Bona Restaurant

BEST comfort food around campus!

Bona has convenient, fast, and delicious phở! They’re super quick and it’s very reasonably priced. I have never ventured outside of the phở, but the rest of the menu looks tasty as well!

Very convenient location for college students at the U of M. They have some great lunch deals, but the food is pretty bland. Service could be improved upon as well. It’s a great place to go if you want a quick bite of Vietnamese food, but if you’re looking for a place to sit down and have a meal, I’d advise going with another option.

Crab Rangoon was delicious! That was a 5 star!
However, the rest of the meal (sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and spring rolls) were more 3 to 3.5 star.
It lacked flavor. The sesame chicken was said to be spicy and it was not at all.

Excellent Phở. Authentic. If you are visiting the University of Minnesota and enjoy Vietnamese food, this one you can’t miss. Prompt service and great price.

The only good and authentic Vietnamese restaurant in the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus (stadium village).
I come here frequently to order one of their two soups: phở or bun bo hue.
Their phở is delicious and authentic. The broth is more on the sweet and savory side, which I like. The only spicy condiments they provide are jalapeños and sriracha sauce. I would really love it if they had hot chili oil and fried garlic. Their phở is a little over the normal price, but not enough to be a big deal. It may not be the best phở in Minnesota, but it sure does a hell of a job to fulfill your cravings.
Their bun bo hue is amazing! Also sweet and savory, compacted with lots of stuff such as fermented pork sausage, tofu, and beef brisket. Definitely compacted with complex flavors. Definitely a must try here. However, I would love it if the broth had a kick of heat, or if they provided condiments of spiciness to add to it.
Like I said, I come here frequently, and never had a complaint on their service.
Overall, Bona may not provide the best classic such as phở or bun bo hue, but they sure are up there. A plus is that their food quality is consistent. It is a more convenient Vietnamese restaurant that is geared towards U of M Students such as myself. If you’re in the area and don’t want to go farther, while craving for Vietnamese food, this is the spot for you.

BONA. Is like the Asian Perkins of the UMN campus. You can get a whole different bunch of stuff from Viet to Chinese to yes oh those «safe» choices like Sweet and Sour chicken and we won’t judge you. This review is a little biased cause I am a UMN Alum and many days were spent in these hallowed halls with my B (Small Phở Tai), and my G (Small Beef Bun). The eggrolls here are pretty awesome, a little inconsistent but still hits the spot with some Phở or Bun. Phở = Soup. Bun = Salad. Dang I JUST «LEARNED you» somethin’ again kid.
The funniest part about Bona is if you go on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon… to watch what I call the «hoodies of shame.» Many a times you will see last night’s party-​ers that end up here with the hangover of their lives eating some Phở… how can you tell who’s having a hangover? People be ordering Phở but dont even eat half the noodles cause you know they’re after that beefy safe satisfying broth goodness to settle their stomachs from a few too many the night before.
The FOOD. Cubed beef is fairly solid — Lots of chinese folk I go with order this. Beef and Potatoes and Chicken and Potatoes another popular dish — WHY? No idea, but the sauce is good… it’s literally like meat and kettle potato chips in some soy sauce, salt suga and everything nice. The spring rolls are just ok… nothing to write home about but probably the best around thurr. The lunch specials are pretty solid too for the price. Again, egg rolls are bomb. Just remember PHO = Soup (Rice noodle soup typically beef stock). BUN = Salad (Rice noodle salad). The safe ones are the Small B and Small G… nothing too adventurous on those just a fair warning for some of you. Roll like Papa Chung told you and try it out.
The atmosphere is typical college stuff… crazy busy at lunch time but get yourself a chair and the staff is really funny and helpful. HELLA good at recognizing regulars and are friendly so make a new friend. Décor is modern and fairly clean which is very non-​typical of an Asian restaurant. Awesome choice for safe comfort food. like I said… its like an Asian Perkins on campus. Between here and HK noodle /​Pagoda (Pagoda is a little better than the rest of the chinese restaurants on campus but that’s just me). GET YOUR BONA ON. Then FULFILL YOUR ASIAN DESTINY BY FINISHING IT OFF WITH A BUBBLE TEA NEXT DOOR AT TEA GARDEN /​SENCHA /​STEEPERY whatever they are calling it this week.

At least the water was good…

I was feeling extremely Bona-​penic this week. Used to get a regular infusion of their Vietnamese cuisine in my many years at/​near campus. What a great birthday treat! As usual, the spring rolls were delectable and finished them just in time for the «P» selection — meat patty (think Vietnamese meatloaf), shredded pork, bbq meat, and broken rice. Just rehashing it makes me want to plan the next time — Bun, Phở? — for sure YUM!

Ah, dammit. I went there last year and they changed the cubed beef. «Now with less meat and extra onions!» …It just ain’t as good anymore. Sad face.
Everything else seemed fine, but I haven’t been back since, considering phở joints are a-​plenty here in MN and there are closer options.
But man do I miss that glorious beef.

I used to eat here when I lived around the corner in college (so long ago!). We decided to hit it up again before the Stones concert. We made it in the door JUST in time — as it quickly filled up. Props to the staff for rushing and trying to keep up with things, but next time there’s a big show at TCF — add on more staff!
Anyway, I usually order an «egg roll salad» at Vietnamese places, but I remember LOVING their beef and potato dish. Ordered a side of egg rolls to go with it. They were very good, there’s just never enough though!
Beef and Potato was still delicious. Sweet and crispy. It seems the potatoes get a bit of a glaze on them — yum.
My husband got a bowl of Chicken Phở, which was probably nice on a rainy night, but just not my thing. He said it was ok — I’m sure there are much better places in town for Phở.

