Central Market and Cafe

No star to this store!!! The lady at the cashier was super rude!!! Place is dirty! Food is cold and the they just microwave it!

They have the best banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches in town! I tried every other place with bahn mi and was disappointed, and was really happy to find this place! I just wish they were open on Sundays.

Calvin Trillin would love this place. David Chang would love this place. You’d be lucky to eat at this kind of place in Vietnam. this is a convenience store that also serves food. it works!
I do not understand the negative reviews. This is not a typical eatery. There in only one chef, and she cooks everything. There is a tremendous lunch rush every day, all these people cannot be wrong. And when I say lunch rush, I am not kidding — lines out the door and strangers sitting together at the tables. If it’s busy, get ready to wait.
Their Bahn Mi is different — made with an oven roasted pork shoulder and not the typical cold cut style. The Bun is also different — made with a large amount of salad greens. The dressing for Bun is savory and rich with lots of dark roasted garlic and fried shallots but very refreshing. The Phở is has many dimensions of flavor. The fried rice is unbelievable. They put a twist on everything, the food is unique.
You see chefs from the various restaurants in San Mateo stopping in for their food. This is the safest place in town because a cop or fireman inevitably stops in to grab a bite.

Eeeewww. Waste of money and waste of time. As I walked in an Asian lady stared me down from the liquor cash register. Then after waiting 7 minutes to place an order she decided to walk over. In my head I was thinking «what the hell am I doing here»? This place is grungy. But I decided to give it the benefit of doubt. Long story short I ordered an egg roll that was microwaved yet cold and unedible. I also got phở tai which was also hard to stomach. The beef was very chewy and springy, the broth was watered down and the cilantro over powered the taste of everything. As I sat there kind of forcing myself to eat, a man was staring at me and questioning me about the food. So, after the two questions I realized that he’s probably the owner… After 3 min of sitting and staring at my food the man got up and ran to the back and I got up and ran out the door!

I’ve walked past this place numerous times and have always told myself one day I’ll stop in and find out what smells so yummy! So who knew there is a small little mini kitchen area for hot foods?! Dropped in on an empty and terribly hangry stomach… and decided upon a breakfast sandwich. I am so glad I decided to stop here instead of the other corner store that has bagels. The breakfast sandwich has plenty of bacon, eggs, and cheese on a french roll! Umm yum! It wasn’t too expensive either and cooked to order.
If you’re in a pinch and in need of a decent breakfast sandwich, look no further.

This is for two trips that I made down here to try their Vietnamese sandwiches. Well I never got to try them either time that I came down here. First time I got down here around 12pm and was told the kitchen was closed and the lady that makes the sandwiches (because apparently they are so difficult to make that no one else knows how to make them) wasn’t in and it would be another hour. Second time came in at 4:30pm and was told the kitchen was closed again. Apparently the same lady that makes sandwiches leaves at 4pm. Does this sound like a place that wants your business?

The ladies here make the food with love and care, you can see them cook ad tell they care about what they do. The lemongrass chicken is absolutely delicious, has so much flavor and variety of vegetables, chicken cooked just right and the sauce has so much complex flavor. I cant wait to try more from the menu. Don’t be scared off by the fact that it looks like its just a convenience store, this place is a gem and the prices are great too.

I was out on a bike ride this afternoon and was dying for some water, so I brought my bike inside and placed it so it wouldn’t be in the way of their customers. I have a $ 2500.00 bike that I can’t risk leaving outside as it would be stolen in a minute. I do not carry a lock because I never leave my bike unattended.
Upon walking into the market, the lady at the register told me that bikes are not allowed inside and that she would make an exception. I told her it was okay, and I was okay with leaving it outside. She continued to baffle and kept running her mouth. Strike 1.
I grabbed a single bottle of water and got out my credit card. I typically only carry my iPhone and a credit card on long distance rides. I proceed to hand her my card and she told me it was a $ 5 minimum on credit card purchases. I told her to just charge me $ 5 for the $ 1 bottle of water. She refused for no reason. I was so thirsty that I didn’t care how much she charged me, just give me my damn water! Strike 2.
I then proceeded to get five $ 1 bottles of water and came back to the register. I asked for a bag and told her to charge me. She already ran my card through without telling me the total. She reluctantly handed me a bag. Strike 3. Do not charge my card without telling me the total.
I would stay far away from this place. They are not customer friendly, nor are they bike friendly. Rude ass people.

