to us. When I just opened a restaurant eight years ago in 2014, even though a lot of people around the area don’t know what ramen is, they still are helping us and supporting us,” Fang said. 

The dishes served at My Lil’ cube were originally made from Fang’s past experiences of working for ramen restaurants. She took the most popular and favorite dishes of other places to create the menu of her restaurant. 

“I used to work for restaurants before this, especially for ramen restaurants and I know their menus. I knew some of the restaurant’s menus, so I went to eat at a restaurant and see what the good things on the menu are. So, I could choose from them and add some things that I liked,” Fang said. 

One of the struggles for Fang and her husband was figuring out how to create and manage a new restaurant all by themselves. Now that they have gained experience, they love running My Lil’ Cube together. 

“My husband and I, even though we used to work in the restaurant industry, we didn’t know how to run a business or make it work at first. After that, the business was getting better and now hiring people is probably the most difficult problem that I have,” Fang said. 

The customers are the most important part about any business, so Fang puts her customers first and thinks about how they would feel before making a decision. 

“There’s so there were so many times that I’m running the business and had to shut down the restaurant. I don’t really like to do the restaurant business because it’s hard every day, but my customers are the only thing I care about,” Fang said. “Sometimes I would be thinking about if I should shut down the restaurant, and if the customers are going to be sad and I don’t want them to be sad.” 

If Fang could say anything to the Puyallup community, it would be that they try their very best to make My Lil’ Cube the best it can be. 

“I wish they would know that me and my husband and the staff here really pay attention to our business. We’re really focused on it, and we love the business and love the customers. We always try our best to make all the food and service great,” Fang said. 

My Lil’ Cube not only changed Fang’s life but also her personality. The more customers showed respect and kindness to her, the more she wanted to give that kindness back to the community.  

“It changed my life, it made me become a more patient person. Because my customers are always helping me, I became more caring about other people. Before I opened the restaurant. I didn’t care about other people. But after I opened a restaurant here, they give me so much help that sometimes I feel like I need to do something here to help other people,” Fang said.