Ba Le — Restaurant in West Falls Church

Ba Le. I truly love this place. I love there there is food that I have grown up with that has been pre-made that is left out. I can run in and purchase them at a low price. Yeah so they may be left out but don't we do the same thing at home when we make a ton of Vietnamese food? We leave it out on the counter all day so we constantly have things to eat.

It's a very comfortable feeling. The Banh Mi is good as expected. Everything that I have ordered comes out just the way I expect it to. That's why I give this place a 5/5.

The environment itself can be a bit messy and dirty but I expect that from a place that is 24/7 and minimally staffed. During the day yes! Of course things are up to par. Everything is clean. Service is fast. At night not so much. Have you ever been to a 24/7 McDonalds from 1-4 am and expected good service? NO. Lets be real. All of my personal experiences here have been great.

I see some people complaining about the sketchiness. You'll be fine. There are lower income people who live in the area and the plaza itself is a little beat up but isn't most parts of falls church or even Annandale. Not sure what people are expecting here lol.

The only con I have about this place is the bathrooms. I wish they were updated and cleaned thoroughly when I come but again I go at very odd hours. I don't think its worth deducting a star over. Not all places have clean bathrooms.

So you can call this review biased but I'm Vietnamese and expect everything I mentioned from a Vietnamese place. For me? I'm at home! There aren't very many upscale and modern Vietnamese places to begin with. When you go more upscale you lose the authenticity. There is only one place that has elevated our food the next level. Sunday in Saigon in Alexandria, VA. Check it out but if you're just looking for some good ole Vietnamese food or amazing hang over food this...

There are other "accessory" foods available for purchase here, including a wide variety of boba, Vietnamese iced coffee, and other cold drinks, but the real reason to come to Ba Le is for their banh mi sandwiches--and they do not disappoint. I prefer the grilled pork over the red roasted pork, and I really like the shaking beef. The shredded chicken is a safe bet for kids and fussy eaters. Frequent visitors know to ask for their vegetables on the side. You'll get more, and your bread will stay crispy until you get home. Ba Le also has a long-standing "buy 5, get 1 free" policy, so you'll maximize your value with a group order.

Ba Le is still run by the third generation of the family that opened this restaurant 34 years ago! I was served at the counter by the next generation of owner-operators--a young man who took orders and fluently joked with customers in three different languages, just during the brief time I was there.

It is possible to eat in, but Ba Le removed most of its tables during the COVID pandemic, and they say that the vast majority of their business is for carry-out.

Highly...

Once you get a feel for what things are (I only read English so some of the labels do leave me seriously wondering) then you can find something not too outside your usual taste. If you're trying some of this food for the first time it can be rather off-putting if you've never tried anything similar.

Their food is extremely satisfying. I like to get their pink jelly drink, the crispy egg rolls, any of their meat sandwiches, and every time I have to get their pho! The rice noodles are my favorite, the pork and shrimp soup just perfectly hits the spot. Not sure what happened with the previous reviewer's visit, but every time I've had them their smoothies are full of flavor and have fresh fruit on top when it's in season. I really love getting it with the boba in the bottom!

It's my impression that they work with the coffee shop at the end of the same strip, which make the smoothies and bubble tea. It seems to work out very well.

I wish they had better napkins but the food and hours have made the trial and error of me experimenting with unknown foods...