As a frequent shopper in the Asian grocery stores in Garland, when we got the D magazine and read about Lua Kitchen, we just had to make it a point to stop by and give it a try. So on a Saturday late morning 11:45am we walked into what is a very clean and welcoming restaurant. There were already a number of tables (mostly of Asian descent which is always a good sign). The menu is extensive and everything sounds so inviting. As a table of 4 we ordered the Bun Dau Mam Tom (mixed platter with fried tofu, boiled and crispy pork belly and green sticky rice patties) to share. Then I had the clay pot with rice and seafood with Chinese sausage and vegetables. Another guest had the same but with clams and pork belly. Both tasted amazing and so flavorful. You knowBobby Flay is known for his crispy rice.... Boy this chef definitely knows his crispy rice!! Another guest had Bun Rieu Oc with snails, yet another tasty dish. And the 4th person at our table really enjoyed the grilled pork chop Com Tam Dac Biet dish. Plenty of food, very very authentic flavors, great service and clean. Definitely going to be a hit and I can't wait to go back. read more

See all

Stopped by Lua Kitchen with six adults and two kids last week and we had a blast! Basically everything we ordered was really good and we will definitely be back to try more of their specialties and revisit new favorites. We split a bunch of stuff family style which was a great move. Our favorites were the Banh Beo Chen with crispy fried shrimp topping, the grilled turmeric dill fish (so nice we ordered it twice!), and the bo ne (super tender beef, excellent pate). The coconut snails were also unique and excellent and a huge portion; would definitely recommend getting a side of rice or noodles to eat the gravy with because it's super delicious and does require some sort of carb to eat it all. It's a little too thick and flavorful to drink alone as a soup, lol. Somehow the bo luc lac wasn't nearly as tender as the beef in the bo ne, sadly; probably wouldn't order it again. Lemongrass chicken was solid though, and the nem nuong pork spring rolls was a small portion but really delicious, especially with the dipping sauce. There's a lot of stuff on their menu I would love to come back and try, and this spot is pretty close to a bunch of friends, so I'm sure we'll be back! read more

See all

I wanted to try everything! Banh xeo so crispy! I'm allergic to shrimp so had it with just pork and bean sprouts and it was just as good! Also get the coffee! read more

We stopped by Lua Kitchen during the ice storm and couldn't believe they were actually open the full hours. The menu is huge, so we went family style and tried a bunch of stuff. My fave was the banh beo wet/dry toppings combo. The wet one was sooo good and felt really different from the usual things I get. We also had the bo ne and I loved the pate with it. Lastly we got the lau Thai hotpot and there was more than enough food to share between five people. Service was fast and everything came out smoothly. If I went back, I'd for sure order the banh beo again. Great spot to come with a group so you can try a little of everything. read more

Lua kitchen - Lau Thai - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

banh beo itself was ok! the topping was meh. I ordered full order of dry shrimp because I dont like the wet shrimp and pork flavor. Instead of crispy pork, they used bread? idk about that. Banh xeo was delicious and crunchy. It had mushrooms in it? weird I have not had banh xeo with mushrooms but I guess ingredients tends to be geographical. I also ordered cha lua wraps to go, it wasnt anything else. It looked better than it tasted, no flavor..bland actually without the dipping sauce. The kumquat tea was delicioussss. I would get banh xeo if I come back. read more

Lua kitchen - Bang beo with dry shrimp only - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

Went out for lunch with my dad and grandparents at Lua Kitchen in Garland. We came when they first opened so it was fairly empty except for one other table. They have some pretty unique Vietnamese cuisine dishes here from the Hue region. I got the bun rieu oc, which is like a crab and snail noodle soup. They serve you the broth on the blander wire and you can add saté to season it to your liking. Their crab is in one huge cake, I'm more used to it being broken up in many small pieces. Also recently being in Vietnam has spoiled me for snails. The ones they had were big but not much flavor and more chewy. It's also pretty expensive here in general. My dad got the bo né, my grandpa for the Hu tieu kho, and my grandma got the bun thit nuong. Overall I thought everything here was just ok, nothing really worth the price read more

See all

The food was pretty good, the pa te was a little salty and same with the meatball. The fish sauce for the bun cha ha noi was also on the saltier side. Overall, the restaurant is super clean and nice and the staff were really friendly. This is a great spot for authentic Vietnamese food. read more

Lua kitchen - Bo Ne Dac Biet and Bun Cha Ha Noi/Ha Noi Style Grilled pork and meatloaf - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

