I remember the first time I had a drink with Boba. It was a unique experience in and of itself. And…read moreso when I found out that this Panda Boba had just opened its door in a very desired location in Vinton, Virginia, I had to be the first one to go explore and see what it was all about. Located across the street from Pollard 107 South Restaurant, in the Town of Vinton, Panda Boba is housed in a modern, small open space area furnish with simple yet elegant and comfortable furniture. The owners are a couple Vietnamese immigrants who were very welcoming and hospitable when I entered the restaurant for the first time. The menu included a great variety of flavored Bubble Teas and Smoothies with the option of including two types of bobas: the traditional ones which are chewy, small tapioca pearls that are commonly added to bubble tea drinks. Bobas are made from tapioca starch extracted from the cassava root, giving them a distinctive chewy texture when you bite into them. And another type that are filled with flavored juices inside so when you bite into them these flavors are released. The wife and one of the owners of the business was the one I first met when I arrived to this unique business. She greeted me warmly from behind the counter with a big smile. There was a small menu on the counter and a large, lit version hanging from the wall behind the counter. I ordered a Mango Smoothie with the Bobas that had the Mango flavored juice inside. She immediately went to work making my Mango Smoothie with bobas. As she was doing so, her husband, the co-owner, and son arrived. It brought back some happy memories because when I was growing up my father also opened a cafeteria business in San Juan, Puerto Rico, that ended up being very successful and made it possible for me going to the college of my choice. As I sat down drinking my Smoothie through a wide straw that allowed the bobas to slip up, a couple came in and made an order as well. They also seemed happy to have this new business here. I highly recommend that those reading this review go and try it out. You'll discover a refreshing drink with bobas that will give it a special texture never to be forgotten.

This is a review from someone that knows boba well…read more There are not a lot of options for boba in Roanoke, so I am happy to see a decent boba place here. The menu is large, the cups are microscopic, and the price is catastrophic. The price for the size you get makes it really not worth it, I'd rather go to KPOT and just get a boba to go, or drive to Blacksburg and go to kung fu tea. The boba should be fresh and hot when given to you. And tea flavor should be stronger. If they make these changes, they would become the elite choice. Now all that being said, the flavor and boba are way better than the boba place that used to be in Roanoke. So will I come back? Probably, but at this price, size, and flavor. Not often. If they make the above changes, and have more typical sizes, I'd come everyday.

One of our new local favorite hangouts!!! The interior is set up in such a fun and loving way. The…read morebubble teas are great and freshly prepared utilizing only the finest ingredients. We come here at least once per week. Customer service is excellent and you feel valued from the moment you walk in. You must check them out!

My husband found this place while working. He always told me about it and finally we visited…read moretogether and I can't express enough how amazing the drinks and food is here! Took me by surprise that they have Pho here too!! We will have to come back for that. The barista was super helpful and sweet, didn't loose patience despite the many questions and changes we made. We ordered Thai tea w/regular boba pearls (my favorite), Mango Tea w/mango poppers (popping boba), and a Watermelon Freeze. We also ordered one Egg roll and one Korean Corndog. Everything exceeded my expectations. The drinks were amazing and the snacks we got were delicious! You have to come heck this place out! Everything from the decorations of the establishment to the cups used for the drinks screams to me how the owner is giving their all to make this place a great place to grab a drink & a bite! It's a very welcoming place, relaxing atmosphere will most definitely be back soon!

Wonderful food. It's our go to for Thai food. Get the pho....the curry chicken pho is our favorite…read more Not spicy just good flavor!

Visiting the city and had a taste for Vietnamese but not just pho. Our order was good: wonderful…read morefish sauce on the Vermicelli beef with eggroll, and delicious stir fry shrimp with egg roll. We shared. We were the only sit down customers. Brisk pickup business. Good service.

Love love love this place. The boba is great, I 100% recommend the Thai tea! Also love the gelato,…read moreI've had the taro, bubblegum, and strawberry cheesecake and they are all amazing. The macarons and mochi donuts are super yummy as well!!! My partner and I love coming here and getting boba together, it's so good every time. The owners are also pretty friendly. It's very cute inside as well, but limited seating.

Didn't realize how extensive this menu is! We only ordered apps for today, but the crab Rangoons…read moreand spring rolls really hit the spot! Excited to try the boba and sushi next! The atmosphere is quite quiet, so we chose to take it to go, but the design and interior is so fun and funky! Highly recommend!

