The Food shop

All the vegi options are really good. The vegi banh mi and garlic noodles both rule. Everything is really good, and it’s a nice price point for downtown.

This spot is great! Keep an eye open for it, right next door to Sovereign. I had the 7 spice bbq pork bowl. It’s the perfect level of sweet and tangy! Add hot sauce to taste and whamo-​o! Delicious! Definitely a must-​do if you’re looking for a tasty quick or take-​out meal.

The food is actually alright but nothing to call home about.
Shit service and erratic hours! Call and place an order and show up to pick up the order and the door is locked. This has happened more than 3 times.
If you decide to order from here make they don’t waste your time and money.

I wasn’t sure about this place when we first walked up to it, looking a bit like a fast food joint and no one inside, and is it really possible to have good phở outside of Clairemont and in the middle of touristy downtown? It is! Best phở I ever had, their phở broth is die for! The price is a bit higher than in Clairemont but the portions were huge, the ingredients were fresh, the service fast and attentful.
I got chicken and my husband got their special, both amazing! My chicken was actually grilled and had great flavor.
We will be regulars!

This place is the bomb! Right in the heart of Gaslamp on 5^th. Delicious phở and other plates. You won’t regret it.

I’ve had phở in every restaurant in SJ, OC, SD, in Vietnam and from my mom and honestly theres little to distinguish them all from each other but The Food Shop’s brisket certainly helped separate it from other phở spots.
It’s about $ 2 more here than you would find out in City Heights or other parts of SD but certainly worth it if you’re in the area.
Their noodles with pork dish was also very delightful.

Seriously Delicious Bahn Mi and Phở! I ordered to go and waited for my food to be made to order. The shop is super clean and you can see right into the kitchen which they may share with the sovereign kitchen. Bahn mi bread was perfectly crust and soft inside, veggies fresh and jalapeño cut nice and thin. They there in a Baggie of delicious (house made?) shrimp chips. Next time I’ll ask for an extra side of hot sauce!

Walked in Wednesday night at about 8pm. One person sitting outside. Small store front. Greeted by a lady (did’nt get her name). A little boy greeted me as well and asked if I was ready to order (ADORABLE).
Order: Meatball Banh Mi with Jalapeño and Vietnamese iced coffee (asked if it came with boba)
Review: Sandwich was okay, the meatball sauce wasn’t very good whatever it was — maybe meatball and mayonnaise — not very good. Bread itself was soft and good. Coffee was terrible — the lady had to ask if I could get boba but I got these thick white gooey balls aka not boba.
Verdict: Maybe ordered the wrong stuff but kinda ticked about the boba thing. If you don’t have it just say it. Will probably give this place another try. The phở the guy outside was eating looked good. Will NOT order from the drink menu.
Note worthy: The lady assumed it’s a take out order and when she realized it wasn’t (after handing me my sandwich which I opened in front of her to eat) she apologized brought out some chips and water. So she is super nice.
***Did not see a restroom!***

Great little spot, large portions, friendly staff and great service… we’re here on a Friday night and not too many customers — but food is fresh and delicious — looks like a family owned spot so I hope people give this place and support the entrepreneurs. I tried the chicken bowl and my wife tried the pork bowl… Both wonderful. Previous occasion we tried their phở and it was very fresh and tasty!
Give this place a try!

Fish and Vegetarian Bahn Mi options, Patio dining and fresh spring rolls. This is the perfect place for a lunch in down town.
Order at the couter and take a number to your table, there are a few inside tables and an ample patio.
The bread is fresh, crsp on the ouside and soft on the inside, the greens and other veggies are crisp and clean and the fish was perfectly cooked. This is a great sandwich and I am not a sandwich fan.

I’ve never been here so this was my first time. We ordered out and took it to the baseball game for dinner. I had the vermicelli with pork and egg rolls. It was bomb and had lots of meat and a healthy portion of veggies and noodles. Not bad for takeout!
*Quick takeout
* No parking (downtown)

It’s about as close to a quick good bite to eat as you can get in San Diego downtown. And that in itself is an accomplishment… these little stop in eat bye now food shacks are so popular in large cities, it’s great to have something casual, convenient and delicious within walking distance!
Let’s start with the food — the future mrs had the tiger shrimp bowl (salad style meal) and it was fresh, quick (5 min) and really good! Shrimpies were spot on and full of flavor.
My phở (the special with meatballs, rare brisket) took a little longer (6 min, boo hoo), and was really good. Broth was a little lighter and possibly with tad more cinnamon hint than I expected but still warmed the phoul (that’s a phở craving soul for the uninformed). The brisket was about as good as I’ve had in the city (and I’ve eaten at OB Noodle House). It was spoke on and dare I say a hint of bbq? Subtle yet sneaky, and spot on delicious.
Prices were great, location snazzy and convenient and cashier /​hostess /​waitress was fun and super nice. Brought out the dishes too, which I wasn’t expecting at a food stop shop.
Bottom line: we are stoked (that’s Californian for excited) to have a great «fast food» Vietnamese place so close, so convenient and oh so good. Thanks for the great experience Food Shop, we’ll be back for the Banh Mi!

