After passing by this place for years we decided to give it a try and now I'm mad that I hadn't tried it earlier. I have been missing out. We went for the pho and got bao and potstickers. They were so delicious and filling. I had the seafood pho and my husband had brisket pho. The broth was just what I needed. The service was excellent and the staff were super friendly checking on us multiple times. It was also super clean which is a plus and spacious. I will definitely be back, especially for the bao. read more

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Perfect on a cold day! Their pho is absolutely outstanding. We were sat quickly and received quick, excellent service. The menu has a tons of items, don't be scared to ask for clarification or what's the best! We went for lunch during the week - the lunch rush was minimal. Parking can be a little tight. A great lunch spot! Very relaxed atmosphere. read more

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Pho tasted like a bowl of oily salty water with more salty flavoring added to it... Thai tea was extremely sweet and the Vietnamese coffee should be called iced latte. Service was great but food and beverages were disappointing. read more

I am an Ava Street stan. Their lemongrass Tofu made me reconsider how tofu is supposed to taste. Between their vermicelli and pho, I love love love this place. The service is always excellent, and its a casual, low key atmosphere perfect for dates and after work dinner. Big fan of the birds nest- an avocado topped with crab salad and eel sauce with sesame seeds. read more

Food was delicious. I ordered the pork bao buns and the beef plate to go. Will definitely be going back to have the dine in experience.

This meal was absolutely amazing and was a perfect meal for this chilly day! Always get their homemade chili oil when you get the pho- it makes it so much yummier! read more

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Service was good. Food was amazing! First time here and I'll definitely be back. I had the pan fried dumplings and a grilled chicken salad with ginger dressing. Very fresh. read more

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The food was great. Only had about three couples in the place for dinner. Seemed kind of slow, but the service was good and the ambiance was nice. I went with plans of getting bao bun, spring rolls, and small pho, but filled up before the pho. I recommend it, and I'll be back soon for my pho! read more

Ava Street Cafe - Lemongrass tofu bao bun and tofu spring rolls - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Owner abruptly accused me and my mom of dining and dashing??? Right after we paid and didn't apologize when she realized she made a mistake. Hm. Yummy food though read more

So delicious!! I was craving something different and this definitely hit the spot! For starters, Ava Street Cafe is so clean and very open. All of the employees were so nice, great customer service. To start, I got the potstickers and tofu spring rolls. The potstickers were so good, I wish I got a second order! I didn't even need the sauce for them. The spring rolls were so fresh and huge! I have never had tofu before and these definitely made me a fan. The sauce that came with it was the perfection addition of spicy. The pork Bao buns were my favorite! The pork tasted perfect. I took the carrots off just because I am not a big carrot fan but everything else was perfect. I have had Bao buns before, but these are my favorite that I had so far. They even said the pork buns are the most popular, and I can see why! I will totally be back. Located in Essen, so kinda right in the middle of everything and great service! read more

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Ava Street Cafe is one of the many great Vietnamese restaurants that can be found in Baton Rouge. It's conveniently located on Essen right by Benny's Car Wash. They have lots of room in their on-site parking. Ava is definitely one of the more upscale choices for Vietnamese. It's got a bright contemporary interior, and has a glossy menu with lots of pictures. This menu includes a solid selection of Vietnamese favorites, including pho, rice plates, vermicelli bowls, and a wide variety of appetizers. There's even a pretty good selection of drinks and desserts. The service is prompt and friendly, and pricing is fair. Overall, Ava is a great choice, and is a different part of town than the majority of the Vietnamese restaurants. It makes it convenient if you are in that side of town. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Vegan Vermicelli Bowl! - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I'm not sure if they changed ownership but as of recently the service was bad and so was the food. The meat was very hard to chew through. I had a thai tea and it tasted expired. It also took so long to get our food and drinks. And an even longer time to get the check. So sad because i use to love this place. read more

I tried ASC to-go because I was dying for pho and my main spot downtown closes after lunch rush. The young lady at the counter when you first walk in was super sweet which was nice. I ordered the shrimp pho with beef broth and I enjoyed it. It's hard to compete with my #1 spot, but this place isn't bad in a craving emergency! read more

Ava Street Cafe - Taro with matcha boba - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Everything was delicious. The food was good! I can't speak about service or ambience because my friend picked up dinner as takeout but I enjoyed everything. I need to go here again. read more

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Over priced. Quality of the food and service have gone down hill. Better options for Vietnamese.

