Thanh Trúc Bistro

Despite What others have reviewed, I really like this place. Friendly staff. The foods great! Not to mention living a mile away, it’s so convenient to make a quick stop to satisfy that craving for phở!

This is a reliable stop for pretty good Vietnamese food in Kenner. In cold months I’ll have the phở which is good, and in warmer months they make a very good Bahn Mi. Service is super friendly and seems like a good neighborhood spot. Recommended!

Nothing really special about this place but it is close to home. BUT the bakery gets a 5 star, the restaurant is more like a 2 star.

I love the food here, but I come here almost 2 times a week for the bread. It’s a nice mom and pop ran establishment.

Very good phở! The rare beef was rare and thin — not tough and thick like it is some places.
The shrimp and pork spring rolls were tasty. Peanut sauce has a thick, not runny consistency — almost peanut-​buttery. That may be a break from what is traditional, but we enjoyed it.
The boyfriend had the ginger chicken lunch special which he enjoyed. Egg roll was hot and delish!
All of the food tasted very fresh and prepared with care.
Nice neighborhood spot, we’ll be back!

Exceptionally good Vietnamese food, even for this New Yorker! The ‘egg roll’ was what most call spring roll, thin and crispy with a wonderfully seasoned pork filling. The four larger ‘summer rolls’ (cold rice paper wrapped rolls with shrimp, cilantro etc.) were great with yummy peanut dip.
I didn’t understand why the menu was «dumbed down» since most New Orleanians know what Phở and Banh Mi are by now. They were called beef soup and vietnamese sandwiches.
The combo came with a lovely cabbage salad with crispy rice crackers and a fish sauce, rice wine dressing.
The Phở was Phở-​nomenal! (my wife «DON’T!» — I know couldn’t resist) There was a well-​done version (with or without tendon) and I chose the rare flank version where the flavors where sublime! The lunch special for $ 9.99 is a great deal with salad spring roll and phở.
My mom was disappointed they didn’t have the tri-​color desert (nab vam?) but maybe they will get this.
*Note to waiter, your graciousness to the high-​maintenance witch behind us was remarkable. I’ve never seen anyone so demanding and abusive to a wait person.

Third time here since they’ve open last year. My last visit was Mother’s Day and it has not improved.
Service is a bit slow. Takes forever for drinks and another forever and a half for food.
Had the «Ribeye Special». NOTHING special about it. Wasnt cooked on a grill. No grill marks. Crispy on the outside, RARE on the inside. Bland. SUPER bland. Came with egg noodles. SUPER DUPER BLAND.
My apologies but after a year with no improvements, I’m taking my American dollars elsewhere.

Ok Kenner residents, you need to start eating here. I have started going to this place about once a week to get the fried clear noodles with vegetables and seafood. The quality of this dish is outstanding, from the fresh and varied vegetables to the assortment of seafood (crab, squid, scallops, and shrimp). This is the best noodle dish I’ve had in New Orleans.
In the 7 or 8 times I’ve been so far, I’ve only seen other patrons twice. I don’t know how the business is doing but I hope they get more support. I would hate to lose my new favorite noodle dish!
Also worth trying are the standard spring rolls (big and fresh) and the desserts, especially the ooey gooey. I don’t know how fresh they are, since every time I go there are dozens of them ready to go, but they do taste as ooey gooey should.
Prices may be a tad high for noodle dishes, but the prices compare favorably to a place like Equator by the mall, and this place is better. And really, once you experience the quality of a dish like the one I described, you won’t think it’s over-​priced at all. $ 14 for all of that seafood and fresh veggies isn’t bad.
Minus one star, though, for slow service. I went with someone and ate there, and I swear they cooked her dish before they cooked mine. They brought hers out and mine followed about 5 minutes later, even after a substantial wait for the first dish. They are going to have to work on this. It’s not a problem for takeout, though, which is the way I usually enjoy this food.
Finally, I don’t know if the people who rated this place low really appreciate the types of vegetables you get in your noodle dishes. Super healthy and fresh stuff. I wonder if some of the places they prefer have these types of fresh greens in their dishes!

