Bikini Bottom Express Da Nang: Smash Burgers, Menu Prices and Story
Bikini Bottom Express, Da Nang's best-known smash burger joint: its 2018 hostel origins, chef Alex Le, June 2026 menu prices in VND and all four addresses.
Bikini Bottom Express is Da Nang’s best-known smash burger joint. It started in 2018 in the studio apartment kitchen of the Lighthouse Hostel, and its menu still carries the work of its co-founder, chef Alex Le, a Vietnamese Montrealer who left in early 2022. On the June 2026 menu, its signature double cheeseburger costs 95,000 VND, and every smash patty is 80/20 Australian beef ground in house. It has three locations in Da Nang (An Thượng 2, Trần Phú and Mai Thúc Lân) and one in Hoi An. You may have come here looking for Luke Nguyen and Fat Noodle in Da Nang. No source I found ties either one to the city’s burgers, and I explain the mix-up below.
Bikini Bottom Express Da Nang: key facts
Bikini Bottom Express is a smash burger and all-day breakfast restaurant that opened in 2018 and now has four locations in Da Nang and Hoi An. The essentials below come from the brand’s official site and its June 2026 menu.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | A smash burger and all-day breakfast restaurant (the brand’s own description) |
| Founded | 2018, in the kitchen of the Lighthouse Hostel, Da Nang |
| Founding chef | Alex Le, co-founder, a ‘Montrealer Vietnamese’ (left in early 2022) |
| Beef | 80/20, 100% Australian, ground in house |
| Bun | Homemade brioche butter bun |
| Signature | Bikini Bottom Burger, 95,000 VND |
| Price range (smash burgers) | 75,000 to 165,000 VND, tax included |
| Locations | 3 in Da Nang, 1 in Hoi An |
| Group | Bone Apple Tea (with Rainbowl Poke and The Lighthouse Hostel) |
| Brand claims | ‘Vietnam’s first California style Smash Burger joint’, ‘over 1,500,000 plates served’ |
Bikini Bottom Express Da Nang key facts: founded in 2018 at the Lighthouse Hostel, 80/20 Australian beef, signature burger 95,000 VND, 3 Da Nang locations plus 1 in Hoi An (Data: Bikini Bottom Express official site and June 2026 menu; table: Burger Breton)
How I built this profile: I haven’t eaten at Bikini Bottom Express, so this article has no rating and isn’t a review. Every price and address comes from the official menu PDF uploaded in June 2026 and from the brand’s website, all checked on 9 October 2026. I note where a claim comes only from the brand or only from one third-party listing.
Luke Nguyen and Fat Noodle in Da Nang: a correction
No source I could find links Luke Nguyen to a restaurant in Da Nang. Fat Noodle isn’t there either, and it doesn’t serve burgers. Fat Noodle is the celebrity chef’s Southeast Asian noodle restaurant at 33 William Street, The Star Brisbane, Australia. It spent more than a decade at Treasury Brisbane before moving to The Star Brisbane, which opened in April 2024. Its menu is built on 20-hour pho, laksa, beef rib pho and bò lá lốt (Visit Brisbane, Hospitality Magazine).
The only verified link between Luke Nguyen and Da Nang is on television. In Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam (2020), he cooks a turmeric noodle dish with herbs from a community garden beside the railway line in Da Nang (TheTVDB). Nguyen was born on 8 September 1978 in a refugee camp in Thailand and grew up in Sydney. He co-owns Red Lantern in Surry Hills with his sister Pauline Nguyen (Wikipedia). If you want the chef-and-founder story behind a Da Nang burger, it belongs to Bikini Bottom Express.
The founder story: from a hostel kitchen to a smash burger brand
Bikini Bottom Express began in 2018 as a breakfast kitchen for hostel guests and grew into a smash burger brand with four locations. The team tells it like this: ‘It all started with eggs, hash, avo, smoothie bowls, and pancakes for guests at the Lighthouse Hostel in 2018 in our little studio apartment kitchen.’ Most of them, the team admits, ‘don’t come from restaurant backgrounds’ (Ốp La menu).
From La Terrasse to Bikini Bottom
The restaurant had two other names before it settled on Bikini Bottom, a nod to SpongeBob SquarePants. It first traded as ‘La Terrasse’, then as ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’. A second location opened in Hoi An in 2019 (About page).
The founders don’t name themselves anywhere I could find. The main menu carries a letter signed ‘Bikini Crew’, which says the place ‘carries the souls of us when we were 23 and 27’. I like that line. It explains the tone of the whole menu, which is playful, a little homesick and fond of puns.
Chef Alex Le, the Montrealer who shaped the kitchen
Chef Alex Le was a co-founder of Bikini Bottom Express and the cook who gave its kitchen its identity. The brand describes him as a ‘Montrealer Vietnamese’ and credits him with the house poutine. In the brand’s words, he ‘left us early 2022 for a better place’. The menu speaks of ‘the legacy that we carry on’. He is not the current chef. I quote the brand’s wording as written and don’t read anything more into it.