This restaurant came up in our search for vietnamese food in the north Dallas area with veggie options. I'm so glad we decided to try it out because the food was so flavorful and the portion sizes were Texas-sized. For appetizers, we got the Bánh Bèo Chén ($9) which the group liked a lot and the chicken salad ($15) which was good but we had a bit leftover that we didn't want to take home. For entrees, we tried the beef pho (5/5! $15), Bánh Xèo Chay ($12, a huge pancake!), Hủ Tiếu Áp Chảo Chay ($12, crispy fried noodles that was quite unique and had a great sauce), Đậu Hủ Chiên Dòn Xã Ớt ($13, very flavorful lemongrass tofu), and the grilled pork plate which was also well liked. The staff were friendly too and all spoke Vietnamese. The place was clean, and the Vietnamese people in our group enjoyed the food which is a great sign! read more

Lua kitchen - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

Hands down one of my favorite viet places in the Garland area! Everything here is delicious. Must get is the Bo ne, canh chua with shrimp, bun cha Ha Noi! The menu has a variety of cuisines that everyone would enjoy. Big space with many seating, so we barely waited for a table! read more

See all

Big thanks to our server for patiently walking us through the menu. It was our first time venturing into Vietnamese food beyond pho and banh mi! We ended up liking the wet version of banh beo more than the dry, and the crispy Vietnamese pancake (banh xeo) and bun bo hue noodles were both hits. The cumin dill fish was just okay, and the snail stuffed with pork was a miss for us since we couldn't really taste the snail. read more

See all

New Vietnamese restaurant with a lot of potential to stay in business. It's hard to easily find a good Vietnamese restaurant in Dallas compared to Houston. Not everything we tried was delicious but they have many dish options so we will be coming back to try other things. They've been promoting their cumin dill fish wrap as their signature dish but I think they need to pick a different dish to promote. Presentation was nice in the sizzling plate but the fish was dry and lacked flavor. The dipping sauce was horrible and too pungent. I can do pungent but this was a fishy pungent. I had a hard time finding any crab in my crab fried rice. It was also a little bland and dry. But their combo banh beo and dry combo egg noodles were delicious and we would order them again. I prefer the dry version of the banh beo which is more of the traditional way banh beo is made with dry shrimp. read more

See all

First visit for Saturday lunch, and we loved it. The food, service, and atmosphere were all excellent. As soon as we sat down, my daughter commented on how great it smelled inside. We ordered spring rolls and fried egg rolls to start--both were fresh, flavorful, and perfect for sharing. The peanut sauce was good, but the spring rolls honestly didn't even need it. For lunch we had chicken pho and bún đặc biệt, and both were outstanding. Generous portions, great flavors, and everything came out quickly. Prices are very fair for the quality and portion sizes. We left happy and will definitely be back. read more

Lua kitchen - Bun Dac Biet foreground, chicken pho in background - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

Lua Kitchen is a great addition to what was a dying plaza. I really like that this place serves a lot of your not-so-typical dishes and they focus on good presentation. For our appetizer, we went with the banh beo chen and got a mix of the two different types: dried shrimp & minced pork. These were pretty decent but I didn't like how for the dried shrimp one they used croutons instead of fried pork fat -- just a preference of mine. My husband got the bun dau mam tom which was pretty solid -- it came with both boiled AND crispy pork which was cool. I liked that they cubed the vermicelli to make it easier to eat/grab and it made the dish look cool. I got the cha ca thi la (grilled tumeric fish) which is a really hard to find dish when you're not in Vietnam! It wasn't my favorite but they did a pretty solid job. read more

See all

Saw this place on Instagram and the food looked great. Banh beo is bigger than the usual. Bo luc lac was good and meat was tender but the rice that came with it was extremely hard!! . Pho dac biet was good. Service was slow when there was only 2 tables here around 6:30pm. The waitress came to refill our think when we were about to leave when our drink was almost empty. I wanted to pay with my business meal card but she didn't know how to use a slide card that doesn't have chip. Overall I don't think I will be coming back . read more

Lua kitchen - Very hard steam rice - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

Had the bun bo hue and the hu tieu dry version and both were very flavorful and tasty! The bbh itself had a nice spice and flavor! Just as good as pho tay do's bbh~ read more

Lua kitchen - Bun Bo Hue/Spicy Vietnamese beef noodle soup - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

Some days food is good, some days food is meh. Slow service. Pandan milk was excellent!

