The team behind one of Montrose’s forthcoming downtown restaurant projects will start serving early—out of a truck.

Ms So (stylized MSSO) opens Thursday, Aug. 14, in the parking lot of The Association at 39 W. Main St., offering a rotating menu of Asian-inspired street food. The food truck is a preview of a brick-and-mortar concept the Typhoon Group plans to launch later this year in the former Daily Bread building, 346 E. Main St,: a casual noodle bar under the MsSo brand and a separate farm-to-table concept still in development, called Persimmon.

The truck plans to be open Wednesdays through Saturdays.

For owner Alia Eyres, CEO of Typhoon Group, the project loops back to a formative part of her life in Montrose.

“My family’s had a home here in Montrose since I was nine,” Eyres said in an interview last week. “My very first job here was at the Daily Bread when I was 14, in 1992.”

Notice of an application for a liquor license at 344 and 346 E. Main St. in Montrose. The liquor license will be for MsSo Asian Noodle Bar and Persimmon, a farm-to-table concept. Both will be in the former Daily Bread location. (Justin Tubbs | MBT)

That building — once a breakfast institution downtown — is now owned by Typhoon Group and under renovation for the two restaurants.

Typhoon has described the site as a two-concept restaurant hub tied to its broader hospitality investments in Montrose, which also include plans to repurpose the historic City Hall and Fire Station No. 1 buildings with Colorado Mesa University as an education partner.

Eyres said Typhoon moved sooner than expected on opening something public-facing.

“We decided to buy the building and open it instead of waiting for City Hall renovations,” she said. “We wanted to get started with our dreams for restaurants here in Montrose sooner than we thought.”

A street-market vibe, built for cravings

According to Ms So’s branding materials, the truck channels Asia’s night-market energy—“big flavor, no fuss, and always crave-worthy” with made-to-order noodle bowls, dumplings, rice dishes and snacks meant to share. The concept nods to Hong Kong cafés and the neon bustle of Saigon, Bangkok and Taipei, aiming for food that’s hot, fast and affordable enough to bring people back.

Eyres frames MsSo as casual and comforting.

“MsSo is more casual—it’s a noodle bar,” she said. “It’s the comfort food my Asian aunties and friends’ moms would make—noodles, dumplings, rice bowls.”

The culinary team includes chef Uma Stout, who formerly served out of the Baan Thai food truck in Montrose (Typhoon Group bought the truck from Baan Thai and repurposed it) will run the truck service and join the restaurants’ chef team. Chef Nathan Green, a Hong Kong-based chef who has worked at high-profile kitchens and now consults on Typhoon’s Montrose projects, has helped craft the menu of MsSo and is also helping with the menu of their restaurant, Persimmon, next door (a farm-to-table concept).

“We work with an amazing, world-renowned chef in Hong Kong called Nathan Green,” Eyres said. “He is the one that was able to inspire Uma and share his recipes and give her some direction.”

Eyres said diners should expect a cross-current of flavors.

“A little bit of Japan, a little bit of Hong Kong, a little bit of Korea, a little bit of Thailand,” she said.

(Justin Tubbs | Montrose Business Times)

Why launch from a parking lot? Hospitality first

The decision to start with a truck is equal parts logistics and philosophy. Renovation work at the downtown site is ongoing; Eyres said the team is targeting late October into early November for the restaurants to open, pending construction. In the meantime, the truck lets them serve and listen.

“This isn’t just about making money or starting business,” Eyres said. “We really believe in the power of hospitality… when people gather over a meal, when they connect over food and drinks, I think that can really be transformative.”

She added that launching at The Association felt right because it’s already a gathering place, and because the owners have revitalized the historic Potato Growers Building into a community hangout with multiple food vendors and a full bar.

Eyres said once the brick-and-mortar MsSo and Persimmon open, Typhoon Group plans to utilize the food truck for other future concepts.

“We have a lot of ideas,” she said.

What and when

MsSo plans lunch and dinner service, Wednesday through Saturday, at The Association lot. Early offerings will center on noodle bowls and small bites, with add-ons like bubble tea as service ramps up. As the brick-and-mortar restaurant opens, the team expects to keep the truck active as a test bed for additional concepts Typhoon would like to bring to Montrose.

Hiring is underway. Eyres said the truck already has six or seven employees on board and will add more as service stabilizes and as the restaurants come online. With Colorado Mesa University–Montrose a short walk from the spot at the corner of Cascade and E. Main, Typhoon hopes to bring students into food-and-beverage roles as the broader hospitality projects develop. (CMU leaders have previously described the City Hall/Fire Station projects as an avenue for hospitality and culinary training in partnership with Typhoon.)

Part of a larger downtown investment

Typhoon’s restaurant projects are one piece of a multi-site investment downtown. In 2024, Eyres acquired the former City Hall (433 S. First St.) for a boutique hotel and historic Fire Station No. 1 (24 S. Uncompahgre Ave.) for a destination restaurant; the pair are part of a plan estimated at $6–7 million, with CMU as an education partner.

City officials have noted the buildings’ historic designations and the potential workforce pipeline created by pairing operating hospitality venues with student learning.

In addition to those investments, Typhoon Group also owns Typhoon Farma, a CBD farm located in Montrose.
Eyres also leads a nonprofit presence overseas. Her mother co-founded Mother’s Choice, a Hong Kong-based charity that has served children without families and pregnant teenagers in need since 1987.

Eyres has been closely involved in the organization’s work, and she was scheduled to fly back to Hong Kong the day after her interview in Montrose.

All proceeds from the opening day, Aug. 14, will be donated to Mothers Choice USA.

The MsSo truck, Eyres said, is the public’s first look at what that larger hospitality vision tastes like.

“Montrose is our focus. We love it here,” she said. “We want to bring the neighborhood together.”

MSSO is now on Facebook and Instagram.

Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.