We Ranked Fast Food in Vietnam! Best vs Worst!

American fast food chains are everywhere. But in Vietnam, they've had to adapt to local tastes. Rice, fish sauce, spaghetti, even pho-flavored burgers. So today, let's see how Vietnam does American fast food. Guys, I gotta tell you, McDonald's entered Vietnam in 2014. And originally, the story that went out in the news is McDonald's failed because it failed to localize. Now we're in 2026, and McDonald's has renewed all of its ambitious goals to open 100 stores across the country in the next three years. But I guess you could say this is a second attempt. Let's see what they do different this time. Let us see what is going on at Mickey D's. All right, you guys, we are leading off with McDonald's. What is more quintessentially American than McDonald's? You see all types of people here. I don't even want to point the camera at everybody. But there are people from Indonesia. There are people from Germany. There are people from Russia. There are people from the Middle East. Everybody eats at McDonald's. It is so quintessentially American. But like we said, they failed in Vietnam before they localized. What does localization look like? Adopting winning recipes, potentially from some competitors. You know, a universal menu is what people desire. It all comes down to execution. That maybe lacked some of the tomato upside of Jollibee's for sure, but absolutely eatable. This is a fish sauce piece of chicken thigh. Now, a lot of people are saying that this is responsible for Vietnam being a market where McDonald's can succeed. And again, they had to shift dramatically, shift management structure. I'm sure they fired and hired a lot of people. That fish sauce is strong. That is a true nuoc mam piece of gà. I liked it though. I liked it, but it was a lot of nuoc mam for sure. Of course, guys, they have their own version of nuggets here. They recently switched like a different supplier. To be honest, it's way more processed. I'm going to go with a chicken nugget in America over this particular style. This right here is my personal favorite. I heard the spicy here. You know, we've got a wing extended. You could see the potential was there, but if it was fresher. Guys, we've got the curly loop fries and we've got the French fries. These are both good, but I'm going to go ahead and give it to the regular ones. I really think McDonald's fries is like almost unbeatable, unfadable. This is really interesting because this is the McRoyal with cheese. Really expensive burger as far as Vietnam goes. And this is the reason why some people say initially in 2014, McDonald's failed. Because there was all over focus on beef. Food was already cheap and fast in Vietnam, so they didn't need it. You know what I mean? Like fast food is viewed as almost like an embracement of like urban metropolitan life rather than like something that is a necessity. Like I guess you could say in America, it's a necessity. Like we said, Vietnam is just such a mixture of different like cultures, you know? Like they have a lot of Chinese culture here. They have a lot of local culture too. And a lot of like, just a lot of things. Western culture. You guys ever seen Pulp Fiction? It was like, you know what they call a quarter pounder in France? A McRoyal with cheese. That's what they call it here too. This is delicious. This is one of the best burgers I had in Vietnam straight up. Another invention that is credited with saving McDonald's in Vietnam is the McFillet Spicy Chicken Burger. I remember man, the first time I had this exact sandwich in Shanghai, changed my life. To this day, I'm always chasing that high. It's like your first hit of something. McSpicy sandwich, you still good. You always valid. I don't care what country I go to, who owns, who's the joint partner for McDonald's in that country. This sandwich never ever fails. And one thing I wouldn't notice, it's just like that Nook Mom chicken was super Nook Mommy. This one is spicy. My mouth is on fire right now. This is an apricot calamansi with white clear aloe bobas in it. Okay. You know what I like? They didn't make it too sweet. I was actually kind of worried. I do taste the apricot. I do taste the calamansi. This is a kiwi yogurt shaker. Whoa. Unexpected. Five out of five banger right here. Kiwi yogurt shaker at McDonald's Vietnam. This is a matcha Oreo McFlurry. I wish this would come to America. I feel the matcha. I feel it, but it's not as strong as I wish it was. But I feel it. Overall, guys, there's a few business lessons you can take away from what McDonald's is doing. McDonald's enters the market in Vietnam in 2013, 2014. They initially failed. They go through a bunch of management changes, a bunch of rebrands, a bunch of revamps. And in 2026, they're finally figuring it out. Now, also, is some of it just the population and the demographics and Vietnam becoming more international? Absolutely. But as much as it is that, it's more so McDonald's adapting to the local flavors, tastes, and price points of this emerging market. Overall, I'm going to give Vietnam McDonald's a four out of five. But with the potential to get to a five out of five, it really just depends on how they make the reads. You guys already know. They got unlimited money. It's America's brand. But it still depends on what moves they make. All right, you guys. Next up, I have two chains from America. We've got Burger King coming in at 2012. Popeyes coming in at 2013. And