Vietnamese cuisine has come a long way in New York City, and in the country as a whole. Where we were once generally limited to Chinatown, where the underwhelming pho-simmering restaurants were run by Viet Hoa, or ethnically Chinese-Vietnamese, the accessibility to Northern Vietnamese fare has risen.
The reason we saw less of this region’s cuisine in the states is because when the Vietnam War (or the “American War,” as it’s known in Vietnam) ended in 1975, tens of thousands of southern Vietnamese fled along with the U.S. military. Northerners, though, mostly stayed. That’s why an enormous percentage of the Vietnamese restaurants in the United States have been serving southern-accented fare, which tends to lean sweeter, heavier, and packed with herbs.
But now, in the last five or so years, we’ve seen a handful of game-changing Vietnamese restaurants open up all over New York City. So, if you have hankering for an excellent bowl of pho, a pork-filled banh mi sandwich, or fresh shrimp-laced spring rolls, we’ve got you covered in this guide, highlighting the 10 best Vietnamese restaurants in New York City.
Hanoi House
The craze for northern Vietnamese cuisine in New York City began in 2017 when Hanoi House first fired up its pho-simmering burners on St. Mark’s Place in the East Village. For the first year, it belonged to that temporary collection of New York restaurants that was impossible to get a table at. Fortunately (for us), Hanoi House has since been demoted to a place where you no longer need to have a fancy credit card or know the owners to get a table.
Start off with the crispy, peanut-sprinkled Papaya & Pig Ear Salad and the tender Grilled Lamb Meatballs. Next, move onto the Phở Bắc, or northern-style pho, accompanied by pickled garlic and a spicy chili sauce. If you want to go full-on Hanoi, order the Bún Chả, an iconic dish made up of disparate ingredients including vermicelli rice noodles, grilled pork meatballs, pickled vegetables, and fresh lettuce leaves. It comes as a DIY assembly platter to do at the table, complete with a dipping sauce of garlic, chili, vinegar, and fish sauce. 119 St. Marks Pl., East Village, hanoihousenyc.com
Mắm
The “Mắm” in question is “Mắm Tôm,” a funky northern Vietnamese fermented shrimp paste that accompanies many menu items at this spot on the border between the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Just like back in Vietnam, Mắm’s seating situation (both indoors and on the sidewalk) is that of the ubiquitous low plastic stools that makes anyone over five-and-a-half feet feel like a giant.
The menu here changes regularly and you never really know what you’re going to get. Sometimes it’s Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm made with rice vermicelli noodles, fried tofu, sausage, and that funky fermented shrimp paste. Other times, you’ll find tennis ball-sized snails paired with pork sausage. In the cold-weather months, the kitchen produces some of the best Hanoi-style pho in the country.
Mắm is unforgivingly authentic, crafting Hanoi street foods that may seem funky and foreign to an American diner. And that’s part of the appeal. If you’re the type of person who chooses restaurants based on getting a sense of a foreign cuisine, then Mắm should be on your radar because there are no other Vietnamese restaurants in New York this unyielding in the push for authenticity. 70 Forsyth St., Chinatown, no website
Ba Xuyên
Located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, lovers of Vietnamese sandwiches gravitate here from all parts of the city just to get a bite of an overstuffed banh mi at Ba Xuyên, which boasts some of the best bread in town. In fact, locals on a quest to find the best banh mi in New York often crown Ba Xuyên as the champion, noting the baguettes are the best version this side of Vietnam. And, they may be right. There are 11 different types of banh mi on the menu here, but get the #1, a classic combination smeared with pate, stuffed with different types of pork, and topped with pickled veggies. 4222 Eighth Ave., Sunset Park, Brooklyn, no website
Kitchen Cô Út
Located in Chinatown, Kitchen Cô Út opened in 2022 and remains a sleeper hit of the dynamic Vietnamese restaurant landscape in the city. Run by a family from Saigon, the menu tilts decidedly toward the south (with some stops along the central Vietnamese coast), but also boasts some Vietnamese menu items that you don’t see at many restaurants in this country.