Eh. The food is alright, nothing to go out of your way for. The people who run it are vet nice and sweet. I’ve been here twice and both times it was just alright. Not from the area, so not sure I’ll go out of my way to come back.

Great place. Great people, family ran and owned. So nice to still find good mom & pop places like this still exist. Beef phở spicy is one my favorites.

Good price and good food! Good for people who work here.

Summary — bahn mi bread inedible: first microwaved, then grilled, then soaked in pickle juice. fresh spring rolls: served a day old, spoiled. nice ladies, though.
I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to give this place a better rating because I thought customer service was great… but then again, if it really was as good as I had originally anticipated, then I wouldn’t have gotten a rotten spring roll, now would I?
Let me first say this: I was having an off day as it was, so I expected something like this to happen. I found this place on Unilocal during my lunch break today. Ramen Dojo was closed (ultimate sadface) and I thought hey, I feel like having some pickled carrots & pickled daikon. I walked over to Central Market and Café and gave it a shot.
I ordered a tofu banh mi and a fresh spring roll. I asked if I could have it without pork — the lady says they don’t make them with pork anymore anyway.
One Unilocaler mentioned the bread being «microwaved» and then «grilled.» I thought — haha, who does that? GUESS WHAT! This place does! I don’t know why, though. My only guess is they freeze the bread and need to rapidly thaw it. They use some sort of ultra processed white loaf of ‘bread’ that they definitely do not bake in house. I walked not 7 minutes to my destination and half of the sandwich was sopping wet with pickle juice. I was super hungry so I ate what I could — until I got to the second half. You know how microwaved bread gets, right? It felt like biting into a brick. The pickled daikon/​carrots were good but the tofu? It was like they opened the package and threw it in between the bread. Ugh. Garbage.
Now for the «fresh» spring rolls. Hmm. I opened the box and saw two spring rolls neatly packaged in rice paper, wrapped in saran wrap. Hmm. i took a bite and right back out of my mouth it went. The rice paper was hard, the way it gets when it’s been sitting in a refrigerator for more than a day. The shrimp was slimy and sour smelling. Mind you, the only ingredients in this spring roll are lettuce, bean sprouts, and shrimp. Nothing else but rotten effing shrimp would have caused it. More garbage!
This was the saddest lunch I’ve had in a really really long time. I don’t usually write reviews based on one experience but I have zero tolerance for false claims and poor food safety/​sanitation… plus I’m not going back.

I was waiting to buy lotto and as I was waiting I started putting my hair up in a bun then the cash register lady said «don’t put up your hair … It goes in the food» uhhhhhhhh is this a good thing or bad thing that she said to this to me??? Either or ain’t nobody got time to put up with customer service like this. I ain’t coming back to buy lotto or food!

Phở that tastes like the chef actually cared. Fresh, savory, spicy goodness. For the price, the rare steak phở has an unexpectedly large quantity of actual beef in it, which is more than can be said for some other restaurants in the area. The perfect cure for a hangover on a Wednesday.
The vietnamese pork sandwich was similarly delicious, served with a healthy portion of tangy cabbage, fresh grilled pork, and peppers in a warm toasted french roll.
The ladies behind the counter were great. Gregarious and friendly, I’d come back just to chat.

