Vietnamese casual restaurant serving noodle soups, savory crepe, spring rolls, banh mi, and simple plate meals with rice, veggies, and mock meats. Tapioca cake and other cakes for dessert. Sells some ready to eat items for takeaway. Under new ownership & fully vegan from November 2021. Off-street parking. Est. 2019 as Nha Hang Chay Hoa Tu Bi Tam. Open Mon-Tue 10:30am-9:00pm, Thu-Sun 10:30am-9:00pm.
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4591 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, California, USA, 92115
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- Wheelchair accessible
- Accepts credit cards
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Last update on 03 Jan 2024 by Ladulé
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Added by westcornersville on 17 Jan 2019
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116 Reviews
First Review by KellyBone
Melynavarro
Points +284
Favorite Vegan Spot in SD! - Edit
After moving back to SD from LA, I was really missing my favorite Vietnamese vegan spot in Cerritos. My partner's friend recommended this place and since I first went, I've gone multiple times and tried different items every time and it does not disappoint!
Read moreMy partner is a meat eater and he asked to eat there on his birthday. He loves the Bánh Mì!
As for me, I'm on my 6th year of being vegetarian and this is one of my favorite places to eat. They also have these little flakes that taste like chicharrón and when I call ahead of time, I can purchase some in a container to make tacos with avocado at home =)
I always get an appetizer of some sort, an order of fresh spring rolls, and an entrée. The idea is to have leftovers to bring home.
I must also comment on the wonderful and friendly service. There's always delicious dessert at the end. My favorite is the flan and cheesecake.
I plan to continue eating there and I highly recommend it.
Pros: Variety of food, Delicious Dessert, Friendly Service
Guest
keokani
Points +2384
Popular plant-based Vietnamese cuisine - Edit
Vietnamese Crêpes were plentiful, but fried and oily. I like all of the fresh veggies that it is served with. Next time, I would love to try a bánh mi sandwich and a noodle bowl. This restaurant has no shortage of customers, especially from the Vietnamese community.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2022-01-29
Guest
AV522
Points +18
Best Vietnamese Vegan food outside my mama! - Edit
The price of the food is a little more on the pricey side around $15 per dish, but it is well worth it. I got the Thanh Toan House Special which is Com Tam Dac Biet. I was seriously in VEGAN pork heaven. I have not had this dish on this LEVEL since becoming vegan. This is the dish I’ve eaten since I was a few years old and I’m in my 30s now. I spent my childhood going from Pho restaurant to Pho restaurant in Westminster, CA debating who had the best Com Tam so I have to say I am so pleased with this dish. It is the best vegan version of this dish I have had. I’ve been vegan for 4.5 years and have not found a version of this dish that even compares to how they make it here. You have the shredded pork, pork cake, pork skin and the bbq pork. If you know Vietnamese food, you know this dish comes with soup on the side and they provided that and it’s seriously some of the best soup I’ve had. My son got the “beef” pho and he said it’s the best pho he’s had. My wife got the tomato soup (bun rieu) and she loved it. Besides the prices, I would say the portion size for my dish was smaller than I would like for the price but then again maybe it was just so good I wanted more. 😂
Read morePros: Taste, Food quality, Variety of dishes
Cons: Price but understand why it costs so much
Guest
Shoefly
Points +15
Delicious vegan Vietnamese food - Edit
Lots of rice, noodle, and soup dishes, with specialties like vegan banh xeo.
Read moreGuest
kaiwpost
Points +31
I love this place! The owners are wonderful and the food is delicious! - Edit
Loved the free red apple water and vegan desserts. Great banh mi 😄 #Veganuary
Read morePros: Great menu with lots of vegan items, Free apple water and desserts , Wonderful people
Cons: None
Guest
RedRoseFenderGuy
Points +17
Woah - Edit
Service sold me, then the food was even better. I'm taking my brother, sister-in-law and friends here when they're in town.
Read morePros: Great service, Fantastic food
Guest
Linzilady17
Points +480
Beyond Amazing Flavors - Edit
Everything is home made and has that home made feel. Large portions and All Organic food! Also everything is Gluten Free !! We love the Owner Helen and Trang, they are both very generous and helpful and kind to everyone they meet! Come here with all your friends and family!! You won’t be disappointed #Veganuary
Read morePros: Everything is vegan , All gluten free food!, Kind people
Cons: None
Guest
TiaLove
Points +100
Great Spot - Edit
All vegan and so good! #Veganuary
Read morePros: Friendly service, Good Food
Guest
Pandypants88
Points +67
Delicious, everything made from scratch - Edit
I just went here for the first time with my non-vegan mom, and we both loved it! I was very impressed that everything was made from scratch, including the mock meats, the breads, the noodles. There is such a variety of foods here, 123 menu items and they are still adding more. Everything has a ton of flavor and is made with love. The waitress was super friendly and took a lot of time to explain everything to us.
