Hai Yen Restaurant — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Overall Thoughts: This spot has become one of my favorite spots in Argyle for fresh, traditional, and flavorful Vietnamese food at a solid price. Everything I tried was wonderful and the light, aromatic flavors truly hit the spot. The hawaiian leaf sausage is a must have, and they also have a plethora of banh mi options (+ other menu options) that I’m dying to return to try. The food comes out quickly and the staff are super sweet. The inside is very simple and barebones, but spacious and comfortable.

Food I tried: Hawaiian leaf sausage rice paper rolls (4.9/5): The hawaiian leaf sausage is one of the best things I’ve had in awhile. It’s absolutely fire— so juicy and flavorful.

Charbroiled pork skewer banh mi (4.7/5): A very solid and tasty banh mi for a reasonable price- $8. The bread was fresh and airy, the pork was juicy and flavorful, the veggies were sharp and crisp, and the sandwich was well sauced and not dry.

Grilled shrimp vermicelli bowl (4.3/5): Another solid dish that we enjoyed. The shrimp was a little overcooked but the lightly sweet and fishy flavors were on point. —

Price (relative to peers): 4.5/5 Food: 4.6/5 Ambience: 4.2/5 Service: 4.8/5 Overall...

Came here with my cousin who has been to a seemingly endless list of Chicago restaurants and she insisted that this was the best pho in the city. Our experience at Hai Yen did not disappoint.

AMBIANCE: typical authentic pho restaurant. No fanciness or frills, just tables and chairs. They put all their focus on their food which is obvious.

SERVICE: Attentive, quick

FOOD:

Bo La Lot (grilled marinated beef and pork wrapped in an aromatic Hawaiian leaf) - absolutely delicious, I wish it came with more than 3 pieces (I could eat 10 of these). Comes with a delicious dipping sauce.

Cha Gio (Crispy fried eggrolls) - nothing special here, I wouldn't recommend getting this again.

Pho - pho is what you come here for. You can't go wrong here. I had the Pho Tai Nam with eye of round and brisket. Add all the fixings (Thai basil, bean sprouts, chili sauce) and you have an amazing bowl of soup.

Hu Tieu Dai Xao Cua Tuoi (crabmeat with glass noodles) - great noodle dish to complete a spicy bowl of pho (if you added enough chili)

When I am back in Chicago and I am craving pho, I will definitely be...

I haven't been back to Hai Yen for a long time. I finally went back last week, I ordered 9 pieces bò lá lốt , my favorite, I also ordered rice with canh Chua tôm (shrimp sour soup), cá kho tộ( catfish in clay pot),rau muống xao toi, cá hồng chiên (fried red snapper).I even ordered for carryout pho beef noodle soup and bún bò Huế spicy porkhock noodle soup. Everything was so good, oh yes I ordered chè 3 màu for my dessert, it was ok, not as good as I had as other place and their ice coffee didn't taste as strong as other place either. Their Jasmin tea was good. The restaurant was clean , nice cushion seats, clean bathroom,it was very good attentive service. oh 1 thing they didn't do good, I had left over bò lá lốt, I asked to pack for me the rice paper too, but when I came home, there was no rice paper, I had to wrap it with just the vegetables. The price was good, except the fried red snapper was a bit high, but it was good crispy fried red snapper. I highly recommend this place. Especially, when I have the craving...