La Vie Vietnamese Restaurant

Their portions are tiny. They skimp on ingredients. They sliced the shrimp lengthwise so it would look like they put more in than they actually do. By the way the prices on the Unilocal menu are nowhere near accurate. You’ll pay 50−150% more than listed here. I wouldn’t mind the prices as much if the portions were at least decent. If you’re calling an order I recommend you ask the prices first so you have an idea.
The sad thing is the food is pretty good and they are very close to me, but I don’t think I’ll be back anytime soon. Maybe they just don’t like call in orders judging by the (mostly) positive reviews here.

This place is not the place to go to. Service is Slow. The server took to long to bring the sauces. I ordered Passion Fruit Ice Tea and I got Lipton Ice Tea and when I mentioned it to the waiter he brought the whole jug to «show me that is was infact passion fruit tea» I could see the tea bags in there. The soups needed flavor to bland. I wouldn’t give them a 2^nd chance.

This is a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant! We were on the hunt for dungeness crab during our short stint in San Francisco in April. We originally went to PPQ Dungeness and they were closed 40 minutes prior to when their hours stated, which really bummed me out. But then we found La Vie! We had the salt and pepper whole dungeness with garlic noodles and the house fried rice. Everything was cooked perfectly and super flavorful. Beware, when we left the restaurant our Über driver told us we reeked of garlic but it was soooooo worth it!

I eat a lot of Phở in the city and everywhere I go. This place is awesome. One of the few places with five spice chicken in the broth or bbq pork. Both highly recommended. The broth is a tiny bit fattier than I’d like, but I’m a little averse to any fats.

Instead of writing a long story, here are the highlights:
Very slow service (we are a party of 15), plus other tables and one waiter.
Dishes are extremely salty.
Portions are small.
The items are not cheap. It came to $ 495.00, still not enough to satisfy.
Here’s the worst: A mandatory 20% tip added on the bill, AND based on the total plus tax, which means we had to pay a tip on the sales tax.
When we complained about the tip, the owner agreed and re-​calculated based on food total only, but still a 20% tip !!!
One star is given to a clean restroom.

This is my favorite vietnamese restaurant in the city.
Service is always amazing. The food is great because: 1. Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) is perfectly balanced: it’s not too watered down and not too sweet like most other restaurants in the city. 2. They have Flaming Beef and Prawns! It’s served in a porcelain bowl, cooked at your table and you wrap it up in the rice paper. I’ve had variations on this dish many times before, but for some reason it took me 15 years to find it in San Francisco. You can’t come here and NOT order this. 3. The La Vie Roast Crab is also wonderful.

Finally a real Vietnamese restaurant offering a great quality food.
You have such a choice, for vegetarians included!
Dishes are simply delicious, very tasty.
Great service and very nice atmosphere. Love the deco too.

We had a party here on January 1 for my mom’s birthday. With 24 of us (half are kids), we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves. I pre-​ordered the food in advance to save the headaches. The owner was friendly and willing to work with me on the menu at a budget.
Overall, I thought the food was great although some would beg to differ. A few dishes were way too salty. The biggest complaint was the portions of each dish. I was quite disappointed to see such small portions served given the price they charge. We kept ordering more and more (on top of what we pre-​ordered) up until we realized there was no point because the portions were so tiny. With a bill goes to $ 900, some of us still had to go home to fix up a bowl of instant noodles.
Lesson learned: this is not your place for big parties.

I’ve been here at least 5 times, and every time I really enjoy it. The owner is a wonderful man who always remembers us. The phở ga is always great, and every other dish I’ve tried has been wonderful too. One of my favorite restaurants in the Richmond District for sure. Highly recommend the five spice chicken and the lemongrass chicken!

La Vie is a gem. The food is consistently delish. I think their Phở is the best in town. Prices are great. The only flaw is you may have a short wait as the front of the house is under staffed. But Sylvie is fabulous and will get you the food prepared as ordered. I have been eating here since the 60’s. Yum yum

Food was good but shitty service. The server called me honey and ask extremely inappropriate questions. He blew me off when I tried to pay and told me to move and sit down.

Service was very nice, atmosphere was mediocre. Phở was more expensive than new York, almost $ 10 for bowl. Broth was very flavorful, not much meat, no tripe which was my favorite. Chicken roll was pretty good

First time to La Vie and I was impressed with many things. I will get into that but I don’t want you to think that I had this huge meal with a lot of variety. I had phở. It was a cold day so what better that a nice hot bowl of the this fine countries soup offering.
I really liked the phở. the broth was robust in flavor, the noodle to broth distribution good. If this was a quick phở joint the bowl would probably be considered a small but the flavor of this place was above what you may have experienced at the aforementioned locales. The meatballs were ok. The beef was really good– I wanted more and feel it wasn’t enough. I’m hoping it was due to better quality meat being used than other places I’ve been to. Overall a good bowl of phở.
The place is unite clean and the service by one waitress was spot on for a Tuesday afternoon. I feel if there were a table or two more they would definitely need more waitresses.
Price was reasonable as I mentioned at other places the bowl would be considered a small but that is ok.
A couple of side notes– one of their menu prices said $ 1,95 when I asked the waitress she said it was supposed to read $ 11,95. Big difference which should be fixed.
Also there is a $ 2 charge if you use a credit card for purchases under $ 18. That seems a little exorbitant. I rarely carry cash so I may decide upon another place if I am craving phở. Sad really.
Overall I will come back but hopefully with cash in hand or more of an appetite.

