Butterfly Belly Asian Cuisine

Delicious vegetarian phở. The broth was a shitake broth which was different and rich. Too bad their landlords are forcing them out of current place. I would like to come back at their new location!

New favorite phở.
The broth is amazing. It’s rich and deep, you can hardly see through it. The noodles sink down into the bowl, that deliciously salty sea of no return. There’s no way the phở’s tendrils can find their way back to the surface unless they find themselves pressed between my life saving chopsticks.
And rejoice anyway little noodles. I’m so full on broth and tender beef that I am probably not even eating all of you.
I also need room for the wings. So spicy, sweet and fresh. There’s a place that rhymes with Bok Bok. Well, forget that place. What a big touristy sham with old backed up wings waiting in buckets.
Please take flight to Butterfly Belly, on the fluttery wings of hunger. You’ll be glad you did. Plus the owners are so nice and really care about their business being awesome in every way.

I’m obsessed with the fish sauce chicken wings… I wish it was a bit more crispy.
Also I keep pondering the tamarind wings… But… Nah #fishsaucealltheway

Oh phở! We love you! Some of the best, brothy, meaty, scrumptious phở around! The chicken wings with the fish sauce (level 4 or 5 spiciness for our liking) are delectable, customer service always funny and friendly. We will be back for more and more and more!

Great Food and a cute little place! Phở rocks. Can’t wait to return and have some more.

Friendly and attentive staff. Clearly marked vegan dishes. Enjoyed our meal and will definitely be back!

Best Pad Thai, Yellow Curry I have ever tasted! The owner and staff are friendly and caring. They have recently become gluten-​free.

The first time I got food from here was takeout. I got the chicken phở because I was dying from the flu, and nothing else sounded even edible.
I got take out yesterday, chicken rolls and beef phở, and it was delicious. We sat at the bar waiting for our order, and we were offered water and if we wanted to get a drink too.
I have no complaints about my to go order, it was packaged nicely, and all the sprouts, peppers, and onions were in a separate container from the broth and the actual noodles.
I will definitely be eating here again.

My friends and I are regulars at Butterfly Belly and it always exceeds expectations. Get the phở! Genuinely welcoming customer service. Thanks BB :)

The service here is really not that good.
They get the job done. You get your food. But it’s in no way a smooth process. If I were only judging them by their organization and customer service I would give 3 or less stars.
But…
The food is amazing.
That’s that. That’s why there are so many mixed reviews.
Come here for good food. Don’t expect a seamless sit down and ordering process. But you can expect yummy food.

I’m kind of baffled by their super high rating
We recently went to Butterfly Belly for brunch and I was pretty disappointed.
The Good: it wasn’t very crowded and service was attentive. To those that are on a gluten-​free diet, their brunch is apparently gluten-​free, but that is not a concern for me.
The so-​so: For a fairly empty restaurant, it took a while to receive our food. My husband’s pad thai didn’t taste bad – it just didn’t taste like pad thai. It also wasn’t spicy, even though he had requested it to be.
The bad: I had some sort of super food salad that was incredibly disappointing. It was $ 13 which seemed steep. The ingredients (cabbage, carrots, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, tofu with a vinegary dressing) just didn’t go well together – it didn’t seem thought out at all. In my opinion, cabbage needs to be sliced very thinly for salads, but it was on the thick side, so it was bitter. I wish there was more tofu on the salad, as it was scant, especially for the price.

This town doesn’t surprise me when it comes to really good Asian food. You can find it all over the city, but as you get closer to 82^nd, the food gets better to me. As does the phở.
Butterfly Belly is down on Division and 60^th, yeah, 22 blocks away… but close enough that it’s a place I’ve been to now twice. My first occasion there was for a spicy phở special that they had and it was beautiful. It wasn’t just that it was spicy, it was flavorful and the beef was perfect. Also if you check in on Unilocal you can either get a free pot of tea or a dollar off on an alcohol beverage.
My second time there, just the other day, was a bit spottier. I got the fish sauce chicken wings which were amazing. They were cooked perfect and had a really great taste, although when they give you a spice lever of 1 – 5, I probably should have gone with 5, because there was no heat level at all. But, despite that, these wings were something worth coming back for. I also ordered their beef phở. Just the regular, not the spicy. The first thing was that it came out too quickly. I had only eaten two of my wings before the phở came out, so it sat there cooling off, which was good, but the noodles did get a bit stuck together. Second, the beef was a bit dry this time around, not as good as last time. It was busy in the restaurant which is not something that I have normally seen there, but I will give them another try soon.
The service was great both times. The folks came around several times to check on me and my food, so that is a positive.
There are good items on the menu and it is a phở place worth stopping in at if you are down in this area of Division.
Enjoy.

It’s different, I have never seen any pad Thai red. It tasted different as well, maybe because it’s gluten free? But the egg rolls are yummy. I wouldn’t get the pad Thai again. The chicken wings are great though. But if you want an authentic pad Thai, don’t get it here. I was very surprised.

