Christina Nguyen is the chef and co-owner of Hola Arepa and Hai Hai restaurants in Minneapolis, MN. Christina is a self-taught chef who started Hola Arepa as a food truck in 2011 with her husband Birk. A couple years later, they found a permanent home for Hola Arepa in South Minneapolis. They serve Venezuelan arepas, Latin American small plates, and tropical cocktails in a space reminiscent of breezy beachside Latin cafes.

A few years later, they transformed an infamous Northeast Minneapolis strip club/dive bar nicknamed the “Deuce Deuce” into their second restaurant called Hai Hai. The lush plant-filled oasis has a focus on bright & bold Southeast Asian street food, and the menu pulls inspiration from dishes that Christina grew up eating during her Vietnamese upbringing, and from her travels all around Southeast Asia. Christina was a finalist for the James Beard Award’s Best Chef Midwest category in 2019 & 2020, and a semifinalist in 2018 & 2023.