Thao’s Bistro

First visit this week, very satisfied. The owners/​staff were very pleasant and friendly. The place was clean and light, and looked pretty typical of other Vietnamese eateries in town.
The Bun Thit Nuong (the standard by which this roundeye judges Vietnamese food, was really good. Not on pay with my favorite place in town, but very tasty and enough to scratch that itch. They add fried shallots, which is unusual in Wichita (and appreciated!).
I have to ding ‘em for not having Diet Coke, but I’ll add a point back in for having Diet Pepsi on tap. HATE when restaurants serve you a can. Booooooo. So good for Thao!
Overall, great experience. I wish them the best! A little dicey location, and unfortunately not close to me so I won’t be back soon. I was the only non-​asian in there, so that’s always a good sign. :)

Staff was nice and friendly but the food was overrated. I order the Vietnamese shaking beef dish. Meat was diced really small which made it tough. They garnished the dish with raw red onions which left a bitter taste in between bites. (Must soak in cold water after it is finely sliced) The dish was cooked with sliced white onion but the cook didn’t allow enough time for the onions to be al dente. Atmosphere was okay. My friend ordered banh xeo and only got 1! To be perfectly honest, I will not be coming here again anytime soon. Hope this helps.

Not sure if Unilocal has updated the business hours for this place yet, but they’re NOT open on Thursdays. I attempted to dine here last Thursday and the hours on the door stated Closed on Thursdays.
Anyway, we came back the next day. I ordered the Banh Xeo (S1-​Vietnamese Crepes) and Mi Xao Gion (S7-​Crispy Egg Noodles). My husband ordered the Phở and Com Bo Luc Lac (C10-​Beef Cubes). I thought my food was just OK. The Banh Xeo had a good amount of meat, but I like my crepes much crispier. The Mi Xao Gion was a little on the plain side. I liked my husband’s food much better. The Phở had good flavor and the Bo Luc Lac was just right. I would say the Bo Luc Lac was my favorite out of the four things we ordered. I will definitely be back to try more dishes from their menu. The prices are very reasonable and the servers are friendly.

I had A4 and P6
I am hardly an expert when it comes to phở and Vietnamese rolls, but the ones I had tasted like actual meat balls this time. I don’t know what to do with the sauce with peanuts and I think carrots, but I dunked the rolls in it and my meat balls from the phở in it and it is delightful.
This is the first time I have ever seen fish sauce on the sauce tray, I saw a native pour a little in his broth so I did the same. Fantastic. I have been to 6 other phở shops in town and none of them have the fish sauce. I guess it’s just oil, lighter in colour than soy sauce but thicker. After melting my face off already with Sriracha sauce before in phở, I stick with hoisin sauce.
Thoas recipe for meat balls is the best I have had. Essentially ¼ of a 2″ ball. Very easy to chopstick and drown in peanut carrot goo sauce or just gobble it down by it self.
I thoroughly salute Thoa for choosing this location, I can already tell the parking lot might be too small. This area of town will greatly benefit from his completely remodeled interior and much needed business.
When I was there I was the only white guy there, Every one else was Vietnamese.
My only knock is that table service needs some minor improvement.

Good place to eat, ordered season rice with shrimp. Lemonade was fabulous and could see was store made rather than bought. Lovely ambiance and décor. Customer service was spot on. Food was good, shrimp a lil dry. But overall a good place to go.

Won’t disappoint you! Their menu is exceptionally more special and diversed than other Vietnamese restaurants’ in town, not to mention the tastiness. Give their S1 bánh xèo, cm bò lúc lc (steamed rice with beef cubes), or bánh hi bò lá lp a try and you will be coming back for more.

While not the best in Wichita, the combo of decent food and a nice atmosphere makes it the best sit-​down spot for Vietnamese food at the moment, especially if you want a menu more varied than phở and more phở. Skip the egg rolls. Go for the phở (or any of the other soups utilizing the same base broth). The grilled pork (in the banh mi and rice vermicelli) is also good, though nothing particularly special. The fruit smoothies are about the same here as any other decent Vietnamese place — fragrant with fruit but nothing particularly stand-​out about them.
Getting together with friends and want Vietnamese? Go here. Otherwise, skip the takeout in lieu of other spots.