So there I was... sitting on an oil rig in Alaska, talking to a sheriff's deputy with over 20 years…read moreon the job. He says, "My buddies keep telling me about this place called Pho King Good." Funny part? Even he had never been there. Well, that little story stuck with me. Fast forward a few weeks. My road trip partner, Koda, and I are heading home from Disneyland, cutting through Sacramento toward Grass Valley. We roll into Auburn and BOOM there it is. Pho King Good. Now let's just take a second to appreciate that name. If you're gonna swing for the fences with a name like Pho King Good, you've set the bar about as high as Mount Everest. You don't get to be "pretty decent." You'd better make me question every bowl of pho I've ever eaten. The sign? Absolutely iconic. It practically jumps out and hollers at you from the side of the road. Easy in, easy out. Road-tripper approved. Walking inside, though, I was expecting a little more "Pho King Palace" and a little less "we've been meaning to remodel since the Clinton administration." The marble counter looked nice enough, but the place just felt like it needed a little love. If I owned a restaurant with a name that good, I'd lean into it. Give me lanterns. Give me atmosphere. Make me feel like the King just walked in. Charge me another couple bucks if you have to I wouldn't mind if the experience matched the name. Then came the menu. It felt a little like Dysfunction Junction. They had everything listed, but it wasn't organized in a way that made ordering easy. Give me sections. House Pho. Beef Pho. Chicken Pho. Special Pho. Help a hungry traveler out. The food? Solid... right down the middle of the road. After hours in the car, a hot bowl of pho hits the spot no matter what. Koda really enjoyed his chicken dish, and our vegetable egg rolls with the peanut sauce were decent, although the wrapper was just a touch on the rubbery side. The owner was friendly, welcoming, and genuinely hospitable, which always counts for something. My only real disappointment was this: with a name like Pho King Good, I expected to leave saying, "That's the best pho I've ever had." Instead, I left saying, "That was... good." And then came the plot twist. Time to pay. Cash only. So now I'm walking out to the ATM like I'm making a withdrawal for a back-alley poker game or a dispensary run. I'm standing there thinking, "Well... this tip just took a hit because I wasn't planning on paying an ATM fee for my noodles." I still don't quite understand it. You're giving change, printing receipts, running a business... we're already 95% of the way to taking cards! Overall, this wasn't about whether the food was amazing or terrible. It was about the experience. Sometimes that's the story worth telling. Would I stop again on another road trip? Probably. Because sometimes a bowl of pho, your best buddy Koda riding shotgun, and a restaurant with the greatest pun in California are all you really need. And if they ever decide to polish the place up and make it live up to that legendary name... It might just become Pho King Great.

VEGAN SIGHTING!!! I…read moredon't even know where to start my fellow vegans. This quirky, Vietnamese restaurant in the city of Auburn, CA, has by far the best vegan Banh Mi sandwich. The tofu was prepared so it did not take up the whole sandwich. The pickled radish and carrots had the perfect and balanced of sour and sweet. Of course, can't leave out the herbs of cilantro and fresh jalapinjoes. The french bread was crispy outside but still soft and hearty as you take a bite. My earth was it a 2 thumbs up!!! Then their vegan pho with veggies and tofu did not disappoint. Their veggie broth was perfectly blended and made wonderfully that I was not even thinking this was vegan. The staff was kind and informative. They were attentive and friendly. Then comes the merch. If you like a play on the word Pho, then come and check out their shirts for sale. All I have to say is "Life is Pho king good." With this said, another gem in Auburn, CA.

Place was busy and the food trays were empty. Had to wait for them to bring out one tray at a time…read moreand it would go super quick if you were not there when they brought it out. Trays were not full when they did bring them out. Lots of seating and open.

Excellent Chinese food. This is my go to spot for so many things. The buffet is so great and many…read morechoices that are made fresh. When no don't do the buffet, I order the house special fried rice or house special chow mein. Both are consistently very good. Shrimp dishes are excellent and war wonton soup is my favorite soup. Johnny is always pleasant and service is very good. I go here regularly and would recommend this place

Had to show my vote because this food is delicious. Im new to the area and super picky about my…read morechinese food. In the East Bay, there was ONE spot that did hot and sour soup in a phenomenal way and here comes Liu Mandarin to send my taste buds into shock and awe. I had the pork dumplings last time too. Two thumbs up. Despite the poor review, I got the walnut shrimp this time around, and I must say-- I wholeheartedly disagree that its mid. The shrimp were super flavorful. Not a crunch, but I rarely find a crunchy walnut shrimp so I'm not hung up on the texture. Just got the beef and broccoli-- fabulous! So fresh i ate the entire order in one sitting. Id absolutely get it again. I was hesitant to order the first time around, but now I can definitively say I've found my local go-to chinese restaurant.

FOOD - Walnut Shrimp: battered shrimp with candied walnuts…read moreover broccoli. The shrimp wasn't crunchy enough. Walnut shrimp is my go-to when I have Chinese food so I'm a little bit of a walnut shrimp snob. This was pretty mid. 3.5/5 - Mongolian Beef: beef with onions, red bell peppers, and bok choy. The flavor was pretty good. The beef was tender enough. 3.75/5 - Orange Chicken combo: orange chicken with chow mein, and egg roll. The chicken wasn't dry but not very tender either. The flavor was okay. The chow mein and vegetable egg roll were pretty standard. 3.5/5 - Fried Rice and 4 Dumpling set combo: the fried rice was, also, pretty standard. The pork dumplings were pretty good. The side of wonton soup was good. 3.75/5 SERVICE: Service was pretty fast and friendly. 4/5 FINAL THOUGHTS: Everything was okay. Nothing was bad, just nothing to write home about.