Read moreJust a quick note, the restaurant changed owners about 6 months ago. It used to be vegetarian but is now fully vegan :)
Guest
NicosMom
Points +151
Wow, just wow! - Edit
On a road trip (vegan restaurant tour) from Denver, CO. Saw excellent reviews and thought we'd give it a try. This restaurant did NOT disappoint! Even our non vegan friends were highly impressed and look forward to returning for excellent, flavorful vegan Vietnamese. Not to mention, the staff and owner were super friendly and accommodating. 100% will be back when in SD!!!!!
Read morePros: Extremely knowledgeable and friendly staff/owner!, Absolutely scrumptious meals!
Guest
JoeyEreñeta
Points +128
Wow! So good, and very gluten free friendly!! - Edit
The food is incredible. The desserts are AMAZING. And the owner/servers are the nicest and most accommodating for special diets. DEFINITELY EAT HERE…
Read morePros: incredibly delicious, gluten free options (faux pork), DESSERTS
Guest
LorraineGadsden
Points +7760
Delicious - Edit
My boyfriend & I both had the vegan pho and it was delicious! As a vegan, I really enjoyed having the veg friendly fish balls! Also, the proportion was a good size in comparison to the price.
Read moreUpdate: I retried this restaurant since it’s now fully vegan, and it’s even more amazing than before! My whole family loved it, and my boyfriend even said it’s his favorite vegan restaurant. There are so many choices, and everything we tried was delicious. The waitress (who is also the manager) is so kind, explains how to eat each dish and runs the whole front of the house alone. We were super impressed! Highly recommend.
Ps- everything is house made, even the noodles. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Updated from previous review on 2021-05-28
Pros: lots of options , inexpensive
Guest
ChrisCather
Points +419
Best Vietnamese food, period - Edit
This is the best Vietnamese food I've ever had. This place is going to become a regular visit for me. So good! Staff is friendly and helpful, but can be a little too enthusiastic sometimes and hang around longer than I'd prefer. The menu is very large. At over 6 pages, it can take a while to decide what I want. I'm impressed that they can have such high quality food with such a large window.
Read morePros: EVERYTHING is made in-house, Friendly helpful staff, Everything is delicious and amazing
Cons: Staff is a little too eager to help, Menu is very large, Small place with few tables
Guest
ERami
Points +61
Amazing - Edit
This vegan Vietnamese restaurant is my new favorite. My omnivore foodie daughter had been here while on business in the area, and highly recommended it.
Read moreThe restaurant is small with about 8 tables inside. They do not have an outside eating area. When we were there, most of the tables were occupied by Vietnamese clientele. There were also many take-away orders.
Tranh, who manages the restaurant and is also the waitress, was very friendly and helpful, and asked the two of us what we knew about Vietnamese food. Since we were vegan and most Vietnamese food is meat-based, we had never had the opportunity to explore the world-renowned cuisine more widely. The menu was large, and that made it more difficult to choose. We only knew the ubiquitous pho, spring rolls, banh mi and lemongrass tofu. Based on that, she offered suggestions, starting with a taster plate, which included steam rice cake (banh boo), sticky rice dumpling (it tran) and some bite-sized nibbles filled with mushrooms. We also had lotus salad (goi ago sen), a vegetable broth, and spicy lemongrass chicken with rice (com ga xao sa). The chicken was indistinguishable from the real thing, and they make all their "meats" in-house. She brought us a complimentary dessert tray with different bite-sized cakes as well as a very smooth coconut pudding. The entire meal was an explosion of flavors, all amazingly delicious.
Was it expensive? With meals ranging from $7-$16, we ended up paying a total of $40 for a lot of great food for the two of us. It was definitely worth it.
Pros: delicious food, great service, portions big enough to be shared
Guest
Bekindbekind
Points +656
Really yummy - Edit
Food was very good. Fresh tasting, lots of variety. Flavorful. Friendly service.