I caved and went without my friends. I was excited as the Iron Chef was suppose to be the executive chef next door (their main restaurant– Sovereign Kitchen) but he bailed even before making an entrance. Sad… The restaurant portion could be extremely good or extremely shitty… So far mixed reviews… So I was kind of reluctant to even try their to go food shop. Of course being in downtown the food was a bit overpriced for the portion.
I ordered the 5 spice BBQ pork vermicelli. I have yet to try their phở. It’ll be next on my list. But the 5 spice BBQ pork vermicelli was really good… To my surprise too! They give you a pork chop, all cut for you and lots of veggies. The bowl is too small to add more. But the pork was marinated spot on. It had great flavor a and spice! I was satisfied on the burst of flavors… But portion wise a little smaller than what you’ll get normally at Viet places. It cost about $ 10. Downtown prices. But I was impressed with the flavors now I’m curious about their phở.

I was so excited for a Vietnamese spot right in the heart of downtown and wasn’t disappointed.
We went to the food shop since the actual restaurant was not yet opened. It’s a casual fast food setting. Service was good and the bun (vermicelli bowls) with shrimp had more flavor than most places I’ve been! And I try every Asian cuisine restaurant I can get to. The spring rolls were tasty but the sauce is a lil different. My bf loved his bun bowl but wasn’t a fan of the banh mi.
Service was good and they were attentive. Price point is higher than most Vietnamese spots but it’s gaslamp and run by an iron chef soooo.

Thought I’d grab a quick lunch during Comic-​Con but I was worry I tried this place. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the to go place from their restaurant next door but the quality was terrible.
FOOD:
The chicken Banh Mi that I had was bland. I had to ask them for hot sauce just to give them it extra flavor.
The fresh lemonade was also terrible. I tasted like it was old lemons because it was very bitter. How can can you screw up lemonade?
SERVICE:
The female cashier I had was fine but it was the female manager that totally gave people attitude when they came in. I believe she was the manager because she was telling other people to do things.
It took about 20 minutes to get my sandwich. C’mon? For a takeout place and sandwich took this long? On top of it, they forgot my lemonade order so I had to ask for that.
CLEANLINESS:
The front and entrance was clean but you can tell it wasn’t so in the back. Whenever someone came in and out from the kitchen you could see a full open trash can and dirty water on the floor that needed to be mopped.
Can you tell I’m definitely coming back. I believe it was about $ 6 for the sandwich as well so not a great value.

his is a great little new eatery waiting in the shadows of it older sister next door to open very soon. This location is the small version of bigger things to come. Providing a few seats outside and inside, the place is cozy nevertheless, seating offers great aromas permeating from the kitchen. On this visit, I ordered the bowl of vermicelli with five spiced grilled pork and an order of fried ground pork spring rolls. In know they considered egg rolls at most places, but that’s what they call them here.
The five spiced pork was no doubt the star of the show, and other than it being a little to salty, it was very well prepared. The five spice was very nice and not overwhelming, and the pork itself was tender. I liked that it provided a nice char flavor and came with a little bit of fat. I say, hold back a little on the salt, it would be a winner indeed.
The vermicelli on the bowl was on point. The thin noodles were well prepared in that they provided a bit of a chew, were a little warm, and tasted great. The cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and cilantro were all fresh, but what a really liked was the freshly crushed peanuts on top and the simple chopped scallion oil base sauce garnish or Mo Hanh. They both added character and depth of flavor. Over all it was a great bowl of Bun Thit Nuong.
The fried pork rolls were absolutely bliss. They were not the pretties to look at, but wow the were absolutely amazing. Most important of all, they came stuffed with tender savory juicy ground pork and just a but of glass noodles. I liked the ration because it was ground pork on more ground pork. The skin of the rolls was a crisp brown color and made for some crunchy eating, not to mention dipping in the fragrant fish sauce and eating with some of their house made modified Sriracha hot sauce. I say bring it!
Service was very upbeat and friendly to say the least.

