Sticky Rice Cafe — Restaurant in Knoxville

I loved the staff we met while here, but after leaving we honestly have to give this place a 3/10. This is not from anger or an ultimately bad experience but from a high expectancy from comments given on Google and a severely low delivery.

The service was far from par but could be causation of a busy Friday night. We ordered the stir fried noodles (chicken, squid, and beef) and every sense of the meal was far from delectable. The chicken was dry and the beef was similar to the thin shaved beef you get from krogers for $4. The squid was also as simple as being boiled and had no spices included. The noodles had no moisture and we ordered a pho to add to the noodles because it was so dry. The water is also evident of being pulled from tap and not filtered as it had very off flavors not typical of water.

However the price of the meal was very expensive. Even the sauces cost quite a large amount for as little as 2 oz (recommend looking at the menu offered before going). While we were there, the family was having a difficult time controlling other obviously intoxicated family members from having individual parties at other tables taking shots of Hennessy (even though this isn’t offered on the menu, the individuals were pulling hard liquor bottles from behind the bar to the table, even going as far as urging other older guests to take shots with them, so very unprofessional.)

We wish we could have had more attention from our server but we couldn’t even tell who our server was as we had to hail multiple servers as they passed by just to get our check. The wait was incredibly long due to the high rated comments on Google but it did not reflect the actual experience, however the staff was very assuring to have us stay at this point compared to when we were sitting down. We will not be back and I wish this wasn’t the case as the comments are so drastically opposite of the actual experience and the restaurant is family owned. I hope this restaurant can thrive for the sake of business but in terms of a fellow customer, the experience was even worse than the local Applebees or fast food...

Just go here, don't wait. The food, service, and vibe is great.

As always we over ordered food to try some of the menu items we wanted most. I recommend requesting a sampling of their sauces.

Spring rolls with BBQ pork - Fantastic flavor served with a peanut sauce, fish sauce, and grandma's hot sauce that we requested.

Laotian Beef Carpaccio - Incredible, this dish has ruined traditional beef carpaccio for me. The marinade was soy sauce based with spicy chilis and onions. Wife's favorite dish.

Phorrito - Great, it's exactly what you would expect it to taste like. All the goodness of Pho in burrito format.

Pho - I chose pork belly for protein and requested it extra spicy. The bowl was massive and worth every penny. It is served with bean sprouts, jalapenos, chili oil, spicy bean paste, and Thai basil. Flavor was fantastic!

Grandma's Fried Rice - I chose chicken and pork belly as proteins. I ordered it as spicy as they could make it and if you do this they say you can't return it if it's too spicy. This turned out to be my favorite dish. The flavor of this dish was beautiful to say the least. When we come back this is what I'll order or I might try the noodle version.

Ginger Chicken - Excellent flavor, the meat fell off the bone. It is served with a separate bowl of white rice to eat with it.

To summarize this place is great, we got there at 11 when they open and there was already 2 tables full. By the time we left at noon there wasn't a seat open and people already standing outside. In the future we wouldn't go there unless we could get there around 11. We also bought a jar of Grandma's Hot Sauce because it is just so good. Wife and I have already used it at home with ramen and dumplings. If you like spice this place will satisfy it!...

Today is always a good day when I eat at sticky. Normally I am always greeted with love. But tonight I was a little annoyed. I ordered a dish that I had got a week before I didn’t want the dish because the dish didn’t look the same and it looked beautiful, but it didn’t look like what I ate the week before. I didn’t touch it. I didn’t eat it, but one of the Young servers charged me for the dish that I didn’t touch and I didn’t eat. I only got, a noodle bowl. I seen the attitude. I didn’t appreciate being charged for extra dish that I did not eat and I did not touch. I pushed to the side because I did not want it. so I did confront her, Refund my money back, but the young lady should’ve knew better. I was looking dead at her ringing my food up. The owner wouldn’t even had to go through all that if the young server with the long ponytail little short girl new not to charge me two dishes if I only ate one, so she had to refund my money back because the young lady knew better, she should’ve did right the first time and she knew what she was doing! not to charge me extra money that was rude disrespectful and I seen her nasty attitude and she tried to play it off when I asked her about it and she tried to say my manager is responding. I had to go to my manager. You knew better not do that the first time around young lady. don’t play me like I’m stupid. I eat there all the time. If I don’t want something I don’t want it!!!! Don’t over charge me out of SPITE! I’m not gonna stop coming there either BUT YOU WILL NOT SERVE...