Disappointed. Service was slow and my soup was below average. We had a large party (9), and it was not too crowded. Our entrees were brought out at different times, and it felt like 5 minutes passed between when the first and last entrees were served. Someone in our party asked for lettuce to roll their entrée in and the wait staff said «no it doesn’t come with that». I had the noodle soup with seafood (Hu Tieu Tom). The broth had a nice flavor, but the shrimp were mushy and i couldn’t eat them. I probably would not go back.

Love the egg rolls and raw flank phở!

I hate making such a big change in my review, but I just can’t help it. I went in today and they had changed their menu. They no longer had tripe in any of their soups and put WELL DONE flank in its place. When I asked about it, the waitress said they had never had it… um.ok.I ATE some last time I was there, but ok.
They didn’t offer a version with rare beef, tendon and meatballs… you HAD to order well done flank as part of anything with rare and tendon in it. I really hate the well done flank. It’s thick and a lot like badly done roast beef.
SO…I asked the waitress if I could get rare meat, tendon and meatballs. The waitress said I could.
SO I did… well, I tried.
After a long wait, she brought my bowl and it had no meatballs. It did, however, have that damned well done flank. Dammit! And the rare beef was knotted up like badly cooked stir-​fry.
I let the waitress know and she said she would take off 1.50 because of the missing meatball, but that still brought the price to more than I can get a bowl at my normal phở places.
SO I have to bring my review down. I hate to do it but I was just so disappointed.
And sadly, this was my third visit… If you’ve read my reviews, this make sense… the universe HATES it when I have three great meals at any one place.
The universe is a buttwad.

I’m not sure what the first 3 who gave poor ratings saw but I enjoyed my experience at this place. The food reminds me of mom’s cooking. The server was experienced and knew what she was talking about. I ordered the springs rolls as a starter. The rolls were nice full of crispy vegetables and a good slice of shrimp and pork. The sauce is good but as most places it could be spicier. The main course was a grilled pork chop with the Vietnamese omelet with rice. The rice was cooked perfectly, the pork chop was seasoned well and cooked perfectly. Most Vietnamese restaurants the pork chop would be par cooked and then fried. Not this place. This cook this to order. The chop was a nice cut and was cut to prevent the chop from curling up. The fish sauce that comes with the meal was not bad. Usually it would be under seasoned and not as spicy. The end of the meal ended with a sample of bread pudding which was good but served cold. The strawberry cake was great but a little dry. The baker/​owner was aware of this. Overall the service and food was good. I would come back. Once again I’m not sure what the other low reviews were seeing and talking about. The owners came out to the table to welcome us to the restaurant and I spoke about the food and experience to them. They took it well and I would not be surprised to see improvements

I grabbed a banh mi to go for lunch. It was relatively quick service and not as terrible as the other two girls said. The inside is very clean and trendy for vietnamese eatery standards its not excellent but it fits the bill if you are in Kenner and craving Vietnamese food.