listen, guys, I don't want to say that they're struggling, but Burger King might be struggling even though they've got the Australian beef flame-boiled Whoppers. Let's check it out. They came in with big hopes to go against Lotteria from Korea. Let's check it out. If it's hot or a flop, like we said, guys, Burger King came in in 2012. And some fast food global consultant experts say that it failed. And now it's relegated to only airports where people love beef. Because as it turns out, guys, Vietnam is very much a fried chicken country. This is the King Burger right here, the King Onion. Immediately, I'm telling you guys, it looks picturesque. It does look picturesque more than a Burger King in America would. Pop the top. All right, a lot of cheese, a lot of fomai. So apparently, Burger King had to become more like cheese-centric. I like the placement of the tomatoes, though, immediately. Let's just go for the bite, man. Signature char-broiled flavor. I'm not gonna lie, guys, this was pretty solid. But I do think the price point for the Australian beef could be a barrier to entry. I heard that they had to pivot away to a lot like smaller items, maybe lower margin, but just more accessible, purchased in a much higher volume. Let's check out the Whopper Jr. Pop the top. Okay, I would say the first thing that stands out, honestly, is the lack of ketchup. I think they probably eat a lot less ketchup here and a lot more barbecue sauce because it's more tangy and it has like a little bit more going on to it. I do see the mayonnaise and everything like that. The burger patty does maybe look a little smaller. Beef is more scarce. It's more expensive in this region. I'm gonna give both of those a 6.5 out of 10. I could see what they were trying to do, but it just didn't get there. Take a look at the cheese stick. Cheese stick wrapped in nori seaweed. I think that's really interesting. This Burger King nori cheese stick mozzarella fusion hybrid is one of the most interesting fast food items I had in a long time. Of course, fromage, that means cheese. I believe that it's based off the French word fromage. Obviously, Vietnam was a French colony for a number of years. They said this is what's keeping the lights on. And I can tell. You can tell that this cheese stick feels pressure to keep the lights on for BK Vietnam. Of course, got barbecue wings. Out of 10, I'm gonna give this barbecue wing a 9. I don't know if this is keeping the lights on and maybe it's a combination of the farm-raised Vietnam chickens that is so excellent. But this, you could just run a whole business off this. Overall, guys, I just think that Burger King has just such an Americana, like flame-broiled beef, Angus, Aussie forward image. It's just not playing well, maybe in all of Asia, but particularly it didn't play well in Vietnam because they couldn't pivot the chicken. You already got Popeyes right next door. Maybe they're run by the same distribution group. You can't cannibalize markets. So you may be bullish or bearish on Burger King. It wasn't bad. I'm buying puts. Burger King Vietnam gets a 1.5 out of 5. Honestly, it's a pretty low rating, but I just feel like you gotta pivot if your Whopper flame-broiled flavor is really not that popular. You gotta do something, but you can't do this. All right, you guys, now we have arrived right next door to Burger King. We've got Popeyes. Now, if people say that Burger King is a struggling player that might leave the game, Popeyes might not be dominating the fried chicken game because you got so many other people in here, but it's certainly a valid player. You know, it's a competitor. It's not even near the top, but it's competitive. As you can see, guys, they have localized chili fish sauce at Popeyes in a tall cup, too. Not a short one, a tall cup. Really interesting. They got mala chicken here, too. They got fish sauce chicken. They got spaghetti. Let's try it. 2013, that's the year Popeyes entered the Vietnam market, and now it is going head-to-head with the local favorites like Jollibee's. Like Texas fried chicken. Like McDonald's and KFC. We're going to be reviewing it all, but of course, smala on the mala. It's a thigh. It's a good piece of chicken. They switched it up with this. Mala, obviously from Sichuan, a trending flavor now all around Asia. I think number two, we got to go with the fish sauce. This is true America-Vietnam fusion, guys. Never in 100 years in America will they do the fish sauce chicken. It actually tastes like a big-ass nuoc mam wing at your favorite fusion Vietnamese bistro. That's good. So far, this is a winner. I know we're going to go with a little mala on it just to see how it blends. So what really separates Louisiana fried chicken is like the Cajun spices. They have a Creole. They have a Cajun, you know, that French, now Mademoiselle mix that plays really well. I think, you know, it's a lot of uniqueness and, you know, you get elements of that gumbo vibe. Listen, guys, everybody knows that Popeye's is the discount king in terms of like, it's cheaper than KFC, but some people like it more, even in the US. For Vietnam, I'm going to give the Popeye's chicken a 7.5. Let's get into the Popeye's chicken sandwich, guys. People like lost their life over this chicken sandwich when it debuted at a low, low price in America. So let's see how the Vietnam version tastes. Oftentimes, they copy KFC. This is a quintessential chicken thigh burger that makes Shanghai, the KFC, you