Ava's food always amazes me because it is so fresh and delicious! They have many tasty vegetarian dishes including vegetable pho I love the grilled pork and vermicelli and the ginger salads are especially nice in hot weather The service is excellent and the ambiance is good too. We like the booths. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Today I found the mixed plate with egg roll and shrimp plus the grilled pork for the same price! - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

the food is always to die for. the service is always amazing. vibes r good and clean place read more

Ava Street Cafe - tofu baguette and tofu pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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I have come here over the years. I live in New Orleans but frequent BR often and Ava's is a more authentic Vietnamese restaurant! Only complaint is portions have gotten smaller for the price for sure but the flavor and service is always great!! read more

This is my girlfriend's favorite spot to go to for PHO. If you're nervous to give it a try. DON'T BE !! Service is over the top. They are running sometimes if they feel like they are being slow ! Good food. And Great service read more

Went on a Friday early evening and the restaurant was empty. There was a strong odor that I later discovered was probably coming from the women's restroom. Despite that, we decided to stay because the reviews were so good for this place. The staff is amazing. They were attentive, friendly and informative. I was overwhelmed by the menu because I wanted to try everything. With a recommendation from the server, I decided to get the Lemongrass Tofu Bao Buns as an appetizer and 225 Vegan Bowl as an entree. It was a lot of food, very generous portions. The Tofu Bao was delicious. The 225 Vegan Bowl was scrumptious and refreshing, I could eat that everyday. I hope to return soon to try the Pho and other items. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Lemongrass tofu bao buns - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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Being a vegetarian (who loveees vegan food) in Baton Rouge, it can sometimes be hard to find a place with good options. Luckily, Ava Street Cafe has MANY good options! We enjoyed the lemongrass tofu bao, the 225 Vegan Vermicelli, the lemon cake+coconut cream, and the kimchi fries (however the fries have cheese & not specified on menu so beware vegans!). The service was lovely, we had amazing tea drinks. I recommend the Lychee! Prices are fair, portions are big, and the place itself was clean and cute. We will definitely back! :) read more

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Should be zero stars. On a Friday there should be better service with the expectation of more people eating out on the weekend. I walked into the restaurant and there was already one person standing waiting to be seated. There was several passes of two people bringing out dishes and never was there any acknowledgment of us waiting. Both of us left. I have seen better from this restaurant. Fix it read more

Great quality food, great service. Their home made chili oil sauce is spectacular. Their pho had tons of stuff in it and all the ingredients were fresh. Great lunch place in walking distance of the hospital and a million times better than what you can eat inside the hospital. read more

This was very his Pho. I got the vegan pho with tofu. I thought it came with more veggies, but it did not. But the lemongrass tofu was the bomb. I'd like to just buy that. The vegan broth was flavorful, with just the right admins of roasted garlic. The restaurant is cute. It's an older restaurant, but very cute. I left full. read more

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Everything was just mediocre. What brought it down to 2 star instead of 3 is a pitiful kid shrimp fried rice that was $19! Just way over priced for rice. I could serve an entire community with $19 of rice. There was nothing in it. Had Birds nest and pork bao bun. Meat was a little over done and chewy. It was so non exciting I didn't even bother ordering an entree for myself. Lemonade was good, iced viet tea was good. Lemon cake was ok but why put peanuts in the crème?? Takes away from the lemon and doesn't go together. Servive was friendly and a little slow. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Lemon took a long long time to come out and was not worth the wait. - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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I'm surprised more people in Baton Rouge don't talk about Ava Street Cafe! I went to try something new and get some Vietnamese food, and it was fairly reasonably priced and pretty good! The Lemongrass Tofu Steam Buns or Baos were delicious and pretty filling. I also ordered a small size Pho with no meat and chicken stock broth--it was only $8 and I had left overs! Our waitress was so attentive and sweet--I would definitely come here again! read more

Ava Street Cafe - Lemongrass Tofu Steam Buns - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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The food is always exceptional and service is so accommodating!! Very authentic! Thank you for great food!

