Van's Vietnamese Restaurant

I've gone and then several times over the past year. Each time enjoying it very mu I was very impressed t my wife and I are now regulars. more

The Bun dishes. GET THEM. Shrimp or beef or pork, you can't go wrong, any of these marinated, lemongrass-grilled on a bed of perfectly done vermicelli noodles and savory sauteed scallions. You haven't gone yet?? Tomorrow, for lunch, you won't regret it. more

Good authentic viet food is hard to find in the Albany area, so in the past I've sucked up their horrible and slow service for my bowl of pho, BUT NO MORE. There is usually only ONE person working the whole restaurant, so I understand that service may be slow and refills may be few. I'd like to think that I'm not that high maintenance, as long as you treat me with common courtesy and respect. But tonight was the worst restaurant experience I've had in a long while, and it takes alot for me to even care enough to write a bad review about this place. I went there tonight, and luckily it was not that busy yet for dinner. There were plenty of free tables, but the waitress did not even acknowledge that we walked into the restaurant. I wouldn't mind so much if she was serving tables, or WORKING, but she was flirting and chatting it up with a guy at the bar area and fiddling with the candy bin. After a few minutes of this, we decided to just seat ourselves at the nearest empty table, and maybe this offended her in some way because she proceeded to ignore us. So still no water, no menus, NOTHING. The worse part is that as soon as we sat down, another party walked in and she seated them cordially right away. After being ignored a little more, I finally decided to get her attention by asking her for some menus. She got some other guy (i guess she was determined not to have to deal with us) to give us our menus. At this point, we still had nothing to drink and our orders were not taken yet. So we finally decided to leave, and of course, as we were walking out I received the mandatory dirty glare. As much as I wanted a warm bowl of pho, I couldn't put up with the bad (or lack thereof) service anymore, and headed over to good ol' reliable Ichiban on the next block. more

Surprisingly good Vietnamese in a casual setting. Food was "nicer" than I expected, though not as authentic... more

Surprisingly good Vietnamese in a casual setting. Food was "nicer" than I expected, though not as authentic as I'd hoped (really bland fish sauce,... more

A friend of mine is a fan of Van's. A couple of months ago we met a group for dinner at Van's and my dinner was fantastic. I ordered Ginger Salmon - the fish was fresh, the presentation beautiful and the flavor beyond words. I'm a fan now. Yesterday I returned and had another fantastic dining experience, this time ordering a Vietnamese Salad , another 10. P.S. The restaurant is very clean and has a pleasant atmosphere. You can take a date : - ) more

Had lunch today with 6 coworkers and the food was excellent. I had the Pho Ba. Tasty beef soup. Fresh basil and bean sprouts. Others had the spicy chicken, spicy shrimp and a vegetarian dish. The cost was about $10 a person with tip. The atmosphere in the restaurant is quite nice. They have an excellent selection of wine by the glass and beer. They have a good selection of deserts. Pros: Excellent ambiance, food and service. Cons: Location. Neighborhood a little run down towards downtown Is getting better. more

Excellent, consistant quaility food and fresh ingredients. Not afraid of the meat like in some vietnamese restaurants. Absolutely Delicious. Highly recommend. Not the greatest area of albany, but certainly not the worst. more