Un-pho-gettable Vietnamese Food in Houston – 10 Best Restaurants

Craving pho and dim sum and noodles and bahn mi? Houston, home to a large Vietnamese population, offers some of the most authentic Vietnamese cuisine, right from traditional recipes to inspired, modern dishes.

Ton of pop shops, trendy restaurants and dine-ins have opened up in the city over the last many years that celebrate the cultures of Vietnam and its food. Check out some of the top Vietnamese restaurants in Houston that serve your most favorite dishes and a great ambience that lets you soak in the traditions and flavors of this vibrant Asian country.

Popular Vietnamese Food in Houston

Vietnamese cuisine is a rich and vibrant mix of fresh spices, meats and delectable sauces that create an explosion of flavor in our mouths with every bite. For the uninitiated, Vietnamese food was popularized across the globe with the pho, or the noodle soup full of sweet, spicy and tangy broth. But there’s more to this cuisine than just pho and here are some of the popular Vietnamese dishes that you ought to seek out when you visit Vietnamese restaurants in Houston –

Banh Mi

This is a delicious Vietnamese sandwich, a popular dish found on a food cart or a food truck. Usually tucked inside a baguette or a wheat-made bread is some delicious traditional filling made up of meats, beans, pate and more.

Banh Xeo

Quite like the French crepes, these appetizers are yellow pancakes stuffed with your choice of Vietnamese styled fillings of a number of different meats served with a traditional peanut sauce.

Pho

A popular Vietnamese soup dish, this is a noodle bowl filled with delicious broth and is primarily cooked using two proteins, beef and chicken.

Bun Bo Hue

Like Pho, this one is a soup too, except it is a beef broth flavored with lemongrass, shrimp paste and noodles.

Bun rieu

There are a number of different varieties of this seafood special soup dish but each is made of a crab and tomato broth and served with large chunks of fish and crustaceans.

10 Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Houston

Roostar Vietnamese Grill

This space is known in particular for its bahn mi, a Vietnamese sandwich with a bread that is crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. The restaurant makes the pate for the sandwich from scratch and its ambience makes for a rather fast-casual dining concept with bold and vibrant flavors. Along with the bahn mi, try the rice vermicelli bowls here and the red rimmed pork belly.
Where: 5551 Richmond Ave Houston, TX 77056

The Blind Goat

If you are a MasterChef US fan, you probably know about The Blind Goat, a Vietnamese experience curated by the winner of the third season, Christine Ha. With her restaurant, the chef brings to Houstonians a modern Vietnamese concept with a diverse flavor palette. Try Ha’s famous G.O.A.T. Curry with Rice here as well as her wanton chips with quexo (lemongrass, tamarind and shrimp powder) and her signature Rubbish Apple Pie.
Where: 409 Travis St Ste 367 Houston, TX 77002

Pho Binh

Pho Binh offers an explosion of flavor with its simplistic, yet tasty Vietnamese cooking that is absolute warmth and goodness. Try the Tai Nam or the steak and brisket soup, the shrimp spring rolls and crunchy garlic shrimp while you’re here. The Tom Thit Nuong or the grill pork and shrimp vermicelli bowl and the grill chicken rolls also promise to be delicious numbers.
Where: 2916 White Oak Dr Houston, TX 77007

Crawfish & Noodles

Visit this restaurant during the crawfish season to have your fill of the delectable large and jumbo crawfish cooked in Chef Trong Nguyen’s signature butter garlic sauce. There are a host of other great Vietnamese appetizers on the menu including salt and pepper blue crabs, nuoc mam fish sauce wings, grilled oysters and more!
Where: 11360 Bellaire Blvd Ste 990 Houston, TX 77072

San San Tofu

A fast-casual, market kind of place, this restaurant can give you the feels of enjoying street food in Asia. A real treat for vegetarians, it specializes in Vietnamese veggie bowls and dim sums as well as an array of vegetable noodle soups like the bun rieu chay tomato and tofu vermicelli.
Where: 6445 Wilcrest Dr Houston, TX 77072

Huynh Restaurant

A great place for authentic home-styled Vietnamese cooking, this restaurant offers some delicious traditional dishes like noodle bowls, stir-fried vegetables, rice plates and spring rolls. The portion size is substantial too, so if you order right, you might have enough leftovers for a quick midnight snack!
Where: 912 St Emanuel St Houston, TX 77003

Saigon Pagolac

The Saigon Pogolac is known for serving the southern Vietnamese specialty, Bo 7 Mon or seven courses of beef. A portion of beef tenderloin is followed by grilled beef sausage balls, the bo la lot or beef wrapped in betel leaf, then comes the steamed beef meatball, the bo sate, tenderloin slices served over salad and lastly, the chao bo, or beef alphabet noodle soup. Go to Saigon with a healthy appetite to enjoy these flavorsome courses at an affordable price.
Where: 9600 Bellaire Blvd Ste 119 Houston, TX 77036

Les Ba’Get

This modern spin on Vietnamese food culture offers a variety of spring rolls infused with Texan flavors such as the smoked brisket as well as bahn mi in baguettes and croissants and classic vermicelli bowls, the bun rieu crab and tomato omelette and the lemongrass grilled hamachi collar.
Where: 1717 W 34th St Ste 800 Houston, TX 77018

Thien An Sandwiches

One of Houston’s oldest and best Vietnamese restaurants, the Asian cuisine here is absolute deliciousness. The bahn mi comes highly recommended as does the special Vietnamese savory crepe with great fillings of pork, shrimp and beans. If you’re feeling healthy, try the duck salad here as well and the spicy beef noodle soup.
Where: 2611 San Jacinto St Houston, TX 77004

Pho Saigon

Check out this popular space for Vietnamese food in Houston if you haven’t already, for the lip smacking broth and noodles it serves, cooked in authentic Vietnamese style. Run by Phuong Tran and his wife Rosie, the restaurant has been around for quite a while and is known for creating its own flavors using meat and bone broth, right from scratch. The pho tai or the beef noodle soup with a side of rare beef continues to be a crowd favorite.
Where: 2808 Milam St Houston, TX 77006

All images courtesy: Yelp

 

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