The Brief

Los Angeles may not have an official Little Saigon, but if you travel to the San Gabriel Valley you'll find a thriving community of Vietnamese businesses along Garvey Avenue, straddling the cities of El Monte, South El Monte and Rosemead.

This bustling commercial hub doesn’t have a dedicated highway exit or government-sponsored placard, but I like to call it “GarViet” as a nod to the area’s main drag.

Drawn to the area in part by more affordable rents than nearby Alhambra and San Gabriel, the family-owned Vietnamese restaurants here serve regional specialties that can be harder to find elsewhere.

Familiar favorites like phở and bánh mì are available alongside rarer offerings from Central and Northern Vietnam in the many plazas dotting this highly trafficked thoroughfare.

With April 30 marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War — which triggered the first wave of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants settling in the U.S. — it's a good time to celebrate the culinary contributions of the Vietnamese diaspora in L.A. Through restaurant ownership, many Vietnamese families gained a foothold in the American economy while nourishing their communities with a taste of home.

Here are some great places to check out.

Kim Hoa Hue 

The restaurant Kim Hoa Hue in El Monte has served Central Vietnamese delights for nearly two decades, while a second outlet opened in Temple City in 2024. During peak lunchtime hours, the main dining room fills up fast with locals and nearby workers, while folks ordering bounteous catering trays trickle in throughout the day. The most pleasant seats in the house are on the back patio, away from crowds and shaded by mature fruit trees.

Kim Hoa Hue Restaurant serves food from Hue, in central Vietnam.

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Cathy Chaplin

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LAist

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Kim Hoa Húê Restaurant in El Monte

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Cathy Chaplin

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LAist

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The restaurant is named after Hue, the former capital of Vietnam, famous for its imperial cuisine. The Hue Combo ($11.50) offers a variety of these delicacies served on a single plate, including bánh bèo (steamed rice cakes topped with shrimp and cracklins), bánh nậm (rice cakes embedded with shrimp and steamed in banana leaves), bánh bột lọc (shrimp and pork tapioca dumplings), chả (steamed pork forcemeat), and bánh uớt tôm chấy (rice sheets with minced shrimp).

Brighten these light bites with the accompanying fish sauce; whether it’s a restrained drizzle or a serious dunking is up to your tastes. A bowl of bún bò Huế ($13.25), complete with pork trotters and slippery rice noodles, is just the thing to round out the meal.

Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc  

Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc in South El Monte has a Northern Vietnamese menu.

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Cathy Chaplin

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While some Vietnamese restaurants boast winding menus spanning many regional specialties, others opt to keep their offerings tight and focused.

Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc sits in the latter camp, serving a succinct Northern Vietnamese menu with just a trio of appetizers, a few noodle soups (canh bún, bún riêu, and bún mọc), and the house-specialty bánh cuốn. Relative newcomers on Garvey Avenue, the owners of Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc are betting that dependably executing a few dishes well will attract a steady crowd. So far, their gamble is paying off.

The restaurant prepares five varieties of bánh cuốn ($12), gently steamed rice flour “crepes” served plain or wrapped around eggs and ground shrimp, or pork and wood ear mushrooms.

It’s hard to go wrong with the signature (dặc biệt) platter, which includes bánh cuốn plumped with both a pork and wood ear mushroom filling and minced shrimp. Everything is topped with fried shallots, two types of steamed pork sausage, and a deep-fried sweet potato raft studded with skin-on shrimp. Blanched herbs and bean sprouts and a fish sauce-based dressing arrive on the side for garnishing to taste.

Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant

Thien Tam serves a plant-based menu, including the Hainan chicken rice made of soy beans.

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Cathy Chaplin

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Whether you've adopted a plant-based diet or just dine meatless on occasion, Thien Tam is a terrific spot for Vietnamese vegetarian fare. The restaurant serves a brisk crowd on most days of the week and is especially popular on the first and fifteenth days of each month on the Lunar calendar, when Vietnamese Buddhists refrain from eating meat. So plan accordingly.

Opened by Bonnie Quach in 2009, the restaurant serves a robust menu featuring the cuisine’s greatest hits — all made without any animal protein. Start with the tautly-wrapped spring rolls ($6.95) chock-full of herbs, vegetables, and fried tofu. The fishless fish sauce served alongside for dipping is impressive in its mimicry. Equally superb is the Hainan chicken rice ($13.95) made of soy beans, boasting crispy and divoted skin, just like the real thing. A mound of ginger-laced rice, pickles, soup, and a ginger “fish” sauce comes with each order.

Hue Thai Bakery & Deli

Despite its discreet signage, Hue Thai Bakery & Deli in Rosemead offers bountiful sandwiches.

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Cathy Chaplin

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In this economic climate with soaring prices and stretched dollars, Vietnamese sandwiches promise the ultimate meal on the go.

While Vietnamese delis can be found across L.A., none can compete with the expertly made sandwiches at Hue Thai in Rosemead. Located in a freshly paved strip mall anchored by outposts of Orange County imports Hot Stone Pho and Bake and Che, Hue Thai may very well be the shabbiest business on the block. Look beyond the peeling paint and make a beeline for the front counter, which is loaded with Vietnamese provisions, including cured pork sausages with fresh chilies and garlic ($8) that make for a spicy, sour snack.

The deli’s menu is posted in both English and Vietnamese, with photographs of each dish. Every sandwich is made on one of two kinds of house-baked baguettes: round and squat or long and lean. Sandwiches constructed on the latter loaves are about a dollar more and contain additional protein and less bready fluff. Hue Thai’s variety of fillings include cold cuts ($7), grilled pork ($7.50), canned sardines ($7), fried eggs ($7) and more, each one with requisite flourishes of pickled carrots and daikon, shaved jalapeno, cilantro and scratch-made mayonnaise.

What separates these sandwiches from the pack is their masterful proportions. From pickles to spreads and proteins, the ratio of each ingredient is thoughtfully considered so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Order the dặc biệt ($7) sandwich brimming with head cheese and plenty of pâté to experience the dynamic interplay of textures and flavors.

Che Hien Khanh

Che Hien Khanh makes a variety of Vietnamese desserts.

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Cathy Chaplin

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The Los Angeles location of this longtime Orange County sweets shop is the ultimate IYKYK. Hidden inside a food court within the GW Supermarket complex in Rosemead, Che Hien Khanh prepares Vietnamese desserts — a genre heavy on legumes, seaweed, fruits, tapioca flour, and coconut milk — with a deft hand.

Hien Khanh’s colorful array of chè (puddings, beverages, soups) is hard to resist. The chè đậu trắng ($3.75) combines glutinous rice with black-eyed peas and a rich dollop of sweetened coconut cream.

Ripe baby bananas, teeny tapioca pearls, taro, and coconut milk come together in chè chuối ($3.75). Best of all is chè trôi nước ($3.75). Served warm, the chewy tapioca balls stuffed with mung bean paste come soaked in ginger syrup and finished with coconut cream and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

Beyond its wide range of chè, Hien Khanh also makes several varieties of xôi (sticky rice) and sticky-sweet bánh da lợn, a fetching dessert featuring layers of pandan-infused tapioca and mung beans. Bring your sweet tooth.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.