So glad I found this hidden gem in BR! It's such a cute little place with a large menu. The waitress was super nice and attentive. It was hard to pick what to eat!! Everything sounded so good. I decided to start with the birds nest appetizer which was baked avocado with snowcrab. It was absolutely delicious! I had never seen anything like it before so had to order! I also got the grilled chicken baos. Their steam buns were cooked well and I like that they are topped with sauce, carrots, and greens! Highly recommend supporting this small business! read more

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Had their pork sandwich. The bread was slightly crunchy with a soft inside very yummy. There were lots of veggies. Really hit the spot!

Reviews on this place had me excited to try it, however I was sadly disappointed. My steam buns looked beautiful and delicious, flavor was good of the meat and other toppings (pickled carrot and daikon) with a sauce, however the bun itself didn't seem fresh but maybe frozen? It fell apart the second I picked it up to eat it. Pho- extremely disappointing with a lack of flavor and depth. This pho tasted very watered down as if it was an "instant pho" pack you get at a grocery store. It did not have the delicious depth of a bone broth simmered a long time with all the proper spices. I didn't try any specialty drinks for fear of the same lack of flavor and freshness. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Pork steamed bun - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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So easy to order for pick up in advance through multiple food services. Ordered lemongrass tofu banh mi, birds nest, vermicelli bowl, crab rangoons, pork banh mi, & cinnamon dessert bites. Would get everything again except the bird nest and crab Rangoon. I love avocado but I just didn't find anything about this avocado & crab combo amazing. Can't wait to try other dishes (or maybe stick to the others above)! read more

The dish that keeps bringing me back to this spot time and time again is their "Shaking beef" aka #37 grilled steak Bo luc lac rice plate for $12.95! Not sure what authentic shaking beef should taste like but boy is this plate tasty and my favorite in the area! At first it seems like there's not enough beef on the plate but if you cut each piece in half and take a perfect bite as follows it's just enough - I recommend (for maximum flavor effect!) that each bite consist of a little bit of each thing on the plate (see photo). Try a spoonful with a base of rice, topped with a piece of beef, then with a slice of cucumber, pickled cabbage, lettuce, carrot strip, sautéed green onion, tomato, and finally a little dip into the house fish sauce (the orange colored one). It's a salty, savory, chewy, and crunchy party in your mouth! An appetizer that always stands out to me is #1 A, their fresh Hanoi spring roll. Comes with 2 rolls for $7.95 but they're large and a generous amount of shrimp and pork. I recommend the peanut dipping sauce that has a little spicy kick to it. Their pho is pretty standard. I recommend getting whichever meats you want but with a chicken broth base. The beef broth is pretty gamey to me. I appreciate this place was extremely strict with covid for a while although it seems like they've relaxed their rules for now. No longer made us hand sanitize as we came in and out (of course we washed our hands instead) and they do make multiple trips to your table during your meal (used to only come once if they could help it during the prior covid surge). It's overall clean, very spacious, and never filled to the brim with a crowd. They do charge for extras such as extra peanut dipping sauce for your appetizer. We usually have a male waiter who is absolutely amazing but yesterday had one of the female waitresses who was quite aggressive in telling us to not order Veggie broth with The Works Pho although the broth is clearly stated in the menu as an option for us to choose. She kept repeating that she personally found that combo not tasty at all and recommended beef broth with The Works Pho. She agreed to give us veggie broth eventually and it was just fine. read more

