Golden Deli

This is one of my fav restaurants. Not only do I get yummy food but also yummy dessert after. I recently bought their red velvet cupcakes. I asked how many were left, they replied 3 and I told them I want all 3. I am not a big dessert person bc I would rather save my stomach space for my meal; however, their cupcakes are an exception — they are the best I have ever had. So far, my favs are the red velvet and cookies n cream.
The service here is really good too. They are friendly and attentive.
I usually get the noodle with chicken and meatball (not sure what it is called) but I also have tried their bun bo hue. Their fish sauce is really good and the chili oil that they have on the table is
. I have ordered jars from them to take home.

I grew up going to Golden Deli. I remembered I was not a big fan of this place growing up… fortunately, I am loving and embracing my Asian culture as I am growing up :)
Golden Deli is one of your typical Vietnamese restaurants here around the San Gabriel Valley. Usually, if you asked me for a good place for a specific dish, I would tell you a particular place. However, when it comes to Golden Deli, I will say that every tastes good here.
Environment — the restaurant is on the smaller end and can get a little bit crowded during both days and nights; therefore, you can imagine crowds of people standing outside waiting for tables. Fortunately, on a hot day, there is A/​C so you can eat in peace. Other than that, there are both booth seating and chairs/​tables. It’s loud in there so I don’t expect to have a nice and intimate conversations with my food companions.
Service — the service here is pretty good in comparison to other Asian restaurants around the area.
Food —
1) Vermicelli with egg rolls, bbq beef and fried shrimp (com tam cha goi tit nuong chao tom) — this is always my go-​to dish in Vietnamese restaurants. It’s dry noodle with the previously listed ingredients. You then proceed to pour fish sauce (I add hot sauce) over the bowl mixed with lettuce and bean sprouts… then you eat! It’s like a Vietnamese salad is how I put it.
2) Phở — I always get phở tai if I get noodles. This is one of the more popular dishes around Golden Deli and is never a poor choice.
3) Egg Rolls — if you order this as an appetizer, then you’ll get 3 – 4 rolls and vegetables on the side to wrap them in.
Here are the steps to wrap an egg roll:
1) Get your lettuce and place it in your palm
2) Egg the whole egg roll, or half of one, and then place in long-​wise on the lettuce.
3) Then now place whatever remaining vegetable you want on top of the wrap.
4) Fold your lettuce and dip in the fish sauce to eat. Enjoy!
4) 3 colored drink (che ba mau) — a popular Vietnamese dessert drink. I highly recommend getting this in combination with your food if you need a little more to fill your tummy. It’s sweet and delicious.
All in all, I recommend Golden Deli if it is your first time eating Vietnamese food or youre just in time for some good food :)

My favorite restaurant in the whole world. I have been eating here since I was an infant, and now, even at the ripe age of 34, it is a place I return regularly. In fact, i ate here 3 times last week! My favorites are #79 (when I’m feeling pricey), #44 (when feeling noodles) and #8 (all day, every day)
Phở def has some MSG so make sure you swing by 7 – 11 to pick up a large liter of water.

Often compared to the rival, Vietnam House, across the street. Golden Deli’s food is a little better, but the service is day and night. Golden Deli has the best service for a phở restaurant. Usually they really don’t give a crap about you, but hey a little service goes a long way. The food is also super good. I love the Phở Tai, especially when you add some meatballs.

Wow.
This is probably the best Phở place I’ve ever been to! The phở and everything else are just spot on! I’m not a huge fan of egg rolls in general, but the egg rolls here are really something special. It’s not often that I end up having a mouthgasm aftermath once i’m done eating, but this place just happened to be the few that made me have that.
I give it a ⁵⁄₅ «phở-​bulous!»

Believe the hype– this place it totally legit sauce. Ordered some noodle bowl with egg rolls amongst a smörgåsbord of vegetable medleys hot sauces, etc.
The crown and jewel is definitely the fried egg rolls.
Had some of the broth to my friends phở. Everything was great. Management forgot one of my egg roll orders to go and comped me anyways.

