Vien

There are mostly average to poor spots around this 3 block radius for lunch. The food trucks, for me, are actually the best options, but among the brick and mortar joints, this is decent. It’s basically an «Asian fusion» version of Chipotle that’s open just for lunch.
I’ve pretty much had everything on the menu since they opened. Not one thing stands out. In other words, my tastebuds aren’t in love, but would be ok with getting it in for a quicky ‘cuz it feeds the need at 1pm. As flavorful as it looks, all of the items are subtle in seasoning compared to a real Vietnamese joint. Translation: it’s Americanized. If you wanna sweat ’til you bleed, add the chillies and be prepared for your bunghole to hate you the following morning.
This is the spot you go to when you just want to eat something other then Chipotle, yet subscribes to the Chipotle code of food production and service, minus the seating area. Yes, other then a few counter spots, it’s a «to go «joint Gyna, so deal with it.
Service is fast and efficient, so don’t let the line or this review deter you from giving it a go.
Bonus tip: instead of the typical bowl, you can choose to put the entire thing in broth, aka soup. They’ll suggest the noodles, but the quinoa in the curry broth isn’t bad at all. Extra tip: the soup option is messy because they fill your container almost to the top so beware of eating next to your laptop or around important paperwork.
Vien is not a destination, just a means to an end… which is feeding your belly something «healthier then fast food», so you can work for another 6 hours until you are again left to ponder the 1^st world problem you asked yourself at noon: «wtf am I going to eat?»

I love it! From their super fresh food to their unique ordering process and cute branding– win win win.

So so good! Quinoa + tofu + sriracha sauce, so healthy and super yummy :). New lunch spot!

Vien is a great place for a simple lunch if you’re in the neighborhood. Sort of like a Vietnamese Chipotle. I think it’s best with a bit of hot sauce.

Great little place that has fantastic food. Had the lemongrass chicken with the Vietnamese lime sauce. Killer. Served over jasmine rice really fast really delicious.
Awesome Avacado Smash and really simple ordering process makes this a unique but scalable concept.

I liked everything about my first lunch at Vien. The service, food and overall vibe were all great! Chose the jasmine rice topped with grilled lemongrass chicken, then added sweet chili sauce and bird’s eye chili as a garnish. It was a filling, flavorful and well-​balanced meal in a bowl. The Thai tea was the perfect accompaniment. Their motto is «Light. Fresh. Asian.» and they deliver on its promise. Full disclosure: yes, I do know the owner. And, I wish him much success with this and other ventures in the future!

Great food at a great price.
Stepped in late last week and was pleasantly surprised how great the food was. I got a bowl with brown rice, ginger beef, sweet chili sauce, and 3 – 4 of the garnishes. Everything tasted extremely fresh and flavorful.
Friendly service. I had a chance to chat with the owner, Mark? He explained the food prep, and made suggestions for my next visit!
I can’t wait to go back and try something new next time!!!

When it comes to quick, cheap and ridiculously flavorful food, this places takes the crown. You might find yourself waiting in line, but don’t fear, you’re waiting for a reason. The rice and noodle bowls are perfectly balanced with power punches of flavor and texture. There is something so addicting about this place that I cannot deny. The savory taste of the noodles, the fresh pop of cilantro, the zesty bite of Sriracha; there is just never ending layers of flavor that are waiting and ready to jump out at you. I love this place.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for months, but every time I walk by it’s already closed for the day. Yesterday, it happened to be open so I decided to pop in. I guess because I went after the lunch rush, they were scraping at the bottom of the barrel to make my dish. The beef was dry and flavorless. The staff member had to unscrew the top from the sauce container to get the last drippings out. They were out of cilantro. The food tasted as it had been out for a while; I should have know this just judging by the display of the food. I ended up throwing half the dish. It wasn’t even edible smothered in hot sauce.
The only thing good here was the service. The woman that helped me was so friendly and warm and offered suggestions.

This is my favorite place for lunch in the Village! So good, so fast, and so fresh. And I don’t feel gross afterwards.
I’ve had the noodles, the brown rice and the jasmine rice — all are great. I tend to stick to chicken just because I don’t love pork and it’s always a bang for your buck — $ 10 for a FULL order. I’m stuffed afterwards — which I can’t say about Dig Inn which comes out to $ 11+ usually…
Definitely a great option for lunch in an area that really doesn’t have many options.

I ordered a salad based bowl with chicken, peanut sauce an all the garnishes. It had the potential to be delicious, but overall the food lacked the flavor I expected from Asian-​inspired cuisine. The chicken was bland and the peanut sauce was flat and white in color which I thought was unusual.

