Nguyen Vu

So it seems like this place got a face lift and the food got pulled from the dumpster. I’ve come here FOR YEARS and always loved this cozy gem with awesome food.
The servers are not existent and when they are theres a language barrier that allows a convenient excuse for not being able to deliver what was expected.
Save yourself the trouble unless you like to pay for sub par food.

worst Bo Luc Loc I ever had. tasted like super salty chinese stir fry. this is the chef special. I can’t image how bad his non special dishes will be.

Clean, average prices. Spring rolls and peanut sauce great! Chick length phở not so great, the broth had NO flavor. probably wouldn’t return

I moved from LA to the Bay two years ago and have been in Fremont for two years and have been looking for a go to phở joint. I’m glad to say that I think I find it

Looks like it might be under new ownership. The entire place has been renovated which adds a little more ambience to the whole thing.
Food is great. Ordered the bun dac biet which was a really good value: egg roll, vermicelli, and choice of meat for $ 9.50. All a good portion. Also ordered a sandwich to go which was quite loaded and tasty. Would definitely recommend.

Got the chicken phở, it was delicious. Smooth flavor and the chicken was fresh. I enjoyed it very much. Nice and clean place. The service was slow at first but at least the servers were there when you needed them.

I’ve been coming to Nguyen Vu since I was a kid and I’ve finally decided to write a review due to the new ownership. Like most reviews, everyone is new alongside the décor. The food tastes somewhat the same but what caused me to give three stars was because of the service. I came in during my solo lunch break and ordered a bowl of phở and a half order of cream cheese wontons but as soon as the food came out, the waiter brought out two bowls of phở, which doesn’t make sense because it was just me and there’s no way I could finish two bowls. I nicely said that I didn’t order two orders and he told the man holding the tray and said back in Vietnamese that I was a liar and went on with his duties. Needless to say, I am disappointed with the customer service and will probably go out of my way to a different spot. Sorry, Nguyen Vu. You fell off.

The new guy is so rude. been eating here for so many years and when i to-​go food and ask for broth they give it for free. the dude said «NO!» In a rude tone. calm down dude. jeeezzzz

New owners. New reno. I’ve been coming to Nguyens-​Vu before they added the Vu. That was back in the day before I had kids. Before I was married. Before I was grown. «Back in day when I was young I’m not a kid anymore.»
Fast forward to current day and it is a totally new place. The food is vaguely familiar. Basically the same, but with minor changes that only loyal customers would notice. The faces are different too. They’re not as friendly, not as familial as it once was. The old owners knew us. They watched our family start and grow. They always made it a point to stop and say, «hello» and share about their family and ask about ours.
Today we walked in to 2 gossiping ladies. Clearly we interrupted them and they were annoyed. Gossip girl 1 seated us while Gossip Girl 2 hocked a loogie as we walked by… classy. We had to flag down Gossip Girl 1 to place our order, get some appetizer plates and again for soup spoons when our food arrived. She was clearly irritated that we wanted her to do her job. At some point during our meal my husband and I locked eyes and agreed that it was time to find a new phở place. The last straw was the long ass wait for our check when gossip girl went MIA again and their credit card reader broke. Luckily we had cash.

I would always come here with my family whenever we craves Vietnamese food. This restaurant is close to home and very convenient. I never used to like phở, but after a while it caught on to me. This place recently got renovated, and it looks amazing compared to what it was before. The place is very peaceful and warm. The spring rolls are very yummy and taste perfectly paired with the peanut sauce. The phở with rare steak is what I usually get– medium size. It is a lot of food, but it is very filling. The broth has a nice salty flavor, the noodles seemed a little hard, but the steak cooked perfectly within the warm broth. The downside to this restaurant is the customer service and the lack of patience. My mom and I had ordered hot green tea, and it came out really warm– close to cold. Yes, the guy had fixed up the order, but the initial introduction with the drinks made me feel like they had the tea sitting out for a while. Another downside is when they close, they try to push you out so they can hurry up and clean. I wanted to keep eating, but felt like I needed to stop because they wanted us out. It’s understandable, but I don’t like feeling rushed. Besides the fact, the parking lot is never crowded, easy to find parking, and it’s not too crowded.

The food and service here is great, you can’t go wrong with the classics (phở, vermicelli, rice plates).
But what I really want to talk about is their eggrolls. Have you seen the movie Ratatouille where towards the end of the movie, the odious restaurant critic Anton Ego took a bite of the ratatouille and was instantly transformed back into his child self in the comfort of his own home with his loving mother serving him the same dish? That was my experience. The skin was so crunchy, flakey, and thick, that alone gives this restaurant 5 stars. I felt like everything I’ve done in my life up to that point must have been right because it led me to this very moment. I almost cried.
You be you, Nguyen Vu.

This place was ok. I had order a Bahn Mi, sandwich, and it was not like the usual Bahn Mi’s I have had elsewhere. It surprisingly tasted better than the usual Bahn Mi’s I’ve had. I also ordered a Mango Smoothy and that didn’t disappoint.
My wife ordered the Garlic Pepper Calamari and she said it was decent. They had served it without any dipping sauce, but after my wife asked for the dipping sauce it tasted a lot better. She also ordered the Tofu and Veggie Crispy Noodle and that was decent as well.
Service was acceptable and the surrounding was pleasing. The only negativity I can give it the excessive talking from the kitchen and the little flies that showed up after we had finished our meals.

