Lang Van: This immigrant-powered, woman-owned spot shines as a gem in Charlotte’s crown

Lang Van is not a restaurant that visiting outsiders or new Charlotteans might easily stumble upon.

Its modest Plaza Shamrock storefront, accented with hunter green trim boasting large white lettering, is flanked on each side by a wood privacy fence that’s listing a bit here and there.

There’s no PR team shouting its praises. You won’t even find a true website for the Vietnamese restaurant open since 1990, let alone an Instagram presence.

Yet somehow, Lang Van’s dining room is often packed. Recently, the line occasionally stretches out the door.

Lang Van is so deeply beloved in Charlotte that its customers stepped up to save it via GoFundMe in 2020, when COVID-19 first hit. And now, just five years later, this eatery familiar to residents and foodies has become one of the city’s most talked about restaurants this year.

While visiting for the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May, “No Laying Up’s” Todd Schuster (aka Tron Carter) referenced Charlotte as “diet Atlanta,” calling it the “most vanilla, bland place in the world.” Among the places that changed his mind? Lang Van, of course.

In late summer, “Top Chef” host Kristen Kish and judges Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio landed in Charlotte, bringing all eyes onto the restaurants where they landed to eat. It didn’t take long for Kish to become a Lang Van fan, drawing in her colleagues — along with a good bit of attention yet again.

Now, Lang Van has hit the international stage, achieving Michelin Bib Gourmand status, perhaps to the surprise of many.

The quiet force behind this relatively rare feat of high praise? Owner Dan Nguyen.

A look inside Lang Van

Walk in to Lang Van for a weekday lunch, and you’ll be soothed with tranquil, spa-like music. Half walls toped with bamboo divide the dining room, creating a cozy feel on each side of the one-room space.

“Hi, how are you?,” Dan asks, joyfully greeting customers coming in the door, accented with floral curtains. “How many people, love?”

She’s been going through the same routine for decades now, having worked at the restaurant as a waitress since shortly after her arrival in Charlotte in 1999 and eventually purchasing it herself from the Duong family in 2009.

To the left, holiday cards fill the walls, showing off the faces of customers held as close as family. The photos spill over to the wall above the kitchen, where her husband Tuyen Tran cooks, offset by a neat stack of to-go boxes piled high.

To the right, a collection of art accents the walls: a few florals, a photo of Dan, and a pair of paintings of the restaurant itself.

Staff members starting off their day rush to set up water goblets and cloth napkins as Dan guides the first few customers to tables, many of which are dressed with green tablecloths topped with a machine-embroidered map of Vietnam, each province in a different color.

Bursting with nervous energy, the tiny restaurateur with a slicked-back ponytail apologizes needlessly to the early birds who had waited outside, eager for the clock to strike 11 a.m.

After I admitted to a first visit, she snatched up the multi-page menu and took the wheel. “Do you like shrimp?” she asks, sprinting to the kitchen as soon as she hears, “Yes.”

In a blink, she brought back a fat pair of goi cuon, accented with a blast of fresh mint. After she stirred a healthy squirt of Huy Fong sriracha into the peanut dipping sauce, those summer rolls didn’t stick around for long.

Michelin attention

In the Michelin Guide American South, Charlotte’s only Bib Gourmand-designated restaurant is described as such: “Lang Van feels like more than just a restaurant in the Plaza Shamrock neighborhood. Maybe it’s the thank you notes from loyal diners that paper the walls. Or maybe it’s co-owner Dan Nguyen’s warm hospitality. The extensive menu of Vietnamese favorites is yet another reason. Nguyen is something of a legend here, having first joined the restaurant as a team member before she and her husband Chef Tuyen Tran became the owners. Slide into a booth (they’re the best seats in the house) and peruse the menu with everything from pho and spring rolls to hot pot and classic vermicelli noodles. No matter what you order it’s all delicious, and with favorable pricing, it satisfies both your appetite and your budget.”

Its designation as a Bib Gourmand means diners can expect “good quality, good value cooking.” Its pricing — categorized with a lone dollar sign — means it’s possible to dine for $25 or less.

As far as celebrating Lang Van’s award at the inaugural Michelin Guide American South ceremony in Greenville, she’s kept a low profile. Dan was absent from the photos on stage and in the lobby, where other Charlotte restaurateurs gathered to cheer each other on.

Regardless, she’s incredibly thankful for the honor.

“I feel good, and I say, thank you,” she told CharlotteFive photographer Alex Cason on a recent visit. “My customers at Lang Van … I love them the same [as] my family.”

As Dan and her husband age, she’s looking to the future — the wear and tear of restaurant life is taking a toll on him quickly. She’s talked to her brother and sister about taking over, but they’re not sure they can handle it, she says.

She doesn’t want to sell Lang Van, but she’s also open to someone who works as hard as she does taking over.

“Keep the Lang Van name forever in my life,” she tells him.

Vietnamese cuisine

At the restaurant, Dan — who was born in South Vietnam — and her husband have somehow mastered a menu of more than 150 items and kept on going.

Shortly after the summer rolls’ disappearance, she presents an off-menu dish of bac tai noodle, a combination packed with shrimp, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas and bean sprouts over thin, wide noodles.

And she doesn’t ever stay still for long.

“Are you ready, my love?,” Dan asks, running to a neighboring table with two 20-something women. “You like noodles, or you like rice? I make something for you.”

There are no strangers here at Lang Van. Shortly after one of those table neighbors dug into a steaming bowl of noodle soup, Dan returned in motherly fashion to tuck her hair behind her ear, guarding it from falling into her food.

Across that section of the dining room, a similar cadence soon repeats. “What you like, my love? Chicken or shrimp?,” Dan asked an elderly father and middle-aged son on a lunch outing.

One table over, a businessman dining alone orders the No. 44 curry with chicken.

Close to noon, the pace starts to pick up even faster, and the staff works in concert like a well-oiled machine. Tables are wiped the moment customers leave. More are on the way.

“Last night, it was so busy, I come home at 4 o’clock,” Dan shares when coming to check in and refill my glass.

In the booth where the 20-somethings previously sat, a young couple slide in, ordering Vietnamese coffee and a Lucky Buddha beer.

“How are you? It’s been a long time, yes?,” Dan asks, showing off her famous skill for remembering faces and orders. It’s one of the endearing traits you’ll hear over and over about her hospitality, locking in customers for life.

Before long, he’s soaking rice paper in a bowl with steam pouring out and peeling meat off a skewer before asking for hot chili oil. Across the table, his companion is stringing out rice noodles high in the air with chopsticks — then he starts in, following the pattern.

A few minutes later, the check comes, paired with a fortune cookie and a tamarind candy, plus a tiny shortbread biscuit with just a touch of sweetness and a hit of salt.

“Next time you come in, I remember,” she said. “I get you something different.”

Lang Van

Location: 3019 Shamrock Dr, Charlotte, NC 28215

Menu

Cuisine: Vietnamese

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This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 5:00 AM.