They usually have a wait during lunch or dinner rush, but it’s worth waiting for! The service could definitely be better, which is why I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5. One of the workers, it was very obvious he didn’t wanna work. He kept making eye contact with us whenever we needed something and continued to ignore us. Finally after maybe a handful of awkward eye contact moments, he helped us out. But the other employees were wonderful!
I love phở, and this is my go to place whenever I’m craving phở, ⁵⁄₅. Don’t forget to get the egg rolls too — the first time I went, I didn’t realize that was a popular appetizer (didn’t check Unilocal), but after that mistake, I order it every time now, ⁵⁄₅.
There’s parking in the plaza.
I will definitely be back soon. :)

I will forever be a loyal fan of golden deli despite their terrible service. This is my go-​to place for some delicious vietnamese food. I came here on a Friday night after coming down from norcal. I called ahead of time to see how long the wait was as everyone in my party were starving. The gentlemen on the phone said there was no wait and had a few tables opened. I quickly jumped into my car, as this place usually has a minimum 30 minute wait. I only live around 5 minutes from this place, so I expected there to not a have a wait. BUT when I arrived, there was a 20 – 25 minute wait.
Flash-​forward to our meal time after realistically waiting for 30 minutes. We’re seated at our booth with our menu already nicely placed. Since we’re regulars, we already knew what we wanted to eat. The waiter comes by within 2 minutes to take our order. When our food comes out, the waitress brings over the wrong phở bowl. After we informed her, she doesn’t even say a word and walk off. I noticed that this happened to several other tables around us. Either the waiters were taking our orders wrong or there’s some miscommunication with the chef.
Despite, our terrible experience with the staff, the food here is delicious! It’s hard for me to give anything lower than a 4 for this place because of their food. On a cheat day, i like to enjoy their egg rolls. It comes out nice and crunchy, especially when you wrap it around the vegetable and dip it in fish sauce.
In terms of the entrée, I think ordering anything on the menu is safe, I’ve never had anything here that wasn’t great. From their smoothies to appetizer to entrée, I would highly recommend this place! The wait is worth the quality of the food.

Satisfying craving for Vietnamese food? CHECK!
I’ve been craving for delicious Vietnamese food for months (since I can’t find a decent Vietnamese restaurant in the Bay), and this place just satisfied it instantly. I came here on a Tuesday night, and there was a line already! However, don’t be discouraged because parties were seated relatively quickly. We were given a ticket to wait to be seated, and we waited approximately 20 minutes which isn’t bad considering the amount of parties ahead of us.
When we were seated, we were given the menu which was thick; hence that is why I didn’t take pictures of the menu. This just means that this restaurant offers MANY types of dishes! Yay! Anyways, I ordered 44A: Shrimp Paste, Grilled Pork, Egg Rolls (2), and requested Grilled Shrimps with Rice Vermicelli, and my boyfriend ordered 44E: Shrimp Paste, Grilled Chicken, Egg Rolls (2), and requested Grilled Shrimps with Rice Vermicelli. We also ordered 61(?): Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls that comes with 2 pieces.
— SHRIMP AND PORK SPRING ROLLS ($ 4.50): unlike many Vietnamese restaurants (other than Broddard), these spring rolls were packed with shrimp, pork, vegetable, and vermicelli; I assume that the vegetables were mint and lettuce. These springs rolls were paired with a peanut sauce. These spring rolls were really tasty! However, I don’t think it’s better than Broddard (in Garden Grove). I do enjoy the spring rolls here because it’s just very simple, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s still tasty, and I’ll still order this again.
— SHRIMP PASTE, GRILLED PORK, EGG ROLLS (2), AND REQUESTED GRILLED SHRIMPS WITH RICE VERMICELLI (~$ 9.75): man oh man, this is probably the best vermicelli dish I’ve ever had at a restaurant because everything was perfect. The grilled pork was not fatty and tender. The egg rolls were meaty and perfectly crunchy. The grilled shrimps were also not over cooked. On top of that, the ratio of the rice vermicelli to the grilled pork, egg rolls, and grilled shrimps was perfect. There wasn’t too much noodles or too less; it was just perfect. Within this dish, there’s lettuce in it, and you’re given a bowl of fish sauce. I recommend that if you’re a spicy food lover, add some chili sauce into that fish sauce and pour that your whole dish, and boom! Flavor explosion. You’re welcome. You will definitely get full off of this because the bowl is large! I am unsure about the pricing because I did add the grilled shrimps, so it may cost more, but you should definitely get the shrimps! Even though I ate this not too long ago, I’m still craving for it and might come back soon to order this again!
— SHRIMP PASTE, GRILLED CHICKEN, EGG ROLLS (2), AND REQUESTED GRILLED SHRIMPS WITH RICE VERMICELLI (~$ 9.75): my boyfriend felt the same exact sentiments that I felt (read above). He said the chicken was perfect, and he would so order this again!
I will say that since this restaurant is located in a small plaza, it may be difficult to find parking in this plaza, so I advise you to park on the streets. With everything we ordered, the bill came out to be around $ 26 which is relatively cheap compared to the amount of food we devoured.
If you love Vietnamese food, you should definitely come here and experience it because I will come back probably within a week. No regrets!

