Chu Minh Tofu and Vegan Deli — Restaurant in Seattle

So, I think my dyed hair and wearing a mask hid the fact that I was possibly Asian (I am Asian) is the reason why this had happened, but my review is based on experience only. The food was great, and the younger girl who was the cash register for the food (I’m assuming either a family member or just an employee that was hired by the owners there since she spoke English) was so helpful and very kind. But this is more of a review on the owners side.

So, me and my friend are from Portland and he said that this Vietnamese vegan (chay) food place was great and that he goes here every time he is in Seattle. So I wanted to see what this place was all about and saw that they have great reviews on Google. We go in, and the younger girl is so kind and helpful that so far, it was a great experience. We were told by the girl that we could ask for sample of things, so because samples were available, of course we asked for samples before we spent money on buying them. Until one of the older ladies (I think the older lady is one of the owners), said in Vietnamese “Hai đứa này cuối cùng sẽ ăn hết và không trả tiền” while laughing to the two cooks (two older Vietnamese men). Which basically means, “These two (people) will eat all of our food and end up not even paying/buying them.” Now, when I heard this, I was shocked and taken aback. Like what? Then I think this is when I realized.. because I had my hair dyed blond, I was wearing a mask, and I was with my friend who is white, I think she assumed that I was white as well, or at least not Vietnamese. So when I finally processed what she had said, I replied to her saying in Vietnamese (with my Viet accent and everything) something along the lines of (I will translate what I said but this was said in Vietnamese to her) “Sorry, sorry. We are just trying before we decide what to get. We will still buy before we leave.” And I think that she felt embarrassed or shocked that I understood her because she looked at me and walked out the door without responding. Probably embarrassed because she didn’t expect a native Vietnamese person to hear her talk behind her customers back in a language that she thought I didn’t know 😭😭😭. So it just makes me wonder how many times she has talked behind her customers back or gossip about them while they were in the store, thinking that speaking in her native language (Vietnamese) will protect her 😭😭😭. Anyways. The food was great and definitely worth, the kind younger girl at the cash register who gave us some samples and was in charge of making our banh mi was great. I think she realized what had happened because she said two of the cha gio was on the house after that incident. But that experience with one of the supposed owners was… not as...

This seriously pains me to write, but today's takeout experience showed me that the poor service I've been experiencing here has been recurring.

I'll start off by saying that I LOVE ChuMinh Tofu: since I started living in my apartment two blocks away, I've ordered banh mi from here regularly. I don't eat meat, so I love their selection of faux meats (especially the lemongrass chicken). The owner is also super sweet and always gives me an egg roll on the house when I'm waiting for my order. I love what she does for the Little Saigon community as well.

The thing that I don't love about ChuMinh Tofu is how long it takes for me to get my takeout order. And I don't mean that they're busy and I'm being impatient: no, I mean they consistently forget my order and don't check up on me until 25 minutes have passed. Today, I went in person to get two banh mi and autumn rolls to go. My transaction time was 12:28pm. I go outside to wait, then move inside after 10 minutes. It gets crowded inside (two other parties have ordered to go by this point), so I go back outside. I wait there another 20 minutes (1pm now): people who ordered after me already got their orders and left. It wasn't until then that the younger, male worker (who's typically in charge of banh mi) comes to ask if I'm waiting for something. He said that my order got lost (even though I placed it at the kiosk like everyone else)—it took another 10 minutes for the order to come out.

This isn't an isolated situation. I've placed orders through Doordash pickup before to try to beat this problem of waiting in-store for my order: no luck. I'd place the order, wait the 15-20 minutes it tells me to, walk over, and the order hasn't even been started yet. What's the point of giving an estimated pickup time if you're not even going to work on the order until I show up?

I really do love this business, and I know everyone who comes here does as well. But the way that my orders are never on time/prioritized is just so frustrating...

This place has the best deep fried spring rolls that I know. It was recommended by a friend. they were busy when we arrived around 1:00 PM Sunday, 4/23/2023. We asked if we could on short notice order 50 spring rolls for a potluck at work. They got a small lady to answer and she figured the cost at $65.00. She said that she would add ten. We liked her, very friendly. They were super busy. They were very well staffed, so they could handle the rush of diners. The is a separate dining area with about ten tables. The buffet looks delicious. Two days prior we had ordered a party tray of pork egg rolls from a favorite Filipino place. These from Chu Minh Tofu were three times bigger and had a tasty mix of vegetables as well as the pork. While we waited the lady brought out a couple of fresh cooked ones to try. YUM. With a dozen extra, the cost of the egg rolls was about $1.00 each. I took a lot of pictures and I want to return for the buffet ($25.00). My wife says she doesn't want to eat there because the floor of the deli was dirty. That street corner sat 12th Ave S and S Jackson St is a gathering place for rowdy homeless people. The parking lot is small and is enclosed in a tall chain link fence. For a while, someone had double-parked behind us. They left before we did, so it was not a problem. The deli had bags and boxes of food for the homeless out front. People were sitting around eating in the parking lot and handing bananas to their homeless friends through the fence. There were really a lot of young adult Asian and American people coming and going. This atmosphere didn't bother me at all. But it is the reason for rating at only four stars. I kind of love a funky place and ChuMinh Tofu...