While it’s not legit vietnamese food, it sure satisfies a craving for bún!
I ordered rice noodles with lemongrass grilled chicken — comes automatically with kale/​cabbage salad, and I chose to have all the toppings: thinly sliced pickled daikon/​carrot, peanuts, minced birds eye chilis, fried shallots, herbs, diced fruits, and the vietnamese lime sauce (aka nuoc mam) to keep it traditional.
Everything works well as a rice noodle bowl should — the fresh crunch of herbs, with the crunch of fried shallots, and the crunch of peanuts, the refreshing rice noodles, the sweet and salty sauce (which is a bit more salty than sweet compared to most vietnamese nuoc mam renditions, but it does the job).
Portion is huge for just over 10 dollars, which is a competitive price up there with chipotle or dig inn.
The staff was friendly. The restaurant is small but efficient — though has a small capacity.
My only complaints were the price, the lack of char on the «grilled» meat, and the limited hours!
I hope this place makes it big so they can make the minor tweaks that they need.

First and foremost, this is the perfect lunch spot for vegetarians and vegans. Located in the middle of the west village, Vien provides healthy food options and fast service that is makes for a perfect lunch.
There are a few options here, but I usually opt for the build your own bowl option. This allows you to choose a starch, meat and toppings. My go to is quinoa, vegetables, sweet chili sauce (that has a slight spice to it) topped with crispy shallots and peanuts. It really is a delicious dish that also happens to be a pretty hefty portion. I was surprised to see that they didn’t limit the amount of food they gave me as most other build your own take out places do.
The place itself is very small and doesn’t leave much of any room to dine. You pretty much will have no choice but to take the food to go as it can kind of cramped in there if more than 10 people show up.
Spacing issue aside, this place is awesome. Great food, healthy options, fast service and good sized portions. If you’re vegan or vegetarian, get here.

Very disappointing. The noodles were really dry and though, as though they had been cooked the say before and left to sit in the open. The pork didn’t have lots of flavour, and the sauce didn’t either, leaving a very tasteless and dry lunch.

Amazing! Really fresh and tastes fantastic. Super friendly staff, really quick, and reasonably priced.
Great place to shake up the lunch routine or add it to the routine cause I’m hooked!

Vien: light, fresh Asian. My coworkers and I walked past it on the way to get lunch and two of us decided to double back and try it out here. We ended up coming back 3 more times the next week. Sure, it may be ‘flavor of the week’-itis but it’s honestly quite good and it’s a good mix of value/​taste and speed. The set up is similar to Chipotle, you pick your delivery vehicle in this case: quinoa, brown rice, rice, noodles, banh mi bread or salad. Proteins-​which is where the price difference comes in. I’ve had the lemongrass chicken, their special Burmese chicken and the pork and while all three are good I like the pork the best.
The additional add ons were all great-​and the grilled pineapple is a deliciously sweet addition. The funny issue is that they refuse to call their guacamole anything other than the term ‘avocado smash.’ They even have a Unilocal check-​in deal as well so it’s a great spot for lunch.

Vien is the cleanest, most delicious place to get lunch in the West Village. You only have an hour? No problem! This place is quick and the ingredients are fresh.
You can start with a base of white or brown rice, rice noodles, or quinoa. Then, add your choice of meat or tofu –all made with the perfect balance of flagrant seasonings. From there, you can add a variety garnishes, sauces and herbs. The combinations are endless and guaranteed to please a wide variety of people.
I ordered the turmeric tofu on rice noodles with Thai peanut sauce, chili paste, and crushed peanuts. It was absolutely fantastic! Spicy, texturized and filling. Grab a bowl for yourself or order for the whole office! This food excites the senses, tastes clean and delicioud, and fills you up!

Nice surprise tripping on to this place earlier this week. Fresh, colorful veggies and some great grains. Quick in and quick out. And there’s a Unilocal coupon for 10% off!
Maybe just a touch more expensive than I’d like. Even with the coupon, and no avocado add on, I still walked out spending $ 10. And that was for veggies only. Good portion, but not a crazy crazy big portion.

The choice for main course aren’t freshly cooked behind — waiting to be served /​but it’s a quick take out. The other choice is need, tofu, vegetables and stewed looking pork.
It has a Vietnamese influence for sure!
I like my Vietnamese Lime dressing or sauce as they call it which they squeeze on too of your order.
Garnishes are definitely a Vietnamese influence. Quite good. Although the main choices does not look so appetizing.

Seen this place several times walking around for lunch, but never went in due to the line that somehow creeps out the door. Managed to find a short line today and was pretty impressed by how fast it moved. Limited seating however, so you have to find somewhere else to eat it.
Create-​your-​own: Chilled Rice Noodles base, Spice-​Roasted Vegetables, Vietnamese Lime Sauce, Roasted Peanuts, added garnishes — $ 8ish
They were out of brown rice so went with this combo. Okay altogether but not very filling. The vegetables seemed a bit over-​roasted, but the lime sauce took care of it. However, most of the sauce settled at the bottom with bits of rice i couldn’t pick up.
I didn’t even realize there were pre-​made options (couldn’t see them on the big board when walking in). Will try some of the meat options next time.