Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant

Being a huge fan of Vietnamese cuisine and having eaten it since a very young age — I can guarantee you this place has some of the best in SF.
Portions are big, food is fresh and delicious. The dishes are indeed authentic with amaizng flavor.
The lunch deals are awesome! Good bang for the buck. The vermicelli here is also great — not too soft, not too hard. Imperial rolls are the super crispy kinds (diff wrapping than Chinese egg rolls).
They do an amazing basil Chicken + bbq Pork — you won’t be disappointed!
So glad I finally got to eat here — can’t wait to come back!

Small place in the Mission serving decently priced Vietnamese food. I got the Imperial Roll and Pork Vermicelli, and it was ready super fast! The Imperial Rolls were nice and crispy, and the pork was tender and flavorful. You get a giant bowl (I didn’t even finish mine), and it tastes even better after you let it sit in the sauce for a little and the noodles absorb all that flavor. There are only a few tables available so don’t bother coming here with a big group!

Gotta say I’ve been coming here for years and consistency is the key to their success. The dishes I order are always prepared quickly, with fresh ingredients and simple, clean flavors. The portions are large and I always leave satisfied. Highly recommend the garlic noodles, their chicken or veggie noodle soup, and the deep fried spring rolls.

The fiancé and I had our first date here seventeen years ago and are so happy this location remains to celebrate us getting married! See you in February as we rave all the time about the vegetarian potstickers!

good food, friendly/​fast service (both eat in and carry out) and reasonably priced — what more could you ask for?

I come here whenever I’m in SF for the bun (vermicelli bowl); I get mine with BBQ pork and imperial roll. Everything is just as it should be: the food is delicious; the service is fast; and the prices are reasonable.

This is a great spot for some hot chicken or beef soup on a cold night. I like the spring rolls. The quality is great and the service prompt and friendly. I like the cozy atmosphere, but it gets super crowded 6−7pm most nights. The portion are great.

I wonder how many people come here as a second choice to Mau. Apparently, Mau closes at 3 pm on Sundays, a realization which brought me to Sunflower to satisfy my noodle soup craving on a windy SF afternoon. My boyfriend and I were seated on the inside of a few tables pushed together to form one communal table. During our meal, two couples were seated next to us but asked to sit elsewhere (one at a separate table for two, and the other at the bar). Kind of odd that the staff would offer the seats next to us first.
The service we received was not rude but it was very impersonal. Our order was taken and food was brought out very quickly — Thai iced teas witching 5 minutes, my soup within 8 minutes and my boyfriend’s BBQ chicken noodle dish within the next 5 minutes after mine came out. Weird order, but at least it gave me time to season my phở before my boyfriend got his food.
Having had Mau two days before eating here and being super pleased with that meal, I’ll compare this to that. Sunflower’s broth was much less flavorful and the cut of meet was thin and did not melt in my mouth the way Mau’s does.
My boyfriend was not too impressed with the BBQ chicken noodle dish as a whole, but he said the spring rolls that came with his dish were excellent.
Authenticity note — Sunflower bills itself as pan Asia cuisine but I suspect it is best known for its Vietnamese offerings. Most of the staff appeared to speak Cantonese.

One of my favorite spots in the mission. I’ve been coming here since 2012. They were closed temporarily for remodeling. It’s good to know that there back open! I ordered the veggie phở and it’s still good… Only 10 bucks. Can’t beat that!

I ordered take out :
–chicken phở ($ 9.50) with the option of extra veggies ($ 1.50)
Everything came in separate containers. So if your picking up to take home and put in a big bowl– it’s great. However, when your eating at the park it’s a no go hassle lol. You have to build your soup and pretty much dump some of the broth out in order for all the other ingredients to fit and not overflow the container, I didn’t even try bothering to add the extra veggies and just at them on the side. But I guess that’s the thing about phở it’s really meant to be eaten at a table out of a big bowl, so I can’t complaint too much on that note.
The broth itself was very plain, but that’s good health wise didn’t taste any salt at all. When you add all the other ingredients in and perhaps a bit of boysenberry sauce or siracha and let it marinate for a good 5 minutes then you haves yourself decent tasting phở.
The atmosphere inside is very basic. It’s got a few paintings on the wall and room to seat maybe about 15 people. You can see the kitchen and cooks in action from the dinning area. Small hole in the wall spot that isn’t bad. You get what you pay for here. I’d go back to try one of the lunch specials. I was just craving phở for some reason today. Not the best, but nonetheless– Craving was met.

