Van Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant

Off the beaten path… but worth it!
The bun bowls come out with warm rice vermicelli…#53 was memorable, will be back with other foodies! I sat by the kitchen door and watched the food come out– everything looked fresh and appetizing! Ridiculously tasty Vietnamese food!!!
All Vietnamese patrons and signage on window, tucked away in a strip mall, authentic red plastic Vietnamese new year décor everywhere, very clean and attentive customer service.

I used to go here years ago and happen to be in the neighborhood today so I thought I would stop in. I have to say I’m heart broken to find out the ownership had changed and my favorite Ban Mi sandwich and vermicelli dish have also. The freshness factor is gone and there’s no wow in these dishes like before. I wish these guys all the luck in the future but things have definitely changed and I won’t be back. Good bye Van Hoa ;(

New owners in 2015… place is below average now.
Crappy phở and sandwiches just ok.
Wish I knew where old owners moved to, this used to be one of the best places in SD. Too bad new owners didn’t buy old recipes…

How many Unilocaler here who realize that there were something wrong with their bills? I had experience that happened yesterday afternoon and sadly happened to similar restaurants around at different years.
This is important lesson to be more careful. Remember the price of your ordered meals (if necesssary, take picture). What customer lost is not much, but if they get it from each customer, how much they will earn?
Details:
1. Usually they just give bill on table after customer finished their meals. But I went to the cashier to pay, next to me is menus stacked on table. It takes a while for me to wait, before they came to cashier.
2. Written on the bill are your ordered food with total price, without price details. I asked those details and realized something weird. They boosted the price up more than price printed on menu, $ 1,25 more (on menu is 8.25, on bill is 9.50).
.3. They explained, $ 1.25 is tax added to it, thats why they are different. Then I asked, why in the bottom there is also tax, $ 2.00? Is there any double taxes for customer to pay? They said: oh, the prices on menu are old, there is actually new prices on new menu. He (waiter) gave you wrong one, that is old menu with old prices.
4. I said: Waiter did not explain about new prices will be charged. Okay, can I see your new menu then? They started to nervous: we dont have new menu book yet. Okay2, we will refund you ok, just quiet.
5. I saw other employees seemed very nervous. Finally they refund me, but only partial refund. I have no longer time for arguing furthermore.
Nah, they have been caught up and lost their reputation due to dishonesty.

I gave three stars because this is our go to spot for vietnamese food, and will remain so, but I took my in laws there when they visited from out of town and they were very freaked out. While America is one of the very few countries in the world that don’t eat bugs, and I understand that, they were very disgusted upon finding three large gnats in their dish. They said one was fine, but three is just absurd. I agree, I guess. I still ate my dinner. However, I wanted to tell the guy behind the counter that they should watch for bugs in the food and the guy just goes, «Okay, no problem!» I knew he understood me, but whatever… Don’t let the bad reviews get to you, they have really good food. Just don’t be surprised to find some bugs in it.

Best place for Vegetarian Stir fry, shrimp wraps, soups, n’ more! Low cost too, which is a bonus! I have been going here for over 5-​years now!

This place has sneakily changed ownership and it is very apparent in the quality. Boo! I used to love this place with the other family. Phở was great, broth was very good. The bahn mi were perfect as were the Thai tea with boba. But not any more..

My mom and I got ripped off.
Paid too much money for two sugar cane drinks that were finished in 3 – 4 sips. What the hell? I didn’t pay for ice!

Great diverse selection of Vietnamese dishes you can’t otherwise find at other places. Super friendly staff.

Hands down, my favorite phở restaurant. For one, portions are bigger than at other «go to» places in SD. Secondly, the quality is high and very authentic. Lastly, the staff are super nice.
It’s also at a great location considering it’s off the main phở corridor (El Cajon Blvd in City Heights). There’s a northgate across the street that’ll have you feeling very international.
Grab a bowl of phở, throw down some spring rolls, and chat up the owners. It’s cool af here.

Their XL phở bowl is crazy big!!! The food was ok, the phở broth is salty and their bun bo hue was a OK… hey I had better Vietnamese food. Reasonable priced and good service tho.

