Brooklyn Center’s Que Viet Benefits from State Fair Presence
For more than 30 years, when someone in the northwest metro has had a craving for Vietnamese food, Que Viet in Brooklyn Center has been able to answer that call.
“Whatever you order is good,” said Carolyn Kraskey, a customer from Minneapolis.
“They have the most excellent rice salad there is, and Vietnamese coffee,” said Laura Cooper, a customer from Minneapolis.
For being able to answer that call, they’ve developed a loyal following.
“We have a lot of our customers like, if they’re in town to visit family, they always come here first and it’s just, it’s nice to have customers like that,” said Minh Lam, the owner.
Lam’s mom opened the Brooklyn Center location back in 1987 at a time when such establishments were rare.
Que Viet is located at 6100 Brooklyn Blvd. in Brooklyn Center.
In the ensuing decades, it’s become famous for big, meat-filled egg rolls — along with a number of other traditional Vietnamese dishes — that are cooked up by longtime, devoted employees.
“I asked my mom what the most important thing was about running a restaurant, and she was like, good employees,” Lam said. “Our employees have been with us for like, 20, 30 years or more. And I don’t know, we don’t turnover a lot and they’re very loyal to us, and we take care of them and they take care of us. So it’s nice.”
Those loyal employees help maintain the consistency of the food.
Setting up shop at the State Fair
It’s food that they started exposing to a much wider audience about four years ago when they opened a stand at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.
“The fair is fun because it’s so fast-paced, and there’s just so many people, and you get to meet a lot of different types of people, so it’s nice,” Lam said.
At the fair’s five-day Summer Kickoff event this past May, they sold more than 10,000 egg rolls on a stick.
Their success at the fair has had a huge impact on their bottom line.
“We do three times as much business because of the State Fair, and we’re very grateful that we got in,” Lam said.
Meanwhile, longtime customers are just grateful that they don’t have to wait for the fair to get their hands on Que Viet’s famous food.
“Love it,” said Cooper, the customer from Minneapolis. “Best place around for Vietnamese food.”
