San Francisco
Little Saigon San Francisco is on Larkin between Eddy and O’Farrell in the Tenderloin district, north of Market. Its relatively new and is smaller than the one in Orange County. Its also not quite as polished as its suburban Orange County cousin. To get there, take the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to the Civic Center stop and when you exit, head north on Larkin a few blocks.
At Larkin and Eddy is Saigon Sandwiches (560 Larkin St). This is a little hole in the wall shop, with a group of older Vietnamese women cranking out traditional Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) in an impossibly small work space. The sandwiches are not huge, but stuffed full of goodies and VERY tasty. And cheap, less than $3 when I was there. This place is definitely worth making the trek to visit. The only problem is that they close at 6PM.
So when I came back later, I had to settle instead for Lee’s Sandwiches, a west coast Vietnamese fast food chain that features banh mi. They have an outlet just up the street at 625 Larkin. I know that in some circles it is fashionable to bash chains, and who wouldn’t root for the little guy? But it was late, and I was hungry, so Lee’s it was. And you know what? Its not bad. Not great (certainly not as good as Saigon Sandwich) but good enough.
Anyway, there are about a dozen Vietnamese Restaurants in the area, and most of them look pretty good. Funny thing is that while walking around I asked a few shop owners where I could get some good “bun bo hueâ€, one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. They all shook their head and said “Not around hereâ€. Eventually I ate at Turtle Tower (631 Larkin). It’s a nice, clean, small family friendly place. The food was served quickly and tasted good. I asked the owner about bun bo hue in the neighborhood and he said that it’s a Southern Vietnamese dish and the most of the Vietnamese on Larkin were from the north (he was from Hanoi). He said if I wanted good bun bo hue, I would have to go to San Jose. In fact, he said the best bun bo hue he has had in the States is at a place called An Nam at 740 Story Road in San Jose 95122, (408) 993-1211. Then he drew me a map on how to get there! So, even though I have not been there, I am including it here!