Ốp La and the Bone Apple Tea group
Ốp La is the brand’s all-day breakfast spin-off, and the team says it ‘was created after Covid’ to focus on breakfast. Bikini Bottom Express belongs to the Bone Apple Tea group, along with Rainbowl Poke and the Lighthouse Hostel where it all started.
What is a smash burger, and what beef does Bikini Bottom use?
A smash burger is a ball of ground beef pressed flat on a hot griddle so the patty forms a thin, crusty, well-browned surface. At Bikini Bottom Express, the menu specifies an ‘80/20 100% Australian in house ground beef smashpatty’ in a ‘homemade brioche butter bun’. The 80/20 ratio means 80% lean meat and 20% fat: enough fat to keep a patty that thin from drying out on the griddle. Toplist.vn independently reports the Australian beef (Toplist.vn).
Smash burger patties pressed flat on a hot griddle, the technique behind Bikini Bottom Express’s 80/20 Australian beef patties (illustrative photo) (Photo: J Wynia, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/73451168@N00/49978037281))
The brand hasn’t published its patty weight, griddle temperature or smashing method, so I leave them out. For a close look at how other kitchens handle the technique, see my profile of Beyondburg’s smash burgers in Bangalore and Cédric Moulot’s 231 East Street in Strasbourg.
Bikini Bottom Express menu prices (June 2026)
The smash burgers range from 75,000 VND for a Classic Single to 165,000 VND for the Jammin’ Jalapeño, tax included. These are the prices on the June 2026 menu PDF, not prices I paid in store, so check at the counter. A fries combo adds 40,000 VND, and so does an extra patty.
| Smash burger | Price (VND) | Notes from the menu |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Single | 75,000 | Single patty |
| Bikini Bottom Burger | 95,000 | Double cheeseburger, sautéed onions, house pickles, dijonnaise |
| Classic Double Double | 100,000 | Double patty |
| The Baconator | 110,000 | |
| Okla Home Run | 110,000 | |
| Cali Babi | 120,000 | |
| Truffle Tussle | 130,000 | |
| Big City Boi | 140,000 | |
| Jammin’ Jalapeño | 165,000 | Most expensive smash burger |
Bikini Bottom Express smash burger menu prices, June 2026: from 75,000 VND (Classic Single) to 165,000 VND (Jammin’ Jalapeño), tax included (Data: Bikini Bottom Express main menu, June 2026; table: Burger Breton)
What to order on your first visit
Order the Bikini Bottom Burger first: it’s the house signature and the cheapest double on the menu at 95,000 VND. Its double cheeseburger, sautéed onions, house pickles and dijonnaise build tells you whether the base recipe works for you. Add the fries combo for 40,000 VND if you’re hungry. Leave room for the poutine.
‘Smash-ish’ burgers, sandos and a vegetarian option
Not everything on the menu is a beef smash patty. The menu lists three ‘smash-ish’ burgers and a section of sandos:
- One and Only Chick: 110,000 VND.
- Barbacoa Pulled Pork: 110,000 VND, with Canadian pork shoulder braised for 12 hours.
- Jack in a Bun: 110,000 VND, the vegetarian option, made with jackfruit.
- Birria Boi (sando): 190,000 VND, served with birria consommé.
Horizontal bar chart of the 9 Bikini Bottom Express smash burger prices in VND, Classic Single 75,000 to Jammin’ Jalapeño 165,000, with the 95,000 VND Bikini Bottom Burger highlighted (about US$3.60) (Data: Bikini Bottom Express main menu, June 2026; chart: Burger Breton)
The Almost Poutine: Chef Le’s poutine in Da Nang
If you’re looking for poutine in Da Nang, Bikini Bottom Express serves the ‘Almost Poutine’, created by chef Alex Le. The menu says it was ‘created by our Montrealer Chef Le, after craving poutine home comforts for way too long’. It uses mozzarella instead of cheese curds, which is why it’s only ‘almost’ a poutine. The Classic Montreal version costs 105,000 VND. Of everything on the menu, this dish carries his legacy most directly.
Classic poutine at La Banquise in Montreal, the Quebec dish chef Alex Le reworked with mozzarella as the Almost Poutine (105,000 VND) at Bikini Bottom Express in Da Nang (Photo: Yuri Long, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La\_Banquise\_Poutine.jpg))
Bikini Bottom Express locations in Da Nang and Hoi An
Bikini Bottom Express has three locations in Da Nang and one in Hoi An, according to its official June 2026 menu. Two of the Da Nang addresses are on the beach side of the Hàn River and one is on the riverside.
