Da Kao Chinese & Vietnamese Cusine

They deliver, which is awesome. Food is great and you get a lot of it! Have a good variety on the menu too!

This has been my go-​to Vietnamese restaurant for years. I grew up eating Vietnamese food at my best friends house my entire childhood. But, lately, whoa! It is 50/​50, whether you get good food or not. I have hoped that this was not a trend, but over the last year, the poor quality has remained. Tonight I ordered the Phở, which was ok. The garlic chicken wings are usually thickly battered and very crispy with tender meat inside. I can almost guarantee these were fried yesterday, put in the fridge and re-​fried for my order. They were completely inedible. The crab Rangoon and fried spring rolls were also dark and overly fried. I don’t know what is going on, but am more than disappointed. And does anyone ever notice that your bill is way off, compared to the menu prices? I know there is a delivery charge… but still. I’ve always just paid, because the food was good. But, no longer.

I tried Da Kao for the first time this week and I’m always a little hesitant with Chinese food but I have to say this was probably one of the best Chinese food plates I’ve had! Delicious!

Simply the best! If you are visiting, stop in and try just about anything and you will be happy, but the fresh spring rolls are divine… its truly one of my favorite local stops…

I just love the food here. Hands down the best Vietnamese cuisine in Sioux city. Kinda funny their logo cow is the same as «the laughing cow» cheese brand found in super markets.

I crave Da Kao about once a week. The Phở can cure any cold or hangover. A diamond in the rough. But service is consistently terrible. There are never enough servers and ones that are there are never around. Don’t even think about a refill, not gonna happen. The food is amazing though. Some of my favorites are the Chicken Lemongrass, Vietnamese pancakes, and the fresh spring rolls. They also deliver to just about any area.

It’s awesome! It’s a family style place… enjoy it, love it, embrace it! Me and my wife have been coming here for at least 4 years and we usually come once or twice a month. My recommendations are the fresh spring rolls (ask for some peanut sauce) the #30 and 31 and my fav is the steak and onions add potatoes. Good hot tea, always fast and always nice. Good with answering questions if you have any. We keep meaning to add pictures, but it’s so good we forget to take a picture before we eat it all!

Best in town! I’m from Sioux City and this is a MUST every time I visit home. I haven’t been able to find any place like it and I’ve moved all over the U.S. If you are looking for ambiance or a buffet this is not the place for you… but you have to give it a try if you are looking for fresh ingredients, amazing flavor, and great prices.

A newbie to the area, I’ve begun the soul-​crushing endeavor that is finding good Chinese delivery. I was disappointed that Unilocal let me down on this one.
The main dishes (sesame chicken and mu shu chicken) were intensely underwhelming. The former was so vinegary that I smelled it immediately from across the room when my husband opened it; the latter was served with brittle tortillas that ruined any chance of eating the dish as intended. The reason for the two stars is that the chicken in this dish was of good quality.
The fresh spring rolls raved about were nearly tasteless, even when dunked in the accompanying sauce. So disappointing.
The staff seemed friendly, but with this experience, we won’t be back.

I’ve heard so many good reviews from different people from this area… I was convinced enough to order and have it delivered… I was so disappointed!!! The sweet and sour chicken is entirely way too soft and mushy. The Kung pap chicken was so dry and hard to chew thru! Almost as if it had been deep fried more than once. I’m not a satisfied customer…

AMAZING. the food is for real.
Do yourself a favor and eat here. The coffee? Awesome!
Thats all. Stop reading and go here.

Awesome Phở here. I got the bowl with tendon and beef. Usually places skimp on the tendon, but here there was a proportional amount and the cuts were perfect. A lot of people pass on tendon do to the texture, but it is oh-​so-​good. Think of it like marrow… another oft avoided beef delicacy. The beef slices were super tender in my bowl.
The broth is super important in Phở and it does not disappoint here. The plate of goodies to add to your bowl also included culantro (long, thorny coriander leaves) here. Many places do not give you that, and Phở is not authentic without it.
This is a great place to have in Sioux City.

3 & ½, maybe, but not a 4. I ordered the (#1) Phở, and it had a good flavor to it. Meat was absolutely raw, not rare. But the hot soup mostly cooked it. It was like roast beef though, bad roast beef. Dry and tough. Did not enjoy the amount of tendon and tripe they threw in, but ill give that a pass for how yummy the meatballs were. Kind of an after taste to the soup, but overall, just okay.
I also ordered the appetizer– fresh spring rolls, and they were disappointing. I took a couple bites and passed them off to my wife. Who ate the meat and noodles from inside and left the rest on the plate.
May go back and try a different dish, and the coffee.

This is an easy one. I went to Da Kao for dinner totally based on the Unilocal ratings and comments.
I had the lemongrass chicken with fried rice instead of the steamed white rice and an order of crab Rangoon. The food was 5 stars all the way. I don’t know much about Vietnamese food, but I knew I didn’t want to order run of the mill Chinese food, which they also have on the menu. The flavors in the chicken were really nice, and slightly spicy, but not too much for me. There are probably other people who would like to spice it up more, but I’m a heat wuss and I thought it was perfect.
The service is laughable. A –14 out of 5. I got ignored. And ignored. And ignored, but stuck with it because I wanted to try the food. I pretended I was in a foreign country with a slower pace of dining. I had to go to the front when I was ready for the check and take my plate of leftovers with me to get it boxed up. That stuff is going to taste so good later.
No alcohol served. A cold beer would have been really nice with my dinner.
As others have mentioned as well, the neighborhood is very sketchy in the few blocks around the restaurant. Because I’m a female traveling alone (and heavily armed if there are any weirdos reading this) I would not want to be down there after dark for sure.
Overall, I would order takeout from here again any time. I think the food quality is definitely way above a lot of other Chinese or Vietnamese places I’ve tried on my travels.

