Tag: Vietnamese

Here’s where I love to eat in the Tenderloin

by  on  in Featured Neighborhood

The Tenderloin’s (TL) roughly 7-by-5 blocks get a massive amount of bad press as the center of San Francisco’s worst drugs and homelessness. As it has everywhere, pandemic has made conditions worse as Tenderloin’s decades-old issues have expanded a few blocks. But the TL remains a tiny part of our ever vibrant city with top-notch food, as in every SF neighborhood. Yet due to the TL’s location next to tourist central Union Square and hotels, it gets outsized attention compared to much larger difficult neighborhoods in other U.S. cities. Read more →

Is the $100 pho worth it at Sunset’s new Gao Viet Kitchen?

by  on  in The Latest

Since 2018, Gao Viet Kitchen & Bar has been a San Mateo Vietnamese favorite with long waitlists, no reservations and a 90-minute table limit during peak times. It’s also home to arguably the most expensive bowl of pho: $100 Phozilla with the cheeky menu tagline of “Nobody should spend this much $$ on any bowl of pho.” Chef Viet Nguyen opened a San Francisco location in the Sunset District in December 2022, and I went in to see if their extensive menu was legit beyond the social media-worthy, $100 pho. Read more →

Vietnamese Food Haven (with Cocktails) at Bodega

by  on  in The Latest

San Francisco’s Tenderloin has long been a key neighborhood for Vietnamese food, its western blocks dubbed Little Saigon. Head out to the entire half of the city that includes the Richmond, Sunset and Parkside districts and you have an array of Vietnamese restaurants, banh mi shops, pho houses and the like. But there’s nothing quite like new Bodega, from its sleek, modern diner decor to cocktails with Vietnamese food… Read more →

6 New Restaurants Worth Visiting This Month — February 2022

by  on  in Around the Bay, The Latest

These six notable newcomers cover the gamut, from Mexican pizza and Jewish deli pop-ups inside established restaurants, to a food hall nailing cuisine from Africa to the Middle East. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews — Good Good Culture Club from Liholiho Yacht Club, Automat from Lazy Bear, Chuck’s Takeaway from Charles Phan, Fort Point Valencia and 6 newcomers cafe & food truck edition — these new restaurants are worth eating at now: Read more →

10 Affordable New Neighborhood Restaurants

by  on  in The Latest

Published by Where Traveler (my other Where articles here) in May 2019, my article on 10 affordable, standout new neighborhood restaurants around the Bay Area, from SF to Oakland to Marin: Beit Rima, The Brixton on 2nd, Sasa at Japantown Mall, Alley House, Benchmark Oakland, Ungrafted, B&B: Bahn Mi & Boba, Le Trio, Tony’s Seafood in Marshall, Sam’s Anchor Cafe in Tiburon. Article… Read more →