Lakeside Village will soon have a new restaurant.
Restaurateur Viet Nguyen is close to opening Ben Tre Vietnamese Homestyle Cuisine at 2650 Ocean Ave., joining the two other locations in South San Francisco and Millbrae.
Nguyen did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Nguyen's Gao Viet on Irving Street is a popular destination for a dish called Phozilla — a heaping bowl of pho topped with beef rib, oxtail, filet mignon, brisket, bone marrow and an entire lobster. Other Ben Tre locations currently serve classic Vietnamese dishes like several variations of pho and Com Dia rice platters along with their most customer-requested dish, garlic noodles.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ben Tre to Lakeside Village,” Friends of Lakeside Village’s Kath Tsakalakis said. “We have heard only great things about the Ben Tre restaurants across the Bay Area from delicious food to friendly service to their community orientation.”
The restaurant will be located in the former U.S. Bank which, according to Tsakalakis, had once been a restaurant.
“In a way, Ben Tre is bringing this corner back to its roots,” Tsakalakis said.
Tsakalakis also said that the Ben Tre team is carefully renovating the space by opening the interior to make it a very special space for dining while retaining original features on the exterior of the building.
The opening date for the new restaurant has not been announced.
