Bodega

Service: friendly
Ambiance: causal date night vibes

Food:
I don't think you can go wrong with any of their dishes here, we ordered a big variety and everything was so delicious!!

Their steak with cabbage and chimichurri sauce was one of my favorites as well as their pandan mochi cake with lychee gelato!

3.5 stars for the food, 2 stars for the service.

Came in here Sunday 11am when they opened. No one was around when we showed up, just us and the strong smell of cleaning products. After a weird conversation with hostess, we tried to get seated at a table with a bench, but hostess told us that almost all the tables were reserved. She gave us two options for table seating for 2 people. Considering we were the first people here, and during the 1 hour we were there, only 2 other tables were seated, this felt like a huge miss by the restaurant. What's so wrong with letting us sit where we want on a Sunday at 11am when the place is basically empty??

Beef pho was overall solid, except that the brisket was a bit dry. The other dishes we got were reasonable as well, but nothing that wowed us. If the brisket was better I'd give the food 4 stars.

I'm on the edge of 2 or 3 stars, but bumping down to 2, since I don't recommend places with clearly bad service.

We went to Bodega for dinner and truly enjoyed the food and drinks. We ordered the Nom Salad, Mac Khem Lamb Chops (I usually don't eat lamb chops but these were excellent) and we also got the chillean sea bass. When we order chillean sea bass it usually is in a broth and is a simple dish but this dish was packed with flavor.

Drinks were also a hit- we ordered the Hi-Chew (super refreshing and yes puts you in a high mood) and Vieux Maguey!

We would definitely be back and would try the tasting menu next time - the table next to us were enjoying it and it made us want to experience it next :)

Best,
Talefano

San Francisco has a good amount of places that serve good Vietnamese food and great Pho especially in the Tenderloin area. Bodega is a good place to grab drinks and food. I had the Pho Ga and the chicken broth was tasty. I usually don't care for the thicker noodles but the thicker noodles here were just right for the slurp and sip.

For good Vietnamese in San Francisco try Bodega, Enjoy delicious flavor that's giant and mega

Bodega SF is a love letter to Vietnamese cuisine, carrying on the legacy of Matthew Ho's family restaurant, Bodega Bistro. It's a beautiful evolution, offering high-quality dishes in a modern and casual, fine dining setting.

We had a dinner reservation on a weekday evening, and while there were patrons, the ambiance was relaxed and intimate. The sleek and stylish interior sets the stage for a memorable experience.

The service was impeccable. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable, ensuring our water glasses were always full and making timely recommendations. We opted for a culinary adventure, trying a variety of dishes: sugarcane juice, lemongrass clams, mini pho (both chicken and beef), bun cha, bo luc lac, bo kho short rib, and pandan mochi bar. Every single dish was delicious, showcasing the talents of the kitchen.

The sugarcane juice was pretty sweet, so if you want a more balanced drink, opt for sugarcane calamansi juice instead. The lemongrass clams were a revelation. The vibrant, zesty broth was incredibly comforting, and the smaller clams were perfectly cooked. Both mini phos were surprisingly good, with a deeply flavorful broth that exceeded expectations for a smaller portion.

Bun cha was a standout. The heritage pork belly and meatballs were cooked to perfection, boasting a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The thin rice vermicelli noodles were light and refreshing, perfectly complementing the richness of the pork and pickled vegetables. The Nuoc Cham dipping sauce was an explosion of flavor, bringing together sweet, salty, sour, and spicy notes.

Bo luc lac, while still delicious, was our least favorite. The tenderloin was fantastic, but the overall flavor profile didn't quite hit the mark for us. However, the bo kho short rib was phenomenal. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender and bursting with flavor, making it a personal favorite alongside the lemongrass clams.

Finally, the pandan mochi bar was the perfect ending. The warm, gooey mochi paired beautifully with the cold vanilla ice cream, creating a harmonious balance of textures and flavors.

Overall, Bodega SF offers an exceptional dining experience. The food is delicious and beautifully presented, the service is impeccable, and the ambiance is sleek and inviting. If you're looking for a modern take on Vietnamese comfort food, look no further than Bodega SF.

Wow! Bodega is truly amazing! Everything I had was great from start to finish. I sat at the bar with a few friends and we ordered so much food. The Bo Luc Lac was probably the best thing I've had to eat all month. Service was phenomenal. Bodega does tend to get a bit busy. Great place for a nice dinner or first date if you want to impress someone!

Fortunate to snag a reservation for a big group last minute here on a Sunday night. It straddles casual and upscale so a perfect low key celebration venue.

We had initially wanted to order a la carte family style but were swayed to the tasting menu (ask Billy) when the server listed everything in the tasting menu that night including all the small bites for everyone and some off-menu mains. The tasting ended up being like a very filling 13-course meal for $90 pp which is a steal in SF.

It took awhile for us to place our food order after our initial cocktail orders so when the food was being sent out kinda slowly to start, and 1 small bowl of bun cha was shared among 6 people, we were.. worried. However halfway through the entrees came out more quickly and were more substantial so everyone went home satisfied.

Some of my favorite bites:
Banh beo
Banh knot
Bo tai chanh
Lemongrass clam broth
Wagyu zabuton
Pandan express cocktail

Could have done without the dungeness crab salad. It didn't do anything for me (and I love salads). I barely found any crab.

We didn't have as many seafood dishes so would love to come back to try more of those, although I loved the beef dishes! And check out the Felix bar - it wasn't open Sunday when we were there unfortunately.

The interior and atmosphere of this restaurant are probably my favorite parts. It's so well designed and I love the feeling of being in there!

Highly recommend the cocktails, everything everyone got was delicious. This is definitely a treat yourself kind of place as the food is a bit on the pricy side, but for good reason. Everything is well flavored and seasoned.

They don't have the most vegetarian options but I appreciated that they were willing to make some changes so there was a little more I could eat!

4 starts for food, 2 stars for service. I had a 8:30p reservation for 2 on a Friday night, and when I got there they said we had to wait a little bit because our table had not been cleared yet. So we waited a few minutes, until the host apologized again because the party at the table had a wheelchair and it was taking some time to move them out. Honestly this would not have been much of a problem, except while we were waiting 2 groups had been seated, which were walk-ins without reservations. This put us in a mood for the whole dinner. While we very much enjoyed our meal, my partners experience had been very soured and we'll likely not come back again.

This is a long overdue review of one of my favorite restaurants in SF. Bodega offers high-end Vietnamese cuisine and my favorites have been the banh cuon (fresh rice rolls with ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, crispy shallots), whole fish (branzino) and the pandan mochi with lychee ice cream. At a recent outing with my friend, we tried these "must order" items as well as the Nem Cua (Dungeness crab, shrimp, jicama, shiitake mushroom, carrot, vermicelli) and they had a salted egg fried rice special that day that came with tiger prawns.

The food here is consistently great. The service can be spotty at times but still relatively good. Prices are really good - you can get a huge dinner and drink for under $100 a person, which is really great value these days. The restaurant is nice and has a very warm feeling to it. It's a type of restaurant that works for someone who just wants to sit at the bar or with a good group of friends. Highly, highly recommended if you are in the area.