Ha’s Snack Bar: NYC’s Coveted Vietnamese-French Culinary Hotspot
Ha’s Snack Bar is a tiny 24-seat restaurant in New York City’s Lower East Side that has become one of the city’s most sought-after dining destinations. Here’s what you need to know:
- Location: 297 Broome Street, New York, NY 10002
- Cuisine: Vietnamese-French fusion with seasonal New York influences
- Founders: Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns
- Reservations: Limited availability on Resy; arrive 30 minutes before 5:30pm opening for walk-in opportunities
- Known for: Ever-changing menu, intimate setting, and dishes like snails in tamarind butter, pâté chaud, and blood-pudding tart
Born from the wildly successful Ha’s Đặc Biệt pop-up that ran for six years, this permanent brick-and-mortar location opened in late 2024 and has been packed every night since. The restaurant’s compact size doesn’t limit its ambitions – on busy nights, they serve up to 108 covers, achieving more than four complete table turns in a single evening.
“When someone tells you who they are, believe them,” writes one critic about the modestly named “snack bar” that delivers sophisticated, full-flavored meals in an intimate setting. Despite the owners asking critics not to review it because “they don’t need the press,” word has spread about the distinctive Vietnamese-influenced bistro fare crafted by the two-chef team who also act as wine directors and general managers.
The menu changes frequently, sometimes weekly, reflecting seasonal ingredients and the chefs’ creative whims. This culinary dynamism, combined with the restaurant’s vibrant atmosphere where Dionne Warwick and Sade might perfume the dining room through carefully curated playlists, creates an experience that has diners lining up before opening and planning return visits before they’ve even paid their bill.
Ha’s Snack Bar word guide:
The Evolution of Ha’s Snack Bar
The journey of Ha’s Snack Bar didn’t happen overnight. Before becoming the hottest table in the Lower East Side, Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns spent six years hustling through New York City’s pop-up circuit with their Vietnamese concept, Ha’s Đặc Biệt. What began as a creative outlet gradually blossomed into a culinary phenomenon that had food lovers tracking their next appearance across the city.
“The ultimate goal was always to get four walls to call their own,” as one food writer perfectly captured it. Their path to permanence took an international detour with a notable residency in Paris, which liftd their concept’s profile and refined their vision before they finally planted roots in their Lower East Side home in 2024.
When the pandemic upended the restaurant industry, Ha and Burns demonstrated remarkable resilience. Their bánh mìs and stuffed cabbages became bright spots during dark times, with takeout offerings that maintained exceptional quality when many others faltered. This ability to adapt not only preserved their reputation but expanded their community of devoted fans who eagerly awaited news of a permanent location.
Founders of Ha’s Snack Bar
Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns bring complementary backgrounds and shared experience to their partnership. Both cut their teeth in the high-octane kitchen of Mission Chinese Food, where they developed the confidence to play with bold flavors and unexpected combinations – an approach clearly evident in the fearless menu at Ha’s Snack Bar.
Ha draws deep inspiration from his Vietnamese heritage and childhood in Nyack, while Burns brings her New Jersey upbringing and distinct culinary perspective to their collaboration. Together, they create dishes that honor personal food memories while pushing the boundaries of Vietnamese-French fusion.
The reality of running such an intimate operation is demanding. In recent interviews, they’ve described finishing service around 2:00 AM after midnight closings, only to start the cycle again the next day. Despite these grueling hours, their enthusiasm remains undimmed. “We’re really getting into a groove,” Burns noted recently, adding, “We’ve hired people” – a simple statement that reveals volumes about the early days when they handled virtually everything themselves.
From Pop-Up to Brick-and-Mortar
After six years of nomadic cooking, securing the lease on Broome Street marked a watershed moment for Ha and Burns. Finally, they could create a space that fully embodied their vision, though not without unique challenges.
The tiny footprint of Ha’s Snack Bar demanded creative problem-solving, particularly regarding kitchen space. “Right now we have no kitchen at the snack bar,” Burns has explained. “So live cooking means searing a steak or pork to order and building a plate around that à la minute.”
What might have been a limitation has instead become central to the restaurant’s identity and charm. The open kitchen functions essentially as a live-view butcher block operated by the owners themselves. Working with just induction burners and a rationale for heating and finishing dishes, Ha and Burns have transformed constraints into distinctive features that improve the dining experience.
This scrappy, intimate approach perfectly reflects the spirit that carried them through years of pop-ups – now with the stability of four walls to call their own and a growing team to help realize their vision.
What to Expect Inside Ha’s Snack Bar
Step into Ha’s Snack Bar and you’re immediately enveloped in a symphony for the senses. The intimate 24-seat space feels wonderfully snug—almost like dining in someone’s stylish apartment rather than a restaurant. On any given evening (and yes, that means every evening), the room pulses with energy as the team masterfully orchestrates more than four complete table turns, somehow serving up to 108 hungry guests in a space that most restaurateurs would limit to 16 diners.
The heart of this tiny culinary jewel box is its open kitchen, where you can watch Anthony and Sadie work their magic mere feet away. There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing every slice, sear, and garnish happening right before your eyes—no culinary secrets here, just pure talent on display.