know, snack or bite. I like it, but I felt like they're chasing. They're chasing. It's almost there, but they're still chasing and McDonald's and KFC's in the lead. Guys, now we're getting into the, you know, the space that Jollibee's obviously pioneered. Sweet spaghetti. I noticed the cheese they used was different. Some sort of cheddar. Guys, Popeye's added it. It's just not there. It's not disgusting, but it's not good. Listen, guys, I'm going to come clean. I love Popeye's in America and I love their sides too. Always competitive with the best of them. In Vietnam, the Popeye's, it's not there yet. We need to get better. We need to make improvements, guys. We need to bring in McKinsey. Let's check out the Cajun tender. This looks promising because they're using the Vietnam chickens. The Vietnam chickens, it's already like a cheat code right off the bat. And we're dipping it in fish sauce. What? We got ourselves a winner. Just look at the fibers that break apart versus like some that are heavily processed. You really see it. You see it break apart the way the chicken is supposed to. Still really dense and much leaner than other fried chicken options that I've had in Vietnam. And last but not least, guys, listen, if you guys know, this is actually like a Chieu Chau, like the Chieu dish, the shrimp donut. But obviously spread around Southeast Asia as the Chieu Chau people did. And then it made it now into a Popeye's, which is obviously probably copying a KFC. So it's just like a crazy domino map in the fish sauce. Not bad. Look, listen, guys, as far as Burger King's and Popeye's mission to like take over the Vietnam fast food market, I'm going to give it an L. Like, I'm not saying they didn't have, you know, everything has their pros and their cons, but some things are just not meant to happen. And I just don't foresee it happening, no matter how much money they pour into it. Because I just think the people who are already established are too entrenched. They have too many advantages. And maybe just the product that they are, there's no product market fit with the fish bowl that you're trying to inhabit. Vietnam's Popeye's gets a disappointing 2.5 out of 5. I will say that that fish sauce fried chicken piece was absolutely incredible, but everything else was pretty lacking. Guys, we are in North Binh Thanh right now in front of a flagship Jollibee's. This has been in the Vietnam market for 20 years and it is on its way, trending extrapolation wise, to be the number one QSR quick service restaurant in Vietnam, surpassing Lotteria. Let's check out what it's doing right, what it's doing wrong, or is it just doing it perfect? Anecdotally, guys, I can totally see Jollibee's becoming the number one fast food chain in Vietnam right now, because it's almost like we're at a trendy late night cafe with how many young couples are having a romantic outing at Jollibee's. And this is a chain from the Philippines, but now it's getting big in Vietnam, but also in America. Have a jolly day. Look, guys, we got to start off with the ice cream just because they have a tropical sundae. It was like 80 cents. Oh, this is good. Guys, I don't think I've ever been more in touch with the Vietnamese youth than right now here at a local Jollibee's. We got our shaker fries. This is really in right now. I saw McDonald's doing shaker fries as well. I'm not a liar. The Jollibee's ones, they got a little shrimp flavoring on it. Tastes like some oyster shrimp chips. This is a Vietnam exclusive piece of Jollibee's chili fried chicken. If you guys know about food in the Philippines that's not very spicy in Vietnam, they like to kick it up a notch. They put some real spice in that. Four out of five. Let's take a look at the famous Jollibee's spaghetti. Unfadeable. Unbeatable. Everybody, the often duplicated, imitated, but never emulated. Of course, we got to get into the chicken. Take a look. How does it compare? I would say Jollibee's chicken, in a way, especially if they need more of a dark meat piece, always a five. Relative to the other chains, I'm going to give Jollibee's Vietnam a five. A five. Absolutely hitting the home runs across the board. They kept the menu tight. They just focused on quality and delivering consistency. I'm excited for that shrimp burger. What? The shrimp burger is something I'd only really seen from McDonald's Japan and then featured in Hong Kong a little bit. The Ibi shrimp. But they didn't say this was Ibi. More Filipino style. More Vietnam. Considering this was $3 or maybe $2, I'm going to go ahead and give this shrimp burger from Vietnam Jollibee's a five out of five. This was incredible, guys. Listen, the quality speaks for itself. It reminds me of when like, you know, somebody just enters the game. Just like how nobody's messing with Luckin right now for like $1, $2 coffee or matcha. I'm not messing with Vietnam Jollibee's. Jollibee's Vietnam, you heard it, got the five out of five. I just think that they're in sync with their core demographic. They're delivering exactly what they want at the price point they want. And anytime you see like that, it fits like a glove. Guys, there are over 260 Lotterias, a chain that is headquartered in Seoul, Korea, in Vietnam. They are the very first international fast food chain to enter the Vietnamese market in 1998. That's why they still have the largest footprint. But a lot of people are coming up hot on their heels. We're talking about Philippines with Jollibee's, KFC in