On the corner of California and Polk streets, the long lines at Swan Oyster Depot tend to get all the attention. But around the corner from the legendary seafood spot sits a hole-in-the-wall joint that deserves just as much acclaim. Cordon Bleu Vietnamese Restaurant, potentially the oldest Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco, has been serving flame-kissed five-spice chicken since 1970. And over five decades later, it still offers some of the cheapest prices in the city.

Located at 1574 California St., the Polk Gulch neighborhood diner is tucked in a one-windowed storefront with light blue-painted brick walls. Eight stools sit around an L-shaped counter, where customers breathe in the scent of delicious marinated meats charring over a smoky grill. It’s a place that feeds the people that live in the neighborhood, not tourists. And in a very non-San Francisco move, nothing on the menu is over $16.

“It’s still so cheap compared to the rest of the city,” said Ryan Conway, who stopped in on a recent Thursday just to say hi to owner Katie Yu. “That’s what’s great about this place. But more than that, it’s the kind of place that means something to the city. That’s why I keep coming back.”

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Katie Yu, owner of Cordon Bleu, places silverware and salad at Cordon Bleu in San Francisco, Feb. 19, 2026.

There is only one available table at Cordon Bleu in San Francisco., Feb. 19, 2026.

Anthony Dang-Tran first opened Cordon Bleu in 1970 and at one point had another location at 2227 Polk St. He created a small menu, which consisted of only five items: five-spice chicken, thinly sliced pork “shish kebab” (feather-thin cuts of pork also marinated in the five-spice sauce), ultra-crispy imperial rolls that inevitably shatter with each bite, a garlicky “meat sauce” of........

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