Da Nang’s Han River and My Khe Beach: Bikini Bottom Express has a riverside spot on Trần Phú and two beachside spots near An Thượng (Photo: Gary Lee Todd, CC0 1.0, via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/101561334@N08/15286870328))
| Location | Address | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Da Nang, An Thượng | 45–47 An Thượng 2 | Beachside |
| Da Nang, Trần Phú | 154 Trần Phú | Riverside |
| Da Nang, Mai Thúc Lân | 118 Mai Thúc Lân | Beachside |
| Hoi An | 115 Trần Quang Khải | Riverside |
Bikini Bottom Express locations: 45–47 An Thượng 2, 154 Trần Phú and 118 Mai Thúc Lân in Da Nang, and 115 Trần Quang Khải in Hoi An (Data: Bikini Bottom Express official menu, June 2026; table: Burger Breton)
Thu Bon River in Hoi An, where Bikini Bottom Express opened its second location in 2019 at 115 Trần Quang Khải (Photo: P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hoi\_An\_-\_Thu\_Bon\_River.jpg))
Some listings give the An Thượng address as ‘47 An Thượng 2’. I use the official ‘45–47’. The brand doesn’t publish opening hours on the sources I checked. One undated third-party listing gives hours for An Thượng only, so I don’t print them here. Check the official site or the restaurant’s social pages before you go.
Map of the Bikini Bottom Express locations in Da Nang (An Thượng 2, Trần Phú, Mai Thúc Lân) and Hoi An (Trần Quang Khải), about 30 km apart (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL)
Best burger in Da Nang: how Bikini Bottom compares
I can’t call Bikini Bottom Express the best burger in Da Nang without having eaten there. It is the best-documented one: a founder story, a published beef spec, dated prices and four confirmed addresses. The other names that come up most often in local lists are Burger Bros, Burger Republic and the fast-food chain Lotteria. I could verify far less about the first two, so read the caveats in the table.
| Restaurant | Style | What is verified | Caveats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bikini Bottom Express | California-style smash burgers (brand claim) | 80/20 Australian beef ground in house, homemade brioche bun, June 2026 prices, 4 addresses | Hours not confirmed |
| Burger Bros | Burgers with buns and patties made in house | Around since 2015 per Vietnamese listings, Japanese owner, Mike Burger and Blue Cheese Burger | Address conflicts (30 An Thượng 4 vs 203 Lê Quang Đạo), owner not named, current status unclear |
| Burger Republic | Independent burger restaurant | Co-owner Mai Thùy Trâm, who grew up in Da Nang, per vietnam.travel | Undated source, address and status unconfirmed |
| Lotteria | Fast-food chain | See my Lotteria Da Nang guide | A fallback, not a destination |
Best burger in Da Nang compared: Bikini Bottom Express, Burger Bros, Burger Republic and Lotteria, with what is verified and what is not (Data: Bikini Bottom Express, Toplist.vn, TripAdvisor, Vietnam.travel; table: Burger Breton)
For every verified burger address in the city, start from the Da Nang burger guide hub. If Vietnam is a longer trip, my guides to the best burgers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi cover the other two big cities. More cities are in the Restaurants section.
FAQ: Bikini Bottom Express and burgers in Da Nang
Does Luke Nguyen have a restaurant in Da Nang? No source I found links Luke Nguyen to a restaurant in Da Nang. His only verified connection to the city is a segment of Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam (2020), where he cooks a turmeric noodle dish with herbs from a community garden by the railway line.
Where is Fat Noodle, and does it serve burgers? Fat Noodle is at 33 William Street, The Star Brisbane, in Australia. It’s a Southeast Asian noodle restaurant known for 20-hour pho and laksa, and it doesn’t serve burgers.
Who founded Bikini Bottom Express? A small founding team that signs as the ‘Bikini Crew’, including co-founder chef Alex Le. They started in 2018 in the Lighthouse Hostel kitchen in Da Nang. The other founders are not named publicly.
Who was chef Alex Le, and what did he create at Bikini Bottom? Alex Le was a co-founder, described by the brand as a ‘Montrealer Vietnamese’, who shaped the kitchen and created the ‘Almost Poutine’. According to the brand, he left in early 2022.
Where are the Bikini Bottom Express locations? There are three in Da Nang: 45–47 An Thượng 2, 154 Trần Phú and 118 Mai Thúc Lân. There is one in Hoi An, at 115 Trần Quang Khải.
How much is a burger at Bikini Bottom Express? Smash burgers cost 75,000 to 165,000 VND, tax included, on the June 2026 menu. The signature Bikini Bottom Burger is 95,000 VND, and a fries combo adds 40,000 VND.
Is Bikini Bottom Express like In-N-Out? Reviewers on Mytour and Trip.com compare it to In-N-Out, and the brand calls itself a ‘California style’ smash burger joint. The Bikini Bottom Burger’s double cheeseburger with onions, pickles and a mustard-mayo dijonnaise points the same way. It isn’t affiliated with In-N-Out.
Does Bikini Bottom Express have vegetarian burgers? Yes. Jack in a Bun is a jackfruit burger at 110,000 VND.
Is Bikini Bottom Express really Vietnam’s first smash burger? That’s the brand’s own claim. I couldn’t verify it independently. The same goes for its ‘over 1,500,000 plates served’ figure.
Sources
- Bikini Bottom Express, official site, About page, main menu, June 2026 and Ốp La menu
- Bone Apple Tea group
- Toplist.vn, Da Nang hamburger list
- Burger Bros: TripAdvisor and Vietnam Guide
- Visit Brisbane, Fat Noodle and Hospitality Magazine
- Wikipedia, Luke Nguyen and TheTVDB, Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam
- Vietnam.travel, My Da Nang
All sources checked on 9 October 2026.