Even with a short staff, food and service was excellent .
Garlic noodles and la vie crab was out of this world. The price is worth the experience. The green beans were an added must accompaniment.

The place it self is pretty clean and standard with good service so I’ll give it 4 stars
But the food it’ll be 5 stars !
I had a sea food noodle phở and its was one of the best that I had so far !
I will be back here for sure.

Delicious food! We ordered sea food noodle soup which was THE BEST! Other dishes were good as well. Very nice ambiance and the place is very clean.
I gave 4 stars because they are understaffed — one waitress who was also helping in the kitchen.

A great spot for clean eating, a peaceful atmosphere, a kind staff, and good vibes. La Vie gets a 10 out of 10.
While looking for Phở last night (a San Francisco cliché?) I stopped into a Vietnamese restaurant only to find chicken and pork Phở, which I don’t eat. Refusing to be discouraged I tried the next spot on Geary, called La Vie, and I was immediately impressed by how clean, pleasant, and quiet it was– With soft lighting, and an aesthetic set up.
I asked the hostess/​server if they had vegetarian Phở. She said yes, and to my surprise she offered a secret menu with vegan Phở, if that was of interest! I became excited! I ordered takeout for myself and my boyfriend who was sick.
While waiting, curious about this new place I’d found, I looked over at what others in the restaurant were eating. I noticed that everything appeared to be exceptionally fresh and high quality in this quiet and beautifully lit Vietnamese restaurant. Then and there I decided I wanted to return to try something new. I had a good feeling about this place.
Thirty minutes later I sat in my boyfriend’s living room eating my vegan Phở. I can say without reservation, it was the best Phở I’ve had in San Francisco. The vegetables had flavor, the noodles were soft and fresh, and the vegetable broth and tofu were delicious– And I can’t wait to go back again to try something else. Additionally, I need to communicate how helpful, kind, and patient the hostess/​server was. Her presence added to the good vibes of the restaurant.
La Vie, thanks for the Phở!

This is a nice local joint. Nothing to travel across neighborhoods for, unless you’re in the area. I’m giving this 4 stars because it’s a nice place for a local. If I was out of town, or out of the area maybe it’d get 3. I didn’t find anything unappealing or repulsive, but I wasn’t impressed. I enjoyed the lemongrass chicken and coconut noodles. It could’ve had more lemongrass but that’s my opinion, it was still good. The place was quiet around 7, and worked up to half a full house by 8:30. There was only one hostess the whole time so managing us was fine but when it got busy I could see the anxious patrons growing impatient, waiting to order and waiting to be seated. It was an affordable delicious dinner nonetheless.

«That did not suck,» my lunch mate said.
In fact, everything was fresh, including the house-​made sauces, unlike the popular sriracha sauce that used to say «no preservatives» but now adds polysorbate 80 and potassium sorbate. Those now-​mass-​produced bottles do not deck the tables here.
Jazz playing over the sound system is a refreshing change from the pop noise that pollutes the 1000−4000kHz sound range in many other Asian restaurants.
We were there for a quiet Saturday lunch. The lights were dim, not over-​bright, but enough to see the food with the natural light coming from the south-​facing window. The lighting made the place look closed from outside. Glad to find the door open. We sat by the window and people-​watched through the huge single pane of sadly-​scratchittied glass.
The spring rolls were atypical. No peanut sauce. But delicious. The phở was well-​seasoned, and helped my MCS cough subside. Best phở yet, imo. The calamari is a must-​order with fresh peppers, bell and hot, and smattering of other greens including cabbage accompanied by a fresh, spicy no-​preservative dipping sauce. We saved the leftover sauce for the rest of our meal.
Then there are the details like carrot slivers in the soy dipping sauce and thin sliced green onions in the beef phở side serving. Nice touches make a difference.
How did I miss this place in a year of living in Outer Richmond? It didn’t matter that there was only one other occupied table. The roughed up window became forgotten as dish after dish livened our taste buds with flavor neither over-​salted nor over-​sweetened. Everything was delicious and fresh. What a hidden gem in the Richmond. We will most definitely be back.

