Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant

If you told me you only had 20 bucks to spend out in the Mission, my recommendation for a good time and good food would be a $5 movie at the Roxie Theater, and a meal at Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant and Hawaiian Barbeque, located next door.Sunflower reminds me of those hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurants with the quaint, but clean interiors and the faded menus. I walked in one Saturday night after a movie and saw Sunflower having a Chicken Katsu plate with a side of rice and macaroni salad for 12 bucks! The price was enough to get me through the door, but of course, now comes the question: "Will I get my money's worth?" You bet I did! Right off the bat, the waitress, a nice lady, served me some water and offered me a menu. I said I wanted the chicken katsu and in no less than 10 minutes I had a homecooked style meal, hot off the grill. The cutlet was crispy, but it was neutral in flavor. Besides the katsu sauce, there were plenty of complimentary sides, like chili crisp, siracha, and soy sauce. I could say I ended up using everything since the chicken did lack some seasoning, but I believe this was done so people could season themselves. For San Francisco prices, and considering value, I would say this cheapskate approves! I will definitely be back next time and try out their Sunflower Prawns, as they looked HUGE and tasty when they were served to another customer.The location is convenient to get to as well; a few blocks from 16th and Mission BART Station.

This for the locals It's tasty reasonably priced food in the city! Enough said I'll spare you the pompous bulls*** some of these people are espousing who give it less than 5 stars. At this price point it can't be less.Affordable enough to make you pass on less healthy fast food for all higher quality meal all while experiencing very friendly helpful staff.10/10

Me: "Where do you want to eat - around here or drive somewhere else?"Friend: "Let's just stay on 16th."Me: "Ok, Truly Mediterranean (*thinking*: please pick this!), Picaro (or this), or Sunflower (please, do NOT pick this!)?Friend: "Hmmm, Sunflower sounds good!"Me: "Sure!"Cap. But, I didn't want to kill the positive vibes just because Sunflower's food is not my jam. But, maybe they've improved from my last visit?Sunflower has been in The Mission for as long as I can remember (nearly 2 decades) and they also have a location in Potrero Hill. They're open for takeout, delivery, indoor dining, and outdoor dining (dog-friendly). While their name is "Sunflower 'Authentic' Vietnamese Restaurant", they don't serve authentic Viet eats. It's Chinese style Viet food. M E N UTypical Viet menu of apps, phở, bún, and entrees. Online menu is different than the in-person menu. I asked about Viet rice plates and was told, you have to order a side of rice to go with your entrée. They also have a Hawaiian BBQ menu that includes rice plates so that's odd. Beer available.F O O D* Spam Musubi (2pc-$6) // 2 stars2 stars for the spam (not coated in soy+sugar glaze) because you can't go wrong with spam (if you grew up on it). The rice was very mushy so we didn't eat it. * Bún Thịt Nướng Chả Giò: BBQ Lemongrass Pork & Imperial Rolls Vermicelli Bowl ($13.95) // 2.5 stars: https://tinyurl.com/3fas2wdm--Thịt Nướng (BBQ Lemongrass Pork): Hella salty with no lemongrass flavor. Tasted more like Chinese style pork since it was heavy on the soy sauce and oyster sauce (?). --Chả Giò (Imperial Rolls): Hot and crunchy with savory pork. Menu says, there's taro but didn't taste any. --Bún: The vermicelli noodles were overcooked and broken up into small segments. They don't give you much noodles. --Accoutrements: Chopped romaine lettuce (crisp), cucumbers (fresh), and pickled carrots + daikon (hella sour).-- Nước chấm (fish dipping sauce): So salty, needs more sugar and lime for balance.* Loco Moco: Two beef patties, two fried eggs, rice, gravy (Regular - $13.95) // 3 starsNot my order but non-picky friend said, it wasn't good. At least the eggs were runny!S E R V I C ESuper sweet cashier and server, that also helps cooks in the kitchen. We were the only ones there and food took about 20 minutes. A M B I A N C EDingy hole-in-the-wall with four tables inside and two tables outside. P A R K I N GVery challenging street parking.Overall, if you're used to good Viet food in the TL or in E San Jose, Sunflower is probably not going to cut it. BUT...if you're solely looking for cheap AZN food for sustenance while barhopping on 16th, this may be an ok option.

