Golden Era Vegan Restaurant

The Pad Thai with "shrimp" was excellent. Really enjoyed the meal, just as the place overall. I feel like it would make a great fit for a business meeting just as a romantic dinner. Most importantly though, the food is great.

I read about this place on Happycow and decided to eat here on a recent San Francisco trip. Here's my Golden Era Vegetarian review.

We walked over from our hotel, a nice walk. For our lunch we ordered a vegetable steamed bun, the pho noodle, and the yum yum noodle. The pho noodle was very good and tasty. The broth was authentically Vietnamese, and the side plate of fresh basil, mung bean sprout, lemon, and slices of green jalapeno peppers was a nice (standard) accompaniment.

The yum yum noodle is a standard cold vermicelli noodle sprinkled with fried bits of veggies, accompanied by fried eggless rolls, and topped with shredded fresh lettuce, carrots, and cucumber. It came with a savory tangy sauce that you pour over the noodle. Delicious.

I was very happy that we stopped in for lunch. The food is good! The space is large and the feel is tranquil, has an old school (but interestingly decorated) Chinese restaurant vibe.

Updated from previous review on 2012-01-12

The food was taistess and very oily. In addition the service was not very helpful and they forgot the drinks we ordered. After reading all the good reviews on HappyCow we were surprised and disappointed by the food this restaurant offers.

With a bit of inhibition at first glance, I was pleasantly surprised by the selection, creativity and quality of the food at Golden Era.

As noted in other posts it's in kind of sketchy location alongside the tenderloin but wow this place is amazing, authentic entrees and healthy smoothies.. I'm hooked 😍

Solid. Clean. Good service. Good food

Great venue and menu. Prices are not bad either.
I really enjoyed my time and food there. Generous portions.
Staff are friendly, but not over attentive.
Only around the corner from the restaurant there are lots of people loitering.

I went here last December and loved it. The restaurant space was really comfortable and clean, the waitress was friendly without being overbearing, and the food was delicious. I still dream about their imperial rolls.

Updated from previous review on 2016-09-22

Cleaners, fast, and delicious! Will return often.

I found this place close to my hotel. I was very happy! The place is very nice, super clean and modern. The staff? Adorable! The food is delicious! I went twice in two days and I had tasty food, in a nice environment. There should be more places like this one. The menu is extensive and offers a wide choice of Thai food, the dessert are amazing.

Right there near Civic Center, near Asian museum and the symphony, etc. So I have been there many times. I was happy for them that they were able to relocate and reopen after losing their other space, but my recent visits have been disappointing. Basically, there is too much mock meat, and when I asked the server for something without it, she recommended a vegetable dish.. oily and came with lots of fake meat I just had to push aside.

I had the rice plate "Sai Gon" and it was great! The fried soy was a little oily but yummy. The dessert of mango sticky rice was the best I've had!
Clean and nice place

I went there with a non vegan friend. It was an anjoyable meal, but would have been better had they not used so much mock meat.
We ordered the Mushu Rolls (very good, rolls made with a sort of savory pancake, very interesting and tasty), the Pho noodle soup (made with a delicious soup, fake meats, loads of fresh greens and soy sprouts) and the Banh Xeo (vietnamese stuffed pie).
The food was good and fresh, but I would have preferred to have tofu in the dish instead of the mock meats - it's just my personal preference, I don't like mock meats.
Service was friendly and fast and the place is nicely decorated, clean and welcoming.
When we went there (Wednesday for dinner) the place was not noisy and it was easy to talk.
I think you could ask to replace the mock meats with tofu, haven't tried this but I will definitely ask next time :)
I would recommend this place to those who like mock meats (my only con for this place) and want to try Vietnamese specialties.

Every conversation and clanking fork is amplified in this extremely noisy location, which made eating here an unpleasant experience.

I love this place. I go here a lot, especially with friends. Eat a lot and quickly so you can catch that movie!

I went there today to have a late lunch with my husband (he is not vegan). We really enjoyed the food. This is the fourth asian restaurant I try in the bay area, they were good but this one is the best of my list.
The mushroom curry was delicious and the sweet sour soup my husband had was far better than the ones he tried in the other places.
I definitively recommend this place, it deserves a 4.5 stars.

Really great. Rice was delicious. Kids loved every bite of their appetizers and entrees. The oyster mushroom dish was heavenly. Service was also fast.

This restaurant is another nice Asian restaurant similar to Loving Hut with many almost identical dishes. (In fact I'm told one of the spouses owns a LH franchise). We had the Tofu salad and the lunch special (Tofu, green beans,rice,broccoli) and neither was spectacular. Neither was spectacular but still a good place for vegan food. It is clean and pretty and almost adjacent to civic center. Go to the Asian Museum afterwards for the full experience. Very noisy when busy and the display of vegan Frank's in a can is off-putting.