Ok I go to Golden Deli pretty often mostly because everyone else loves it so much. I will say the egg rolls are really good and for the most part the Phở is really good. This last time I went though the rare beef was really fatty, but overall its a good phở place. Do I think its the best? No, but I come here often enough, so I’d give it a 3.5!
If you go at 11:30, you can beat the rush. Service is always good.

I wanted to like Golden Deli a lot more than I actually did. It took me awhile to come here mainly because I heard that there was a long line. Especially more so since Jonathan Gold announced that he loved this place for their crispy egg rolls. I’ll be honest, it was the allure of those egg rolls that got me to come and not much else. I just had to find out what the hype was. When we came, there was a little bit of a wait but it wasn’t too bad. But if you’re coming with bigger parties, definitely expect a wait. The service is friendly but brisk so don’t plan on sitting around and chatting up a storm. The waiters are trying to turn tables as fast as they can.
We ordered their egg rolls as a starter and then just ordered the usual stuff we always get. Vermicelli with grilled beef, and some broken rice with grilled beef, pulled pork and steamed eggs. The ego rolls came with a huge plate of romaine, bean sprouts, cucumber splices and mint leaves. I’m going to say that the egg rolls did not disappoint. The are filled with pork and vegetables and they have this really crispy wrapper that goes along perfectly with their slightly vinegary dipping sauce. I think I could have made a meal out of the egg rolls alone. Everything went slightly downhill from there. The vermicelli was as good as any other place but I expected that since it isn’t too difficult to mess it up. I didn’t enjoy the broken rice as much. Not enough flavor and it just didn’t taste all that fresh.
Golden Deli is one of those places that should have just blended in with all the other Vietnamese restaurants in the area. The only remarkable thing on their menu was their egg rolls but even that won’t be enough to make me necessarily want to come back and brave their lines. I guess I just don’t understand why people are willing to wait. ³⁄₅

I was lucky enough to grow up near some of the best Vietnamese food in Orange County. With that said, Golden Deli definitely fits the mold of good Vietnamese food.
Pros: The service and food were great! They were organized and were able to accommodate their customers as quickly as they could using a numbered ticket method. The wait was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I waited 20 minutes tops. Lots of people were waiting to be seated.
I ordered a lime iced tea which I thought was too sour until I got to the bottom of my cup and got a mouth full of sugar. Lol! Stir it first. The spoon should have given me the clue to stir it, but I was clearly not in the right frame of mind at that moment… It’s like a limeade.
The phở was great! I found my new fave spot that’s closer to me than OC.
Cons: Parking sucks majorly when everyone and their moms are here in this tiny plaza. Luckily, you can find street parking nearby.

