Golden Star Vietnamese Restaurant

Good portions for the price but they insist on cash only. I'm sorry but this is not the 60's. Get with the program.

Looking for Noodle Soup?

We found the Golden Flower by chance. It was a Friday night and we were actually looking for a Chinese noodle/dumpling soup type place. As lively as Chinatown is during the day, we discovered the majority of the shops and restaurants shut down early. We also found most of the restaurants on Grant Avenue that were still opened were very much American style Chinese food. We walked at least 5-6 blocks looking for the "right" soup place.

We stumbled upon the Golden Flower when we finally gave up on the idea of Chinese soup and started looking for a Pho place. This Vietnamese Pho place was a great find right in the middle of numerious Chinese restauraunts. The family-run restaurant is a small place and cramped quarters for approximately 8-10 tables. A run to the restroom takes you into the basement kitchen. It is amazing how much cooking gets done in such small quarters.

We thought the food was very good. We started with the Goi Cuen (shrimp and pork salad rolls). These are served with the hosin/peanut sauce and they were very good. You could tell the freshness of the lettuce and cilantro by their crispness.

I orderd the Pho Ga Ngu Vi (chicken rice noodle soup with bbq pork). The soup was served with generous slices of grilled bbq pork on a side dish. The broth was flavorful and the rice noodles were fresh and cooked just right. The bbq pork was marinated well and had a wonderful flavor.

My wife and one daughter ordered the traditional beef Pho and they both said theirs was very good. They ordered medium size bowls and neither could finish. Again both reported the broth and noodles were delicious. My wife ordered the Dac Biet (special) and was expecting more variety of meat and the Vietnamese meatballs. She says she has had better Pho in Houston.

My other daugher ordered the combination fried rice and she said it was good and was "nicely peppered." Her serving was enough to take leftovers to-go and enjoy them the next morning.

Finding the Golden Flower was a great "save" because our options were fading fast. Also, this was one of the least expensive dinners we had in San Francisco.

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Went here for lunch for the first time, it was pretty packed but I got a seat. I was ready to order so I was waiting for my server. The girl at the cash register saw me waving twice but looked away both times.
I ordered Pho Tai Nam (beef slices on the side) - I'm Vietnamese myself so I am very familiar with it. Went up to pay for my lunch and the owner put $9.50 on the bill then another woman came speaking in Vietnamese "add $1 for beef on the side". I was not informed of the extra charge and it was my first time there... I paid of course and was going to leave - the man screamed out "excuse me, this did not include tips!". I said, well you guys did not inform me. He yelled out again "it was on the menu!" If it was or was not on the menu, at that point you embarassed me, there would absolutely be no tip? Tips are optional. I always leave tips but they were being aggressive about it.
Perhaps, if the staff standing at the cashier would have acknowledged me or if the server informed me of the extra charge, an automatic tip would be on your table. Tip is for servers who do a good job or a place provide exceptional service, it is not a requirement.

I came here before but I could not think of any other good place near my house in the sunset.

I got the #1 the "firetruck head" as they call it in Chinese lol.
The staff were pretty friendly and I got my food quickly. The taste was different than what I usually eat -I personally didn't like it.

As with the other restaurant I also didn't like how expensive it was compared to the small portion I got. I was not full or satisfied.

Although the staff was pretty friendly I would not recommend....

Gosh the service was horrible. Within two minutes sit in, we were asked three times what do we want to order. When we finished the food, my friend went to use the restroom and I was waiting at the table. 15 seconds later, two guys came twice to ask if I still need anything and try to clean the table. Very obvious they wanted me to leave while there were still plenty of empty seats. Very stressful.
The food wasn't even good. The taste of the broth was kinda artificial. I will definitely NOT coming back.

It costs so high compare with the taste and overall satisfaction.

Spring rolls were not that good  because the peanut sauce was so terrible, compared wt other Vietnamese resto i have ever tried.

I ordered no.36 it was good but it was so expensive cos i can get that dish under10(including tax + tips) at another place. My friends ordered Pho with beef. All of them told me the soup was so bland and the noodle still uncooked, but i didn't try because i do not eat beef.

Fried rolls ,i'm quite not sure whether it's vegetarian or not but it's just ok(i felt like it better than fresh roll)

We will not go back to this resto for sure.

Service was fast and safe! Their vermicelli noodles and imperial rolls are delicious!

Love this place! I'm a regular here and so glad they are still open during COVID. The restaurant staff wear masks and clean the table/chairs between customers. Their pho is hands down one of the best in town. I also love their imperial rolls. Highly recommend.

Love this place so much! Best all-around Vietnamese food in Chinatown. Tucked away in an alley, across the public park, I love coming here -- alone or with others -- for a nice bowl of something to soothe the soul. Their pho is super delicious and I don't leave feeling all MSG'd out. The vermicelli bowls are soooo good. You can actually taste the lemongrass in the lemongrass chicken! The pork is cut nice and thin, and the charcoal grilled taste is delicious. Place looks pretty clean too! Only wish is that they carried bun rieu D:

Second day in Chinatown and trying something that is not Chinese. It was an early lunch and we were hungry for Vietnamese noodle soup.Using our trusty yelp app we found a number of really great selections but we settled on the golden star Vietnamese restaurant.