I have been trying to find authentic Vietnamese in the San Luis Obispo area for quite some time. Literally - there are non restaurants in town that fit the bill. There's a Ramen house or two, but none have the basic items that you can get at most traditional Vietnamese places, specifically, Imperial rolls, stuffed to the gills with vermicelli and pork and all that yummy stuff, deep-fried with fish sauce to dip it in and lettuce and carrots and cucumbers on the side. I have now tried @Bites for the third and final time, and it was money wasted. I walked in and asked the clerk if by chance they've
Added Imperial Rolls to the menu, and she looked at me and said, "What?" I repeated "Imperial Rolls, they are very traditional at most Vietnamese restaurants." She looked at me like a deer in the headlights and said. "I don't know what that is. I then proceeded to order shrimp balls, and shrimp rolls. Then, given that there's zero Customer Service here and you generally have to pick up your own food at the counter, I only added a one dollar tip. $15.52. Within seconds, she said, "Wait, you owe more money, I made a mistake." I said, "how could I possibly owe more - it's two tiny appetizers" and she said, "I accidentally rung up two balls and we're out of shrimp balls." I didn't really understand what was going on, but I was quite pleased I only had tipped one dollar previously as this played out.. The clerk made me come back and pay $2.02 and then flipped me the option to add a tip, which of course I was not going to add a tip at this point. So now for almost $18, the photos here in this post are what I got - really bad. I ended up with deep-fried fish balls that tasted like deep-fried rubber bands. I ate two and almost lost my entire appetite. The shrimp rolls were so over stuffed with lettuce shards, and I really couldn't eat those either. Then I tried to take the lettuce out and just dip the shrimp and rice paper into peanut sauce and the shrimp was so dry and bland that I couldn't eat those either. If you like Pho, and you want that for Vietnamese and that's it, this is your place. Especially if you want Pho and your friend with you wants a cheeseburger because this place actually sells cheeseburgers and fries in addition to the very small very limited Vietnamese menu. (What!?!!)
I mean, in addition to getting a cheeseburger at this Vietnamese restaurant, you can get your nails done Nextdoor at @Nails, because, well, they do that, too.
Overall, this restaurant is really a let down.
SLO desperately needs good Vietnamese with authentic Imperial Rolls and a staff who knows a thing or two about actual Vietnamese food. read more