I’ve gone a couple of times…
The other day had the shrimp & cabbage salad. (was in the mood for fresh/​clean flavors)
Unfortunately it was doused in a syrupy sweet dressing. PLUS more on the side.
Lacking in spice and unbalanced seasoning (what happened to sweet, salt, spice, acid?)
What I ordered previously was the same.
How it manages to stay so packed – ?
I say it’s a watered-​down version of vietnamese food.

Sunflower is open again! Woohoo!
It’s just the 16^th street side, and it’s a tiny little spot– maybe about 5 tables. There’s a cool breeze when the door is open, but if they shut it it gets pretty warm in there.
And the menu states the have beer and wine– but beware– there is only beer. Must have not gotten the wine back after the re-​opening.
Great low-​priced spot for no frills noodles and fried rice. You really get a ton of food for what you pay, which is awesome. I’d say though that in general the food is decent, but not earthshatteringly great. Pretty standard noodle dishes and whatnot, and they tend to not have a lot of flavor. Even my husband– wimpiest eater ever when it comes to spice– was dumping the sriracha on his chicken fried rice. I’m a big fan of the garlic noodles, which I too needed to add a little kick of spiciness to. And we had the veggie imperial rolls to start, which are pretty good and filling.
All in all– happy this place has reopened, but probably won’t frequent it, same as I did before it closed.

They just reopened! As good as it was before. Cheap Vietnamese in the mission, friendly service

Service does not even garner a 1-​star. This waiter frequently came to our table within the first 10 minutes of us sitting down. I was catching up with an old friend, and each time he came, we politely told him we’re not ready yet. About 10 – 15 minutes later, we were, and tried to get his attention. By the 3^rd time, we realized he was intentionally ignoring us. He kept his head held high, nose in the air, and walked from one side of the room to the other, refusing to acknowledge us. The restaurant was busy, but you shouldn’t have service like that anywhere you go.
Long story short, we left and ended up eating at a Vietnamese restaurant across the street. They had damn good phở.
My feedback is to higher better waiters. I hear their food is very good, but it’s not worth it if the service is plain horrible.

Sunflower serves up generous portions of average Vietnamese food. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat at Sunflower, but it’s an okay fallback option when I don’t want to plan anything else.
The Mission location (which is actually split into 2 parts, one off Valencia and one off 16^th) is a bit grimier than the Potrero location, but the food seems to be better.
This isn’t the place to come for noodle soup cravings. The chicken phở ($ 8.95) is incredibly bland. I appreciate light broths and often eat my phở without additional hoisin or Sriracha, but the broth here is too unseasoned. The pieces of chicken are thickly cut, slightly tough, and lacking in flavor. I would stick to the vermicelli bowls ($ 8.95). The salads ($ 8.95) and imperial rolls ($ 7.95) are okay too.
Service is very efficient, even when the restaurant is busy.

I’ll disclaim right now that I’m a very harsh critic of Vietnamese food, being Vietnamese and coming from Houston. I’ve been pretty disappointed in the Vietnamese food in San Francisco so far but I’m slowly making my way through all of them. Authenticity usually equals quality but not always, so I’m willing to give these joints a shot.
First impressions were so so. I came in with the husband and his dad for lunch on Labor Day and we were the only Asians in there. One look at the menu with zero Vietnamese on it and we were definitely raising our eyebrows at each other. We asked the waitress if she spoke Vietnamese so we could ask some questions, answer was no.
I ordered the #1 lunch special which was five spice chicken, soup, salad and imperial roll. «What soup is it?» «Hot and sour.» Um, hot and sour soup is Chinese but okay. The husband ordered the vermicelli (bun) bowl with pork (thit nuong) and the dad ordered crab fried rice.
I’m very curious about this five spice chicken dish I’ve seen on almost every Vietnamese restaurant menu here. I’ve never heard of it before, dad says it’s a Chinese thing. My plate comes out and it is humongous. The soup is actually canh chua and not bad tasting. The salad is cabbage and carrots and flavored like traditional goi. The eggroll is very traditional, wrapped in rice paper instead of the usual flour paper. The chicken is very tasty and tender. Over all, a great value for the amount of food. The husband enjoyed his bun thit nuong and his portion was also huge. Dad said the fried rice was okay.
Service was good and quick. I don’t ever expect stellar service at Vietnamese or Chinese restaurants, efficient is fine. C’mon people, when you’re paying less than $ 10 for your entrée, adjust your expectations. I want to give this place three and a half stars because the food was good but I’m rounding down because there was nothing here worth coming back for. Across the street is Thanh Tam that has a larger menu and is legit authentic.