I most humbly approve! I went with a vegetarian friend and they serve veggie broth which is actual honest veggie broth (many places say veggie but it is not apparently). They will ask you if you are vegan or vegetarian and told us they offer around 30 different types of broth! WOW! I am a total carnivore so I ordered the Korean BBQ ribs which were pretty delicious and came with a generous serving of vegetables and rice. We also gave the eggrolls a go which were perfect. The owner is very friendly and funny. Great dining experience and the restaurant is pretty cute. The parking lot is a touch tragic and small but they have one with open spots so I cannot complain too much about that!

Third time visiting. I live in the area, and when I knew I was going to have dinner in the neighborhood, I instantly thought of Butterfly Belly.
Being a strict vegetarian, I have no worried about getting meat broth.
I got the egg roll, perfectly cooked, and the garden Phó with the onion tofu. I remember the tofu being better last time I was there, but I still enjoyed at. Service was prompt and friendly. Good arms and very clean.

Good family dining in South Tabor neighborhood. The Phở was good. The vermicelli was good. But nothing really sets it apart from other Phở spots. Maybe a little more salt? More attention to detail? I mean, for around $ 8, the bowls were the size of hubcaps with plenty to take home, but flavor, just a little more… something. Tea, very good. Ambiance was relaxing, staff was very accommodating, owner, very friendly. Location seems a little lonely, though.
Can’t remember if they have Wi-​Fi. Parking lot is not for SUV’s.
Definitely get your noodle on here. Even with minor flaws.

Pad thai is a paradox — it’s a bread’n’butter Asian dish and a staple of any Thai (or in this case, Vietnamese-​Asian-​fusion) menu, but it’s tricky to prepare with any kind of consistency. BB’s pad thai has the richest complexion of any I’ve ever had — a deep pink, heavy with tamarind — and it always looks and tastes the same, which means it is always delicious.
The system here is based on around a few core dishes: pad thai, phở, yellow curry, fried rice (I think?) and vermicelli. It makes the whole decision process a lot easier, i.e. you’re given far fewer reasons to quibble about ordering phở, which is probably why you showed up in the first place. Although I found the yellow curry a bit bland, the staple entrees are an ideal version of exactly what you want and expect, if that makes sense. They can all be made with any protein, or vegetarian (or with an extra 6 oz steak on the side) and last time I was in here, the friendly and chatty owner informed us that they are making the transition to gluten free, if you’re into that.
This place is just down the street from my apartment — that said, there are two or three other thai places that are just as close, and I always end up here. The seating area is cute but not too kitschy — the big windows do a lot of work, making the whole space feel open and relaxed. Food comes out fast but you never feel pressured to leave, which is a gold star in my book. I’ve been off the Unilocal wagon for a while: my fondness for Butterfly Belly is one of many restaurant experiences I’ve kept off the page for months now, but it’s the first I felt compelled to share. I’m proud that I can consider this place a «neighborhood haunt.»

Let me take a deep breath and say THIS RESTAURANT IS AWESOME!
We tried to get there at 8:30pm before the closing hour 30mins. I know it’s rude to get there late but the staff offered me to order on the phone so it was faster for both of us. They were very accommodating. The first thing made me feel good about this restaurant is respectful customers. When I ordered on the phone, they actually did cook the food not like other restaurants just ignore the customers and wait until they actually show up to cook.
So the food came out right after we sat down, not even 5mins. The lotus salad with shrimp had great decoration and my friend said it was awesome. The portion was surprisingly huge with $ 10.
I order the whole grill calamari which was kinda chewy for us but that what calamari supposed to be so I enjoyed it too.
Beyond those great food, the Bo Né (Sagon steak) was SUPER DELICIOUS! $ 14 for 8oz of steak, 2 eggs+ a bread, what can you ask for more people? The steak was soft and juicy. I like how they serve the steak over sall pan so the customers actually are able to hear the noise from hot steak.
I just love talking to the staff. I assume this is family business and they treat every customer equally and nicely. we had long conversations and she didn’t make us feel stressed while eating food when it’s their closing time.
I am just upset how werid that I couldn’t discover this restaurant earlier so I didn’t have to drive to far to get good food+ good service.
Definitely recommend this restaurant and the food I said above.

My husband and I love this place. We’ve come here several times and each time seems better. The Phở is amazing, no msg, you can taste the difference compared to some of the places on 82^nd that also offer Phở soup. It isn’t just a bowl of salt, but instead the flavors are deep and rich.
I wish the owner would set up a karaōke machine in there, that would be a blast!

As promised, I came back and had the large beef phở. Let’s just say that this will be my go-​to place for phở. The broth was amazing. It had plenty of onions in it as well as green onions. The meat was very good. It was actually soft and complimented the soup perfectly. Noodles were flawless also; they didn’t stick to each other or anything. The flavor profile isn’t anything you’ll be surprised by because it’s still a regular phở, but the quality is definitely something that you can taste.
The service was great just like the first time.
Side not: my wife had the chicken phở and she loved it. I can confirm that the chicken broth was great also, as I tried it.