Great little Vietnamese spot on 16th at Valencia, right next to the Roxie Theater. I had a couple hours to kill before catching a movie, so I sat outside and people watched while waiting for my food. The staff were very kind and attentive. I ordered the Lemongrass beef vermicelli bowl, which comes with crispy (egg or spring?) rolls on top. The portion size was generous; I took home leftovers and it was just as delicious the next day for lunch. Can't wait to come back and try the Hawaiian BBQ options, too!

Food still good for the category and price point. Staff still pleasant. That's all that can be said to meet the minimum character requirement for a Yelp review.

VIETNAMESE OR HAWAIIANI like these two cuisines, but for this restaurant it represents a dilemma for me. This restaurant is close to the Roxie Theater. One evening I came here to eat before watching a movie at the Roxie Theater. I ordered the imperial rolls and house fried rice. At any Vietnamese eateries I prefer imperial rolls over spring rolls as the imperial rolls are fried. I can make a meal of these imperial rolls. The house fried rice looked small in portion yet was tasty. It also wasn't oily but hearty. After seeing the menu on the wall of the restaurant that includes several Hawaiian dishes I wanted to come here again. About a month later I ate at Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant. I ordered the spam musabi and BBQ beef short ribs. It was great seeing how the spam musabi was made. Most spam musabi I've ordered the rice ends to be too hard. Not at Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant where the rice is warm and soft. Even though this place mostly serves Vietnamese dishes that one Hawaiian dish this is the best spam musabi I ever had at an eatery. The BBQ beef short rib at Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant is better than most BBQ beef short rib I've ate from other Hawaiian eateries. First the portion of the beef ribs engulfs the two scoops of rice as too often I get more rice than meat at other places for this dish. Second the BBQ beef short rib was also flavorful with the combination of meat and fat. I ate here about several weeks later. I knew this time I wanted to order Vietnamese food. I ordered jasmine rice and shaking beef, which I never had. I loved the portion of the shaking beef, but there was something about the taste. I tasted the beef but unlike the BBQ beef short rib the shaking beef lacked flavor. I didn't know if this dish was supposed to be sweet, savory, or spicy. Of all the Vietnamese and Hawaiian dishes I ordered from Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant, the Vietnamese dish of shaking beef was the worst I ate.This place left me in a flux. Is it a Hawaiian or Vietnamese? I was more impressed with the Hawaiian dishes than the Vietnamese dishes from this eatery. I think if this place focused solely either on Vietnamese or Hawaiian the quality of the food from that cuisine would be clarified.

This place was pretty disappointing. We arrived at 6pm. Our food was only partially brought out at 6:33pm. The remainder of the food we ordered was brought out at 6:45pm. It took over 45 minutes to get all the food we ordered.Part of the problem was the waitress kept bringing out incorrect orders. She mixed up a togo order and our order. Our full order had been packed togo, even though we were sitting right in the restaurant. Then she brought us another patron's order. Then she finally got one of our dishes out. Then finally the last dish. When the check came, it was incorrect at $48. The correct amount was $26. It had items on there that we did not order. The waitress went back and changed some things on the ticket, then brought it back to us. It now read $38. I pointed out it was still incorrect, and she went back for further analysis and calculations. It finally came out at $28, which was only $2 over. So I just paid it because we had to leave.

Had a 5 spice chicken and bbq pork vermicelli bowls delivered. Both were great. The meat was so flavorful and veggies all super fresh.

Sunflower makes the best summer rolls in the city. Hard stop. As evidenced by the picture, my meal was just two orders of them. One star off because the food took ages, possibly because it seems to be an overwhelmingly takeout oriented operation. The service was very terse, and while I'd never expect the utmost attentiveness in that setting, a little more warmth would take this place to the next level.

There are two locations in SF. While I like the ambiance at the Connecticut St. vs. Valencia/16th, I prefer to order my food at Valencia- my reason may be silly, but the peanut sauce is made so much better at the Valencia location.