R & D Cafe — Restaurant in Castro Valley

A small mom & pop shop in a little plaza. Parking's easy to find in the spacious lot, but there are often school kids biking or milling around in the afternoons, which can be a bit chaotic while driving.

Be advised that they have a strict $10 minimum for credit cards! Otherwise, there's a bit of an extra charge.

I really enjoyed my grilled pork bahn mi. Having tried both beef and pork now, I'd recommend the pork more. They get a really good texture on the bread (not too hard that it cuts into your mouth), fresh and crisp pickled veggies, tasty marinated meat, and a good sauce. Interestingly, their meat marinade appears to be more of a savory soy sauce than the typical sweet BBQ flavor you'll often find at other bahn mi places. It's good, though! The portion was great, and the price was reasonable. Note that the jalapeños can really pack some heat in these sandwiches. Even after picking out the slices, you still get quite a bit of residual oil left on the sandwich. If you're sensitive to spicy, please let them know while ordering to make yours without.

I can't wait to try their other offerings, as well. I'll be coming by whenever I...

what the heck was that? Had a great day celebrating my sons graduation from Law School and had resies at R&D for over 3 months to celebrate this milestone occasion.

Food was amazing and the collective service was atrocious. It was almost weird that the entire Team from the server all the way up to the manger did not care about the experience they were trying to create and they would drop off food and not say a word or look us in the eye. there were no smiles and it was like the entire staff dreaded there job and could care less about the customer..

I am sorry but when I go to dinner and drop 300.00+ dollars and am expected to tip 22% on top of that I would expect that they cared about the experience they were trying to create for there customers.

Left a bad impression all the way around for us. You guys need to make...

While waiting for our dog to get tests and be treated by an oncologist, my husband treated me to a wonderful Vietnamese food lunch at R&D Cafe in San Lorenzo. R&D Cafe has many tasty, sizable dishes at great prices.

The proprietors were warm, gracious and attentive as they took our order and served us. The place was bustling with nearby high school students in line buying carry out lunch; the tables were full of diners. And folks just kept on coming, filling up the small cafe. The vibe inside was friendly and comfy with people chatting and delighting in their meal, as did we. Being there felt good—a little slice of diverse Bay Area community joy. My husband and I happily thanked the proprietors. We were happy that the oncology assistant referred us...