Il y a une seule page où les prix n’apparaissent pas sur le menu. La page des crabes. Pour cause il faut compter environ 65 dollar pour un plat à partager à deux. Mais vous en aurez pour votre argent.
Après avoir commandé le «Salt and pepper roasted crab», j’apperçus le cuisinier attraper un crabe résigné dans l’acquarium du fond. Passer les premières secondes de culpabilité je me rendis alors compte que seul les crabes de ma grand mère peuvent rivaliser avec un tel niveau de fraîcheur. L’assaisonnement est remarquable, il donne une véritable autre dimension à la chaire du crabe. On se prend même parfois à rogner la carapace pour garder ce goût délicieux en bouche.
Les nouilles à l’ail servie en accompagnement me déçurent quelque peu. Il s’agissait de spaghettis et non de véritables nouilles aux œufs et la quantité était un peu juste pour deux. Mais enfin, mes yeux étaient rivés sur mon crabe.
À la différence d’autre restaurants, le crabe arrive entier sur une assiette, vous pourrez déguster le contenu des pinces ainsi que de la tête si vous en êtes friand. Ayant eu de mauvaises expériences avec le contenu de la tête, je me concentrais tout d’abord sur les pinces, mais l’assaisonnement nouveau changea mon avis et je finissais le repas à racler l’intérieur de la carapace.
Vous l’aurez compris, végétariens et âmes sensibles s’abstenir, mais quel crabe !

I was excited to come here since I am in the area a lot. Vietnamese food is arguably one of my favorite asian cuisines and I have worked in Hong Kong for the last 3 years and traveled to almost every country in Asia at this point.
It was one of those crazy work weeks and I came here on a Thursday night, there were about 7 tables of 2 people each that night and I was by myself. I just wanted something quiet and good. I sat down and looked at the menu for a while, the curry sounded good which was a combo of chicken and vegetables. I asked if it came with rice which it did not so I ordered a side of brown rice.
The place was quiet and relaxing. My food came out and I took a few bites and just didn’t really like it. I was kind of bummed and figured I would just power through it and leave and not enjoy my downtime. Then after a total of 5 – 6 bites after spitting out some of the chicken because of lower quality cuts I decided why should I put myself through this? It isn’t a healthy dish, it isn’t good and I want to find a new go to place for vietnamese food.
It was about $ 11-​$ 12 which is pretty reasonable but I still wanted to be able to eat it. I asked her when she walked by if I could get something else because I didn’t like it. I almost never do this, maybe a total of 2 – 3 times (including this one) in my life but I really couldn’t eat it. It was brown curry that was sweet, thick and reminded a bit of wet dog food or economy plane food on an American carrier. The vegetables were fine, it was the sauce and the chicken that I really couldn’t eat.
After I quietly asked to get something else, she said why? I explained I really didn’t like it and would just order something that wasn’t chicken and did not have this sauce. She said well you already ate half of it. I responded I did not, I had about 5 bites, maybe 6. 2 pieces of chicken, 1 celery sliver, 1 broccoli and maybe 1 other vegetable bite and I just had to put the chicken bits with the tendons on the side of my plate. She said, that she has never heard of anyone doing such a thing and just doesn’t know what to do. I said go mention it to the chef and let me order something else. I will keep my rice for the next dish. She said ok be right back.
She then proceeded to check on every single table asking if they liked their food. I noticed 1 other person who ordered to curry who didn’t eat much of it. The server asked how it was and why she didn’t finish it and the customer responded «she was full». I unfortunately heard my rude server asking anyone as she did it loud enough so I could hear. I felt this was quite catty and very unprofessional and made me feel uncomfortable. I overheard her, not by choice, just because she was asking everyone how their food was loud enough so I had to hear, about how their meal was and everyone said it was good.
So she came back to me with a lot of attitude and said I just asked everyone in the restaurant how their curry was they liked it so you are wrong. She said I can’t help you since everyone else liked it. The thing here is I only hear and saw 1 other person eat the curry who didn’t finish it. Maybe it was because she was full or that she prefers to avoid eating dog food, who knows? No one else that I could see had this curry.
AND even if they had, is that really the way to handle this? Ask everyone else to prove me wrong?
She came back and said we can’t take that off your bill. She said that I am only doing this because it is an Asian restaurant. That no one does this in American places and insinuated I was racist. I said no, actually it has nothing to do with it being Asian, it just isn’t good and I would like something else. She continued to raise her voice at me and said that I can’t just expect free food and she doesn’t have to do anything about this dish. I should just pay for it and leave. For some reason I was still calm and nice and I said but I was looking for a local go to vietnamese place I could eat at. She said well don’t come back. I said why are you making this such a big deal? And she said I am directing this here because it is an Asian restaurant. I finally said ok, well then I am just going to leave then and walked out.
I honestly feel like I have never had a more rude server in my life. She was pretty awful and I promise, it has nothing to do with the place being Asia, I love Asian food. She was very immature and unprofessional. I will obviously never come back since the food wasn’t good, the service was terrible and apparently I am not welcome back either. The whole time I was very quiet, polite and calm. I just wanted something edible.