As a Vietnamese person who grew up in Houston with a mom who makes amazing Vietnamese food, I rarely made it out to Vietnamese restaurants. Recently, I decided to make an effort to include the food of my motherland when exploring Houston. Of course, I’m not surprised to see that there are so many quality Vietnamese restaurants in this beloved hometown of mine, and it’s about time I gave them a feature on my blog.
This article was last updated in October 2023.
Nam Giao
Nam Giao, a hidden gem of a Vietnamese restaurant specializing in cuisine from Huế, Vietnam. They have been a long-time staple in the Houston community but were made even more popular when the Netflix show Ugly Delicious featured them in the Houston/New Orleans episode (My favorite episode of that fantastic show.) You can make a meal off of their appetizers menu. Pictured from top to bottom: Crystal dumplings, Banh Ram It, and Banh Beo. Banh Beo is a must-order. Everything is dipped in their delicious fish sauce.
P.S. Nam Giao is also featured in my Houston Chinatown Restaurant Guide.
Nam Giao
6938 Wilcrest Dr, Houston, TX 77072
Xin Chao
Xin Chao is a Vietnamese-inspired restaurant headed by two second-generation Vietnamese chefs. One of them is Christine Ha, best known for being the blind winner of the third season of MasterChef.
Some of my favorite bites included the soft-shelled crab, the pork belly bao, and the coconut bread pudding (not pictured), though I’d happily eat everything we ate again! I’ve eaten so many baos in my lifetime and this was the first time I’ve had it fried 🤯 !
Xin Chao
2310 Decatur St, Houston, TX 77007
xinchaohtx.com
Nguyen Ngo French Cafe
Nguyen Ngo French Cafe is one of the more popular traditional French style banh mi shops in Houston. Their game-changer is you can order their classic banh mis with croissant bread which they make in-house. They do not skimp on anything and give generous slatherings of pate and housemade buttery mayo, two cornerstone ingredients of Vietnamese sandwiches.
Nguyen Ngo French Cafe
11210 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77072
Phanh Ky Hu Tieu Mi My Tho
A list of best Vietnamese food in Houston is not complete without the classic gem, Phanh Ky Hu Tieu Mi My Tho. They specialize in dry noodle dishes (hu tieu mi kho) whose origins are credited to the Vietnamese city, Mỹ Tho. These noodle dishes are served dry with a delicious and unique sauce. (They are secretive on what makes their sauce so great.) These bowls of flavorful noodles are served with sides of bone broth with tender pieces of pork ribs in the soup. At the time of my writing this, they’ve been open for eighteen years.
Tip: They are cash only.
Phanh Ky Hu Tieu Mi My Tho
1602 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77072
717 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006
lesnoodle.com
Kim Son
Kim Son first opened in the early 1980s in Houston and has since expanded to multiple locations in Houston. Their Bellaire location in Chinatown has an expansive Vietnamese buffet that includes so many classic Vietnamese dishes like braised pork belly, crispy crepes, and summer rolls. They also have crawfish during crawfish season and a noodle bar.
Kim Son Restaurant
kimson.com
My Baguettes
There’s a new Vietnamese dish that popped up in the states. It’s called “bo ne” which directly translates to dodging cow. “Bo” can mean either beef or cow. “Ne” means “to dodge.” This Vietnamese version of steak and eggs gets its name from the sizzling splatter of the meat from the platter. I vetted My Baguette and fell in love with their bo ne instantly after trying a few in Houston and took my mom to have her first experience of bo ne. She spoke to the owner who lived close to her old neighborhood in Saigon and confirmed that this is not a dish that gets its roots in Vietnam but was first made here by Vietnamese immigrants. I also introduced her to their deconstructed banh mi with the headcheese they make in house. Their drinks are also delightfully unique. Try their corn milk for a sweet refreshing drink; I love their mung bean milk.
My Baguettes is also featured in my Houston Chinatown Restaurant Guide.
My Baguettes
10613 Bellaire Blvd Suite A-125, Houston, TX 77072
Pho Binh
I rarely order pho when I’m in Houston because I love my mom’s bowl so much and rather order things she doesn’t often make. But if I’m at Pho Binh with friends, I’m getting my bowl of pho with a side of bone marrow. Pho Binh is one of the only places in Houston where you can actually order your pho with a side of bone marrow. My mom says that means they use beef bones to make their soup and therefore have the actual marrow to offer! I have been eating bone marrow since before it became more of a staple in American fine-dining. Anthony Bourdain would call it the “nasty bits” which refer to the trim and parts of an animal that is often discarded in American cuisine but has been resourcefully used and revered in other cultures, like bone marrow! I have complicated feelings about seeing something my mom used to get for a dollar a bag marked up to be a delicacy in Western restaurants after being ignored for years, but all those feelings aside, adding a side of bone marrow to your pho will make your bowl feel like luxurious self-indulgence.
Pho Binh
5901 Westheimer Rd. Houston, TX 77057
phobinh.com
Roostar Vietnamese Grill
Roostar Vietnamese Grill is a recent discovery of mine! They are my favorite banh mi place in Houston. I’ve seen some of my friends post from this restaurant and coincidentally saw that I live so close to one of their locations. I took my mom recently, and she’s still raving about them. She promptly converted my brother into a fan. Their bread is perfect! I have lockjaw and sometimes baguettes do a number on my jaw. These toasted baguettes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Their filling is generous and you can add fried eggs to your sandwiches. I’m writing this blog from North Carolina and am in almost tears with want for this banh mi as I type this.
multiple locations
myroostar.com
Thien Thanh Restaurant – Bánh Cuốn
I don’t know if you noticed but I’m featuring a lot of shops that do one thing very well. Banh cuon is another dish that I grew up eating and will never tire of. They are thin rice noodle crepes wrapped around a meat filling. They are delicate. I associate eating this dish with love. It takes a lot of care to wrap these rolls and plate them. If you’re having a banh cuon craving or are simply curious about where to try this dish for the first time, go to a Houston classic, Thien Thanh Restaurant – Bánh Cuốn. That pitcher at your table is not ice tea, by the way. That’s fish sauce. Don’t be like one of my friends and take a gulp of it! As you explore Vietnamese food, you’ll find lots of fish sauce used!
Tip: They are cash only.
Thien Thanh Restaurant – Bánh Cuốn
11210 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77072
thienthanhhouston.com
Lua Viet Kitchen
Located in the museum district in Houston, Lua Viet Kitchen is a new addition to the Vietnamese food scene in Houston. They pride themselves in offering hormone-free meats and organic vegetables. They recently invited my friends and me to try a big selection of their menu and they were so good. Their wonton noodle soups taste so simple, clean, and elegant. Their tofu luc lac (a vegetarian option to the popular Shaken Beef (bo luc lac) dish was one of my favorite dishes. The things they did to the tofu makes that ingredient such a star. I also loved their Vietnamese meatballs.
Lua Viet Kitchen
1540 W Alabama St #300, Houston, TX 77006
And that concludes my list thus far.
I plan on updating this post as I continue to explore the amazing Houston food scene. Did I miss any of your favorites in this list of Best Vietnamese food in Houston? And if you’re not from Houston, which dishes (and they don’t have to be Vietnamese) do you associate with love?
Have you checked out my post of most instagrammable desserts in Houston?
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