Can I just say that this place was freaking AWESOME??? I was thoroughly impressed and I will DEFINITELY be returning even though I live 20 miles away.
I’m not usually a huge fan of Vietnamese food but this place is making me change my mind. I ordered the rice vermicelli with grilled pork and egg rolls and ate the whole entire thing… It was so freaking delicious. And their egg rolls, omg, they are SO good and cooked to perfection with that thin crispy outer layer! Totally worth the 15 minute wait to be seated… On top of that, the prices are more than reasonable and the staff is friendly!
⁵⁄₅ stars!!! *thumbs up*

I’ve read and heard about Golden Deli for awhile, but wasn’t able to check it out until recently.
1) Spring rolls — Solid. I can tell that they made them fresh by how soft the rice paper wraps were.
2) Egg Rolls were fantastic! Deep fried yummy goodness. If the wait is long, I would order these for take out and eat them while I wait for the table to be ready. nomnomnom
3) Phở was good. It tastes much cleaner and lighter than some of the phở that I’ve had. The meat quality was a bit better than most place that I’ve had.
Service: I had low expectations for service at Asian restaurants, so I was pleasantly surprised that they were very attentive. They were very quick with our needs such as requesting side items, water refills, check, etc…
Parking: Lot in front. Shared with other businesses, so it can get difficult to find during peak hours

Have to give this place a 1-​star review after my experience today.
I think this is another classic case of a popular restaurant going bad after too much initial success. I came in today for dinner, and not only was the service much slower than I expected (it was almost empty, but our food took forever, and the waitstaff was less than accommodating).
We also felt that there really wasn’t any tripe in our two phở dishes that we ordered. #4 and #7. After asking the waiter about it, he very rudely told us that he would talk to someone else about it, and when the manager (?) finally came, he basically told us that there was some tripe in there, and when we pointed out that there were barely any strands, he said they were «probably under the noodles» and left.
The quality of the food was not horrible, but that’s just an incredibly rude and unacceptable attitude to have towards customers.

There’s not much more to be said about Golden Deli, which is already well known as one of the «best Vietnamese restaurants in Los Angeles.» The phở is at the same level of quality of Phở Bac, my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Reseda, near my home in the San Fernando Valley.
We ordered a bowl of their phở tai nam (rib eye and brisket), the popular crisp egg rolls, and their durian and cherimoya shakes. The phở tasted very high in quality from the broth to the meat. The phan cha gio (pork egg rolls) were super crisp, shiny, and beautifully presented with a strong taste of pork.
From the gentleman on the phone to the people we encountered when we entered the restaurant for a seat and on our way out, I felt this was a special restaurant, unlike any Vietnamese restaurant from the San Fernando Valley to Garden Grove.
Expect a wait at this super popular spot, but with a quick turnover.
Highly recommended! The overall experience was «as good as it gets!»

I have pretty high standards for Vietnamese food growing up close to Little Saigon but Golden Deli met all of them! Came here with my boyfriend for dinner at around 9 and it was still insanely crowded with a line!
We got seated pretty quickly.
PARKING: very ample, there’s a big lot
SERVICE: the staff was very kind and helpful and everybody spoke English! Very polite :)
FOOD: SO MANY OPTIONS! The list seemed endless. We finally chose the Phở Dac Biet and the Bun Ga Nuoung with Cha Giao. The phở was really generous and flavorful and the bun came with a lot of chicken and the famous Golden Deli eggrolls. Delicious, flavorful food.
Overall ¹⁰⁄₁₀. Very reasonable pricing and generous portions. Come hungry and leave happy :)
Can’t wait to come back again!

Two words — clean bathroom!
— — — — — — —
Two more words — tasty phở!
Ok, let’s continue.
Reasonable wait!
Speaks Cantonese
Cramped parking
Get Bun
Crunchy eggrolls
Banh Mi
Sour pennywort
Tasty broth
Skip tofu
Probable MSG
Hand sanitizer
Busy lunch
Four people
Forty bucks
And most importantly…
Will return!

Our favorite phở place Saigon 22 closed so we are trying new places in the SGV area. The phở here is pretty good. The meat has a little fat on it (not used to) but its tasty. The broth is good and the service is on point. Give it a try.