Music floats through the air, thoughtfully selected playlists featuring the soulful tones of Dionne Warwick or the smooth vocals of Sade creating a soundtrack that feels inseparable from the food itself. One regular customer told me, “I can’t hear ‘Smooth Operator’ anymore without craving their pâté chaud.”
Then there’s the distinctive aroma—a captivating blend of Vietnamese herbs, caramelizing meats, and the gentle perfume of incense that occasionally wafts through the space. Your nose starts the meal long before your fork does, priming your palate for the bold flavors to come.
Dining Experience at Ha’s Snack Bar
The Ha’s Snack Bar experience begins on the sidewalk outside, where a line of eager diners forms at least half an hour before the 5:30 p.m. opening. This pre-dinner gathering has become something of a ritual, with food enthusiasts comparing notes on previous visits or speculating about the night’s menu changes.
While Resy reservations exist in theory, they’re about as easy to snag as Hamilton tickets were in 2015. Most diners opt for the walk-in route, considering the wait a small price to pay for what awaits inside. The line culture has fostered its own sense of community—I’ve witnessed complete strangers becoming dinner companions after bonding over shared food memories while waiting.
Once seated, the hospitality feels genuine and unpretentious. During my last visit, a server leaned in with a conspiratorial smile and warned, “Just so you know, everything contains fish sauce,” delivering both practical information and a promise of the authentic flavors ahead.
The tight quarters create an unexpected intimacy. You’ll likely overhear your neighbors’ food revelations (“Oh my god, try the snails!”) and might find yourself in spontaneous cross-table conversations about what to order. One Lower East Side resident told me she’s made friends with three different couples after sharing the communal table. The cramped space somehow transforms from a potential negative into one of the restaurant’s most charming features.
Beverage & Wine Program
The drink selection at Ha’s Snack Bar follows the same “small but mighty” philosophy as everything else here. The wine list is refreshingly straightforward: exactly four by-the-glass options—a red, a white, an orange, and one rotating special pour. This focused approach feels less like limitation and more like careful curation, ensuring each selection works beautifully with the menu’s bold flavors.
Natural wines take center stage, chosen specifically to stand up to—rather than wilt beside—the punchy Vietnamese-French cuisine. Ha and Burns double as wine directors, and their recommendations come with both authority and a lack of pretension. When I hesitated between two options, Burns simply said, “This one will make the fish sauce sing,” and she was absolutely right.
Vermouth has become something of a signature beverage here. Its complex, herbaceous profile creates a beautiful bridge between the French and Vietnamese elements of the menu. It’s typical of Ha’s Snack Bar to spotlight something often relegated to supporting status and reveal its star potential.
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Signature Flavors: The Ever-Changing Menu
Step into Ha’s Snack Bar and you’ll quickly realize that categorizing the menu is like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. It’s a beautiful dance of Vietnamese soul, French bistro technique, and seasonal New York bounty. The secret weapon? Fish sauce – that magical elixir that, as one smitten critic put it, “crackles like a string of lights between palate and brain.” It’s not just an ingredient; it’s the heartbeat of many dishes.
What makes the experience at Ha’s Snack Bar particularly thrilling is how the menu transforms, sometimes weekly, reflecting whatever has caught Ha and Burns’ creative fancy or what’s looking particularly gorgeous at the market. This constant evolution keeps regulars on their toes, eagerly returning to find what new delights await.
Certain dishes have achieved near-legendary status despite the rotating menu. The pâté chaud – a Vietnamese-style pork-sausage Danish that Ha fondly recalls as childhood breakfast fare – has been liftd to culinary stardom through meticulous technique and ingredient sourcing. One bite explains why it’s become a signature must-order.
Then there’s the blood-pudding tart with kumquats, a creation so compelling that food writers couldn’t resist covering it despite the owners’ humble requests to fly under the press radar. The earthy richness of blood pudding playing against bright, citrusy kumquats showcases the balance that defines Ha and Burns’ cooking philosophy.
Perhaps nothing better represents the restaurant’s Vietnamese-French marriage than their snails in tamarind butter. This clever twist on traditional escargot had one reviewer claiming its aroma “could turn a nun feral” – which, in culinary circles, is about as high a compliment as one can receive.
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Seasonal Philosophy & Standout Dishes
At Ha’s Snack Bar, seasons don’t just influence the menu – they transform it. Spring might bring wild ramps woven into various dishes, while summer could showcase rhubarb in both savory applications and their talked-about rhubarb pie that has diners plotting return visits.
Their oeuf mayonnaise exemplifies how the duo can take a French bistro classic and make it distinctly their own through subtle tweaks and perfect execution. The tuna carpaccio with rhubarb demonstrates their gift for creating unexpected pairings that somehow feel like they’ve always belonged together.
“Releases endorphins that cloud judgment” is how one reviewer described the curried lamb vol-au-vent – a testament to its ability to transport diners to a state of culinary bliss. Meanwhile, the branzino with mắm nêm (a pungent fermented anchovy sauce) shows how confidently they apply traditional Vietnamese flavor profiles to premium ingredients.
