The 10 best Vietnamese restaurants in Chicago

Four of the ten restaurants below sit within a few blocks of the Argyle Red Line stop, so the search for the best Vietnamese food in Chicago starts on Argyle Street in Uptown. The picks then move to Pilsen, Lakeview, Lincoln Square, Wicker Park and Naperville. This guide is for anyone chasing the best pho in Chicago, a banh mi for the train or a family dinner of clay pot fish and rice.

The list favors kitchens with a clear specialty, whether one soup, one sandwich or a regional menu, and places that have kept cooking while Argyle lost several neighbors. Most meals are cheap. Banh mi run about $9 to $13, and a bowl of pho at Phodega costs $15.95 to $19.95. Sit-down dinners cost more: the Saigon pho at Sochi is $26, and the tasting menu at HaiSous is $68 a person.

How we chose

The list is ranked. Awards decided the top spot, since HaiSous holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and chef Thai Dang was a 2025 James Beard Award nominee. After that, the order follows years in business and how consistently independent outlets recommended each place in 2025 and 2026, led by The Infatuation’s pho guide (updated September 29, 2026), Time Out Chicago’s October 2025 cheap-eats list and Hoodline’s 2026 reporting from the suburbs. The picks are spread across pho shops, banh mi counters, family restaurants and sit-down dining rooms, and every place was checked against the restaurant’s own site or a 2025 or 2026 report.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen

Chef Thai Dang and his wife, Danielle, opened HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen in Pilsen in 2017, and the restaurant is the splurge on this list. HaiSous earned a Bib Gourmand in the 2025 Michelin Guide, and Thai Dang was a James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2025, which is why the restaurant ranks first. Start with the caramelized fish-sauce wings and a grilled meat platter, or book the $68 tasting menu, three courses and nine dishes served family style. Reservations run through Resy, and groups larger than 10 book by email.

Hours: Wed-Sat 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (brunch) and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Mon-Tue

Address: 1800 S Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60608

Why they made the list

• Michelin inspectors recommend the goi vit duck salad, followed by che, a coconut rice pudding with sesame and peanuts.
• Happy hour runs Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 5:30 p.m., with $10 cocktails and $10 small plates.
• A 2026 Resy profile reports that HaiSous has held a Bib Gourmand every year since opening and that the name means “two pennies.”
• A $42 beverage pairing can be added to the tasting menu, which runs September through December 2026.

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Hai Yen

The menu at Hai Yen runs the full length of a Vietnamese family restaurant, from pho and bun bo hue to shaking beef and banh bot loc, chewy tapioca dumplings filled with shrimp. Hai Yen ranks second because The Infatuation’s pho guide, updated September 29, 2026, calls Hai Yen “our favorite in Uptown,” and because Time Out Chicago has listed the Argyle Street dining room since at least 2010. Order the pho dac biet, loaded with brisket, flank, eye of round, meatballs, tripe and tendon. Plan around Wednesday, the one day the restaurant is closed.

Hours: Thu-Tue 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; closed Wed

Address: 1055 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• The Infatuation traces the broth’s sweetness to rock sugar and onions.
• Bo luc lac, the shaking beef, comes with sauteed onions, tomatoes and cucumbers.
• Time Out Chicago’s listing recommends beef sausages wrapped in la lot leaves and catfish cooked in a clay pot.
• Hai Yen delivers within about three miles and takes pickup orders on the restaurant’s website.

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Nhu Lan Bakery

Banh mi on baguettes baked in house is the business at Nhu Lan Bakery, which runs two stores: a longtime bakery on Lawrence Avenue near Lincoln Square and a second shop at Sheridan Road and Lawrence Avenue in Uptown. The Infatuation’s 2022 review called the bakery’s banh mi the best in the city, and Time Out Chicago put Nhu Lan on an October 2025 list of the city’s best cheap eats, which earns Nhu Lan third place. The Nhu Lan Special, with ham, head cheese and pate, is the classic order. Online ordering works for the Uptown store but not the Lawrence Avenue bakery, so call that shop ahead.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 4810 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• Time Out Chicago priced the ginger tofu banh mi at $8.80 in October 2025.
• The Infatuation counted about 20 banh mi, from lemongrass chicken to sardines in tomato sauce.
• The Lawrence Avenue bakery is at 2612 W Lawrence Ave, (773) 878-9898.
• Time Out Chicago first reviewed the Lawrence Avenue bakery in 2007, when Nhu Lan had just taken over a former Greek bakery.

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Ba Le

Family owned since 1982, according to the shop’s own site, Ba Le is the banh mi counter on Broadway just north of Argyle Street, and Time Out Chicago has described the store as an Uptown fixture since the late 1980s. That run, plus a menu of 15 classic banh mi and a separate vegan section, puts Ba Le fourth. Time Out Chicago’s picks were the house special and the BBQ pork, and every banh mi costs less than $11. Doors open at 8 a.m. every day, early enough for a sandwich on the way to the Red Line.

Hours: Daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Address: 5014 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• Vegan banh mi include lemongrass mushroom, vegan xa xiu and an eggplant sandwich with mango sauce.
• Noodle soups start at $9.95, among them a Saigon chicken soup and a spicy vegan lemongrass beef.
• Ba Le has a second Illinois shop at 30 E Golf Rd in Schaumburg and lists a Naperville store as coming in 2027.
• Time Out Chicago reported that the Broadway store expanded in 2010.

