{"id":3529,"date":"2026-06-29T18:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/?post_type=news&p=3529"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:49:37","slug":"grabfood-best-quan","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/grabfood-best-quan\/","title":{"rendered":"One order = one vote: a neighborhood eatery reaches the final \u2014 GrabFood\u2019s \u201cStrongest Shop\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Vietnam, a competition where dishes literally \u201cgo head to head\u201d has reached its finals. GrabFood's second edition of \u201cThe Best Eatery (Qu\u00e1n \u0111\u1ec9nh)\u201d is a nationwide food showdown that counts each order as one vote. More than 7,000 eateries from 18 provinces and cities took part, competing for the top spot across four categories: rice, noodles, banh mi, and drinks. Shops that made it to the finals say orders surged to three or four times the usual on competition days. For Vietnam-loving readers, this is more than just local news. The named finalists make a strong shortlist of places where you can eat \u201cwithout missing\u201d on your next trip. This article sorts out the contest while going as far as how travelers can find these shops and order from them.<\/p>\n

The \u201cdishes go head to head\u201d competition and how it works<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Best Eatery\u201d decides winners not by judges' scores or expert votes but by the number of orders users actually place. On GrabFood, one order counts as one vote, and shops in the same category compete by vote count. Shops enter with their own signature dishes. After roughly three months of district- and provincial-level qualifying, the winners advance to inter-provincial rounds and finally reach the national finals.<\/p>\n

Eight representatives across the four categories made the finals. Hanoi's \u201cB\u00e1nh M\u00ec S\u00e0i G\u00f2n\u201d reached the banh mi final, and \u201c\u00da Milk Tea,\u201d known for its house-made boba cheese tea, reached the drinks final. Results are scheduled to be announced in stages from late June into early July.<\/p>\n

Why the second edition is drawing attention<\/h2>\n

What's new about this contest is that it swaps the yardstick of a gourmet competition from \u201cauthoritative judging\u201d to \u201cthe everyday behavior of ordinary people placing orders.\u201d Rather than third-party evaluation like a TV program or Michelin, the number of people who actually opened their wallets becomes the ranking. For shops that earned a reputation for taste but never gained nationwide fame\u2014like street stalls and neighborhood eateries\u2014this was the first mechanism that let them stand on a national stage.<\/p>\n

GrabFood has run this format two years running because it's a win-win design: it boosts participating shops' sales while increasing the platform's own order volume. Shops get exposure to audiences they'd never normally reach during the contest, and users get to \u201ctry famous places while voting.\u201d The result is a steady build-up of total orders.<\/p>\n

This year's contest in numbers<\/h2>\n

We list only the figures we could verify, without exaggeration, staying within the range that multiple local outlets agree on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nDetails<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Edition<\/td>\n2nd (two years running)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Participating shops<\/td>\nOver 7,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Coverage area<\/td>\n18 provinces and cities nationwide<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Categories<\/td>\nFour: rice, noodles, banh mi, and drinks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Finalists<\/td>\nTwo per category, eight representatives in total<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Voting method<\/td>\nOne order = one vote<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Finalists' sales<\/td>\n+20% versus normal, 3\u20134x normal on competition days (B\u00e1nh M\u00ec S\u00e0i G\u00f2n)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The owner of \u201cB\u00e1nh M\u00ec S\u00e0i G\u00f2n\u201d says sales rose about 20% above usual after entering the contest, reaching three to four times on competition days. The figure of three to four times is a momentary peak, not something that lasts every day, so read it with that caveat\u2014but in the sense that a once-unknown neighborhood shop experienced a sudden flood of orders overnight, it shows the impact of platform exposure.<\/p>\n

How locals and the industry see it<\/h2>\n

The reactions of finalist owners lean less toward winning or losing and more toward \u201coperational fine-tuning.\u201d The owner of \u201cB\u00e1nh M\u00ec S\u00e0i G\u00f2n\u201d reflects that the real contest was how to run operations on competition days, when orders spike all at once. The operator of the drinks finalist \u201c\u00da Milk Tea\u201d says they're focusing on optimizing delivery and strengthening customer connections ahead of the final. Because the design makes orders equal votes, shops that don't just taste good but also \u201cdon't run out\u201d and \u201cdon't delay delivery\u201d find it easier to grow their votes.<\/p>\n