Standouts include, Bánh Bột Lọc, steamed tapioca dumplings from the city of Hue; Bò kho, a hearty beef stew from the south that sprang up during French colonization of the country; and, for the seriously adventurous eater in your life, Cháo Lòng, a rice porridge bobbing with enough pork byproducts (heart, lung, uterus, blood, etc.) to make you wonder if the chef used every part of the pig except for the oink. 85 Chrystie St., Chinatown, nycpho.com
Tènten
The Hanoi-born owner of this Chinatown pho spot came to New York for university study and grew homesick not being able to find many restaurants representing the north of Vietnam. So, he opened his own spot.
Tènten, an expression of surprise in Vietnamese, is a decidedly Hanoi-style spot, serving up flavorful (and relatively clear) broth packed with beef and noodles and a sidebowl of pickled garlic to enhance the flavor. Still not sure what the difference is between southern and northern pho? A large, illustrated poster on the wall of Tènten explains it very clearly. 119 Baxter St., Chinatown, tentennyc.square.site
Bánh Anh Em
From the people who brought you Bánh on the Upper West Side, it seemed hard to top that once very popular restaurant. But Bánh Anh Em does just that. And in very explicit ways. The reason why this East Village restaurant has one of the best, if not the best banh mi sandwiches in the city? They make and bake the baguettes on the premises.
Serving the cuisine of Hai Phong, a region in northeastern Vietnam, the restaurant churns out excellent representative dishes like Bánh Mi Pate, thin, diminutive baguettes smeared with rich pate; Bánh Mi Cay, a crispy pork belly sandwich; and also several dishes from Hanoi, such as Bánh Cuốn, rice rolls stuffed with ground pork and shrimp; and, of course, an excellent version of the iconic Hanoi dish Bun Cha. Top it all off with an egg cream iced coffee, a specialty drink from the Vietnamese capital. 99 Third Ave., East Village, banhanhem.com
Đi Ăn Đi
Located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, this popular restaurant is of a different sort of Vietnamese establishment. Sure, Đi Ăn Đi serves up all the staples, such as pho in all sorts of incarnations, but then it goes rogue and puts out its own Vietnamese-ish creations, too. The pho French dip sandwich is a reliable staple. So is the Chả cá Lã Vọng, a dill-spiked fish dish that was invented in Hanoi, and the Bánh Bột Chiên, a dish of fried rice cakes topped with fried eggs. 68 Greenpoint Ave., Greenpoint, Brooklyn, diandi.nyc
Bistrot Ha
When Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns opened up Ha’s Snack Bar on the Lower East Side in late 2024, they caused a small sensation of sudden interest in all things Vietnamese in the Big Apple. Lines formed. Fights nearly broke out. It was Southeast Asian mayhem.
A year later, they opened up Bistrot Ha around the corner, a slightly more formal, more refined take on French-Vietnamese fare. Ha and Burns stray a bit from classical Vietnamese fare and that’s fine, especially when their technique is so on point for roasting chicken, glazing pork belly until it’s deliciously caramelized, and slow cooking shrimp and yuba until it falls apart at the touch of a utensil. The menu changes regularly, but whatever is on it, put your trust in the kitchen because you’ll love it. 137 Eldridge St., Lower East Side, no website
Saigon Social
Helen Nguyen, the chef at this popular Lower East Side spot, likes to take liberties with the cuisine of her ancestry. And we like her to do it, too. That’s because her riffs on Southeast Asian fare are usually spot on and very edible. You can get Pho here, plus Bun Cha Ha Noi and Shaken Beef.
But Nguyen also makes a surprisingly good Banh Mi Burger, a patty of dry-aged ribeye, oxtail, and shortrib topped with a pate aioli and a gravy made of Maggi sauce. Also order the wonderful Garlic Noodles, a dish invented at a Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset neighborhood, which is one of the few versions you can find in New York. Save room for the addictive Pandan Cheesecake, or at the very least, take it to go. 172 Orchard St., Lower East Side, saigonsocialnyc.com
Nom Nam
Looks can certainly be deceiving when it comes to someone looking for an ideal bowl of northern Vietnamese pho. At Nom Nam, a diminutive eatery on E. 34th St. in Murray Hill, take one look at the murky, opaque broth and you may go running for clearer waters in Hanoi. But dip that spoon in and slurp and you’ll find a flavorful, oh-so-satisfying bowl here. The broth has a deep, complex taste and it’s no surprise to learn it cooks for 25 hours before being ladled into a diners bowl. 210 E. 34th St., Murray Hill, nomnamnyc.com
