Ha Noi Bistro

I’d give 4.5 stars if I could. While the ambiance could use some improvement, it brings me great joy that such good food can be enjoyed on plastic tabletops.
I had the satay beef soup — enough spice to make my face sweat a bit, and beautifully balanced with the other flavors. My date had the vermicelli with five spice chicken and imperial rolls. The chicken was crisped perfectly without drying out the meat.
Service was good and swift as well… Unilocalers be tripping

This place is fine. I havent had their phở but i get the cold rice noodle and pork bowl with emperial roll and its delicious every time. I get it at least twice a week. Garlic noodles are good too but filling and greasy.
5 stars on the food but 4 stars on the staff for not seeming very motivated to do their jobs, but i dont blame them theres never anyone in the damn place lol

I’m going to get right to the point. The food is good, but dammit the service is slower than the DMV!
We had the garlic noodle with five spice chicken, some kind of vermicelli with beef and a large bowl of brisket, tripe and tendon Phở. The first two were good, but I have problems with the Phở.
Despite being a dish that should be easily banged out in minutes, it took almost a half hour! Other dishes were served and I had to wait another 10 minutes while everyone else ate. Even then, it took almost 20 minutes for their’s to arrive. I had to ask the guy to check on it and when it arrived, he forgot the condiments dish. When I asked for that, it arrived without mint leaves because they ran out. The Phở had those stupid fat rice noodles too-​not the thin vermicelli. It had plenty of tripe and tendon, but the brisket was sparse and the slices were only 2″ long. This was the large bowl too. Broth was okay and the whole bowl was okay or maybe I was just so hungry.
This place would do a lot better if the service was better. There’s literally only three people running the restaurant on a Friday night. Just hire one more waiter who actually knows how to provide service and the restaurant can actually do well. Really, if the service is this slow, it will discourage people from wanting to come. Invest.

I know that this is weird to say, but a part of me doesn’t mind running to the occasional bad meal. Of course it’s irritating to waste both the money and calories, but the silver lining is that it helps to balance my ratings. I know I can be (too) generous with my stars, so a legitimately sub-​par experience means not having to feel bad about a poor review! However, when I’m hungry and craving a phở fix? NOT THE TIME FOR SHENANIGANS.
Over the years, I’ve passed by Ha Noi so many times, they’ve just faded into the background as, «that phở joint on the corner of 19^th and Taraval» that I’ve never had the urge to try. However, having parked right in front, as well as being quite hungry, I finally caved and gave them a shot. Had I read their Unilocal reviews though, I probably would have moved on.
Between the dim lighting, the dust covered «tree», and the serious lack of customers, I already suspected I was in for some trouble. While the menu is decently extensive, I went with (#23) PHO TAI BO VIEN (Rare Flank Steak and Meatball Noodle Soup) since that was all that really appealed to me (a lot of their more popular dishes are more suitable for groups/​family style).
Although my order looked pretty good for the money ($ 6.95 small, $ 7.95 large), the taste of it fell short. While the noodles were fine, the broth was very flat and one note. Granted, I liked that it wasn’t super greasy/​oily, but it could have packed much more flavor. Plus, it didn’t feel like there was much meat in the dish (five meatballs, but only about five small slices of beef).
While I generally don’t discriminate between Northern and Southern Vietnamese restaurants, Ha Noi continues my streak of having better luck with the latter than with the former. Perhaps the dinner entrée/​specials are the way to go, as a few of the positive reviews I read mentioned those dishes. In any case, despite how it sounds, Ha Noi still managed to avoid being the worst phở I’ve had (that review is coming).
Not that being barely above the bottom is something to be all that proud of.

This is my local spot for Vietnamese. Rating is closer to 3.5 stars but I’ll boost it, definitely better than the overall 2.5 they have now. Food is solid and consistent, but service can be slow since there’s only one waiter. My eats:
Tomato crab paste noodles
Bun Bo Hue
Meat rice rolls? (not sure of the name)
Five spice chicken with garlic noodles

The best beef noodle soup outside of Asia, that I’ve found in SF. Fresh meat and veg cook in delicious broth. Nice staff and clientele. This is a well kept secret in the Sunset.