The service was exceptional, attentive, friendly, & quick.
The food however was underwhelming. Came here for the hype & left slightly disappointing. The brisket and tendon phở soup was bland, did not have enough authentic flavors. Had their fried egg rolls, the egg rolls them self were a bit on the soggy side and did not seem freshly fried.
Overall, this place was just okay.

WOW THIS IS LITERALLY THE BEST VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT I’VE EVER BEEN TO.
First off, I’ve had their banh mis and it’s literally an explosion of flavors in your mouth. The bread is super crispy and fresh too!
Their spring rolls are PHENOMENAL and wrapped so tightly. They add lots of herbs like mint, basil to really enhance the flavors.
Finally, the PHO. UGHH I cannot even explain how rich and flavorful the broth is. To me, the meats and noodles don’t make that much of a difference but the broth is where it’s at.
On a side note, the service is great. Attentive, friendly staff. AND their hot fried chili sauce is my ULTIMATE favorite. COME HERE IF YOU WANT GOOD REAL VIET FOOD. This place is vietnamese heaven!

I have been to Golden Deli many times over the years. My favorite items are the #1 (Phở dac biet) and the egg rolls (Phan Cha Gio). The bun rieu is okay. If I do take out, I usually get the rice plates because phở is best when eaten in the restaurant as it comes piping hot. I consider their phở to be one of the best in SGV.
The egg rolls are really good too compared to other phở places as they are really crispy and the filling is exceptional.
The wait here can be over a hour on the weekends and 5 – 7 PM on the weekdays.
A tip would to have someone come get a number if you want to come when they’re busy. If the wait is over a hour, I would usually just go to one of the other phở places around. There’s like 3 phở places on the same street within 1 mile of Golden Deli.

Hello my Unilocalies,
I heard this is one of the best place to get Vietnamese food. Parking here is very convenient since it is located inside a plaza and there are quite a few parking spaces. Unless you do come on busy hours then sometimes it might be pack.
I was very excited to eat here, unfortunately it wasn’t how I hoped for. It took us 20 – 30 minutes to get our food. They even forgot our order of egg rolls, we were almost done with our meal and it finally came out. What made it worse was that the restaurant was probably under 50 degree. So we were freezing our butt off while eating cold food. It was just a bad experience and I was definitely very disappointed because for a meal that’s almost $ 40 it shouldn’t be like this.
I order the #91D shrimp paste, grilled chicken and baked egg with rice. It would have been delicious if everything wasn’t so cold, it feels like it’s been sitting out there for 10 – 15 minutes. We also order egg rolls to share, that took over 30 minutes to get to our table and unfortunately it was also cold. I just hope they can boost up their quality and double check if their dish is at its best. My boyfriend order the shrimp paste, grilled beef and baked egg, we both agree that the chicken one was definitely better than the beef. The beef was chewy and hard to swallow, the shrimp paste was a little way too salty. The only decent item would be the baked egg, but it’s hard to get that wrong, even I can cook that myself.
My boyfriend and I were extremely disappointed and thought that it’s just not worth the money you pay for. I personally actually prefer the one in temple city because at least you get hot food not cold dishes. The service was average, it wasn’t the best but good enough.
Overall, 4 stars for service, 2 stars for food and drinks, 2 stars for environment and decoration and 3 stars for cleanliness. Probably won’t be coming back to this location again.

Love their eggrolls as usual! :) Fried crispy and golden — I ordered it along with my broken rice dish — Thit nuong and 2 eggrolls. Everything was delicious, though the rice was a lot and so ended up leaving some. Then again, I had two small bowls Mom’s phở dac biet.
Mom l9ves the phở dac biet here. The broth is hearty and not overly sweet. The noodles and meat are generous as usual.
The shrimp flour rolled was alright. The vermicelli noodles were too overcooked according to my Mom. Also, the shrimp tasted so bland inside, and they cut it in half. You don’t get a whole shrimp. Thank goodness for the peanut dipping sauce — that was yummy! It was 2 huge rolls, but wouldn’t order it again.
Sadly, they don’t serve banh cuon here. Otherwise, it would’ve been 5 stars all the way.