Sunflower is one of those quick ‘n dirty Vietnamese shops that has authentic phở, noodles, et al.
The garlic noodles I got were… garlicky, with plenty of cloves amidst the noodles. However, I can’t help but feel ripped off. At $ 9 without any special preparation or meat (that cost extra for five pieces), it seems like I’m getting short-​changed. Service is unattentive as well — a crying shame.

I find that Vietnamese restaurants often have a trade-​off:
— Authentic restaurants lack presentation and ambiance (unless you are optimistic and embrace shabbiness by passing it off as hole-​in-​the-​wall), plus the menu is sometimes difficult to read unless you know the dishes by their Vietnamese names.
— Non-​authentic restaurants often have far nicer presentation and ambiance plus understandable menus, but they’re well, not authentic.
Finally I come across Sunflower, which has Instagrammable presentation, a clean and modern ambiance, a clear menu with descriptions, and as far as my (disclaimer: non-​Vietnamese) self knows, is authentic.
I got the FIVE SPICE CHICKEN VERMICELLI ($ 9). No matter how hard I tried, I failed to detect five spices and it turned out more like a tasty grilled chicken – maybe it was one spice or five spice in minute quantities, but tasty nonetheless. It went well with the vermicelli, carrots, and lettuce over fish sauce, though I was surprised to find a piece of broccoli stem in the mix. I also liked the imperial rolls, which usually cost extra at other restaurants. The style was interestingly similar to Lao fried spring rolls: savory, filling, and with a mild crisp carefully tuned not to be too crunchy but avoiding sogginess. As a whole, the portions of my vermicelli bowl were huge! I am not one of those girls who eats half the food and complains about being full, but I actually was full after eating just half of it.
My friends really liked the CRAB FRIED RICE ($ 9), which looked good but I was too preoccupied at tackling my giant bowl of vermicelli to try it. The VIETNAMESE CREPE (banh xeo for those who have been to enough authentic Vietnamese restaurants to understand Vietnamese menus) is listed under appetizers but it’s big enough to be an entrée. I liked the slightly burnt crêpe and the filling of assorted meats and vinegary bean sprouts.
Most entrees are under $ 10 except for fancy ones like the flaming beef and prawns. Overall the inexpensive and tasty food in the cozy comfortable restaurant is worth venturing into the Mission and dealing with the hassles of finding parking.

A small shop with decent food. My friend loves their lemongrass chicken with rice so we’ve returned a couple times. I always get the cold vermicelli noodle bowl with beef and imperial rolls. The beef is flavorful and the dish as a whole is satisfying, but each time I’ve found the imperial rolls over fried and bland. Not enough to dissuade me from ordering the dish, as I just view the imperial rolls as an «extra.»
Great service both times. Food comes out quickly. Space is sparsely decorated. Prices are reasonable.

Se você quiser passear no bairro mais descolado de São Francisco — e eu tenho certeza absoluta que você vai querer — e gosta de comida Vietnamita, talvez deva fazer uma paradinha estratégica no Sunflower.
Uma amiga que morou na cidade por muitos anos adora os Garlic Noodles daqui e disse que seriam imperdíveis. Bom, eu sempre confio na palavra dos amigos e como sei que ela tem bom gostoso decidimos entrar.
Estávamos com fome, mas queríamos aproveitar o passeio para provar outros lugares então pedimos cada uma uma bebida e uma porção de Garlic Noodles para dividir entre as três.
O garçom era bem estranho, assim no estilo «não fale comigo, estou de mau humor e talvez te dê uma patada, literalmente». Enfim, falta de sorrisos a parte os noodles chegaram e a porção era bem grande, ainda bem que decidimos dividir. Para beber eu escolhi o chá gelado Thai, mas confesso que o café Vietnamita da minha amiga, com montes de leite condensado estavam seduzindo…
Apesar de ter gostado da comida e das bebidas, confesso que a vibe do garçom não foi das melhores então para esta experiência não posso dar mais do que três estrelas. Vale a pena voltar e tentar outra vez? Com certeza. Só espero que dessa vez o moço esteja mais feliz.

The food is ok. I like how I can add more veggies to my phở. The place is dark so it’s hard to actually see your food.
I’ve been coming here despite the so-​so tasting food since it’s one of the two non pretentious Vietnamese restaurants in the mission (the other being thanh tam 2) and is close to bart.
Their service has gone downhill so much it’s appalling. They wouldn’t let me get a table without my friend also being there even though I said I would be ordering and eating first. They said I can order but my friend who may arrive late cannot. WTF?!? They started yelling at me so I just left. There are sooo many restaurant options in the mission I do not have to tolerate this absurd and rude service. I will not be returning.
Thanh tam 2 does a pretty good job. Go there. You can actually see what you’re eating too.