Just came from this place and I can honestly say this was the worst Vietnamese meal I’ve ever had. My qualifications? I went to San Jose State University, so Vietnamese food was a big staple for me throughout my college career. I ordered a chicken vermicelli noodle bowl, pork banh mi (they gave me chicken instead) and a beef egg roll.
Okay first the positives. The ladies running the place were extremely nice and all the other customers seem to be regulars. I thought that was pretty cool. Also, the egg roll was okay but something I wouldn’t order again.
Now for the terrible part. The vermicelli nice bowl had an insane vegetable to rice noodle portion. Don’t get me wrong, I love veggies but when it becomes 80+% of a vermicelli bowl, it really should be called a salad. What little rice noodles in there were way overcooked to a point where it starts breaking up and becomes mushy like paste. The chicken wasn’t your standard grilled dark meat slices but rather clumps of very dry, white breast meat like from Costco chicken. Also, there was way too much vinegar and salt on everything. Growing up Asian, I was taught to finish all my meals. I really couldn’t in this case.
After the vermicelli, I had really hoped the banh mi would redeem my experience. Nope, it certainly did not. I did not mind getting chicken instead because mistakes do happen but this really can’t be called a banh mi at all. The bread was not a crusty french roll nor was there any pâté in it. Instead, I got the same over sauced, salty veggies as from my vermicelli bowl with the same dry pieces of chicken as well. The bread was toasted with butter and was way too tough.
To those who are familiar with proper Vietnamese cuisine, stay away from this place.

Really good sandwich, good price. Had the viet pork sandwich.
Realized I never submitted this review. Went today and had the chicken sandwich. Pork was better. Not sure what others said about lettuce on the Banh Mi, ours had the more traditional slaw-​ish topping both times I was there.
Going to try some of the real dishes in the future, not just the sandwiches, as I watch them make food and it all looks good.
It does take a while for them to cook, but call first then come by and that eliminates the problem. I’d rather wait and get fresh food than have them hand me something from under a burner.

Terrible banh mi.
I was deciding between here and Ravioli House just down the block — Im still kicking myself for it. Next time Ill be running to Ravioli House for sure.
When I read other Unilocalers say they waited 30 min for a sandwich I thought, «come on, surely not 30 min!» and I really had a craving for some delicious crispy banh mi!
WOW. I walked in and it was empty. The cook was busy and didn’t bother to greet me. That was fine, she must be preparing other orders.
Another girl came to take my order and I patiently waited. and waited. and waited.
5 orders for sandwiches came and went before my eyes. Neither of the ladies took the time to say to me, «sorry for the wait» or «your order is coming». I was still the only one in the store. They didn’t even ask if I wanted to sit down.
Anyway, it took 30 #*$*#U minutes!!! From the minute I ordered to the time the greasy bag was handed to me. Really.
Starving and excited for this meal I waited so long for, I went to my car and opened it up. WTF What I opened was a mayo slathered soggy sandwich with greasy grey pork (dry inside) and BEAN SPROUTS and some pickled radish. This was $ 6.00. Really?
I threw it away at the next gas station. Like I said. TERRIBLE — at least for banh mi.
The two ladies seem sweet enough but not worth the crappy food I got.

Wow. Not sure what happened to this place… Last 3 times we went there for dinner, they were not open including 7pm on Sat.
So we didn’t go there for a long time. Then we decided to give it a try tonight.
It was 6pm and the sign on the counter said the restaurant part was closed. So I asked a cashier about it and said it should be open. An old lady took our order for chow fun. Then the usual lady came out and said they were out of chow fun. Out of chow fun? Well, that’s it. We wanted to support our local business, but we are not going to try again.

Love this store, the staff are so friendly and you can really get to know them if you go there regularly. The food is pretty good too, people shouldn’t expect a 5 star restaurant but it is nice good value food, the place is a grocery store too so people shouldn’t expect fine dining.
I really prefer spending my money here at family owned business rather than give it to some corporation or chain.

$ 5.49 for an Americanized Banh Mi Sandwich. It’s not an authentic banh mi. No gloves used by the old woman behind the counter prepping your sandwich. The meat is pre-​cooked. They bring it out from the fridge and heat it up for you. They add tomato and lettuce to your so called «banh mi». No pâté either.
The sandwich itself tasted «ok» but it’s not a true «banh mi». I should of read Unilocal reviews first before coming here.
Disappointed.