From the industry's side, Vietnam's food-delivery market reached roughly 2.8 billion dollars in 2025, with GrabFood and ShopeeFood together holding about 90% of it. Surveys suggest GrabFood holds about 50% in Ho Chi Minh City and ShopeeFood about 60% in Hanoi, with power split by region. Amid this standoff, a project that directly lifts shops' sales reads as a practical move to keep merchants on board.<\/p>\n

A tip for travelers: use this contest to choose where to eat<\/h2>\n

Here's the main point for travelers. Unlike a guidebook's starred list, the top entries in \u201cThe Best Eatery\u201d are shops that ordinary Vietnamese people pay for and choose day to day. In other words, you can use it as a device to surface the genuinely popular places locals actually frequent.<\/p>\n

Here's how to do it concretely. First, install the Grab app on your phone while you're in Vietnam and secure data with a local SIM or eSIM. On the GrabFood screen, search by category\u2014banh mi, milk tea, and so on\u2014and the most-ordered shops appear near the top. A shop named in the finals, like \u201cB\u00e1nh M\u00ec S\u00e0i G\u00f2n,\u201d should be easy to find just by searching its name. Banh mi is gaining recognition in Japan too; for example,the buzz around 7-Eleven rolling out banh mi<\/a>can be your entry point, and comparing it with the authentic local taste makes for an interesting way to plan a trip.<\/p>\n

As the fact that the drinks category stands on its own shows, Vietnam's caf\u00e9 and tea culture is one of the stars of eating out. If you want to cover the chain classics,Highlands Coffee, found nationwide,<\/a>and if you want to hunt down famous shops on a stroll,Michelin-listed Saigon shops<\/a>\u2014combine these routes with GrabFood's popular shops and you'll experience both the tourist-oriented and the local sides.<\/p>\n

The structure of street stalls \u00d7 the platform economy<\/h2>\n

What this contest reflects is that the relationship between Vietnam's street stalls and neighborhood eateries and delivery platforms has entered a \u201cride-along\u201d phase. A street stall's strength used to be location and word of mouth. Supported by regulars who showed up on a set street at a set time, its trade area was limited to a radius of a few hundred meters. Get on a platform, and that trade area expands all at once to the delivery range. \u201cThe Best Eatery\u201d can be seen as an experiment that deliberately maximizes that exposure effect in the form of a contest.<\/p>\n

That said, it isn't all unreservedly good news. A design that competes on order counts leaves room for well-funded shops to pile up orders with discounts and coupons. Delivery commissions also weigh heavily on small shops, and even if sales rise three- or fourfold, profit won't necessarily rise by the same ratio. There's also a risk that operations can't keep up with a sudden order surge, dragging down quality and ratings. When using contest results to choose where to eat, keep a sense of distance: \u201chigh ranking\u201d means \u201cstrong at the vote-gathering mechanism,\u201d not necessarily \u201cthe single tastiest shop that suits your own preferences,\u201d and you won't go wrong.<\/p>\n

Practical information and related links<\/h2>\n

Here's a practical memo for using GrabFood in Vietnam. The app can be switched to English, and you can search even with shop and dish names in the local language. You can pay by GrabPay or cash, and pin your hotel or accommodation address to have food delivered. Street-stall shops often keep short hours, so it's safest to target the places you want from morning into the early afternoon.<\/p>\n

Summary: three steps to try on your next trip<\/h2>\n

GrabFood's \u201cThe Best Eatery\u201d is a mechanism that surfaces popular shops using the raw data of locals' orders. Its value for travelers is being able to learn, ahead of time, about the shops \u201cgenuinely supported by locals\u201d before they appear in guidebooks. On your next trip: (1) prepare the Grab app and data before arrival, (2) at your destination, search for popular banh mi and drink shops, and named finalists like \u201cB\u00e1nh M\u00ec S\u00e0i G\u00f2n,\u201d and (3) don't decide on ranking alone\u2014check reviews and photos too. These three steps put within reach not just the famous tourist shops but the local gems rooted in the city. Do try this way of enjoying a country where dishes \u201cgo head to head,\u201d starting with your next cup or bite.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h2>\n