Vinai — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Vinai experience: The food was decent, but our experience was overshadowed by the poor service from our assigned server (a big white man with a beard and glasses). While another staff member was kind and attentive—helping us pack our food and even printing the bill, which should have been our server’s responsibility—our server was dismissive.

We noticed a clear change in their attitude after we chose not to order alcoholic beverages. From that point on, they ignored us while actively chatting with other tables. We did appreciate that they offered to explain the menu, but the way they presented it felt awkward and condescending. They repeatedly described most items as “amazing” and stumbled through the explanations, which made the interaction feel less genuine and more performative. Our food also took noticeably longer than expected to arrive, which made us wonder if it was intentional. When they did check in, it felt rushed and insincere compared to their interactions with other guests. They also gave us the impressions that we should order more food .. (maybe we were overthinking..), which felt uncomfortable given we had already ordered three dishes that we couldn’t even finish. We also overheard their conversation with the table next to us (we were seated at kitchen tables). Although we didn’t catch the full context, we heard them ask, “Why didn’t you order any meat? Are you vegetarian?” I didn’t catch the person’s response but a minute later with some other conversations, they followed by, “As long as you’re not that kind of vegetarian,” which they laughed about. We are not vegetarian ourselves, but hearing this comment felt unprofessional and offensive. 😅

At the end of the meal, they didn’t acknowledge us or thank us as we left. Instead, when we went to grab our packed leftovers, they stopped us to “verify” that the bag with leftover was ours—even though the other guest he mentioned had left more than 15 minutes earlier. It was another staff member, not him, who ultimately sent us off.

We were excited to visit a restaurant with so many outstanding awards, and as two Asians, we came hoping to enjoy some comforting, homey food from a Hmong-owned business. To be treated this way in a place by a white server where we expected to feel at home was especially sad and disappointing—it left us feeling like perhaps we had expected too much.

Their behavior made us feel unwelcome and ruined what could have been an enjoyable dining experience. What they did before we left was the last straw for me, I re-opened the check and removed the tip we had originally added.

Other staff members were pleasant and professional (they were to nice and sweet), but unfortunately, this server’s treatment of us left such a negative impression that I will not...

The recent reviews of this restaurant have been rather equivocal. They spent most of the time talking about the owner and chef, and not that much of the time talking about the food. And what they said about the food gave one pause. However, we were lucky enough to get a seat at the bar without reservations last night, and we had an absolutely fantastic meal. The waitstaff/ bartenders were enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and incredibly attentive.

We started with cocktails, and I can say, having had cocktails in many restaurants in the Twin Cities, that these cocktails were fantastic. I had what was billed as the Hmong juah, and it was a fantastic blend of gin, lime, cilantro, and olive oil. It was really good. My husband had The Times, which was great, and then the Smoky Mountain, which was fantastic. We started with the grilled lamb hearts. I know organ meat scares many people. They, however, were delicious - very tender, and served with rice noodles, lettuce, a spicy sort of coleslaw, and a yummy dipping sauce.

We ordered way too much food, but it was all sensational. We had the pork chop with its tamarind lemongrass glaze, the crabby fried rice, which was delicately flavored and delicious, and the grilled carrots - which are served cold. What I loved was that the owner and chef Yia Vang was there finishing dishes.

We had the lovely mango ice cream coconut tapioca pudding for dessert. It is good for sharing.

The interior is quite nice, with high ceilings with interesting wooden structures above the tables, so the place is a very warm nice feel despite its size. Even the bathroom was cool!

This place has gotten a lot of hype, but I have to say we had a really wonderful meal and a wonderful time dining there. The service is fantastic, the ambience is buzzy but not too loud, and the food was absolutely delicious. Every single dish we had I would want to have. Again. I highly recommend you make some reservations...

This is our second visit, the first time we went right after the restaurant won awards and was on YouTube; it was a 10/10 then. Now its been a while, lets see if they stay that way. This we what we ordered and how we thought about everything.

FOOD * $14 - Sardines; Literally tinned fish that you can buy at Surdyks (they just warmed up a can of nice sardines, added a singular cherry tomato and some herbs) 0/10 [DO NOT ORDER].

$61 - Double cut Pork Chops; They are amazing and you should order. They can easily feed 4 people no problem. The sauce is amazing the little bit of char they have is perfect. 10/10 [ORDER]

$MP/51 - Grilled Fish; At the time of review was the collar of a fish. Small portion size, they need to bring back the whole fish and just have a rotation of whole fish. It was very tender and tasty. 6/10 [ORDER, if you like fish]

$19 - Charred Cabbage; this was pretty good. The puree that it was on had a lot of 'liquid smoke' flavoring which is not the best but the actual dish was quite good.

DRINKS *

$16 - Cool as a Cucumber; was pretty good, not too sweet but very refreshing 9/10

$16 - Smokey Mountain; not bad. If you like super smoky old fashions this is good. 7/10

$15 - Melon High Ball; this was ehhh? Highballs are supposed to emphasize on the whisky and this was very just ... there. 4/10

In all we spent $192 for the dinner not including tip for 3 people; $64 a person.

CONCLUSION * I personally feel that the have definitely gotten lax on some of the portion sizes; they pride themselves on being a family style restaurant to serve larger portions but then serve tiny portion sizes and charge ridiculous price, then they come out with huge sizes that match what your paying. If you've never been go. but its not a place that I'll be visiting again for a while; unless I...