Finally I am so glad there is a Vietnamese eatery in Kenner. We went there for lunch. It wasn’t very crowded. They had a few tables of some guys that looked like they had been out in the hot sun all day. Probably coming in for a nice Bun salad for a quick lunch.
We sat at a booth and the little waitress came right away and took our drink order. Iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffe. We had to wait a little bit for the coffee because they had to grind the beans and of course drip it throught the individual lil press. It was perfect though. Nice and strong and alil bitter, over ice with condensed milk. We asked her about different items on the menu and she was very informative about them.
We decide to try the eggrolls and shredded pork spring rolls and then a combination fried egg noodle dish and the House Phở.
While we were waiting on our appetizers a few people came in and got pick up orders and some items out of the cases. They had meat pies, coconut breads, cookies, flan, ooey gooey cake, bread pudding and croissants in the case.
Our apps came out pretty quick. The eggrolls were delish. Fresh and crispy fried. Not greasy at all. Were great with the sweet chili sauce. And the shredded pork spring rolls were so good! The rice paper was perfect. I hate when spring rolls are dry and chewy when they have sat around too long. These were fresh as could be, delicate and moist, filled with some wonderful shredded pork bits, more like tripe or belly strips and brown rice powder, fresh herbs and rice noodles. The fish sauce dip was great, but ask for the peanut sauce too, it goes great with the spring rolls. Those spring rolls are some of the best I have had in LA.
The noodle dish and the phở came out, she brought out plates and another phở bowl so we could split it. The phở broth was good. Lots of yummy meat in there, and the herbs, beans sprouts and all the extras. All fresh and tasty. Very light. It was a good phở.
The egg noodle dish was also delish. The sauteed veg were so so so good, probably my favorite part. If I order it again I would do just veg. It had chicken, beef, squid, crab, fish cake and veggies. The flavor was fantastic. It was nice and light, not greasy or oily. The only thing I would change on that dish is the imitation crab in there. I don’t care for the taste of imitation crab or fish cake. But the sauce and noodles and veggies and other meats were great. The vegetables were tons of fresh cabbage and bok choy, brocolli, carrots. All went perfectly with the crispy noodles and the noodles in the middle had that perfect balance of soggy crispiness, thats the best part.
Once we were coming to an end to the meal the waitress started bringing out samples of cookies and bread pudding for us and the rest of the patrons to try. Thought that was pretty smart on their part to get one more sale out of us. And it worked. We got choc choc chip cookies, walnut chip cookies, ooey gooey cake, coconut bread, croissants and a meat pie to go. For later snackage of course.
Overall I think that the experience was good. This tiny place could never compete with Dong Phoung. But the wait staff and owners were very welcoming, the food was very good, the price was nice, and I would definitely go back. For a lil neighborhood vietnamese eatery it is a nice change from the chains around there.
What I think they need to work on is the bread items in the case. Ha, thought I was going to forget to tell yal about that, nope… the cookies and desserts were excellent. I want another ooey gooey cake just talking about it right now. But the croissant, meat pie and coconut bread were not that good. Maybe they had been sitting there for a while and do not turn over as fast as they should because they do not have the volume of business. Or they may have been better early in the morning when they were first brought out. Alittle on the hard and stale side. We will taste test those next time before we buy them, since they let you try stuff. And the meat pie dough was a good vietnamese meat pie dough, but the filling could use alittle work. More vietnamese flavor in there please:)

I like it. I dont know about those other 2 girls that were reviewing the place but I sho as hell liked it.
Went for lunch and had a special, the korean short ribs, I received 4 slices of long short ribs. That’s right — read it again. long short. HAHA. ok back to the review. Seasoned just right and not overdoing it, with a side of rice and a side of broccolli. Im glad that the side of broccolli was not smothered in grease or butter because frankly I dont like my sides overseasoned with salt pepper. It was just the right contrast to the korean short ribs.
I shared this plate in addition to an order of vietnamese egg rolls which was great. It wasnt greasy at all. The server asked if we wanted the fish sauce or the sweet chili sauce for dipping. I told her neither because a good viet egg roll wouldnt need it but she ignored my snotty ass and brought out the sweet chili sauce which was fine cuz my dining partner used it.
Ginger says there was ooey gooey, damnit but I came too late in the day to get any meat pies or ooey gooey. However I did order a croissant. Sucker was big. Flaky goodness with a bit of jam in there. It was good. If you like it warm you could ask them to toast it for you, make sure you tell the server not to nuke it cuz they really dont know any better.
From what I hear, the bakery is on rotation, so you wont find the same thing, but such things like the meat pies, croissants, and bread pudding are gonna be daily. Ooey gooey — I must try.
Our server was right on par and checked up on us.
The place is clean, not noisy and probably good for large parties. Id definitely come back out here again if I was in the area. The food is just about the same as Ba Mien or 9 Roses. I cant say the same for Tan Dinh cuz they’ve gone downhill to the point I regret telling the guys from Galactic to go there for viet food.
Cash and credit is accepted, parking can be tight because they share some space with Snap Fitness, however, park by Mr. Eds on the other side and get your grub on!