We absolutely loved Green Elephant! Everything we ordered was so fresh and full of flavor. We had…read morethe Basil Beef, Shrimp Pad Thai and Panang Chicken Curry, and every dish was delicious. The service made us feel like family, and Rachel, the owner, was amazing. She was so sweet, welcoming and generous, and even surprised me with a little parting gift at the end of our meal. It was such a thoughtful gesture and made an already special experience even more memorable. This is one of those places you leave already talking about when you're coming back. We can't wait to return again and again!

Excellent food and friendly service. Food is a wide variety of Asian food served is a pleasant…read moreatmosphere. A winner!

What a fun place to stumble upon. I love that there's a place like out here. It's a family owned…read moreshop, everybody there is super friendly and so nice. There so many fun things to have here from fresh groceries, freezer items, canned, jarred and even special specialty. The have grab and go items hot and cold. And you still can order from their back kitchen. There's so many fun snacks there to choose from and there's a bunch of specialty item Asian things that you can get, which is very nice. That's also Asian household goods as well. It's always fun to find the new items there.

Been here twice and we love it!!! I love their spring rolls! The people are sweet and everything is…read morefresh!

I haven't had the sushi. I'm in Reno & SF too often…read more.. But among the things I've had: I love the chicken teriyaki, the katsu is quite good, but the salmon teriyaki was neither cooked very well or with much interest. Give it a crisp, and some texture. What we were given could've been microwaved, wasn't notable in terms of quality, and it was small. I'm a fan of the house salad. It's aggressively large, and a welcome addition. DM competitors in Truckee don't do very well in this regard.

We love to come to Drunken Monkey. Great staff. Fresh fish is excellent. It can get busy but it's…read moreoff the beaten path. Those who know, know! Never disappointed. Inside or outside seating.

Saigon Oi is located in the heart of South Sac's Little Saigon district…read more Parking can be tight so what hubby did was drop us off while he circled the complex. It's a pretty popular restaurant so joining the waitlist on Yelp helps to get in the queue. When we got there, we were already on the Yelp waitlist so our wait wasn't really long. For this visit, we had the following: Dishes - Ribeye steak and Vietnamese shaking beef, Crispy Fish Sauce chicken wings both served with red rice. Drinks - Kumquat lemongrass tea and coconut coffee Their food is really good, reasonably priced. Staff were attentive and friendly, definitely provided great service. Atmosphere was lively but not loud. Simply decorated. There's a small space for waiting customers. Definitely highly recommended when you're in this area but be prepared for the wait especially on a high peak day like the weekends. August 2026

Taste was good, service was fine, I think they were having family about 1 hour before close…read more Only bad thing was my steak was very undercooked, I asked for medium rare and it was blue. I let the waiter know and I figured they would just make a new one, but they came back with the exact steak (I've cut them as I thought it might have been just some pieces that were blue.) but it was the exact steak just thrown on the fire for longer then returned back to me. Weird choice by the chef.

Alyssa is truly a gem and must be protected at all costs! She is the one woman show behind this…read morekitchen, and she makes everything! You order online and pick up your food at the kitchen--be aware that there isn't anywhere to sit at the location, but you are in Tahoe and could easily take your food to some place beautiful to enjoy it (as we did). Highly recommend the Dan Dan noodles (you can also ask to make them spicier, as she has toned down the spice due to local tastes). Also we loved the Peking duck bao! The bao were handmade too. There is also a nice selection of drinks available to order. We enjoyed the jasmine milk tea!

Everything at Oodloz is absolutely delicious! They offer a variety of options - boba drinks,…read morenoodles, peking duck, dumplings, etc. The food is hand-made and such a treat. Alyssa is a super talented cook & I am personally so excited to have authentic Chinese food in truckee! Note: it's mainly a take-out place so order ahead online.

Five years later, and Mikasa Sushi is still absolutely outstanding…read more Fresh sushi, cold beer, and genuinely friendly staff, it's hard to beat. Alex is always friendly, welcoming, and ready to take care of us. Lately, I've been especially loving the Matador Roll, Titan Roll, and Red Dragon Roll. I really appreciate that Mikasa hasn't strayed from what made them great in the first place. The quality is still there, the service is still great, and they continue to deliver an awesome experience every time. Five years of consistency says a lot. Keep it up, Mikasa!

The food was fresh and and full of flavor. Our server was…read moreamazing, very attentive, friendly, and the best service I've had in a long time. The ambience that night was well. Music was enough to hear, we could hold a conversation on the table without being disruptive. It's very peaceful.

Husband and I have been going here for years. We love the lady that's works here. Since the…read morepandemic, She has had to operate the restaurant on her own. She does does the order taking, cooking etc all on her own. So it may sometimes take a bit longer to get orders out on a timely manner but we're always understanding to her being short staffed. We always order our usual from her and the food is always great. My husband loves her combination pho. Yes, it's not your typical hearty full beef flavor but the broth is still flavorful and light. The spicy raw beef laab (not bitter) is one of the best we've ever had. The meat is so soft it melts in your mouth. The kapoon is very flavorful and I love that it is very coconutty as I like my broth thick and sweet. The kapiek has its days of good and bad, I don't like the texture of the chicken but the thickness of the homemade noodles is perfect. And our final dish, is the Thai basil, love the flavor of the basil, it is not too strong but enough to give it a great taste, I love that she uses ground chicken instead of strips of chicken like most places I've tried. We've always enjoyed eating here and still continue to.

It doesn't seem to be in business. Dropped by at 4 pm on a Saturday & it's closed. There are no…read morelights on, called & no answer.