Thanh Long opened in 1971 on Judah Street, founded by family matriarch Diana An and credited as San Francisco's first Vietnamese restaurant. Chef Helene An later took over the kitchen, and the restaurant is cited as the original home of both AN's Famous Garlic Noodles and the broader House of AN family of restaurants.
The menu centers on garlic-and-seafood cooking: whole roasted Dungeness crab in An's garlic sauce, a Chardonnay-and-sake Drunken Crab, Tamarind Crab, and Steamed Sea Bass with ginger and citrus. Starters run from Dungeness Crab Puffs and Thanh Long Mussels to Lemongrass Chicken Satay, and a Secret Kitchen menu includes dishes like grilled tiger prawns over garlic noodles.
The dining room is large and casual, built for groups — birthday cakes, going-away parties, and tables in plastic bibs are a regular sight, with servers bringing hot towels and tying bibs over the course of the meal. A curved high-backed booth is available for parties wanting a bit more privacy.
More than fifty years in, Thanh Long remains in the Outer Sunset, run by the same family that opened it.
The menu centers on garlic-and-seafood cooking: whole roasted Dungeness crab in An's garlic sauce, a Chardonnay-and-sake Drunken Crab, Tamarind Crab, and Steamed Sea Bass with ginger and citrus. Starters run from Dungeness Crab Puffs and Thanh Long Mussels to Lemongrass Chicken Satay, and a Secret Kitchen menu includes dishes like grilled tiger prawns over garlic noodles.
The dining room is large and casual, built for groups — birthday cakes, going-away parties, and tables in plastic bibs are a regular sight, with servers bringing hot towels and tying bibs over the course of the meal. A curved high-backed booth is available for parties wanting a bit more privacy.
More than fifty years in, Thanh Long remains in the Outer Sunset, run by the same family that opened it.