Thanh Thanh Cafe — Restaurant in San Francisco

Updated review 6/19/2025: 2025 update. We came by to have some trued and tried good noodle soups. Thanh Thanh Cafe is always solid for that. They re-opened after a few weeks of being closed for summer vacation. Last time, it was pretty disappointing to see the closed sign and the outdoor chairs gone. It was nice to see they were opened today. We had the wonton noodles L $16.50, pho combo w/egg noodles M $15, pho combo L $17 and shrimp spring rolls $10.25. Everything tasted fine. Service remains excellent.

Updated review 2/5/2022: We love coming to Thanh Thanh Cafe because they open early at 9:30am. That's cool because we tend to ride our bicycles early and we don't have to ride down to the lower avenues on Clement to get a hot bowl of noodles for breakfast. Indoor dining is finally re-opened! No more sitting out in the cold at their single sidewalk table. For breakfast, we had the beef noodles $12, sate pho $12 and imperial rolls $8. Everything tasted great. The staff is friendly and gave the children candy after our meals. The bonus is, there's a popcorn chicken place next door with boba/fruit drinks. 23rd avenue is closed off to car traffic and Thanh Thanh is right there. Their noodles are something we look forward to during our ride. I'm so full now, I need to take a nap.

Updated review 10/2/2021: There was a crowd in front of Thanh Thanh Cafe around noon today. It took them about 15 minutes to make my combo sandwich. We were going to eat at their single table outside like usual but it was too crowded. We ended up biking to the Marina Greens and enjoyed our sandwich there. The bread was soft with a crispy crust. Plenty of meats and Vietnamese vegetables inside. Too bad we were too far from Thanh Thanh Cafe at that point, because I really would have loved to get another sandwich.

Original review: Brunch at Thanh Thanh is always a treat. They used to open earlier at 9am. Now they are open at 9:30am. Indoor dining is still not available yet. The young waiter does not anticipate opening for indoor dining anytime soon. They did add one single table for outdoor dining. We had a Vietnamese coffee, spring rolls and pho. The only drawback is they served it in to-go containers even though we were dining there. At least this time we didn't have to resort to eating at a neighbor restaurant's parklet. I still love the food and...

This spot is the definition of hospitality. There are lots of great Vietnamese and Asian options nearby and I'm so glad I stopped by.

The restaurant has lots of signs saying they're vegan friendly, and the menu posted on the window confirms it. Not busy on a Friday lunch hour, but a couple of regulars were also dining and I quickly found out why they're so loved.

The server gave the regular menu and the vegan one with photos by default. Got the vegan bun hue spicy noodle soup because the server said it was popular. I pointed to the vegan section, but didn't explicitly say I wanted the veg version.

🟡 The dish quickly came out, but it had brisket. I dug around the bowl to confirm, told the older gentleman, whom I assume is the owner. He quickly removed it and my used chopsticks, which was thoughtful.

🍜🟢 The vegan version came out and it was delish! There was fried tofu, konjac shrimp, konjac squid, seitan 'beef' slices, and plenty of veggies (broccoli, carrots, bok choy). The noodles were perfectly done so they had a great chew, but unfortunately not very splurpable as I had to chew carefully. The bok choy was overcooked, but all the other veggies were 💯. I can't believe they took the time to remove the ends from the bean sprouts 😍 That's next level attention. My first time having bun hue and I wish Chicago had as many veg Viet options.

💗🟢 The two owners and server stopped by to keep my glass of water filled, and say hello to all diners without being overbearing....

Literally our go-to place after coming back from a trip. It's always our first meal. The family that owns this place are some of the kindest people and they make fantastic Vietnamese food. My partner says it's his favorite beef pho of the places we've tried in the Bay Area, and they are definitely the best vegetarian pho you can get in the Bay. There's a really solid, but short vegetarian menu -- in fact, some of the family members are vegetarian too.

My favorite is the vegetarian spicy noodle soup that use bún tươi, which are these round, rice noodles that are so QQ and perfect for slurping. The dish is stacked with a variety of vegetables and fried tofu skin, deep fried tofu, sometimes veggie sliced beef and ham...etc. They're super generous with their ingredients and it's a fantastic deal for $14.

We both also love getting their banh mi -- the bread is always warm and toasty, has a good crust and pillow-y inside, and the picked vegetables are done just right.

They also make a mean and strong Vietnamese coffee if you're...