Bay Area · Cuisine
Vietnamese
Oakland regional Vietnamese, classic San Francisco pho, and Story Road Little Saigon for bun bo hue and broken rice.
San Jose’s Little Saigon along Story and Tully Roads holds the region’s deepest Vietnamese density, while Oakland Chinatown and San Francisco’s Sunset and Tenderloin cover everyday pho, bánh mì, and regional plates. The stops below spotlight an East Bay mother-daughter regional kitchen, the city’s most cited classic pho mini-chain outpost, a Story Road specialist for Central Vietnamese bún bò huế, and a long-running cơm tấm house a few doors into the same corridor.
Focus areas: Oakland Chinatown, Richmond & Inner Sunset, San Jose & Cupertino
Restaurants
Tay Ho
$$Oakland Chinatown
Mother-daughter Vietnamese kitchen on the edge of Oakland Chinatown; bánh cuốn, regional plates, and cocktails.
Pho Huynh Hiep 2 / Kevin’s Noodle House
$$Inner Sunset
Inner Sunset pho benchmark from a family mini-chain founded in Oakland in 1994; dac biet xe lua is the shorthand order.
Bún Bò Huế An Nam
$San Jose (Story Road / Little Saigon)
Story Road Little Saigon specialist for Central Vietnamese bún bò huế: lemongrass chile broth, thick noodles, and a side tray of herbs you build into the bowl.
Cơm Tấm Thiên Hương
$San Jose (Story Road / Little Saigon)
Story Road Little Saigon broken-rice house: grilled pork, shrimp cake, egg cake, and generous cơm tấm plates that still define San Jose lunch for a lot of locals.