Top Vietnamese Restaurant in Santee
Pho Ca Dao Restaurant
9535 Mission Gorge Rd, Santee, CA 92071, United States
If you ever told yourself that one person could not make a difference, think again.We have been dining at Pho Ca Dao for DECADES. We have popped in for a bowl of chicken pho after a mountain-bike ride on the nearby Stowe Trail. We have brought lots and lots of friends to enjoy a nice dinner. We have eaten there on holidays. Its been very special. The food is wonderful. I love the pork chop with broken rice.But everything changed last week.We were hungry after enjoying the Santee summer concert. Pho Ca Dao closes at 9PM. We entered the establishment at 8:40 PM. An employee we had encountered a week or so ago said Were closed! This guy had been extremely grumpy and resentful when he waited on us last week. We thought maybe he was having a bad day.No. Hes just someone who should not be a service employee.His bad day continued as the manager said we could come in. So we came in, sat down, ordered fast, as it was evident that the staff wanted to finish their day. I ordered a three-bean drink to go.The surly server stood off to the side of our table bussing other tables and banging dishes and utensils into a container on his cart. It was extremely uncomfortable for everybody there to enjoy a meal.My three-bean drink never arrived. When I asked about it, a female server wearing a mask rolled her eyes at me.No customer should ever have to feel bad about spending money in an establishment. And I said this very thing to the manager as we paid and left. Knowing that after MANY years of dining there and bringing MANY friends, that would be the last time we would step foot in there, just because of that one guy who could not contain his anger at us, some of the people who provide $$ to pay his paycheck.Pho Ca Dao, what I would say to you now is that if you are so hellbent on leaving before closing hour of 9PM, then make your closing hour 8:30PM. As I left, I warned the manager that I would be writing this review. The idea that resentful employees might have been spitting into our food clinches our decision to never return. At least until Surly Server has vacated the building for good.ADDENDUM: In less than 24 hours, the owner rectified the situation and we will happily be heading back to our favorite Pho restaurant soon!ANOTHER ADDENDUM as of 7-29-2022: We returned last night with two guests from LA. This time we arrived around 8:20 PM. Our friends did not want to stay and dine because they could sense antipathy from some members of the staff. So we went next door for Sushi and a bowl of Udon noodles at Takka Sushi.The food at Pho Ca Dao is wonderful, the service fast, but at the moment there is a dearth of good service employees who are happy with their employment. Its difficult to feel comfortable at a dining establishment where the staff are shooting daggers at you from their eyes, and if given the chance, would most likely spit into your soup or something worse.
Pho Van 2
8790 Cuyamaca St suite k, Santee, CA 92071, United States
The grilled pork is super super authentic and tasty. I’ve been to many Vietnamese restaurants in the States, Taiwan, and Indonesia; but never found the flavor like this! The staff is also very friendly ?
Pho Mai Cali
9888 Magnolia Ave, Santee, CA 92071, United States
My visit to the Vietnamese restaurant in Santee, San Diego, was enjoyable . We especially enjoyed the Crispy Combo Egg Noodles and the Dino Bone. The Marble Coffee and Taro Coffee were fantastic choices to start the meal. The restaurant had a comfortable atmosphere; not too crowded, but still maintaining a steady pace of service. The restaurant is conveniently located in a plaza with plenty of parking spaces, which adds to the overall convenience of dining there.Dont miss this spot when youre in Santee.
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The Chicken Shop
8929 Carlton Hills Blvd, Santee, CA 92071, United States
When I noticed this fried chicken restaurant opened I knew I had to visit. Fried chicken is one of my all time favorite foods. I decided to come in for lunch and grab a 3 piece dark meat combo. I love thighs more than drumsticks so I asked if it could come with 2 thighs and 1 drumstick. The very nice gentlemen told me I could have it however I wanted. That was so awesome! I was told my order would take about 15 minutes, I dont mind waiting for a freshly cooked meal.My order was ready about 15 minutes later. I took my order to go since my son was with me and he wanted something else to eat. So, I ate while I drove. This chicken was so hot, I willingly burnt my fingers to dig in. The chicken was very juicy and very crunchy, i loved the coating but to me, it was lacking flavor. I would love a spicy option. For my two sides I chose hush puppies and onion rings. The hush puppies were good. Nothing special but tasty. The onion rings made me consider giving this restaurant 3 stars. They are not freshly made and taste mostly of breading season with onion powder. There was no real onion in these things. This bummed me out, since onions are cheap and you can get a lot of onion rings from one onion. They already made the batter, it wouldnt be much more effort to make a good onion ring. I would visit again but would ask for some of the wings seasoning on my chicken and definitely not order the onion rings.The service was very good. The gentlemen who waited on me was very pleasant. While we were waiting my son liked the arcade games, which were turned off. He came over to turn them on without anyone asking. It is a very nice environment for a family to enjoy a casual dinner.
