I used to live walking distance from this neighborhood, and loved to get the pho and raw beef salad at Lotus Garden. That was a couple of years ago. Today, I was feeling under the weather and a craving for Lotus Garden struck. So, I drove over to look for my old haunt and was very sad to discover the restaurant was no more. Then, a miracle happened... I had resigned myself to driving a few blocks up and finding some ""consolation meal"" of a burrito or burger, grabbed a random parking spot, looked across the road and saw a newer, improved version of the same Lotus Garden! Is it really the same place I wondered?! I went in, to find the same owner, Kathy. Now if you are looking for great Vietnamese food, you can't go wrong with this place. But what really makes Lotus Garden wonderful is that Kathy and her husband (the chef) truly love making their food and serving their customers. Kathy said the new place has been open 16 months now (the old place they lost their lease I believe), but they aren't getting enough traffic to pay the bills. She may need to close if something doesn't change. That's why I'm writing this. Sometimes, you don't want a good thing to be discovered/overrun, but if people don't start going here it will vanish, and that would be a big loss to San Francisco. There aren't enough places with phenomenal food where the owner really cares, and you can feast for less than the cost of a movie. If you go, Kathy will be there, and she will answer your questions with a smile on her face and perhaps tell you about her dream of writing a cookbook. Hopefully she will someday because their food is incredible and we'd all stand to benefit from being able to learn how to make it ourselves.
Pros: A gem -- family run, huge value, outstanding food, owners really care about their customers
Cons: Go here! They aren't getting enough business and will vanish if we don't support Kathy and her husband. That would be awful!
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