Bona is the de facto «I’m too lazy to drive off campus to get Phở» spot for UMN students.
The service is fast. The phở is decent, the rest of the food is good comparatively. I take eggroll quality very seriously and Bona satisfies my tastes.
This is a great place for students, but I would never go out of my way to grab food here.

Great food, fast service, big portions! Simple menu with large variety. Bona is the best Vietnamese in UofM!

I got Phở Dac Biet and it was tasty, but honestly it did not encompass all aspects of The Phở Dac Biet I grew up with and have come to expect whenever I go out to places with phở. The small is all right for its size and reasonably priced (I guess). There was only beef and tripe. I kind of expected more because my experiences having dac biet back home was much better quality/​tasty. I was also surprised beefballs weren’t included but I also did not read their description clearly because I’m so use to ordering dac biet that has two kinds of beef, shrimp, beefballs, and tripe, and a bit of other miscellaneous items.
This place is pretty nice and the menu is quite extensive. Service was also pretty fast. Unless I come back again and try some other items, I won’t be able to give it a higher rating.

The Twin Cities offers some fabulous Vietnamese food. Unfortunately, Bona just doesn’t match up. My mock duck bun (noodle bowl) seemed to lack several key ingredients that tend to give this dish fresh flavor and textural appeal. Worse even was the al dente preparation of the noodles, very unbecoming. However, the service was ultra snappy! And I appreciated the goofy sense of humor from some of the staff.

Living on campus, I often came here for fresh veggie spring rolls. Yum. The service is always ridiculously fast, and I have seen the same guy working there, taking orders, answering calls, and waiting ALL the tables every time I have been there for the past five years. Kudos to that guy, he’s a hard worker. The atmosphere is pretty casual. There is a small, awfully crowded parking lot right next to it (which may or may not be full). The hot and spicy tofu is pretty good, but it’s honestly mostly onions (onion breath for days!). The curry tofu is a lot different than other curries I have had. I am used to curry being a bowl of flavorful liquid with veggies floating in it, but here it’s a huge plate of bamboo shoots and carrots with a somewhat bland sauce (maybe it was MN mild?) Can’t attest to much else, but it is significantly better than UDS (but what isn’t, let’s be honest).

I went here for the first time and it was pretty good. Their phở wasn’t the best, but if you are really craving for it, it’s close to campus, so it works!
My experience there was really awkward. I went with 17 friends, which I know is a lot, but still. We called in the day before and everything. The owner was yelling at the waitress out in the restaurant and more in the back. It made the whole place awkward because everyone heard it. Busy or not, it’s going to make your restaurant awkward. Other than that, it was good.

Not everyone is a huge fan but I’ve never had a huge problem with either the food or service. Business doesn’t seem to be especially good. Last time my friend and I were planning to go we almost thought it was closed because no one seemed to be dining (they were open it was just a slow day I guess). I always go for the small A1 phở but my friend likes spicy so I think she always goes for E1. We usually split an appetizer of either spring rolls or something else that seems good at the moment if we want to spice it up a bit. They have a nice, clean bathroom and a private lot for parking. My favorite Vietnamese place close to campus. Although it doesn’t compare to home-​cooked phở from my boyfriend’s mom.

First time here with my husband and friend today. Normally go to other Viet restaurants but today was special for the beef and potato dish which my friends say are its specialty.
I would have to agree Bona makes a tasty beef and potatoes! Very similar to my dad’s when he owned his place in Eden Prairie, brought back so many delicious memories. Most other restaurants don’t do the thin, crispy potato chip like potatoes and that is what I miss from my dad’s dish. Craving satisfied!
We also had the spring rolls which were good but have had bigger and better ones at other places and shared the Beef stew with French bread (Banh Mi Bo Kho). Looks deceiving, used to a rich dark red and meatier stew, Bona’s is a light more brothy soup. Still very flavorful though and got to love the warm, crusty French bread that goes with it, almost made up for the lack of beef in the stew.
Overall decent meal, I would come back for the beef and potatoes when I have a craving for it for sure and I am in the area.

I have been going to Bona ever since I was 10 years old, when they were running their business on the other side of the street, and they had to ask you «smoking or non?» I have been known to say that if Bona was going out of business I would feel inclined to take out a loan to keep them in business.
I love Bona. I will say that I pretty religiously get the egg roll bun, but I also like their lo mein, and their fried rice is by far my favorite fried rice. I’ve gotten things that I didn’t really care for but I think that was mostly due to the fact that I regretted not getting the bun. Their crab meat rangoons are also bomb, and so are their spring rolls, and their egg rolls, but vegetarian and non. Their spring rolls are the only ones I’ll order.
My mom goes here probably weekly for the lunch specials, and we tend to go before any event we go to at the U. The service is FAST AS FUCKING HELL. like, if they had a competition with how fast Jimmy John’s claims to be, they would win. SO FAST. Even when the place is packed, your hot tea and appetizer is on the table before you’ve got your jacket off. That is a clear exaggeration but seriously, they are fast. And my meal has always been there long before the app is done. I guess some people might see this in a flaw of presentation and timing but I really couldn’t care less.
My last comment is that I can’t believe Bona wasn’t the first thing I Unilocaled about. Probably because it is such an old standard that it didn’t strike me to write about it. I love this place.