Com Tam Thuan Kieu Restaurant
Casual Vietnamese eatery serving noodle soups, broken rice & vermicelli in understated, simple digs.
About Com Tam Thuan Kieu Restaurant
Com Tam Thuan Kieu is a Vietnamese restaurant in Tucson serving traditional comfort food in a casual, understated setting. Founded in 2014, the restaurant centers its menu on the flavors and hospitality of Vietnam, with hearty pho, broken rice plates, vermicelli bowls, appetizers, and Vietnamese beverages. Located near West Orange Grove Road and North La Cholla Boulevard, it offers a place for Tucson diners to enjoy familiar Vietnamese dishes as well as specialties they may be trying for the first time.
The restaurant takes its name from com tam, one of Vietnam's beloved comfort foods. Also known as broken rice, com tam is served as a fragrant bed of rice accompanied by savory grilled meats, fresh vegetables, and house-made fish sauce. The restaurant describes this combination as a reflection of the traditional Southern Vietnamese way of enjoying a meal. Its rice dishes include white rice with shredded pork, steamed pork loaf, and grilled pork, along with grilled chicken, shrimp fried rice, combination fried rice, and stir-fried vegetables served over rice.
Pho is another central part of the menu. The beef noodle soup selection includes Pho Dac Biet with steak, flank, brisket, tendon, and tripe, as well as combinations featuring brisket, flank, tendon, tripe, steak, or beef meatballs. Other noodle dishes broaden the menu beyond pho, including bun thit nuong, rice noodle vermicelli with grilled pork, bun cha gio thit nuong with grilled pork and an egg roll, spicy bun bo Hue with beef, tendon, and pork leg, and egg or dry rice noodles with combinations of pork, shrimp, crab meat, and fish cake.
Appetizers and smaller dishes offer several ways to begin a meal or add variety to the table. Cha gio are crispy fried pork egg rolls, while goi cuon are fresh spring rolls wrapped with shrimp and pork. The menu also includes fresh rolls with shredded pork, grilled pork rolls with vegetables and noodles, grilled beef rolls wrapped in grape leaves, and banh xeo, a Vietnamese crepe filled with pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts. Beverages include hot or iced Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, Thai tea, fresh coconut juice, salty plum soda, pennyworth juice, and smoothies made with cherimoya, jackfruit, or pineapple.
The restaurant's story is rooted in a desire to share Southern Vietnamese food and culture in Arizona. Its owners describe inspiration from the street-side eateries and bustling food markets of Southern Vietnam, especially Saigon, and a goal of creating a home away from home for Vietnamese food lovers and newcomers alike. Com Tam Thuan Kieu says it uses locally sourced ingredients whenever possible while importing essential spices and condiments to preserve Vietnamese flavor. The restaurant also describes itself as a Tucson gathering place for families, students, and others seeking satisfying Vietnamese cuisine, with a commitment to local partnerships and service.
Com Tam Thuan Kieu serves Tucson from its West Orange Grove Road location and welcomes both walk-in diners and pickup orders. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Monday and closed Tuesdays. Visitors can expect a relaxed environment described as warm, cozy, and welcoming, whether stopping in for a quick lunch or sitting down for a family dinner. For those beginning with the menu's signature specialties, the restaurant points to broken rice, pho, vermicelli bowls, spring rolls, and grilled meat dishes as representative tastes of its Vietnamese cooking.