My go to Phở spot in LA! Golden Deli does Vietnamese dishes the right/​authentic way. The beef and chicken phở here are superb. Their fried egg rolls are a must! The vermicelli and rice dishes are also a great 2^nd choice to their phở. I’ve been here a handful of times and not once been disappointed. The wait can be a bit long at times, but well worth the wait, trust me!

In my quest for the best bowl of bun (vermicelli noodle salad), I must say this place is in my top 4 (after Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park, Brodard’s in Garden Grove, and VN Cuisine in San Dimas). The egg rolls are always delicious. The shrimp paste is always a standard item to order there. The bun is above average (but not exceptional) — I ordered the grilled pork and shrimp paste version with egg rolls. There never seems to be enough vermicelli noodles or greens in relation to the proteins. Again, it’s pretty good but not a game changer.
As for the service, there is always a wait but they have a good system. The wait staff are quick and efficient.

One of the better Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to in a long time! The place is spacious and there’s quite a bit of seating, but still, be prepared to wait.
The first thing that impressed me was how extensive their menu is! This one restaurant could satisfy any craving for pretty much any Vietnamese dish. Between my two friends and myself, we got an order of fried egg rolls and a bowl of phở for each of us. The egg rolls came with lettuce wraps, which nicely contrasted the warm and crispy egg rolls, and a tangy dipping sauce to add flavor. The phở was hearty and very satisfying, especially since it was a little colder that day.
The wait staff was friendly even though every single one of them was running around like crazy trying to seat and serve all the customers, which is always to be appreciated. Prices here are good too!

We came on a Sunday for lunch and it was a full house! We waited only about 10 – 15 minutes though. The phở wasn’t anything special, but we absolutely loved the other two dishes we got! The shrimp paste is very flavorful and the egg rolls were so crunchy and addicting. The meats are all very fresh and all the noodles and rice were cooked perfectly.
Here is what we got and which sections to look for them:
1) Rice Noodle Beef Broth Soup #8 Phở Tai Nam Gan Sach (Rib Eye Beef & Brisket Beef & Tendon & Tripe (Small Combo))
2) Rice Vermicelli Dry Noodle Bowl #44A Bun Chao Tom & Thit Nuong & Cha Gio (Shrimp Paste & Grilled Pork & Egg Rolls)
3) Broken Rice Plate #91B Com Chao Tom & Cha Gio & Cha (Shrimp Paste & Grilled Beef & Baked Egg)
The customer service is decent and most of the employees speak English. But after I signed and tipped on my receipt, the older staff (probably the owner) was staring and judging my tip amount lol. Other than that, I am definitely returning here!

I’ve heard such amazing things about this place and how long people are willing to wait for a bowl of phở here. After a day of drinking and waking up a little hungover, the boyfriend and I decided to come here for dinner. Luckily, there was no wait at all at 5:30pm although a line started to form soon enough. I do enjoy that they speak English very well here unlike most ethnic restaurants despite them being natives still. I ordered the Phở with ribeye and tendons ($ 8), which was like a typical bowl of phở to me. The two of us also shared the crispy spring rolls with lettuce and cucumbers ($ 8.50) for five pieces. I only ordered it because I heard this place was popular for the spring rolls, but they were a bit pricey for me to ever order again. They were crispy and tasty though. Despite that, I’d probably pick another phở place if I’m ever craving it as I’m not down for the wait here. It’s good, but nothing special.

