Lúa Viet Kitchen — Restaurant in Houston

This is an interesting concept - to turn vietnamese food into this modern, chic, organic, free range sort of place. Parking is limited around the back of the building. The lot is shared with several other establishments so I would imagine on a busy day you'd have to park on the street somewhere near here. The location is very nice, near the menil collection. There's also a nice patio street-side of W. Alabama which I'm sure will be nice in the fall or spring.

Once you enter (through the back) there's a menu on the wall to your left, and a counter to order on your right. You order at the counter, then pay and get a number. Drinks are at a fountain further ahead to your left. They have both sparkling and still water for free. Food is of course brought to you.

Beef Soup First of all expensive. The meat quality is not that great - the slices are too thick. They come already in the soup - it would be better to bring out fresh meat then have customers put it in the soup to cook it themselves in the hot broth. The veggies like bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapeno also come already in the soup. This is very nontraditional - these should come on the side so that the customer can add according to their personal taste. The noodles were also overcooked.

Crispy Egg Roll Filled too much. Not cooked properly - the pork inside was pink in half the egg rolls. Also not seasoned enough, very bland.

All in all nice presentation in the ambiance, poor delivery in the food. This place seemed popular but I suspect it's because most people who come here have never had decent Vietnamese...

My husband and I visited Lua Viet Kitchen on Mother's Day. They had a sign on the door asking for patience during the soft opening so we were prepared for a wait.

While looking over the menu we noticed there were several people standing near the counter and couldn't determine if they were waiting to order or waiting for take out. We finally approached a staff member and they let us know they'd take our order soon. During this time my husband noticed that another guest was offered beer and then shown to a table. We grew frustrated and started to leave. Somewhat uncharacteristically my husband went over to another staff member and he quickly offered us our choice of beer or wine and apologized for the delay while showing us to a table. That person was Nick, one of the owners.

Not only did Nick apologize for the delay but personally brought us our drinks along with complimentary shrimp spring rolls. By the time we ordered the kitchen was out of a number of items so Nick recommended the garlic noodles and he added crispy shrimp for free.

The food is flavorful, fresh and locally sourced. They also have a phenomenal sriracha hot sauce called Fix - definitely try it! We had the opportunity to chat with Nick and it is obvious that he is very passionate about his business and only wants to give his customers the freshest ingredients and great customer service.

Nick went above and beyond to ensure we were happy and even invited us back for a complimentary meal. Thank you for the hospitality, Nick! We'll be...

Is this a joke?

Allegedly this place is supposed to be healthy/ partially organic Vietnamese cuisine and is supposed to have a large plant based assortment. My husband and I went there tonight when our normal pho place was closed and google advised this was the next closest place to get vegan pho. Turns out they do not have vegan pho and were sold out of fresh spring rolls. I told the guy working the counter that I eat very simply: no oil, nothing fried, and lots of veggies so I asked for a recommendation because the “plant based section” of their menu appeared to be very fried food focused. He told me that the best option for someone with those dietary preferences was the lemongrass tofu. Imagine my surprise when the entree finally came out after 30 mins of waiting and was completely fried, glistening in oil and the only plants were two sad mushrooms and some oil laden onions. We thought maybe he had misunderstood us so we went back and ordered a second “plant based” entree: the shaken tofu. This one at least came with a side salad but the tofu was once again fried and the green pepper and jalapeños in it were smothered in a ridiculous amount of oil. This place is anything but healthy and fresh. I couldn’t choke down either of my meals and the few bites I did take (because I was so hungry) gave me a tummy ache. I feel misled from all the positive reviews, sick to my stomach post-meal, and I’m still hungry. I don’t...