After being ranked 4th among Yelp's Top 50 Most Prolific Elites of 2025, a distinction recognizing…read moremy consistent community engagement and high-quality contributions, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and businesses, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to go back and write follow-up reviews on those restaurants that impressed me the most during 2025, and Cafe Asia 2, in Roanoke, Virginia, is a perfect example of one of them. This Asian fusion restaurant in the Cave Spring area of Roanoke, is definitely one of my favorite restaurants of all times. And my first visit and review is something that I will always hold very dear. When you finish reading this review I invite you to go back and read that review and view my photographs accompanying that review, for it was a very unique dining experience that I will never forget. From the time you arrive at this restaurant the contemporary building design seems to beckon you to approach and enter. I love their unique logo design made up of letters and a number of a particular font that communicates a certain air of distinction. Once inside, you're like in another world altogether. If the outside of the building was impressive, the interior immediately captures your attention and mesmerizes you with it's beauty. When I arrived today, a very lovely and distinguished lady, dressed very elegantly, welcomed me and led me to the table of my choice. Later did I find out that she was the owner of the restaurant, and I had an opportunity of talking with her about the restaurant, its Sushi Bar, and Sushi chefs. Soon after, my friendly server, who was from Indonesia, came to introduce himself and take my order. To drink I had a Vietnamese Iced Coffee. It was served in a tall glass and tasted marvelous. As appetizer, I had the Dim Sum Platter. It contained 3 shrimp dŕhumai, 3 pork dumplings, 3 pork wasabi shumai, and 2 roasted pork buns. One of those items was extremely spicy, I had to drink water to cool down. The others tasted reasonably good. As my main entrée I had the Lobster Tail Tempura Maki. It was very colorful and tasted, and completely filled me up. My original server did an excellent job serving me the food and coming by to check on me. But then he disappeared and another server, also Indonesian came to bring me my main entrée. I think it might have been a shift change, but feel the first server should have let me know about this fact. But if the first server wad excellent, the second was amazing. He answered all the questions I had about items on the menu, and while delivering special dishes to other customers, he allowed me to photograph this food for the benefit of the readers of this review. Then, at the end, he helped me choose the dessert to have for the Grand Finale of my meal: the Banana Basket. It was amazingly delicious and had slices of bananas, kiwi, mangos, whipped cream, and strawberries. And topped with caramel and chocolate sauces. Considering its friendly and relaxing ambiance, its extensive menu with a wide range of Asian dishes, from traditional Chinese entries to a full sushi bar with raw and cooked options, and its amazing customer service, I definitely highly recommend this restaurant from my own experience. Every time I've dined there I've had an exceptional fine dining experience, and as I'm leaving I'm already looking forward to returning.

Everything we had from here was flavorful, hot & delicious! The restaurant inside is beautifully…read moredecorated, it wasn't crowded when we arrived at 5:40pm on a Monday evening. They were doing a heck of a carry out business, and know I know why. My husband had the wonton soup - he must of enjoyed them because I didn't get to try them, however that broth - oh my delicious- I finished that - easily. I had an order of the crab wontons - mostly cream cheese tasting - wish there was a bit more crab/shrimp, overall tasty. We shared our first hot pot - ribeye, carrots, peppers, stewed tomatoes served with your choice of rice - we chose the fried. Our shrimp tempura roll was yummy! Oh and we also each had a strawberry sangria although they do have other cocktails - I totally missed out on a screwdriver but the sangria was good too. Service was excellent- very nice people. Look forward to returning in the future!

I wasn't expecting much from Rainbowl, but the chef's special burrito bowl was delicious. Perfect…read morefor quick, easy, on-the-go dining. The place is clean and the owner was really friendly. Customer service from the staff behind the counter wasn't the friendliest. Still worth a stop if you want something fast and tasty.

I dined in today 5/1 at 1:30 and unfortunately I will not go back. On multiple occasions the…read morecustomer service and general demeanor or staff has been unwelcoming. The first time it happened I gave benefit of the doubt it had been a bad day but now I see that it is acceptable to owners because it seems to be a regular complaint. Specifically the woman with short hair, she acts annoyed we are there and is extremely unwelcoming. The woman with long hair was more pleasant but while eating we heard them both looking at reviews laughing at someone's complaint of poor customer service stating "what does that even mean?". So it seems owners are okay with this behavior and it is unfortunate because this location is close by and I enjoy the type of food but do not want to dine somewhere I am made to feel unwelcome.