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LC Pho

Glass chandeliers and a ceiling painted with clouds set the scene at LC Pho, a Lawrence Avenue dining room in Lincoln Square where pho is the main event. The Infatuation’s pho guide, updated September 29, 2026, includes LC Pho and describes a gingery broth that leans sweet and arrives topped with black pepper. That recent, specific praise for the house soup puts LC Pho fifth. Pick your cuts, fatty tendon or thin flank among them, and start with banh xeo or shrimp and pork spring rolls. The Infatuation flags the room as a good place to eat alone.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 2739 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Why they made the list

• The grilled pork chop over rice is the non-soup order in The Infatuation’s review.
• Razor clams in tamarind sauce are on the menu.
• Nhu Lan’s Lawrence Avenue bakery is about a block east at 2612 W Lawrence Ave, so pho and a sandwich to go fit in one trip.

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Sochi Saigonese Kitchen

For a sit-down dinner on the North Side, Sochi Saigonese Kitchen on Belmont Avenue in Lakeview cooks the food of Saigon in a plant-filled room that The Infatuation describes as lively and often packed. The Saigon pho ($26) gets extra richness from bone marrow, and the shaking beef ($40) uses filet mignon with rice cooked alongside marrow. Places in both of The Infatuation’s current Vietnamese and pho guides put Sochi sixth, the list’s sit-down dinner on the North Side. The pho is made in limited quantities, so order a bowl early in the night.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 1358 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657

Why they made the list

• The Original Egg Roll is $18 and comes with a tangy fish sauce for dipping.
• Slap Mama crab fried rice is $30, and coffee flan is $12.
• Tables are booked through SevenRooms on the restaurant’s website.
• A $6 surcharge is added to every check, and staff will remove the charge on request.

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Danang Kitchen

Central Vietnamese cooking is the focus at Danang Kitchen on Argyle Street, and mi quang is the dish to order: turmeric-tinted rice noodles in a shallow broth with shrimp, pork, quail eggs, peanuts and a sesame rice cracker. The Infatuation includes Danang Kitchen in the July 2025 Vietnamese guide for the mi quang and in the September 2026 pho guide for a bowl with wide, chewy noodles and several cuts of beef. That focus on a regional noodle dish earns the seventh spot. The Infatuation pegs the restaurant as a lunch spot, which suits a weekday visit.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 1019 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• Banh mi chao arrives on a hot skillet, according to The Infatuation’s Vietnamese guide.
• Herbs for the mi quang include banana blossom, cilantro and Vietnamese coriander.
• The pho broth is light and spiced with star anise, clove and cinnamon.

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Pho 888

Decor is minimal at Pho 888, a small room on the west end of the Argyle strip near Broadway, and the soup does the talking. The pho dac biet has a clear broth with clove, star anise and cinnamon, topped with eye of round, flank steak, meatballs and tripe. The Infatuation reviewed Pho 888 in April 2025 and includes the shop in the September 2026 pho guide, which places Pho 888 eighth here. Bring a friend for banh hoi thap cam, a build-your-own rice roll platter meant for sharing.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 1137 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640

Why they made the list

• The rice roll platter comes with fish cakes, grilled beef and beef wrapped in betel leaves.
• Hu tieu bo kho, a beef stew with lemongrass and a hint of star anise, is the alternative to pho.
• The Infatuation lists Pho 888 as a casual, walk-in spot.

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Phodega

Part pho shop and part corner store, Phodega on Division Street in Wicker Park dates to 2019 and keeps chips and paper towels on the shelves near the noodle counter. Beef pho is $16.95 with meatballs, ribeye and wide noodles, and the Viet Dip ($12.99) is a sandwich served with pho jus for dipping. Phodega ranks ninth as the modern counter on the list, included in both of The Infatuation’s current Vietnamese and pho guides. For a party, the Pho-Kit Bucket feeds eight for $65.99.

Hours: Daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 1924 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• Oxtail pho is $19.95, and a vegan pho chay is $15.95.
• Banh mi run $11.99 to $12.99, from marinated pork belly to salt and pepper tofu.
• Hainan-style chicken rice is $14.95, and a pizza puff is $4.99.
• The Infatuation’s 2023 review noted a move into a larger storefront with a patio.

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Pho Thien Vietnamese Kitchen

The suburban pick is Pho Thien Vietnamese Kitchen, a family-run restaurant on 75th Street in Naperville owned by Thien Nguyen. Naperville Magazine reported in 2017 that the beef pho broth simmers for 17 hours and that the recipes go back generations in the family. Hoodline reported in March 2026 that the restaurant had marked ten years in Naperville and was opening a second location in Aurora, and that decade in business rounds out the list at tenth. Bun bo hue was selling out on Sunday afternoons when Naperville Magazine wrote about Pho Thien in 2017, so go early on weekends.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 931 W 75th St, Suite 177, Naperville, IL 60565

Why they made the list

• The Aurora location is at 2365 N Farnsworth Ave, according to Hoodline.
• Banh mi thit nuong, a marinated grilled pork sandwich, is one of the dishes Hoodline singled out.
• The Naperville Sun and Chicago Tribune have profiled Pho Thien, including in a Chef’s Choice column.

See the full directory listing

Also worth knowing

Next door to HaiSous, Cà Phê Đá Vietnamese Café is the Dangs’ daytime cafe, with pho, banh mi, the fish-sauce wings and Vietnamese egg coffee. The Infatuation’s pho guide lists the cafe’s petite bowl with thin ribeye and meatballs, and The Infatuation’s review notes the dining room closes at 3 p.m., so plan on lunch. The entrance is on the 18th Street side of the building.

Down the block from Hai Yen, Nha Hang Viet Nam Restaurant has a menu of more than 200 dishes. The Infatuation recommends the caramelized braised fish, a duck salad with a ginger and fish sauce dressing, and canh chua ca, a sour fish soup with tamarind and pineapple. A group can split com gia dinh Sai Gon, a family-style platter of rice, several proteins, vegetables and soup.

See a place we missed or a detail that has changed? Send us a correction.