I love Vietnamese breakfast on the weekends. Figure we try out this place since it's new. I was told it's not worth the try but I wanted to make that judgement myself. Well my friends were right. Expensive for mediocre food. I get it if this was at a place with high rent but it's is in an old run down plaza in Garland. Food shouldn't be charged that much here. We always get either pho or hu tieu for our little babies to share. To my shocking, the hu tieu came with barely any noodles. I asked the waiter and he said he can bring me more noodles for an extra cost. I've never been to a Vietnamese restaurant that fills so little amount of noodles. These aren't even the freshly made noodles. They're being extra cheap. The broth was tasty but not worth it since there are other places I'd rather go to for a better portion and still taste very good. Bo ne barely had any beef for $18 and was ok according to my husba. Bánh beo was a big missed. They add greasy bread instead of pork grind. Highly recommend to skip it. Will I come back? Probably not on my own will. I hope the owner reads this and gives more than an oz of noodles for their soup. read more

We went during their soft opening and the restaurant was packed for lunch on a Sunday! I love the variety of Vietnamese dishes on their menu. They have unique regional dishes you can't typically find anywhere else. I ordered the combo banh beo, fried quail, snails in coconut milk, spring rolls, and grilled beef in grape leaves. My favorite ended up being the fried quail (so flavorful) and their original banh beo! Overall everything was delicious. I wanted to try their pandan milk, but it's not available yet. Will have to come back for that next time! read more

Lua kitchen - Combo banh beo - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

Superb food. Highly recommend. We came on a Thursday afternoon at 2 pm. It was well-staffed with lots of help (I don't understand all of the other reviews complaining of poor service - we had just the opposite). Ordered shrimp and pork spring rolls to start - very good. Then had Caramelized short ribs and Shaking beef broken rice. Both were excellent. Ignore the other 1 star reviews and don't miss out on this Vietnamese treat. read more

Lua kitchen - Shaking beef broken rice - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

Bringing Vietnam to YOUR Plate. Very busy for a Saturday evening. [THE PLACE] Store-front next to an O'Reilly's. Spacious "big square box" with bright lights (could be a little bit dimmed to subdue the ambiance) + Nice background Music that suited the mood. Could also use some wall partitions or some long ceiling hung white curtains to break the open cavernous space into intimate semi-private sections. CEILING FANS WOULD REALLY BE OF BENEFIT. [THE PEOPLE] Multinational service staff was very friendly & accommodating to requests - they just need more experience to kind of get into the flow of for example, keeping straws in their aprons so they don't have to keep running back-and-forth to get them for people. [THE CUISINE] We actually ordered the read LOT of food so much so that our service attendant informed us that he thought we ordered way too much food lolz. The shaken beef was superb They were out of papaya salad, & a couple other appetizers - but it is a "soft opening" after all. The Bún Bò Huẽ was subtle not strong & overwhelming flavors, but we did have to add some spicy to it. The salt-&-pepper squid was too subtle (needed about double the amount of pepper-&-salt in the coating) but it wasn't overcooked at all. The Vietnamese crispy pancake (with shrimp) was nicely done & a melange of commingled flavours & textures. [OVERALL BENCHMARKS] They are going to be phenomenal once they find "their groove" of not only working together as a team, but bringing the ambience of the big box & muting the lights & making it a little bit more private & whimsically wispy..., read more

See all

I absolutely lovvved this place. The food was absolutely amazing and great service. Also so reasonably priced. There was a reason D Magazine rated it as the best! Its well worth the drive to try! FYI, it said Garland but its really Richardson. Its just off Arapaho Road. read more

Lua kitchen has one of the best Viet foods in Dallas! The food here is so authentic and tasty - just like how it is in Vietnam! I got Banh hỏi Chạo tôm and Bún Bò Huế and they both taste so gooood! The nước mắm is excellent, perfectly paired with the chao tom. BBH is also really good and even better than the ones I had in Orange County! The portions are huge as well! Def a bang for your bucks. I also really like the vibe, the music and the decor here. Also, you can't miss out on the drinks here, esp the bac xiu and pandan milk!! Service is also fast and attentive. The managers are also very friendly and polite. Honestly, I love Lua kitchen. Will be back soôn for sure read more

Lua kitchen - Bánh hỏi chạo tôm - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

Very cute restaurant. Customer service is very good. My fav is banh beo combo. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! read more

Lua kitchen - Excellent customer service!! - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

Came here for the second time and the foods never disappointed us! Servers are very sweet and knowledgeable about the menu. They explained very thoroughly. Aunties and daughter approved the restaurant and will definitely recommended to everyone who's coming to town and wants to try authentic Vietnamese restaurant. read more

See all

Thus place is delicious. They have only been open a few months but from my experience they are going to go viral! read more

See all

Great food presentation but taste..,needs improvement Our big family came in for their soft opening but was truly disappointed read more

I am so happily stuffed. Lua kitchen open only weeks ago and I hope they stay open forever. I plan to be back again and again. Thank you! read more

See all

Bún đậu mắm tôm here was the bomb. There were so much toppings so I couldn't finish the dish myself. My dad had Bò Né and he really enjoyed it. He said it was the best Bò Né in the DFW area, and he has tried this dish at many places. The staff were very attentive. Great ambience. I will definitely come back to try other dishes. read more

