Linda Tran

📍 San Francisco, United States

🗣 English, Vietnamese

Vietnamese-American, born in San Jose, living in the Tenderloin for 15 years. The Tenderloin has one of the highest concentrations of Vietnamese restaurants outside Vietnam — and almost no tourist ever goes there because the neighbourhood has a reputation. I know every pho shop, banh mi counter, and bun bo Hue spot within 10 blocks of my apartment. I also know the Burmese, Ethiopian, and Salvadoran restaurants that make the Tenderloin one of the most interesting food neighbourhoods in San Francisco — a city that has spent the last 20 years pricing out the people who made its food culture. I take people to the real Tenderloin, respectfully and with full context.