Nguyen's name is prominent in this coastal area. His family operates a marine supply business, a crab company and a restaurant. The restaurant, called Hu-Dat's for both Dat and his brother Hung, is painted white with maroon trim. Inside, the walls are covered with plaques and pictures of Nguyen's athletic triumphs. It is a shrine of sorts, speaking both to Nguyen's athletic ability and to the assimilation of the Vietnamese people into the Texas Gulf Coast lifestyle.
Cultures mix freely in the restaurant.
If there were any scars of racial bias, or hardship, they have been erased. Hu-Dat's is a gathering place to enjoy Vietnamese and Chinese food, and an information center for locals who want to know how Nguyen is doing with the Cowboys. We have people coming in here every day wanting to know about him, but we haven't heard from him in a couple of weeks. Nguyen was home earlier this summer and signed autographs at the restaurant. Canh Nguyen said his cousin was always popular in town.