Takka Sushi Bar & Grill
9535 Mission Gorge Rd, Santee, CA 92071, United States
Overall the place was decent; the food was okay and the building and the decor itself was nice, but everything lacked in a lot of areas as well.The food is blatantly not authentic japanese; the Ton Katsu Don is exactly the same as their Ton Katsu with a layer of slightly scrambled egg on top of it, rather than being in a bowl mixed with the Katsu among other vegetables. The Katsu themselves were extremely bready and too crunchy/crispy which made the food taste like just friend bread with hints of meat. The sushi looked nice and big but actually lacked a lot of substance and flavor, most of the flavor that did manage to come out was rice and water rather than the ingredients that it had. The miso soup was perfect and had a lot of flavor. Compared to other Japanese restaurants, the price is decent. Not only that, but the food came out extremely fast.In regards to the place, there were 3 doors, but 2 of them were not usable, and only 1 of those had any signs indicating that. The inside has some Christmas lights strewn about the perimeter of the ceiling, which adds much needed lighting, but looks a little trashy and cluncky if you look at them too closely, but still a nice touch nonetheless; maybe if they were better arranged or a different method of bringing small lights were introduced it would look a lot nicer. There is also signs of water leaks or stains on the ceiling of the roof which give off an unclean vibe to an overall clean restaurant.The staff were very helpful to the guests and were happy to help out with great smiles no matter the situation. Some of the chefs/cooks on the other hand, had scowls throughout the night, however they may simply have been going through a rough time.Overall, Takka Sushi Bar & Grill is a decent place for its price. Its almost like a fast food version of Japanese food. If you want to experience Japanese food, maybe give this place a pass, but if you want to go with a group to get a quick bite somewhere japanese, this is definitely a great place to do so.
Mr.Birria
8926 Carlton Hills Blvd, Santee, CA 92071, United States
I came to Mr. Birria off the strength that it was highly recommended by several people on Reddit (lol) when I did a search for the best birria in SD. I live in San Diego proper, but had to run an errand in East County, so I took the opportunity to stop in on a Monday late afternoon. Let me get the basics out of the way before we talk food:- Parking - Its in a strip mall and there was ample parking. I doubt parking is ever really an issue here.- Atmosphere - The restaurant is straight to the point, nothing to write home about. Its about the food, not the vibes. Seems like they are mainly a take-out business anyways. The bathroom was super clean and smelled nice, and honestly, good hygiene goes a long way in a food establishment (obviously) so thats why I didnt dock a star for the place being plain. No one cares about that if the food is good.- Service - The ladies behind the counter were friendly and organizing/cleaning when not assisting customers.I got a birria quesa taco and a traditional adobada taco. I came here for the birria, but I figured Id try something else on the menu. I didnt realize til after Id ordered and paid that a cup of consome was extra ($3.50) so I went back to the counter and ordered it.My food came out of the kitchen in a standard to-go styrofoam container which the employee put into a plastic bag before calling my name. This seems to be the default way of doing things which implies theyre mainly a take-out business (aligns with the plain atmosphere mentioned above). I planned to eat it there, though, so maybe I should have mentioned that to the lady at the register while ordering because the packaging is super wasteful and not environmentally friendly (just a heads up for those eating there and not doing take-out).They included a red salsa & salsa verde, but I didnt have either because the ladies happened to offered me the chili oil hot sauce which they said was super spicy--I didnt find it to be, but I could see how others might think so. It was tasty.All that said, I was super disappointed as soon as I opened the container. I expected at least my birria quesa taco to be made the traditional way Ive had it since moving to SD; Crispy on the outside with that amazing melty cheese inside. Instead, I was faced with two incredibly soggy tacos. As soon as I picked them up, they started falling apart. (Mind you, I ate them RIGHT after they came out the kitchen so I can only imagine how sloppy these are if you DoorDash or carry-out.) I dipped both in the consome, which had good flavor without being spicy (I think they let the chili oil hot sauce do the trick for those wanting to spice it up).Overall, this place was incredibly mid to me and I wouldnt go back. That said, I think that the meat was well seasoned and good quality, and thats why they retained 3 stars despite the presentation (from the plastic container to the soggy taco shells).
Streets Pho & Grill
235 Town Center Pkwy, Santee, CA 92071, United States
Streets Pho & Grill is located a few doors down from Pepper Farm Deli and only been opened since December 2023. It serves authentic Vietnamese food. It has all the dishes I like and more. I do wish they offered broken rice plates not regular rice.We ordered:-Wing trio of salt&pepper, honey sriracha, and fish sauce ($20): So far one of the best wings! It's super crispy on every bite. I like s&p, honey sriracha then fish sauce but my fiancé likes fish sauce, s&p then honey sriracha. The honey sriracha is more of a wet marinade. I highly recommend getting the trio to see which flavors fancy you.-Signature Pho ($20): The broth looks really clean. Has oxtail, shank, flank and brisket. It's good but I have to say pho is not their strong point.-Shaken beef filet mignon ($20): Always my go to. The filet was super soft and chewy. The flavor is not as bold as I would like compared to other places but still really good.-Caramelized fish in clay pot ($20): Rare to see this dish. It's usually offered at places that have family style meals. Well, this was a mini family style meal because it came with a side of rice and sweet and sour tamarind soup. The soup had pineapple, slices of giant elephant ear (the spongy stalk), tomatoes, shrimp, beans sprouts.Everything tasted like your mom's home cooking but in a restaurant.My favorite Vietnamese places to eat are PT Eatery and Mom's Pho and Grill. Now Streets Pho and Grill is added to my list.Coincidentally, Streets is related to Mom's. This explains why we loved it so much and was comparing to Mom's. Mom's is owned by the sister and the brother owns Streets. They don't serve identical menu. You'll have to check out both and decide for yourself!We will be back to try additional dishes. 5/5