My Lai Kitchen - Venice — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Casual “build your own bowl” Vietnamese spot. Came here with a friend and we both were very excited to try some fresh eats. I opted for a bowl with crispy tofu, garlic rice, a generous amount of veggies (definitely get the pickled cucumber and the fried onions & garlic), as well as the fish sauce and cilantro ginger sauce. My friend opted for the banh mi with pork, and also an egg roll on the side. My tofu came out fresh and there was enough food that I had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Metered street parking is available, and it was easy to find a spot on a weeknight. There is free street parking further down the road by the school, if you’re looking to get some steps in. Indoor high top seating is available, though most people seemed to opt for takeout. Credit cards are accepted. The concept is similar to a Chipotle or Cava, and there are vegan options available (not part of the elite perk). The staff were all super friendly...

It saddens me to write this post and the sadness I will explain later. I would not recommend this place on the treatment of its workers alone. I stepped in to get a quick lunch and I could not believe the way the manager or owner was speaking to her staff. Yes it was busy but nothing should allow the female manager at Mar Vista to degrade her workers in the manner I witnessed. My sadness comes because I did not publicly speak up. I apologize to the workers that were being belittled in front of us customers for not standing up for them. The manager should be fired and if it was the owner who was verbally and emotionally abusing her staff, then clearly you must learn how to treat humanity. I will never eat there again and I am going to protest you by telling all my friends what I witnessed in your Mar Vista restaurant. I really don’t even want to give you one star. One more thing, your...

My Lai is located right on Venice Blvd. They don’t have a lot, so you will have to look for street parking. Luckily, I managed to snag a spot right up front! They have signature specialty bowls or Banh mi and also offer the option to Build your own bowl/Banh mi.

I wanted to build a bowl, so I got right to it. I filled it with garlic rice, vermicelli, chicken, veggies and my server was nice enough to give me 3 signature sauces to try! He had recommended the cilantro ginger (which ended up being my favorite!), miso sesame (second favorite), and the My Lai Sauce (traditional Vietnamese sauce, which was still very good).

The garlic rice was super tasty, I loved the chicken, and it was such a delicious bowl. I didn’t think I’d be able to finish, but because it was so tasty, I just couldn’t stop eating!

Will come back to try their Banh mi next time I’m...