It's not easy to be able to find a Philipino restaurant near by, but we're very fortunate to be…read moreable to have one here in East Vinton, just next door to Roanoke, Virginia. And what an amazing cuisine it has. A woman owned small business, it reasantly opened it's doors in a location that was closed for nearly 5 years. Franchesca, the owner and chef of the restaurant and store is a proud Philipina entrepreneur living in the US with a passion for food and cooking of her native land cuisine, and a fervent desire to share it with all living in her neighborhood and communities near by. She majored in Hotel and Restaurant in College and as soon as she was presented with an opportunity to make her life dream come true she went for it. I first found out about her restaurant and store by discovering its website online, which by the way was wonderfully designed with useful information about her native cuisine, with an extraordinary menu with professionally taken color photographs of the different mejor items on the menu. Besides her great cooking and business skills, she also has wonderful technology and communication skills. When I phoned her restaurant's telephone number to double check the hours of operation of the restaurant and make sure it was already opened, a recording answered wirh a request to leave a message with any question for her about the restaurant. I decided to call again later rather than leave a message and as soon as I hanged up I received a text message explaining that she had to travel to the Philippines for a short period of time and the date when she'll be back to open the restaurant again. When I called again after she was back, a friendly voice answered the phone, so happy that I was interested in visiting her restaurant and trying out her food. She explained about the trip like if she had known me for a long time with a warm and friendly welcome and positive attitude. She confirmed that the restaurant would be open this Tuesday from 11:00am to 7:00pm, and every Tuesday through Saturday at these same hours. So I invited a friend of mine and we went on Tuesday and arrived around 4:00pm. The restaurant store was located on Stewartsville Rd in East Vinton. Housed in a humble yet very clean, relatively small building. It had a large color poster behind one of the windows with a composite of professionally taken color photographs of many food items of the menu. There were plenty of parking spots in front and around the restaurant, including Handicap parking. The small parking lot Restaurant's front sign was placed over the previous old sign. Inside, the place was clean and comfortable with the dining area on the right with burgundy color booths and the store on the left, and the kitchen in the middle. The owner greeted us behind the counter at the entrance with a warm greeting. She gave us a copy of the menu, asked us to have a seat, and took our drinking order. We both ordered Thai Tea and went to seat at a booth with our menus. In a short while she came to take our order. I ordered a Pinoy Lumpia as appetizer, a Crispy Pork Kare-Kare as my entrée, and my friend ordered a Lechon Kawali. The appetizer was amazingly delicious: crispy on the outside and with shredded pork with tasty sauce in the inside. My entrée was the Filipino famous peanut butter stew with crispy fried pork belly. It tasted just amazing. My friend's entrée was the Lechon Kawali: deep fried skin-on pork belly served with jasmine rice. It also looked wonderful and according to my friend, tasted delicious. For dessert I had their Tiramisu y my friend had the Signature Ube Mocha Cake. Everything was amazingly delicious. While we were eating several other customers came in to dine as well, and the owner of the restaurant came by at the appropriate time to talk to us and bring us water. I highly recommend this restaurant and their amazing cuisine. They have the best deep fried skin-on pork belly, and other amazing entrées, and the owner chef had such a great personality. It truly was an extraordinary dining experience.

Wonderful place to enjoy home-cooked Filipino dishes. Food…read moreand service were great. Price was reasonable. Go-to place If you are craving for something different! Ordered Lechon Kawali, Sisig, Mongo, Pancit Bihon, and Lumpia. Wife was all smiles as she delightfully ate their version of Mocha Cake with Barako coffee. They also have a small store for Pinoy products and other stuff.

We've been twice and their noodle bowls are some of the best in Roanoke…read more Very clean and very tasty! Will be back soon

We were here for lunch. Friendly staff. Delicious noodle soup. Definitely worth visiting if you…read morelive nearby. Highly recommended!

Extremely awesome experience! Highly recommend! Staff was amazing, atmosphere was amazing, food…read moreand deserts were great!

After seeing Sugar Cube Cafe two weeks ago and wanting to try it I finally got the chance today and…read morelet me say it did NOT disappoint. The food, the staff, the environment all top tier. I did not catch the gentleman's name but I believe he is the owner, is just very genuine and talks to you like he's known you for years and are friends. The cupcakes are so pretty. The kimpap was outstanding. I can not say enough good things about this cafe. Also the very kind gentleman also gave us some macaroons to try. They were amazing. 10/10.

The owners great folks. Yummy yummy yummy deliciousness in this place. Highly recommendedread more

This place is as of this writing in front of a substantial amount of road construction that looks…read morelike it may take years to finish at the rate things get done these days. It remains open and is substantial inside. The option to order both a salad and a sweet crepe was welcome. The salad was filling and a little roughage does one good with an ice cream crepe coming. My banana foster crepe was cinnamon coated on the inside and the banana was freshly carmelized. It was on point. This was not a place that seemed to cater to niche dietary needs and did not, as far as I could tell, offer buckwheat crepes that sometimes help in that department. What they did offer was some good stuff.