Golden Deli has long been Jonathan Gold’s cha gio pig out place. The eggrolls were indeed very good. They used rice flour wrapper so it was crisper and thinner than most eggrolls. The frying also brought out some nutty toasted flavor of rice. The filling was generous and appropriately textured. I just hate mealy fillings. However, I expected more wow factor considering many proclaim this the best cha gio in LA.
Determined to try a variety of toppings, we ordered a broken rice plate and a rice noodle bowl. The serving size was huge compare to measly slices of pork we get here in Santa Barbara. One of those plate had enough protein to make 2.5 plates in Santa Barbara.
The pork and beef were marinated with a sweet lemongrass concoction and grilled until they caramelized on the edge. Surprisingly, the beef was more tender and juicy than the pork. The shrimp paste here is another popular item. A big mound of ground shrimp paste shaped into lozenges around a spear of sugar cane. It was suppose to be grilled, but I didn’t detect any grill marks or smokiness. I wasn’t a big fan of this. It was flavorful, but dry. The steamed egg here was fantastic, so tender and came in a generous rectangular slice that covered a third of the rice plate. Even the fish sauce was appropriately strengthened, unlike the water downed nuoc mam that I often have to make do.

I’ve been coming here since I was 5 years old. They have remodeled and changed the inside of the restaurant, but their food has definitely not. Golden Deli has definitely been consistent after all these years (I’m 23 now).
The wait time for Golden Deli has definitely gone up. What used to be a 10 minute wait time has turned into a 30 minute wait time. I feel that the time has increased ever since Golden Deli was featured on the Food Network. So if you want to avoid the lines, I would suggest going earlier for lunch or dinner time.
This place serves pretty authentic Vietnamese food with the right amount of flavor. My usual go to dishes are the Phở Dac Biet or Com Tam dishes. I would also suggest spring rolls or egg rolls as a side dish if you’re extra hungry. Phở has a lot of flavor and isn’t greasy or anything. The Com Tam dishes vary with different kinds of meat (so I always try to switch it up).
This is probably my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley! I would highly suggest for people to try Golden Deli if they haven’t already.

I consider myself fortunate that golden deli is located in my vicinity. I get frequent phở cravings and this place never fails to hit the spot! The wait can get a little annoying if you come here at the wrong time, especially on weekends around dinnertime. When this happens, I just ask for take-​out and the food is packed for me momentarily. The packaging is also prepared conveniently so that you I consume instantly when arriving home.
I have tried a lot of different items on the menu. The phở in particular is superb and effortlessly my favorite in the area. I usually order #2 (phở tai) — ribeye with rice noodle soup. The meat comes out raw but slowly cooks in the soup. The beef broth is super comforting and the noodles are slippery and chewy. It comes with a generous plate of bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, chili slice and limes that you can garnish your phở with.
–The egg rolls here are quite famous. Just order them — you won’t regret it.
–Rice vermicelli: delicious as well. I usually get the one with grilled pork and shrimp, which adds a really nice charred taste.
–Bun bo hue: nothing special about it here. There are other restaurants nearby that do this better.
–Egg noodles and wonton soup: like bun bo hue, it gets the job done but the phở and egg rolls outshine the other stuff they put on their menu. In short, get the phở and get the egg rolls.
The staff is friendly and very fluent in English, which nearly caught me by surprise! The restaurant is in a small plaza and usually there is parking, but it can get busy and you might have to park on the streets (also free).

I decided to get some comfort food so I dropped by for lunch. I arrived at 12pm and there was already a wait list, but I only waited 10 minutes.
As I opened the menu, there were TONS of pages! I had to read a short story before deciding I wanted a rice plate — #94 com tam, suon nuong, bi, cha, chao tom — $ 10
The rice place was on the smaller side, which is perfect because I ordered a plate with many items. Everything was tasty and made with a little more of a potent flavor (fish saucy) than your average Viet restaurant. My only complaint was the pork chop was really thin.
Overall, It was an above average rice plate (coming from a Viet guy, this can mean a lot). It hit the spot for the time being. I was glad I came.

