Oakland restaurant closes after 38 years

A favorite place for Vietnamese food in Oakland’s Chinatown is closing its doors after 38 years.

Le Cheval will serve its last plates of steaming garlic noodles and lemongrass chicken topped with peanuts — two popular menu items — in its grand Clay Street dining room on Sept. 30, according to a Facebook post from the Tran family, which owns the establishment.

“While this chapter of Le Cheval comes to a close, the Tran Family … thank you for your support and will be looking for ANOTHER location to continue to serve you their famous dishes!” the message said. 

The Tran family opened Le Cheval in 1985 at 1007 Clay St. with a menu featuring family recipes inspired by French, Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines. A 2004 SFGATE article called Le Cheval “one of the first restaurants in the country to bring an upscale sensibility to the growing Vietnamese restaurant scene.” 

The restaurant shut down temporarily for more than two years in 2009 due to a dispute with the landlord who, according to the East Bay Express, “had designs on replacing Le Cheval with a restaurant of her own.” The restaurant reopened in 2012.

Owner Son Tran told CBS News Bay Area (KPIX-TV) that the family is calling it quits at this location due to crime, including auto burglaries and violent crime in the neighborhood. Tran said staff and family were devastated to hear the news. “When I said shutdown, everyone cried, my family members, my employees. I feel really bad — it broke my heart,” Tran told the TV news station.

In the Facebook post announcing the restaurant’s closure, many mourned the news.

“Memories with my late Father here,” wrote one. “A wonderful restaurant. A many memories. So many delicious hot pots.”

“My favorite place in Bay Area to eat for two decades,” shared another. “We support you and will def be there. Thank you so much Tran family and please please please open elsewhere.”

Le Cheval’s Walnut Creek location closed in 2019, and Le Petit Cheval in Berkeley shuttered in 2014. 

Le Cheval wasn’t immediately available for comment on this story.