Downtown San Diego needs more delicious, cheap, fast food options. Food Shop fits the bill.
There is seating at the counter and are four tables inside, two outside, and while Sovereign next door is closed, you can sit on their outdoor patio. This is not a place for big groups. This is a quick bite place.
I came back two days in a row. I ordered a beef rice bowl the first day and a chicken rice bowl the second day. Most of the flavor is in the veggies, which are cooked perfectly. It was a little bland. The second day, I tried my bowl with the house hoisin sauce, and that made it much better. The future hubs enjoyed his bahn mi both days, fish on the first day, beef on the second. Although he did complain that there was more vegetable on the sandwich than meat. Hopefully, they can add a little more meat on those sandwiches.
The caramel vietnamese coffee was amazing. I was literally running around hyped-​up on caffeine after I drank it. It was very strong, but I still got the subtle hint of the caramel. Second day I tried the jalapeño limeade. My drink was not spicy because it had not steeped for long enough. I guess I don’t like limeade. It was bitter for me.
Anyway, I’ll be back. :)

I heard good things about this place and got the chance to check it out last night. It’s a very small spot with a casual menu consisting of banh mi sandwiches, rice or vermicelli bowls, wok dishes, salad, and phở. A mural takes up the left side of this eatery with a man, who is probably a younger version of Iron Chef Michael Bao Huynh. He is in Vietnam at the time, so I couldn’t see him working in the kitchen. There are a handful of tables in front of the restaurant and a couple of tables inside, but I was told that you can also sit at tables next door where Sovereign (the sister restaurant) is, even though it’s not open yet.
I ordered at the counter and got the seven spices BBQ pork bowl with vermicelli, while my friends had the seafood phở and green papaya salad. I could see all the delicious food coming out of the kitchen when they were ready and couldn’t wait to eat my dish. The guy behind the counter brought out our food pretty quickly and every entrée was presented beautifully. I really liked the seasoning on my pork and the meat was plentiful and very tender! The noodles were also cooked perfectly! My friends said that the phở was okay and the salad was alright. I want to try one of the banh mi’s next time. They serve modern Vietnamese food that is quite Americanized, but had some authentic ingredients as well.
The hours for the restaurant are still pending, but expect the shop to be open from lunch until 10pm. They plan to open as late as 3am for all you clubbers out there! I can’t wait to see what Sovereign has in store for us, so for now The Food Shop will do if you want some Vietnamese food that is quick and tasty in the downtown area!
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Hopefully my review will change after I try some other items but for the bahn mi, I tried 3 different ones and was not impressed.
We had the BBQ beef, BBQ chicken and the classic. The classic is horrible. We couldn’t eat it. It’s disgusting and I hate saying that but it was.
The BBQ beef was the best out of them, except the meat was kinda dry. The BBQ chicken was pretty good but as with all of them the bread ratio is to high. And the veggies do not taste pickled. They were hard and crunchy, as if freshly chopped but not pickled… it didn’t taste like a bahn mi… or a good one anyway.
I wouldn’t go back for that as of right now.
We also tried the pork rolls, wow why. Dripping with oil, as I’ve seen mentioned in other reviews. They aren’t lying. They are greasy and not appetizing. I will not order those again. I hope they read what people have said about that and fix it.
I got a weird vibe from the girl at the counter as well. She Was kinda rude. Not to us… but I overheard her with other people, including her Co workers and she wasn’t very pleasent. Also the owner, the famous chef, came in yelling loudly at the kitchen staff, it was awkward and I thought it to be extremely rude and un professional. It didn’t make me want to return to support his restaurant.
Anyway, it’s a decent spot, very fast, grab and go kinda place. Reasonably priced, OK food. I hope it gets better, I love bahn mi and it would be a welcomed restaurant downtown! I’ll try it again in a few weeks to see if they’ve worked out there kinks!

After hearing so much about Chef Michael Huynh we were eager to try his food. Unfortunately the main restaurant, Sovereign, is not yet open! Do not fear, The Food Shop will help quench your urges for Vietnamese street food for now!
As a Vietnamese American, I am always weary of «Americanized» Vietnamese food because it typically means below average food for more money. Not the case here! The prices are not as cheap as your hole in the wall place, but that’s to be expected for a Michelin Star chef.
$ 6 for a banh mi dac biet. The meat is very good and they even remembered the cucumber! Its quite tasty and I think even my parents would approve. My only critique is I feel the bread ratio is a bit too much. Otherwise a solid sandwich and I look forward to what Sovereign has to offer in a few weeks!