Been here a couple of times on. a Sunday afternoon. The prices are decent. There is. always plenty of seating and fairly quiet. The menu is good. I wish they had a wider selection of seafood but the seafood section isn’t too bad. At least try this place once if possible.

good hot tea. family friendly atmosphere, and receptive staff. food is in very good quantity and quality is above average. would recommend the pork or chicken w/​fried noodles. SaleebScore: Food ⁸⁄₁₀; Value ⁹⁄₁₀; Service: ⁸⁄₁₀

Before this was the New Loi’s, but I had an anchoring for Vietnamese food. Vietnamese signature beef phở was disappointing here. On the other hand their Lemon Grass Beef Vermicelli was stellar!

Today I was in the sunset area, weather was cold, so I want to have some warm noodle soup, I stop by this restaurant. as I walk, i seat my self and only one waitress, she come by with the menu, I order small rare beef noodle, few min later she drop down a plate of bean sprout, i ask her i want to be cook. she give me a dirty look. later on my order in here. I order a small noodle soup. inside only have few slice of well cook beef. and the soup it taste like a lot of M.S.G. but the Must I was not happy about the waitress. as I understand she is working alone and have few table, she never say a word, «hello «or ’ thank you » I WILL NEVER GO BACK AGAIN

Best first time experience. Good papayasalad I ever had. Soup is tasty not like the other after seconds soup are cold and nasty sagy. Their soup here is still hot and good after mins pass… try it first before you say no…

I wanted to eat some viet food and just moved to SF so I hoped on Unilocal and found this place. Walking in, the looks aren’t so captivating but I did want to give it a chance. As soon as we walked in we were greeted and taken to a table. The lady was patient with coming back because we didn’t know what we wanted yet.
I ended up ordering the spring rolls, I believe it was the five spice chicken, and thai tea.
It came fairly quick too. The tea was really good, perfect amount of sweetness.
After leaving out food she never came back around until we were done, not so much a problem but I wanted a refil on my tea :(
Good service, place could look a little more live. Good food.

I woke up with a headache and no meditative techniques were working. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to eat or drink something that would cleanse my body. It was raining outside, so I didn’t want to go anywhere far. I went straight to my Unilocal application and typed in TARAVAL PHO. The first thing that popped up was This place. I was greeted by very friendly staff and enjoyed myself here. The phở was incredibly cleansing and delicious. Before I could even finish the large bowl that I was given my headache has dissipated!
The fish balls were very good.
I ordered seafood phở:)
I also ordered the three color drink which was very good.
If you minutes later two of my friends had by chance walked in to get some Vietnamese food as well! They told me they love the place! I had to agree.
The location is the corner of 19^th and taraval. I like this location because it is interesting to look out the window.
The restaurant itself is large.
To go also!

Worst Vietnamese Food I ever have.
Seriously, I have been here twice because I stayed at an AirBnB nearby and I didn’t finish the dish for both times.

This place used to be OK until the ownership change a year or so ago.
On our most recent take-​out visit, we ordered the garlic noodles with five spice chicken — huge mistake as they had obviously cooked it in oil that was over-​used and should have been changed out long ago. The noodles were greasy and bitter and our mouths were coated with a rancid oil taste — yuk!
Your best bet here is probably the phở. The free range chicken phở is pretty reliable but nothing spectacular. We’ve also found the fried chicken wings appetizer to be tasty.
From now on, I’ll only order food from here out of desperation based on our most recent experience. A shame, since I like to support local businesses.