The food here is great.
I got 122, caramelized catfish in hot stone pot and it was sweet. It’s also really inexpensive. You should try this place out. They remodeled the whole restaurant and it’s more cozy. The food comes out at a good time and we also tried the fried banana with ice cream which was DELICIOUS!!! The dish was off the table in less than 2 minutes because it was so good. I would recommend this place ¹⁰⁄₁₀. My family comes here all the time and will keep coming here. Hope you try this out :)

Haven’t been here in a long time and was surprised by the new renovation. It’s cute but kinda makes it seem like they lost a lot of space.
I ordered: garlic pepper calamari, crispy tofu and veggie chow mein and a mocha smoothie with pearls.
Garlic calamari was good except personally I think the batter is a little dry so I had asked the server if I could get sweet and sour sauce on the side which made it much better. The flavor of the pepper and garlic is really good.
Crispy tofu and veggie chow mein was awesome! Good flavor and decent amount of food on the plate!
Mocha smoothie. Mocha is my fav flavor so any place that offers it, I always order it! To my surprise the mocha was just right, with a hint of coffee and the boba (pearls) were fresh! Two thumbs up to that!
The only thing I was not happy about was all the fruit flies! They need to do something about that!!!

Recently remodeled… Even the bathrooms are nice.
Egg noodle dishes, chicken and rice clay pot, and phở are our family favorites.
Delicious food, friendly service, menu variety, cleanliness, prices… All wonderful. Napkins available on the table. Same menu since I’ve started going here –~10 years ago. Still have more items to discover.

For old customers who noticed the change in staff:
NguyenVu has been under new management since last February or so. They currently have completely new owners, hence the change in décor and food. I know this because my parents were the original owners of NguyenVu! I personally haven’t been here since my parents sold it, and just clearing some confusion I’ve seen in some reviews.

I have fond childhood memories here. My extended family used to eat here often, at least once a month, more than a decade ago. Our favorite appetizer was the shrimp egg rolls we’d wrap in romaine lettuce and dip in their fish sauce. I was too young to actually care about the menu back then. I’d normally get some egg noodle soup, probably with wontons, beef balls, or chicken.
On a whim, my mom was craving beef stew with French bread after purchasing banh mi elsewhere. She called in her order of chicken curry and beef stew with rice since they ran out of French bread. We ended up going to Safeway for bread. Beef stew was so good! Glad some things don’t change. Plenty of meaty beef chunks, potatoes, and carrots. Dunk that French bread in there. Yum. Chicken curry was another story. The sauce was too thin, not enough coconut milk? Maybe none at all.
Recent renovation! Confused whether or not we entered the correct place … beautiful red, green, and yellow lamps, pretty green flower mural, it looks like a little village in there! I’ll be back one day to dine in.

On a not too busy day we stopped by for our first phở experience!
The crab wontons and pot stickers were amazing and to die for. I mostly filled up on those alone.
The phở was absolutely amazing; silky noodles, ample beef, and fresh greens!
Will definitely go back for the formers alone, the latter is just a plus!
Tipped the staff and chef for their excellent service.
ALSO the phở portion is pretty huge. I ordered the small size and still had enough to take home.

We had the salt and pepper calamari as an app and once it came out, i smelt something strange and the only way I can describe it was like, acetone. When I tasted a piece of one, it burnt my nostrils. I mentioned it to my bf and he noticed it as well. We agreed that it was probably not fresh. We told the waiter about it and he spoke with the chef for a couple of minute and she came out very professionally and told us that they make shipments every weekend so it should be fresh. And that they don’t serve anything rotten. Then she took the plate back and said she would take it off our bill. So i give an extra star for that.
Ordered a pork and rice dish. It was a bit less than mediocre but eatable. Nothing flashy about it.
My bf ordered the phở and it was pretty bland. Our dishes seemed close to not being fresh anymore. I’m guessing they don’t get a lot of business. They are really nice and have great service. They just need to work on their dishes.

I came to Nguyen Vu for my FOURTH Vietnamese meal within a week; I know, the craving is too real (lol)! It was a bit difficult to find since I believe it’s the only restaurant within that plaza and you have to drive all the way down just to find it standing in a lonely corner. Only one other table were seated besides us. We ordered a fried egg rolls (6 pc), phở w/​just meatballs, and another phở with everything. Unfortunately, they don’t serve bun bo hue here.
The fried egg rolls were good! They use rice paper to wrap/​fry, which is different than spring roll skins. The meat could use a bit more flavor though. On the other hand, the phở’s broth was very soothing and non-​oily. They give you a lot of toppings so it’s worth the price too! However, there was some MSG.
Overall, the food was average. BUT I decided to up a star because of the service we received! The owner was soooo friendly and attentive (I mean, given it was pretty empty). When he brought our food out he wished us a good meal and he even made small talk with me when I went up to pay! I’m already thinking about returning; I’ve never felt more catered to at a Vietnamese restaurant!
P. S., He’s thinking about putting bun bo hue back on the menu!