Except for the egg rolls which are without question the best Vietnamese rolls in LA, Golden Deli serves up average Phở. Yep the broth is clean tasting, non-​greasy; it’s good but in my opinion average. If you like this flavor broth, this is the perfect Phở broth. For me, No. It does not have the beef bones/​marrow flavor that develops when you simmer bones for hours.
There is another dish GD makes amazingly well. And that second thing is something Jonathan Gold missed altogether: the clear noodle bowls with with shrimp and chives, served with chicken soup on the side. It’s a delicious bowl of clear noodles, chives, shrimp (you can get it with crab and BBQ pork), crispy shallots, lettuces, shoyu, a bit of vinegar. You mix it up like a salad. It’s served with a side of chicken soup to wash this genius bowl of food. I’ve never had a broth as delicious and satisfying as the chicken soup/​broth made here. It’s a clear winner. You cannot get this homestyle amazingly tasty yet simple soup anywhere but here.
Service is typical at Golden Deli, sometimes harried and its really ok for a busy resto. I prefer Saigon Flavor, its other, family resto down the street, filled with Vietnamese patrons and devouring every dish on the menu especially the clear noodles I just described. When Golden Deli is packed with lots of people, especially in summer, the aromas from the kitchen fill the restaurant with this funky odor. Not conducive to eating for me. I’ll stop there.
Visits: 3
Tip: Be prepared, it’s a popular resto, lines and lines for days.

Golden Deli is ALWAYS bustling with a wait outside. luckily we came at an earlier dinner hour and only had to wait 10 minutes!
according to my friend it’s all about the «Bun» vermicelli dishes here and i didn’t even order one, so next time!
—CHA GIO (fried eggrolls): GET IT! whether you’re getting the 5 eggroll appetizer or a dish that has these eggrolls in it, they are crispy and DELICIOUS (also actually larger than i expected so pretty filling)
—nem nuong: nothing too special, Brodard’s just can’t be beat
—#15A noodle dish: a noodle dish where you pour the soup over, nothing special either
NOTE: they were also featured on the Food Network shoe best thing I ever ate

This place has been here for like 20+ years. I know this because I’ve been coming here as a kid and now that I’ve moved to NorCal, I still try to make a trip here when I’m in the area.
The food is fresh and so gooood! For riceplates, they also serve in broken rice (smaller rice grain). I’m a sucker for riceplates and this place makes my top 3 best riceplates list.
I remember a bowl of phở being around $ 6 as a kid, now I see the price has raised to $ 8. Tough times :(I honestly don’t remember how the phở tastes like trust me on the riceplate!
There is always a line but the wait is usually around 20 minutes. Parking is a bit hard to find as it does share with other stores in the area (7/​11, laundromat etc) The service is kind of a hit or miss. Sometimes they get too busy and can’t attend to all the tables or check up on you unless you fly them down. However the food isn’t that much of a long wait.

Okay, I love this place. The ribeye meat in the regular Phở Tai makes all the difference, seriously. And don’t even start with the eggrolls, I can eat those all day and be a happy camper.
+Ribeye Phở Tai — I want none of that tasteless meat other phở places throw in their bowls
+Decent price, about $ 8 for a bowl, same goes for eggrolls
+Street parking is easy if you can’t find a space in the crowded lot
+Location is great, always easy peasy to get boba nearby after the meal
–Always a wait since everyone wants a piece of that ribeye. Would recommend going at an off-​peak time or for an early dinner. Approx wait time 30 – 45 min, even if they tell you 15 minutes (they’re lying).
–Maybe a slightly longer wait for phở compared to other phở places that sling it out quickly. Don’t mind it though, it’s worth it!
Yum… craving it while writing this right now…

There’s always a line at Golden Deli. It’s has to be pretty good if there’s 20+ folks deep waiting.
I’m not patient enough to wait in line so I’ve never been until recently. My friend mentioned the line goes by quick. Since no one eats at Golden Deli for the décor, it’s really about the food. So, there’s a high turnover of folks coming in and out and we waited 15 minutes to be seated. While in line, they give you a menu to look thru so that when you’re seated, you’re close to ready to order.
I had #69B, grilled beef, broken rice, and two fried egg rolls. Every part of this dish was flavorful. I tasted the broth of the phở. Very flavorful as well. Service was fast and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes of eating. For the price, the dishes here are a steal.
I’ll be back!

Los que atienden son arrogantes. La comida es asquerosa. La atención es patética. Tuve la peor experiencia en un restaurante en mi vida. NO lo recomiendo para nada.