Read moreWe had two kinds of banh mi and chicken pho. Desserts were tasty. One tasted like coconut bread pudding. One was slightly sweet, creamy, and had black eyed peas—excellent! According to the server the restaurant is all vegan and mostly organic, with most of everything homemade, including bread and noodles.
Updated from previous review on 2021-10-25
Pros: Excellent, flavorful food, Variety is large, Friendly service
Guest
spiceislandvegan
Points +1694
Healthy and delicious - Edit
The food here is healthy and delicious. We came from Orange County with a large Little Saigon where there are many vegan Vietnamese restaurants. It is apparently hard to find an authentic tasting 100% vegan Vietnamese restaurant in San Diego. I think this is the only one that is authentic.
Read moreWe ordered Lotus Salad, Bun Rieu, and tofu lemongrass rice plate. They were tasty, not salty, and not oily. The dishes were prepared with care.
The owner is nice and gave us samples of desserts, on the house. We love the cassava cake she gave us. Unfortunately they don't sell it in the restaurant. It was just for samples.
We bought food to go too from the refrigerator section. She gave us more cassava cake with our togo boxes. Thank you!
When we are in SD again we will definitely come back.
Pros: Healthy, Delicious , Homemade tasting
Cons: Expensive
Guest
mallow
Points +436
Amazing and authentic - Edit
The service was some of the best I have ever had with the waitress being extremely attentive and explaining everything. The food was amazing, we got a feast and it was ALL tasty
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2021-10-04
Pros: Fully vegan other than select desserts, Amazing service, Authentic delicious food
Cons: Not clearly marked allergens
Guest
JesseTaylor
Points +57
Delicious - Edit
Very fresh veggies and house made faux meats. Delicious meal and really wonderful service. A must visit if you like Vietnamese cuisine!
Read moreGuest
nessakei
Points +105
So good! - Edit
The restaurant is now completely vegan! The servers are so knowledge about the ingredients in the dishes and everything is so delicious and freshly made. I can't wait to try everything they offer.
Read moreGuest
buyrealart
Points +171
Our favorite restaurant in San Diego - Edit
We've been eating here since they opened. The food is outstanding. The service is also outstanding. New owner changed ingrediants to all organic and raised the prices, but this means instead of being the cheapest restaurant in all of San Diego, it's now a little less expensive than a typical SD restaurant. Absolutely worth it. I have never heard of anyone having less than an amazing meal here.
Read morePros: Food, Service
Guest
AlexandraPico
Points +396
Hidden gem! - Edit
This is a must go place to try some authentic Vietnamese food! Like stuff you can’t get at most places because it would never be vegan :)
Read moreThe lotus salad was amazing and I loved the lemongrass chicken. The service is very friendly.
Guest
Timfksd
Points +43
Delicious! - Edit
Have wanted to try this place and finally got to go. I got one of the Bahn Mi sandwiches, with a crispy tofu “pork” flavor. Delicious bread and flavor of sandwich. And a steamed bun (pulled “pork”, which was out of this world.
Read moreWill definitely go back to try their pho, was too warm today for hot soup!
Pros: Very friendly staff, Clean, inviting atmosphere
Guest
EliFields
Points +34
NEW OWNER BETTER FOOD - Edit
Ok so this place is a hidden gourmet gem. Organic ingredients. Everything made in house and the flavors are amazing. The owner is very pleasant and the staff is phenomenal. Highly recommended!
Read morePros: 90% vegan menu , Awesome variety and flavors and organic , Great customer service
Cons: Slightly pricey but worth it
Guest
semblanceaux
Points +102
Cheap & delicious - Edit
Very inexpensive Vietnamese food. Definitely throw in a banh mi with anything!
Read moreGuest
PlantPowerRiki
Points +94
Delish❣️ - Edit
Must I say meow 😻 Vietnamese cuisine made veggie✨🙏🏾🌱
Read morePros: Combo plate #12 rules!, For a savoury crepe #4
Guest
JulesMeling
Points +21
We love their food and service - Edit
The food here always hits the spot. The pork is the best.
Read moreGuest
Shmoopsify
Points +171
Awesome! - Edit
Great little find, thanks reviewers on Happy Cow!!
Read moreHad the vegetable soup, lemongrass fried rice and a banh mi. Wow, the banh mi was so good.!! All of it was, but that stood out to me the most.
Cons: I don't live in San Diego and can't go everyday!
Guest
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