I had to go to Vien Dong early in the morning so I decided to grab some breakfast here after seeing all the great reviews on the egg banh mi. I see that they are under new management. The banh mi was so little! It was scrambled eggs thrown in a French bread with a lil bit of pickled carrots and daikon. No Bueno. I also got 3 «fresh» sugar cane drinks. The sugar cane drinks was a really dark color. I’ve never had sugar cane that color before. I’m not sure if it’s old or bottled. I’m not going to come here no more when there are so many other options in the city heights area that offer better quality and better priced food

Decided to try this place after seeing the high reviews on Unilocal,however the experience for me was not a good one.
I ordered a rice dish, and my friend ordered the banh xeo. Both ended up completely inedible and neither of us ended up finishing them.
Look, I know this is not O.C. so you can’t compare the Vietnamese food to the food up there but come on… how do you screw up a rice dish?
There are much MUCH better places to be found in SD just up on El Cajon.

Alright, nothing special. Half the times they mess up my order

I enjoyed a very nice lunch here in the form of some Bún ch with grilles chicken and a Vietnamese egg roll. It normally comes with pork, but I had it with chicken. It’s not on the menu, the chicken version that is, so you have to ask for it.
The bowl looked very good when it arrived with everything nicely arranged (
). The chicken was cooked very well, remained tender, had nice color, and most important of all, it tasted great (
). I loved eating it with all the peanuts they put in the dish. The Vietnamese rolls were bliss. I love when they come out crunchy but with the inside ingredients remaining tender and flavorful (
). They were made from ground pork and vegetables. The vermicelli was very good and with a little added soy sauce it was game on (
). The greens and mint underneath were all fresh, crisp, and had a pleasant aromatic appeal.
I also had their ice tea and it turned out to be green iced tea which I enjoyed very much. I even got me a refill for the road in plastic cup. The people who work and run the place are reserved but friendly and nice.

QUICK lunch review.
The phở here cost slightly more then the nearby places. Not a real clean restaurant. The extra large bowl was huge but barely any meat mostly noodles and broth. The flavor was okay. A little too sweet for my taste but not too bad.
The service sucks. I even went up to the counter to pay but was left standing and waiting for about 10 minutes and they still didn’t notice. I had to ask for the check again!
Dear owners: Never, I repeat, never! Let your customers wait too long to pay!

nice family-​owned little restaurant! The family is very sweet, couldn’t speak a lot of English though.
BBQ Pork Banh Mi was delicious, my boyfriend and I wanted something quick and to go. There wasn’t a lot of meat, but rather more vegetables.

Phở is very tasty. Came here from Long Beach to celebrate Cambodian New Years. Decided to stop by here since it was right next to the park we’re celebrating at. I was surprised how good the phở taste.

‘m Vietnamese, I have been living here for nearly 5 years now. My work is so busy that I don’t have time to visit my hometown. Whenever thinking of my Vietnam, I often go out for some Vietnamese food. The food with great flavor at this place is so familiar, thus this is one of my favorite spots. There are a lot of choices for you: Com Tam, Bun Bo Hue, Phở, Nem cuon…
They are very friendly and serve a generous amount, plenty to choose from and the flavor is consistent. Clean this place and sanitation.

What??? four star restaurant???
My bf have been coming here for years, but since he haven’t visited in awhile he took me there. He was saying how their phở was served in these big bowls bigger than other phở places and then he would mention how the meats were good and they would give big portions of meats and noodles. .it was the best phở he ever had. .
Typical phở restaurant. We sat and I order the Bun Bo Hue (spicy noodle soup), bf order Phở of course.
The ordering process was weird:
Me: I would like to order the bun bo hue
Waitress: ok bun bo hue, one order of bun bo hue?
Me: yeah 1 order
Waitress: bun bo hue?
Me: Yeah
Bf: I’ll order the phở
Waitress: ok so one order of phở and you will have…
Me: (thinking wtf) bun bo hue
Waitress: bun bo hue
Me: yeah
The food came out and the bf wasn’t happy and I was confused. My order looks like phở, so I asked the same waitress and she said it is bun bo hue, they don’t add the spice in the broth because they are not sure of customers spicy level… Ok… that’s weird. So she told me to use the hot sauce on the table. wait I thought it was a different sauce. she said it was the same. It sure did not taste like bun bo hue. The broth is different than the phở broth at least.
So I order spicy noodle soup and I got noodle soup and was asked to put my own spice. I was so sure the Chili sauce on the table is not the same to be used in the broth. So days later I went to another phở place and order bun bo hue and sure enough they gave me an extra side of the spice and it wasn’t the same. It was more like a paste then sauce. And that’s the real deal, not like this bs I was served. Not happy.
On to the phở the bf was so sad, he was so disappointed in the phở, the portions are small the broth tasted subpar. The meat was tough. His Words, they raise the prices, decrease their portions and their quality. This sucks this place was so good.
This place is out of the way too. So it’s a no.