More Vietnamese food in Kenner please.
I think us New Orleans folks underestimate the convenience of Kenner. It can be hell to get to sometimes, traffic can be rough, it’s a good 10 – 15 minutes away even if there isn’t any traffic. But it’s not to far from all the shopping, and it’s right near the airport. Plus it’s not on the westbank. Because of all of this I welcome any new restaurant to that area.
My experience at Thanh Truc Bistro was pretty solid. Me and a co-​worker walked in, we were the only customers. The two young ladies (either adults with awesome genes, or high schoolers) were eager and happy to serve us. We were given everything promptly, and offered suggestions when staring at the menu. I can’t remember what I ordered, I just remember it not being what I had imagined, but it tasted pretty good anyway. Can’t complain too much about that.
This place also has a french style bakery (reminder Vietnam was colonized by the french, so don’t use that to shoot down authenticity), which the staff seemed proud of. The croissant we had was top notch, though not amazing. What I wish I tried was the various meat stuffed pastries, I suppose next time.
My suggestion, if your in the area, stop in, it’s a good little local business that needs your support. A new restaurant can only grow and cultivate it’s style if the most critical are patronizing it. It’s not as good as the other time tested Vietnamese places in the area, but I think it’s a start to something solid here.

Living in the Metairie area, I was pretty excited to learn about this new Vietnamese eatery that had opened a few months ago located in Kenner. Unfortunately, that excitement went away pretty quickly. When I arrived, there were only 2 other tables present with parties of 3 or less. There seemed to be 2 waitresses, however, it took over 20 minutes just to get drinks! I was so irritated with the wait and although the waitress was very kind, she obviously had no sense of time. Therefore, I decided to cancel my appetizer of eggrolls that I had ordered. Of course, once I had told her to cancel, she came back a few minutes later saying that it was available if I still wanted it. I decided to take it anyway cause I thought to myself, «Lord knows how long it’ll take to get my actual entrée.» The drink wasn’t great either. I ordered the traditional café sua da which is the popular, traditional iced coffee espresso drink. For all those who know me, I’m a coffee-​holic and their café sua da was a fail! As for my order, I had the phở dac biet which was ok but I’ve definitely had better. I wanted extra lime but that took an additional 5 minutes once my food was brought to me.
Overall, the food was less than mediocre and the service was completely pathetic. Typically, most Vietnamese restaurants are ready to take your order in less than 5 min. and deliver your food in less than 10. I had to wait almost a full hour for everything to be served! Not worth the time, money, or drive.

This place is by far the WORST Vietnamese I’ve ever had. I am Vietnamese and I know how good or at least decent Vietnamese is suppose to taste like. This place not worth the money or drive to come eat here. I felt like it was a waste of a 30 minute drive all the way from the Westbank to eat at this place. There are WAY better Vietnamese places to eat in the Westbank.
What we ordered:
Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls — You really can’t go wrong with that beside the sauce… it was way too peanut buttery so we added some hoisin sauce which made it taste a lot better.
Eggrolls — It was decent… the Sweet Chili Sauce makes anything taste good.
Com Ga Xao Xa Ot (Rice w/​Lemongrass Chicken) — Could you call this Com Ga Xao Xa Ot? Maybe not traditional way of cooking it. I actually questioned the lady who brought this dish out if it was what we ordered.
Com Bo Luc Lac (Rice w/​Sauteed Beef and Onion) — Lacked a lot of flavor and rice was dry.
Banh Hoi Thit Nuong (Pressed/​Steam Vermicelli w/​Grill Pork) — Let me begin. This is my all time favorite Vietnamese dish and I was extremely disappointed. The pork was marinated ok but the vermicelli itself was horrible! One bit and I was like this is not pressed vermicelli I know! As I examine the dish some more, it looked like I got the scraps and the presentation was not very appetizing. You could tell that the green onions on top were old. (Tay Do and Nine Rose’s has way better Banh Hoi.)
Mi Xao Thap Cam (Combination Stir-​fry Egg Noodles) — I was hoping that they could at least get this dish right but I spoke too soon. Another dish that also lacked flavor and the noodles were slimy.
Pros — Waitress was really nice and place was clean and up-​to-​date.
Cons — Food took way too long to come out and the owner? was constantly bugging the waitress… which slowed her down even more.
Overall, it will take a lot for someone to have me eat at this place again. I felt like this tried to «Americanize» because of the area they are in. If you are Vietnamese or a fan of really good Vietnamese food this is not your place. Maybe if you’re in the Kenner you would stop by to satisfy that craving but go drive to Metairie and you will get BETTER food. But like I say it doesn’t hurt to try out a new place because it is always a lesson learned.
Oh! Good thing there’s a newly opened Tutti Frutti (same owners as the one on Veterans) across the street, it made the drive all the way to Kenner a little better.