Whenever you ask to split the check at a small business, owners give you that death stare like you just stole their firstborn.
And you ain’t Rumpelstiltskin so you try to work out the check with your three suddenly-​mathematically-​challenged friends.
Yo who got some ones? Hey can I Venmo you later? Here, you pay me two dollars right now and I buy you Purple Kow after. Did someone forget to add 83 cents for tax?
Ain’t nobody got time for that. And at Han Noi Bistro, you won’t have that problem.
I asked the lady if I could please split the check and she be like
«Of course no problem I split for you. Split 4 ways, one two free four. No credit card minimum no worry I help you later ok?»
Damn. That was awesome. And she be spittin’ like she was in a rap battle too.
My small bowl of Satay Phở came and it looked like a large. My friend’s large looked like a Monica Lewinsky. Sure, the noodles were soggy and the broth was meh. But it was a hefty bowl and I can’t complain.
C’mon Unilocalers. Two and a half stars for this place? They got goodies like Garlic Noodles and Crab on their menu too. And they be splitting your check.

This isn’t my first spot I go to for Vietnamese food because I prefer the hole-​in-​the-​walls on Irving street, but I came here recently with my family for dinner on a Sunday night. Each time I’ve passed by this restaurant after getting off the bus, it’s never crowded or no line outside the door, regardless the time of day. We got seated right away and ordered five dishes: Their combination beef noodle phở, beef vermicelli bowl with imperial rolls, garlic noodles, lemongrass chicken & rice plate, and a fried vermicelli noodle dish. Out of all of them, I liked the garlic noodles and vermicelli noodle bowl with imperial rolls, but everything else was just alright. I would probably try more variety of other dishes they have next time.
I do like how clean the restaurant is though since most restaurants along Taraval are a little janky, Service was a little weird since it was hard getting the owner’s attention since she was the only one working that day. It was a little awkward how she dumped the check on my plate of cut meat fat and uneaten vegetables. ew. And the restaurant was cold and not so much a welcoming atmosphere, but whatever I just want to come in hungry and out with a full stomach.

This place has changed owners so many times since I was a child.
This past visit, the overall experience was such a disappointment.
Maybe i’m no longer use to NorCal prices (as oppose to that in the SGV in SoCal), but I felt like for what you got the price was really overpriced.
For me, the broth was too bland. Even with lots of additional condiments added (hoisin sauce/​sriracha) the broth was still unflavored. It was way too watered down for it to be enjoyable. Moreover, they were very stingy with the amount of meat that they gave out. Also, the noodles were a more of a flat rice noodle than the standard phở noodles that i’m use to.
I would definitely not return.

Been meaning a write a review since they changed b/​c they getting a bad wrap from the old owners.
Only one thing I always get: PHO
You can taste the quality of meat (Angus Beef) and the broth has a unique flavor which goes great with the fresh herbs and sprout they give.
Unilocal: please be able to start a new page with new owners, new menu, and new chef. This should really equal new reviews. Just saying.

The corner of 19^th Avenue and Taraval Street going north has gone through many Vietnamese restaurants, including the second Loi’s, which is still a big hit on Irving Street but shortly failed at the second location.
So far so good and despite the mid rating, the new ownership has done a great job in hanging in there for the last couple of years.
And I finally made it here after my meeting with a client nearby. I had the #29; the grilled chicken with fried vermicelli noodles. For $ 7.95, the dish is somewhat similar to a Chinese chow mein dish with grilled chicken, onions, bean sprouts and vermicelli noodles in its place instead of the customary Chinese noodles. I love vermicelli noodles and the restaurant did a very nice job in cooking the rice noodle and combining the other ingredients into one outstanding dish. Dish:
I also got addicted to the 3-​color drink from another Vietnamese restaurant and I tried this version with my pasta dish for $ 3.50. The drink was very sweet and quenching. The ice from the drink melted very quickly, because Joe Cool was staring at the cute waitress serving me. Drink:
As I was enjoying my meal, I was watching the post game of the ugly win for my 49ers. A win is a win, right?
I think this corner Vietnamese restaurant is going to stay. And hopefully I’ll come back and try the other dishes, including the sizzling platter with Lemongrass Chicken, beef and shrimp. That is one of the restaurant’s renowned dishes that will be my next target.