The Resy Guide to Vietnamese American Food in New York

The city’s first Vietnamese American bakery has a lengthy waitlist for its highly coveted cookie tin, which was inspired by the ubiquitous Royal Dansk Danish butter cookie tins found in many Asian American immigrant family homes. Owner Doris Hồ-Kane, a Texas native, also makes chè (dessert soup), xôi (sticky rice), bánh bò (honeycomb cake), mooncakes, bánh bao chỉ (sticky rice snowballs), agar jellies, bánh tiêu and bánh cam (doughnuts), and more — all for scheduled pickups (for now) from her space in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.  

Seattle native Lauren Tran’s popular Vietnamese French bakery pop-up is known for her four-layer pandan chiffon cake with coconut mousse and whipped cream frosting, but she’s also known for her dessert specials, like bánh rán (deep-fried sesame balls) and bánh da lợn, a steamed layer cake with pandan and mung bean. Follow her for the latest updates. 

Nhu Ton and John Nguyen, the co-owners behind the Bronx’s Cơm Tấm Ninh Kiều, originally hoped to do a soft launch of their Upper West Side neighborhood restaurant last fall; instead, they were slammed with crowds of New Yorkers wanting to try their homestyle Vietnamese fare, which includes hard-to-find dishes like bánh chưng chiên (fried sticky rice cakes) or bánh cuốn hà nội (steamed rice rolls). Pro tip: Don’t sleep on the bánh chưng chiên or the bún chả (Vietnamese barbecue platter). 

Chef-owner Matt Le-Khac (formerly of Ăn Chơi, The Finch, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns) isn’t afraid to attempt the unexpected: his vegetarian version of bún bò Huế, made with king oyster mushrooms and a lemongrass chilli paste, for example, is revelatory. His dishes also tell a story, like his ode to Vietnamese fishermen in Louisiana, encapsulated in his cà ri nấm tôm hùm, a spicy cajun lobster mushroom curry. Pay close attention to the selection of fresh herbs you see at Bolero, too; Le-Khac’s father grows a number of them at his four-acre farm in Pennsylvania.

This Park Slope standby from alums of San Francisco’s vaunted Slanted Door, which opened in 2015, has one of the most highly covered patios in town — and vivid Vietnamese American fare to match it, like bourbon-battered red snapper and Unshaking Beef (a nod to the Slanted Door’s most famous dish). 

The vibe at Bunker is decidedly punk rock, and the food — homestyle Vietnamese street food from chef Jimmy Tu — is always solid. The space is temporarily closed for the moment but is scheduled to reopen on August 3. The bánh xèo at dinner is a must. 

Dennis Ngo, Tuan Bui, and Kim Hoang opened Đi Ăn Đi in 2018 with a desire to showcase Vietnamese noodle soups beyond phở, but in the three years since, its menu has transformed into so much more. Few other Vietnamese American restaurants in the city have offered the range of cooking styles and dishes that they’ve put up here, from the outdoor fish barbecue experience they offered last summer to the incredible take-home hot pot spread they put together for the winter, as well as their popular Vietnamese pizzas, or bánh tráng nướng, made with rice paper. This summer, they’ve revamped their entire menu, offering dishes like bánh tráng nướng “Ops,” inspired by one of the city’s best pizza spots, and cơm gà, a barbecued chicken over rice inspired by Vietnam, Houston, and New York.

Bonus: Through the end of September, Đi Ăn Đi is hosting Mắm, Jerald and Nhung Dao Head’s pop-up, which specializes in bún đậu mắm tôm: a platter of pork intestines, sticky rice pork patties, blood sausage, tofu, and rice vermicelli, accompanied by shrimp paste. Trust us, you won’t want to miss it.

Father-and-son duo Lien and Michael Lam, along with their partner, Louis Leung, opened this Astoria restaurant in 2016 in what used to be a 99-cent store. Here chef Lam specializes in sharing his mother’s family recipes, as well as offering some modern takes on classics like bò nướng lá lốt, with ground lamb wrapped in betel leaves. 

The follow-up to Bensonhurst’s beloved Em Vietnamese Kitchen, this Dumbo restaurant from chef Ly Nguyen and her husband, Patrick Lin, celebrates late-night specialties of Ho Chi Minh City like nghêu xào bơ tỏi, garlic butter clams with chile, rau ram, and fish sauce, with bánh mì on the side. Nguyen, who grew up in Southern Vietnam, said she wants to showcase modern Vietnamese cooking as it is in Vietnam today.