I have dined at Da Kao since it first opened almost 20 years ago. I am a travel writer and road trip foodie who has tried Vietnamese restaurants all over the U.S. Da Kao is one of my favorite places, especially the grilled shrimp and chicken lemon grass. The phở is good though I have had some of the best phở in L.A. in Little Saigon. Of course nothing beats the street food in Viet Nam which I have had much of. But, when in Sioux City, I never miss a stop at Da Kao.

If I was eating phở at home, this place definatly wouldn’t be my first choice, but in Sioux City — WOW. Authentic and good portions other than the pepper that was added to my soup.
Ordered sweet and sour pork which was EH. It was tough pork wrapped in a thick batter and fried. probably would have been better if the pork was actually a good pork instead of frozen pork.
Also their Vietnamese Iced Coffee was Legit. This is pretty much what took the cake for me. The fact that I can get a good Viet Iced Coffee and a real phở makes this place a winner in my book.

Holy Kao?! You mean «the cow»? No stupid «Da Kao»
A Chinese/​Vietnamese restaurant in Sioux City — Well that was my first reaction when this place first opened years ago. Yes, I’m that old. Being one of the few Asian boys growing up here I was very proud to see this place pop up!
I always order their Phở or Dried Rice Noodles with Eggrolls. You just can’t go wrong with it. I say if you’re a newbie to Vietnamese food I would come here to try it out. It’s the best way to start. I’m a Phở-​snob so this place is okay in my book, but being in SC this place will do just fine to take care of my Phở fix. The broth is what makes the Phở; must be super hot and have a strong scent! This place delivers that!
The place itself is small and dainty with some Vietnamese decors on the wall. Though I doubt they’re authentic in any way. Floors are dirty and the place smells… just my type of Phở joint! I like how culturally sensitive Sioux City has become; still awarding places with certificates that say Best «Oriental» restaurant. Let me know if you ever award a place that says Best «Occidental» restaurant. If you don’t know look it up!
Service is okay at best, but they do their best to bring that extra smile. I guess it depends on who’s serving that day and what the weathers like haha! — Enjoy!

The phở is great but the chicken wing appetizer is mediocre.
The service is absolutely atrocious, and I am usually highly tolerant of non-​existing service at ethnic restaurants. In this case, there was one waitress/​busgirl for the whole restaurant.
Come in, sit down, get up and grab your own menu, order food, get up and get your own utensils, etc. It’s like a cafeteria. Cafeteria service is actually fine with me, but don’t pretend to be a restaurant.
Operate it like a cafeteria, and I tip it like a cafeteria, which is $ 0.

We take a lot of road trips and we eat a lot of food (before, during, and even after said road trips) but there’s something special about eating something good in a place you don’t expect it to be. Nothing against Sioux City or even Iowa in general, but it’s not the place I conjure in my head when I think of good Vietnamese food.
Turns out, all you need is some Vietnamese people who know their ways around a kitchen to move to any place in order to get good Vietnamese food there. After all it’s not like there’s a shortage of fresh quality chicken, pork, or beef in the middle of the country. We didn’t try much of the menu, but nothing was a complete misfire and most of it would have been on par with San Francisco.
Reading reviews on my phone while driving, I was prepared for a real dive, with dried blood on the walls and mold on the carpet, but since that’s not what I found upon entering, I can only assume that either Da Kao cleaned up it’s act since some of y’all have been there or Sioux City-​ans are some picky motherfu#%ers. Where else are you going to get phở in town? You’re not paying for the ambiance.

When you first walk in you’ll immediately notice the place is in need of a cleaning & a remodel. The carpet stains indicate the route of heavy traffic which goes to show it should have been replaced a long time ago along with the food splattered window blinds. The walls could have been scrubbed & repainted years ago as well.
If you’re coming here for lunch during the work week the service is extremely fast; usually five minutes after ordering your food is on the table! During the evening they’re a little more laid back & not as attentive. Usually only one server is on the floor unless it gets ridiculously busy then a back room person will help out.
The two meals that I highly recommend are #80 Schezwan Chicken & #9 Phở Ga.
I don’t know how the sauce for their schezwan chicken is made but I want the recipe! It’s a sweet, tangy & spicy sauce mixed in with a massive variety of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, onion, water chestnuts, broccoli, bamboo shoots & dried chili peppers. The thick slices of white chicken mixed within compliment it very well.
Their Phở Ga is incredibly delicious & made to perfection! The phở broth is what makes the soup & if you don’t have a perfect spice-​blended broth it ruins the entire dish in my opinion. Their meat is more on the dark side than Portland’s choice of white rotisserie chicken, but it’s still amazing! As usual large portions of basil, mint, bean sprouts, jalapeño slices & a slice of lime are provided on the side.
Most plates are served family style /​family portions but others may just be a dinner plate lined with white rice & the meal of choice on top. I don’t know how it’s decided how each is served since prices are, for the most part, the same. Meals are also fixed to order so if you want schezwan chicken without vegetables, ask & you shall receive! Also, the menu has so many options, like over 100! Whether you want seafood, beef, chicken, pork or vegetarian you’ll have no problem finding something to excite your palate!
If you’re a coffee lover, try the vietnamese iced coffee aka Café Sua Da. So good I wish they’d serve it venti size! It’s a small, tall glass with a base of sweetened condensed milk, a few ounces of strong, brewed coffee & lots of ice. Stirred all together & it’s a delicious blend!
I’ve been eating here for many years & finally returned from Oregon for a family visit. The quality of food is still top notch & should continue to be voted as #1 authentic asian restaurant of Sioux City, IA!