Lua kitchen - Bò né - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

See all

This place is the place to go if you want delicious, fresh, and healthy(ish) Vietnamese dishes. I've been there a minimum of 6 times since they've been opened and each time I try something different and everything I've had has been amazing. The bun rieu has a sweet tomato flavor and has a lot of good toppings. I also enjoyed the banh beo chen, banh canh tom cua, bun dau mam tom, and com tam with pork chops. The only dish I was "meh" on was the shaking beef, which didn't have the sear you normally get with shaking beef, and the fried rice that came with it was a little dry...but I did order this to-go so I wonder if maybe it was just a one-off. I plan on going back until I can try most if not all of the menu. Service has always been great when I eat in. There could be a long wait for to-go orders but understandable because they are still in their soft opening stage (I think) and they're always so busy. read more

Highly recommend this place! We went here for dinner during their soft opening and we were very impressed by the food and customer service! The restaurant itself was clean and spacious. Everyone was super friendly and sweet. The owner came by many times to check on us. We ordered many dishes to try and loved them all! Our favorite was the shaking beef! So tender and flavorful! Definitely will be back to try other dishes! read more

See all

First time trying the pancakes and the rice cake with topping. They are a must have if coming by. I prefer their spicy version of the rice cake, but both versions were tasty. Pho was soothing and even in a full stomach, I could slup it all. The yellow package kept its crunchiness even to the end of the meal, which was surprising. Love the spaciousness of the place and the friendliness of the staff. read more

Great Vietnamese spot with lots of variety on the menu -- from pho and banh mi to rice plates and noodle dishes. Everything tasted fresh and well-seasoned, and it's easy to find something for everyone read more

Lua kitchen - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

This is my 1st time to eat at Lua Kitchen. I ordered Duck porridge and salad. The portions were great. I love their Kumquat green tea. The service also was very good and friendly. The restaurant's very clean as were the restrooms. Highly recommended. I will defintely be going back!!! read more

Lua kitchen - Seafood Near Me - Garland, Texas

Everything is very salty. We had the quails, bánh bèo and bún mắm on our first visit, ốc len xào dừa, bánh xèo and bún bò húe the 2nd time read more

See all

We came to the restaurant for the party of 10, through the grapevine, we heard it was good but oh boy!!!!!!!!! how disappointed we were . The food was salty, the appetizer is way OVERPRICE compare with all other restaurant near by. None of us was impressed. Services was a good but this place have too many things on the menu and NONE of them impress us. The first and last time we going to be there. Don't waste your money read more

Now Lua becomes my regular place to hang out with friends. Love the atmosphere, staffs are energetic and warm and friendly. Above all, dishes are the best in town. Good job chefs and thank you for lifting up the quality to another level. 10 on 10. read more

Large menu and friendly staff. The drink menu alone is worth coming. Great atmosphere. Lots of tables and feels open.

The food is great. Th waitresses are so nice. Only one thing weird to me is you can order togo via phone but you cant order first when you are on the way- 5 mins (even i told them i can give them my credit card) I wanted to order Bun dau mam tom -and i know it takes a long time ( 15 to 20 mins) to make thats why i wanted to order first. Other restaurants they allowed you to do it read more

Was excited to try this new place after seeing the photos of the food on an Asian food page. Well the photos were all that were great. Started ordering and one by one l, was told the item wasn't available. It's Thursday so it's not like it's the beginning of the week and they're waiting for Friday to have things available. Ordered hi tieu and excited but when I asked for pickled chilis (normally a condiment on the table), the server said they didn't have any. Ten minutes later, she came out and said they can make it for you. I passed because it's something that needs to be pickled for it to taste good. Can't chop Serrano and throw it in vinegar last minute. It's not the same. So old school Asian here. The critique of the food is that it didn't have heart. It seemed like a new, young cook made the dishes. Spring rolls- fresh and delicious but the dipping sauce tasted like warm peanut butter. There was no balance of garlic and hoisin at all. No chili. As a matter of fact, no condiments at all. You have to keep asking for everything to be brought out. I get that they want to keep a clean table but it's Vietnamese food. Leave ALL the condiments out. That's how we eat! -banh xeo: fresh, a tiny greasy. Could have used more pork belly. Was still hungry. The fish sauce was too tart. Had too much lemon/vinegar -banh hoi tom thit: presentation was beautiful, food was fresh but compared to the same plate at Saigon Block, it doesn't come close. The flavor is better and the portion is bigger at Saigon Block. The positives are that the restaurant and clean. They focus on service unlike most Asian places but if you've got service and not food, that won't work either. The balance isn't there. This is why we stick with old school, hole in the wall places. Hope this is taken so it can be improved on. read more

Great food, soft opening. Had the steak pho. It was flavorful , lots of steak, good service. Nice atmosphere, welcoming.