Chef-owner Eric Tran took over this Bushwick space in 2020 — it originally opened as a Vietnamese restaurant under Henry Trieu in 2013 — and while he’s kept the name, he’s reinvented everything else. His menu of Vietnamese American dishes is electric, highlighting fermentation, housemade charcuterie, local purveyors, and mastery of the grill. Pro tip: we think every meal here should begin with the confit duck necks. And here’s another: Falansai also boasts one of the absolute best tasting menus in the city ($45 per person for four courses, or $83 per person for six courses). You know what to do; make that Resy. 

Accountant by workday and pop-up chef by weekend, Michael Nguyen sells refreshing and herb-laden cơm gà bóp, or chicken salad, and now bún thang, a Hanoi-style noodle soup with chicken and eggs, too. To order, send him a direct message on Instagram; he delivers throughout the city, with the exception of Staten Island. 

New Yorkers have been willing to brave long lines and not-so-temperate weather conditions for a taste of Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns’ cooking, and if you have a chance to experience it, you’ll understand why. The flavors and dishes they’ve come up with manage to feel both nostalgic and yet totally new and unexpected — a rare feat for any chef. Wherever they’re cooking this summer, you’ll want to be there, especially if you can try their grilled oysters with scallions, pâté chaud (a savory puff pastry filled with meat), and whole roasted fish. Even better, if they’re cooking in collaboration with Kreung Cambodia’s Chinchakriya Un, it’s a definite must. 

When it opened on St. Mark’s Place in 2016, Hanoi House thrilled New Yorkers with its elegant homestyle Vietnamese cuisine. Five years later, it’s still doing that with its phở-centric menu. 

When you want expertly executed and inventive takes on bánh mì, Joju is the place to go. Now with two locations — the original in Elmhurst, Queens, and a newer location in Midtown — it’s easier than ever to try their delicious sandwiches, like ones stuffed with bulgogi, Japanese pork belly, and housemade headcheese.  

This counter-service spot in Bushwick, from the same team behind mini coffee shop chain Little Skips, offers a wide variety of vegetarian dishes, vegan phở included, as well as an array of bánh mì, including a bulgogi cheesesteak version. 

Johnny Huynh’s Lucy’s, named after his grandmother, is known for its non-traditional takes on phở, including a smoked brisket phở and a Vegan Ginger Chick’n phở. 

Vietnamese home cooking from the perspectives of owner Yen Vo — that’s Madame Vo to you — and her husband, chef Jimmy Ly, is delicious and always satisfying. This East Village standby is known for its luscious brisket phở, to which you can also add a short rib, but you shouldn’t overlook the bánh bột chiên, pan-fried rice cakes with eggs that are topped with Chinese sausage, or the new lobster special with garlic egg noodles (an ode to Newport Seafood in the O.C.), which needs to be ordered in advance. 

This relatively new Bushwick spot (it opened just a month before the pandemic hit and just recently reopened) is led by Chris Taha and Jenny Baker, both of whom were inspired by the sprawling West Coast Vietnamese food scene to open Money Cat.   

At the new location of this Vietnamese restaurant and coffee shop in Ridgewood, Queens, Fred Hua is on a mission to showcase vegetable-forward Vietnamese American fare in the form of vegan spring rolls, Barry’s Tempeh, and bún with seitan from Monk’s Meats. Pro tip: save room for the chè with fruit, tapioca, and beans. 

Chef John Nguyen, the opening chef at Hanoi House in the East Village, also had a hand in this Murray Hill spot where chicken phở is the focus. 

Chef Helen Nguyen describes her cooking at Saigon Social as “Vietnamese comfort food” and it’s exactly that — but also much more. Her soups are some of the best in the city — don’t sleep on her bún bò Huế or bún riêu specials — and her sandwiches, including a signature bánh mì burger and Saigon dip (a brisket and oxtail sandwich served with phở on the side), all of which are not to be missed.  

This counter-service spot with two locations — one on the Upper West Side and the other on the Upper East Side — takes the traditional Vietnamese crepe, bánh xèo, and serves it as though it were a taco, filled with bean sprouts, lettuce, herbs, and nước mắm, with your choice of pork, chicken, tofu, or shrimp. 

Yen Ngo’s charming East Village spot makes it a point to highlight less-explored Vietnamese specialties, like bánh bèo, discs of steamed rice cakes, and bánh it ram, sticky rice dumplings — both of which are laborious to make and very hard to find in New York. Her menu spans the royal cuisine of Huê to the street food of Hanôi, and the drinks, from beverage director Andrew Pisano are superb. *Note: Van Đa is on a short break, but reopens on September 14.