America, McDonald's is coming in now in 2026. But let's see what the incumbent still has to offer. This is my very first time here. Listen, guys, we spent almost $15 USD. That is quite a large sum to spend on fast food here in Vietnam. I would say that, you know, this is really a higher price chain in comparison to Jollibee's or some of the other options. But let's just open up, guys, for something I had to try for a shorts video. This is a Com Tom burger. That is a Saigon exclusive. You guys know Com Tom. They love it here in Saigon. It's like the ultimate farmer's breakfast. The cucumber and the carrots are fresh. But this pork patty is dulky. I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna give this a 2.5 out of 5. But I like the thinking. Keep trying, Lotteria. This was a fail. This was a swing and a miss. But it doesn't mean you won't hit a home run. This is a Bulgogi burger. All right, I'm not gonna lie, guys. I like the veggies at Lotteria on their supply chain side. There's something going on with the meat patties. I don't know what it is about the protein, but the protein looks a little bit like 7-Eleven in the U.S. burger, if you catch my drift. Guys, do not come to Lotteria Vietnam for the burgers. Let's move on to the chicken. This looks more promising. It looks more promising. Ooh, it's hot. That was much better. Let's get into some of the flavored ones. Very, very Korean flavor. We're heating up. Guys, Lotteria, Vietnam's biggest chain for decades. Literally, it was the largest fast food chain or largest just chain period in Vietnam for 10 years. Now a lot is being challenged. If it's not good, but if you love cheese, I can see it. Moving on, guys. Meat sauce spaghetti. All right, here we go, guys. The beef patty. You're not gonna lie, guys, this is army food. Okay, guys, so the chicken, I'm gonna give it a 3.5 out of 5. The spaghetti, I'm gonna give it a 3 out of 5. The burgers, a 2.5 out of 5. Last but not least, guys, they do have mantou here. This is a very, very interesting menu. This is actually a Chinese dish that made its way to Vietnam or Saigon through like, you know, Chinese Viets, the Hoa people, and then now onto a South Korean company's menu. I'm gonna give it a 5. But it's hard to mess up mantou. I mean, you might have just got them down the street. It can be fine. Listen, guys, I like what they're doing. They're trying to be inventive here. You've got Mano, Son Tung's little brother, endorsing it. I don't know if it was just because it was late night or maybe this is the wrong location that's managed a little differently. But I'm telling you guys, I give Lotteria Vietnam a 2 out of 5 score. Really bad, disorganized, no napkins. The proteins are horrible. Ice cream machine was broken and the prices were high. I gotta give it a fail. Gave Lotteria Vietnam a 2 out of 5. But really, I gotta lower it to a 1 out of 5 once I take price into consideration. I just think they're still around because they're an incumbent, but they don't really deserve it. I'm not gonna lie. Vietnam KFC guys that entered the market in 1997 consistently lost money for seven straight years until 2003. And then they revamped their localization strategy. And listen, that's what brings us this. Look mom chicken right here at KFC. This is fish sauce chili chicken. I'm going to try this as my number one pick. I'm not gonna lie. This was super interesting. I'm gonna give this honestly a 4.5 out of 5. This is a winner. Shout out to KFC Vietnam. Garlic soy guys. Garlic soy, obviously more of a banchan Korean sort of influence flavor. Not cheap. I wouldn't say that KFC Vietnam is cheap. Wow. Did they hire a Korean on their R&D team? I'm not gonna say that soy garlic is my favorite flavor, but also if you do like it, 4.25 out of 5. Moving on. We got the chicken zinger burger from Vietnam. Mayonnaise all up in there. This is the chicken zinger sandwich. $2 USD. I like a lot of the elements, but I'm not gonna lie. The chicken thigh did not have a super good diameter in terms of the sizing. Put a little smile on there. Okay. I mean, it's hard to miss with the chicken thigh sandwich. No weird seasonings or anything like that. 4 out of 5. Everybody in Vietnam has a shrimp burger. Everybody in Asia has a shrimp burger. I don't care if they localize to fit the taste. Asians like seafood, especially if you are a coastal country. Listen guys, the quality is there. Everything is a 4 to a 4.5. Everything. And now we've gotten our way to the egg tart. Honestly, the presentation on this one was a little messed up, but I'm still gonna give it a 4 out of 5 because the KFC Asia egg tarts are just that good. Overall, guys, I'm gonna give KFC a really solid 4.25 out of 5. Super consistent. I mean, I was really impressed by every offering that they had. And maybe they didn't have the crazy ceiling, but they did not have any whack items at all. In a lot of places, they usually have something that was a complete miss. KFC has no misses. Incredibly consistent. You guys, that does it for our American fast food chain crawl across Vietnam. I think that this is a fairly new industry to the country of Vietnam. A lot of the menus are still the same right now. They're competing with street food, which is excellent. They're competing amongst themselves for market share. They're competing against the market just in terms of being introduced to the base level consumer. We'll see where it goes. But definitely fish sauce chicken is a winner.