America’s Most Delicious Vietnamese Restaurants

These Vietnamese restaurants will bring you straight into the heart of Hanoi.

Vietnamese cuisine is one of the best in the world. Ideally, you should try it in Vietnam. But if you can’t fly there just yet, you’ll find some fantastic dining options in the United States.

These restaurants will bring you straight into the heart of Hanoi and are sure to fulfill your cravings for delicious Vietnamese food.

10. Doi Moi

Vietnamese noodles from Doi Moi in Washington, D.C.

Doi Moi / Facebook

Location: Washington, D.C.

Rating: 42 (based on Tripadvisor reviews)

The Michelin Guide includes Doi Moi as a Bib Gourmand place, meaning that it’s affordable while delivering quality. Seeking to recreate traditional Vietnamese markets with an elevated spin, the menu has all your favorites with the particular touch of Chef Wade Hoo Fatt.

Go for the sweet-and-sour broth or for crowd-favorite Obama’s Bun Cha, made in honor of the former president’s visit to Vietnam. The dish consists of grilled pork with noodles and broth.

9. Cajun Kitchen

Cajun Kitchen / Facebook

Location: Houston, Texas

Rating: 46.2

You might be surprised to find a Cajun restaurant on here, but let us remind you that Houston is a center for a wonderful thing called Viet-Cajun. The heavens graced the Gulf Coast with a match made in heaven when these two communities started fusing their culinary traditions. ,

Never tried Viet-Cajun before? Head to Cajun Kitchen right away. People have a soft spot for the crawfish and oysters so when in doubt, order those.

8. Little Sister

Beef dish at Little Sister in Los Angeles

Little Sister DTLA / Facebook

Location: Los Angeles, California

Rating: 49.2

Little Sister is trendy Los Angeles at its finest, with low lights, wooden floors, mismatched (but somehow matching) chairs and a bar right in the middle. The restaurant isn’t too strict about being “authentic” but gives itself leeway to explore Vietnamese cuisine with a California twist.

Order a drink as you wait for butter-basted escargot poppers as an appetizer and Vietnamese caramelized and coconut braised salmon as your main dish.

7. Thanh Long

Roasted Crab at Thanh Long in San Francisco

Tanya K / Tripadvisor

Location: San Francisco, California

Rating: 49.7

Since 1971, Thanh Long has been wowing Bay Area residents with its large roasted crabs. This once humble joint became the first of many owned by the An Family, now one of the most widely known names in the San Francisco Vietnamese community.

Of course, it would be a mistake to not get the crab, which you can often share with a companion. Other worthy dishes include the Saigon beef and glass noodles.

6. Madame Vo

Madame Vo / Facebook

Location: New York City, New York

Rating: 50.8

Often lauded as the best Vietnamese restaurant in New York, Madame Vo claims to be a “love letter to homestyle Vietnamese cooking, spotlighting family recipes for noodle soups, rolls, wings, and other nostalgic classics from childhood.”

Start with the refreshing goi dudu, a papaya salad with shrimp and crushed peanuts, then go for a noodle or rice dish, as is your preference. A great sign of the authenticity of this restaurant is that most dishes use their Vietnamese name. We love to see it.

5. Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen

Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen / Facebook

Location: Portland, Oregon

Rating: 52

No restaurant can survive in Portland without being trendy, and Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen seems to know this very well. The inviting exterior uses an unusual palette of bright red and toned-down teal. Its sign spells out the name in flashy lightbulbs more common in Vegas and carnivals than in restaurants.

But this is only half of what draws people in. The other is, of course, the food. Luc lac is the signature dish (surprise, surprise), and it’s worth getting on your first time here. We say first time because you’ll definitely be coming back.

4. Hai Hai

Curry shrimp from Hai Hai in Minneapolis

Hai Hai / Facebook

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rating: 55.1

James Beard finalist Chef Christina Nguyen showcases American-Vietnamese flare at Hai Hai. The restaurant brings flavors and ingredients from Vietnam to a modern interior filled with tropical decor and contrasting colors. Besides Vietnamese dishes, you’ll find some plates inspired by other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Indonesia.

When the Minnesota weather allows it, the patio is filled with plastic chairs reminiscent of Vietnam’s street food stalls. Order a Vietnamese crepe with a cocktail, and finish with set sail, a boozy dessert that uses high-quality Vietnamese coffee.

3. Pho Tau Bay

Bun Bo Hue from Pho Tau Bay in New Orleans

Pho Tau Bay Restaurant / Facebook

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Rating: 57.1

Even Anthony Bourdain couldn’t resist this classic NOLA Vietnamese spot, which has been owned by the same family for over 30 years. Translating to “airplane soup,” Pho Tau Bay references the family’s first venture next to an airport in Vietnam. It’s appropriate because a taste of any of its dishes is as good as a ticket to the country.

We encourage you to get away from the usual dishes and try something like one of the banh hoi, or steamed vermicelli patties. Or if you’re in the mood for soup, substitute pho with a warm bowl of bo kho, made with beef and carrots.

2. The Pig and the Lady

Appetizer at the Pig and the Lady in Honolulu

The Pig and the Lady / Facebook

Location: Honolulu, Hawaii

Rating: 57.5

Besides an incredibly fun name, The Pig and the Lady offers an industrial aesthetic that you’d expect more from Detroit than Honolulu. Exposed brick, hanging lights, and black tubes crossing intersections serve as the background for the city’s best-known Vietnamese restaurant.

This is the place to get a perfect cup of pho, though the restaurant has its own specialty versions. The oxtail pho and the pho thai lan (Hanoi-style leeks and rare steak) are sure to make an impression.

1. HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen

HaiSous / Facebook

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Rating: 59.8

Warm wood contrasts with jet black in the interior of this welcoming restaurant, helmed by a husband-and-wife duo. HaiSous has been praised for its innovative take on traditional Vietnamese food, but also because it serves dishes other restaurants in America tend to neglect.

Take, for instance, the bun cha Hanoi, an homage to a Hanoi-style dish of grilled pork served on a clay pot. Or the grilled seafood section of the menu, which begs diners to question why, despite Vietnam’s long coast, its seafood isn’t better known.

Finish with the che dura, a whipped rice pudding with coconut and toasted peanuts.

Want more great restaurants? Check out these stories on Far & Wide.