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This was an amazing outing with my siblings. My brother had come into town for Christmas and I wanted to spend some time with him away from the house. He enjoyed the offerings here. My siblings and I had gotten the same entree, grilled chicken, and rice, but I also got the pork spring rolls. Everything was wonderful! To drink, I had passionfruit tea which was made perfectly and just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. The restaurant was empty, but we did come in a few hours before closing. The staff was very friendly and the dining room was immaculate. I only wish I would have been able to get another plate for my cousin, who has also come into town for the holidays but couldn't make it to our gathering. I look forward to another opportunity to visit Ava's Street Cafe...I have my eye on a few things on their menu. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Pork Springrolls - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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The place seemed clean and nice. Decorations seemed modern with Vietnamese style art, nice. The menu seemed nice with usual choices of items. The Pho had large and small sizes and I noticed that meat choices were separated. I chose Pho Nam, it came out a bit later and was hot enough for me, but not really piping hot. The vegetables weren't the freshest or the cleanest, but it works. The soup tasted fine but not the richest flavor I had. Also the soup/ noodles/ meat balance was just enough. I think I got lucky though. Overall good, but this place will not be my first choice. read more

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Not feeling great and was in search of some Pho, coming from New Orleans I am used to great Pho options at every corner so I was on the hunt. A friend suggested Cafe Ava so we made the trip. As first glance the exterior of the restaurant was a little confusing. You can tell this was a Mexican restaurant in its first life thanks to the still hanging margarita sign to the left of the building. Great parking and I was glad to see tons of covid precautions. Ordered the garlic butter edamame to start and they were wonderful, will try the ranch next time. My pho was fantastic and truly hit the spot. I got the chicken and loved that it was all white meat with tons of noodles. The large filled me in restaurant and gave me just us much to take home for later. There are ALOT of other great things on the menu I'll be back to try. Mainly the birds nests and the crab salad. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Chicken pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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My first time here was first summer Covid just started. Service was really limited because they restricted how many times a staff can be interacting with each customer tables so it was hard to find staff when we needed something. Food tasted raw and bland was all I can remember. I came with 2 other vegetarians and a meat eater. I think the only one was satisfied was the one who ordered the meat dish. Anyways, my friend and I had a bad experience at Viet Garden so we were skeptical about here but after reading reviews, I wanted to give it a second chance. We both ordered Thai Ice Tea, Grilled Mixed Vegetable Vermicelli, and he had the Grilled Steak Rice Plate. The vegan momma sauce was yummy. I couldn't get enough of the sauce. The vermicelli dish was on the light side so I was hungry again when I reached home. The food and ambiance was great. Will try again and hopefully find a fulfilling dish. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Steak - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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Tried this spot out Sunday. I was happy I did. They were all friendly right when you walk in the door. The works pho was pretty solid. I wished I'd got the very spicy but it was still a good blow read more

Last time I left before eating the smell from the bathroom plumbing issues make the place stink and in my opinion it may b a major health problem read more

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As a "Pho"er, this ain't it. I too looked at yelp reviews and was excited to get my fix for lunch. And being that this was down the street from my site, it seemed perfect. I won't go into everything, but to keep it simple they cost too much. I got an egg noodle bowl wet with wontons and pork, it lacked meat and the flavor was just alright. I wanted cilantro....told it was .50. I passed. I asked for the small fried onions, and noticed ON MY CHECK they were 1.00 (now I know she didn't think I'd agree to pay for onions...), but no comment. Being a server back in the day, you are to inform customers when items cost, not just provide them and surprise them on their check. Overall, no one wants to be nickled and dimed for every.little.thing. Its like charging folk for ketchup at a sports bar. Add that to the ok flavor, lack of meat and an 11.00 bowl... Naw...one hitter quitter here. read more

Ava Street Cafe - Fried onions that cost me an extra 1.00. Please - Vietnamese Near Me - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Clean restaurant, we were seated quickly and speedy service. Food is beautiful and had great flavor. I would recommend this location. read more

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