Rather than committing to printed menus, Ha’s Snack Bar announces changes on a simple chalkboard. This old-school approach perfectly suits the restaurant’s intimate vibe while giving the chefs freedom to follow their inspiration wherever it leads them.
Meet the Producers
The magic of Ha’s Snack Bar isn’t just in technique – it’s in sourcing. Many of their authentic Vietnamese herbs come from Tan Tin Hung, a specialty market on the Bowery that receives fresh shipments every Friday. This connection ensures dishes maintain their traditional soul even as they’re reimagined.
Burns once shared a delightful tidbit about sourcing tripe from a neighboring bodega – a perfect example of their resourceful, community-embedded approach to ingredient procurement. This isn’t just practical; it’s a philosophy that grounds Ha’s Snack Bar firmly in its Lower East Side home.
Anthony Ha (whose Instagram handle @mrfishsauce tells you everything you need to know about his culinary passions) brings deep knowledge of Vietnamese ingredients to the table. His expertise ensures that even as dishes evolve, they remain anchored in authentic traditions.
The restaurant’s tiny footprint isn’t just charming – it reflects a conscious approach to sustainability. From ingredient sourcing to efficient kitchen operations, Ha’s Snack Bar embodies thoughtful, responsible dining that resonates with today’s food-conscious diners without ever making a big fuss about it.
Securing Your Seat & What’s Next
Landing a table at Ha’s Snack Bar has become something of a culinary quest for New York food lovers. The tiny restaurant’s popularity means you’ll need both luck and strategy to experience their Vietnamese-French cuisine firsthand.
The most reliable approach? Set those Resy alerts and pounce the moment reservations become available. Many regulars swear by keeping notifications turned on for cancellations – you’d be surprised how often last-minute spots open up. If the reservation gods aren’t smiling on you, don’t despair. The walk-in line has become a ritual of its own, with hopeful diners gathering at least 30 minutes before the 5:30 p.m. opening time, sometimes bonding over shared food obsessions while waiting.
“We showed up at 5:15 thinking we were early,” laughed one diner I met. “There were already twelve people ahead of us!”
Being flexible with your dining time helps tremendously. Those willing to eat either very early or later in the evening often have better luck securing a spot. Solo diners can occasionally snag a single seat at the bar when nothing else is available – a perfect perch to watch Ha and Burns work their magic in the open kitchen.
The restaurant’s Instagram has become required following for serious fans, as they occasionally announce changes to reservation policies or special events through their social feed. It’s also where you might get a tantalizing preview of new menu items before they appear on the chalkboard.
What makes Ha’s Snack Bar even more impressive is the lean team behind this operation. Just seven staff members, including Ha and Burns themselves, orchestrate the entire experience – from cooking to wine service to cleanup. This hands-on approach contributes to the intimate feel that makes dining here so special. Their efficiency is legendary; the restaurant once served an astonishing 108 covers in a single night, a remarkable achievement for a 24-seat space.
Looking ahead, the culinary duo isn’t resting on their laurels. They’ve announced plans for a second venue called Bistrot Ha, which promises “live cooking under a hood and white tablecloth service” – a more refined evolution of their current concept. With a targeted four-month build timeline, the new restaurant aims to open in September, offering a complementary but distinct experience to the beloved snack bar.
“We’re excited to have more space to play with,” Burns shared in a recent interview. “But we’ll never lose that personal touch that makes the snack bar special.”
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Conclusion
Ha’s Snack Bar is that rare culinary lightning strike where everything comes together perfectly—talented chefs, an intimate setting, and a crystal-clear vision. Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns have transformed their pop-up roots into something permanent and precious, creating what might just be New York’s most sought-after dining ticket.
The restaurant’s cozy dimensions aren’t just a quirk—they’re the secret sauce. There’s something magical about sharing exceptional food in such close quarters that creates an electric atmosphere impossible to manufacture in larger venues. As one food writer beautifully observed, “Doomed relationships will blossom here”—a testament to how the restaurant’s intimate setting can turn even a first date into something that feels like destiny.
For those of us who live to eat rather than eat to live, Ha’s Snack Bar represents everything we search for: chef-driven cooking that feels personal, flavors that push boundaries while respecting traditions, and a dining room where you can actually watch your food being prepared with care and precision.
The restaurant embodies what we at The Dining Destination believe represents the future of meaningful dining experiences—restaurants that feel like an extension of someone’s personal culinary vision rather than a business plan. When you eat at Ha’s Snack Bar, you’re not just having dinner; you’re participating in Ha and Burns’ ongoing culinary conversation.
Our advice? Make your plans to visit now, before Bistrot Ha opens and the team’s attention gets divided. Set those Resy alerts, practice your line-waiting patience, and prepare for a meal that will linger in your memory long after the last bite of blood-pudding tart or snails in tamarind butter.
For more delicious findies and to keep your finger on the pulse of exceptional dining experiences across New York and beyond, explore our in-depth coverage of restaurants and plan your next culinary trip with confidence. The table is set—all you need to do is show up hungry.
