You may know Linh Nguyen as the Broadway banh mi guy. His food truck Vina Baguette has a reputation for its tasty Vietnamese sandwiches, served in the parking lot of the Axis liquor store.
Now, he's got a space of his own ... Vina Vietnamese Street Food opened last week at 4230 N. Oracle Rd., in the Home Depot parking lot. That space has been home to a number of concepts including Jason's Mexican Food most recently, but Nguyen has made it his own by painting the walls a bright red.
He's also expanded the menu to include Vietnamese soups like beef pho and a harder-to-find spicy beef soup Bun Bo Hue with brisket swimming in a sour orangey broth. There are also 13 types of bubble tea on the menu with interesting flavors like papaya, red bean and pomegranate. On my visit I tried a taro boba smoothie, which wasn't nearly as sweet as I gathered when I saw it was bright purple.
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The hallmark of new menu is actually the build-your-own Vietnamese plate. You start off with either vermicelli noodles, white rice, steamed veggies or a green leaf salad. Then you add your protein: chicken, beef, garlic shrimp, lemongrass tofu or in my case a perfectly charred barbecue pork. Finally, you choose your toppings, like basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, etc.
I got mine "Classic Vietnamese style," aka a little bit of everything (pictured up top). The cold Vermicelli noodles were perfectly executed with some addicting crispy shallots on top that gave it all a salty crunch.
Vina is open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 7 p.m. Sundays. Go check it out!
