Don Cafe — Restaurant in Houston

After eating Bánh mì in so many places from Pearland and Sugar Land to Katy, I began to wonder why I haven’t tried many in Bellaire. I guess I’m usually focused on other Vietnamese foods when in the area. Shoutout to David Lu on YouTube for giving the inspiration to check out some Bellaire bánh mì shops. After hopping in the car and taking the twenty minute drive, I arrived at Don’s, I walked in and it was busy and alive with action. I started for the counter and a young man politely stopped me and asked if I was eating there or to go. I decided to eat in there to catch the vibe. He showed me to a table. Every time I’m in Bellaire, I’m taking the opportunity to practice my Vietnamese. So while ordering my sandwiches, with a combination of Vietnamese, Spanish and English, I ordered a Bánh Mì Bò Nướng and a Bánh Mì Đặc Biệt. Both of these bánh mì were excellent. The bread tasted fresh and was crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside. It’s one of the best baguettes I’ve had so far. The meats in both were delicious. The Bò Nướng was tender and packed with flavor. The Đặc Biệt was excellent as well, with all the meats tasting fresh and flavorful. The Vietnamese mayo and veggies combined for a creamy crunchy inside that satisfied my desire for complex simplicity. After devouring the first two, I decided I should get a couple more for the road. I wanted the Bánh Mì Cà Tuna but I was informed they were out of Tuna. No problem. I ordered another Bánh Mì Bò Nướng and Bánh Mì Gà Xé. In retrospect, I should have gotten either the Bánh Mì Pâté or Bánh Mì Xíu Mại. Next time for sure along with a ca phê sữa đá. I heard its strong here and that’s how I like it.

One last note on the service. I thought for the amount of people coming in and actually eating in there , the waiter did very well. He was polite and efficient. The cashier seemed polite as well, although very busy with all the to go orders coming in. The people behind the counter seemed to be very good at making the bánh mì quickly and efficiently. I was surprised to see some negative reviews later when I looked it up. I’m not a regular (yet) but I didn’t notice any issues at all, while I was there. The food was great , the service was good and the vibe was cool. I enjoyed seeing the mix of diverse cultures in there while I was eating. From the Vietnamese and Mexican/Central American staff to the 80’s tunes like Journey playing over the speaker, it was truly a mix of culture and cuisine in the heart of the city. I’m always impressed to see Vietnamese cuisine and culture be introduced to new audiences and I thought Don Cafe was doing that really well...

--- NK Score = 7.5/10 ---

7/10 = Furniture/Ambience 7/10 = Food Quality 8/10 = Variety/Mastery 8/10 = Quantity/Price (Other Ratings Hidden)

--- Price Range ($3.00 - $9.00) --- --- Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner --- --- No Credit Cards = Cash Only --- --- Buy 5 Get 1 Free = Sandwich --- --- Parking Accessibility = Average ---

Atmosphere: Pretty casual ambience, many windows, usually a pretty busy location during Lunch. Since it's a fast food restaurant, many people will be coming and going at a pretty fast pace.

Casual, Basic Fast Food Theme Basic Seating and Tables Medium to Louder Noise Levels

Food Quality: They're known for making pretty good Banh Mi (Viet Sandwich) and I can agree with that. Their other foods are pretty mediocre in my opinion, but they are usually cheaper than other places.

B.B.Q Pork ($3.50): Chewy pork inside a juicy herb and vegetable filled sandwich. The inside consists of cucumber, carrots, butter, jalapeño, cilantro, and spices which blend really nicely with their BBQ Pork. The bread is usually crunchy and crisp, but sometimes it can be a little hard to bite down cause the combined layer of all the ingredients is a little rough for the mouth.

Pho Tai ($6.75): Mmm the very popular Vietnamese noodle broth. The one they make here can only be described as mediocre when compared to the better places I've tried. Even then, the broth is still pretty tasty and the price is not as high as some of the other places. The ingredients are the same as well, so if you like Pho for that, you'll be fine.

Variety / Mastery: For a fast food restaurant, they actually make a lot of different dishes. They have Bo Luc Lac, Pho, Banh Mi, Chicken, Beef, Pork, Com Tam, Vermicelli, Soup, Vegetarian, and even Coffee for those who want something more than just water. Although they are known for the Banh Mi, their other dishes are still pretty decent and worth a try sometimes.

Quantity / Price: The amount they give for the price is pretty considerate in my opinion. The portion size is usually medium, while the price ranges from $3-7 for most of their dishes. So if you just want a quick snack for brunch or lunch, you can just grab a $3 Banh Mi and be good to go! So Cheap!

Recommendations: B.B.Q Pork Sandwich ($3.50), $18 for 5+1 and you can feed the whole family! Woohoo! Honestly though, it's pretty decent and filling.

Signed NK...

Be careful when placing a large order at this restaurant! Check your order first before you leave because the restaurant may be cheating on its customers without you wanting to come back and have them correct their mistakes. The lady owner of the restaurant did not even apologize to me. What happened was that I placed 6 orders of sandwich, 3 for BBQ which had a higher price than the others. When I got home, I ended up get all the cheaper ones for all 6 of them. I drove back and talked to the lady owner and as I expected she yelled at the guy who took the order and correct them for me. I was wasting my time and gas to have to drive back to get my order right! When I was thinking about it, this restaurant only does its business via cash transaction and never give its customers a receipt of what you buy. This makes it so easy to cheat the customers. The guy who took my order took cash from me and gave me changes. He could have intentionally wrote the order wrong for cheaper sandwich because most customers tend to trust the store and not checking their orders before they leave. Every mistake for a sandwich, this store is making 25 cents out of each customer. In my case, they were 75 cents and imagine that if 100 customers are cheated, $75 extra bucks would have been generated to the guy who intentionally makes this type of mistake and cash out into his own pocket. Little by little, the guy or the store is making illegal profits from this type of repeated actions. I think this store should be stopped from doing cash transaction. And if they want only cash transactions, they need to generate a detailed receipt to its customers to prove that they do not intentionally cheat on it. Most of the time, you trust them so you place order and pay cash, never get a receipt but a number for your order. This is wrong and should...