Da-Kao Restaurant — Restaurant in Sioux City

One of the best restaurants in Siouxland (there are three Sioux Cities in three states within three miles). I've never tried the Chinese food at Da Kao but all the Vietnamese dishes have been excellent. Prices aren't too bad. Service? It depends on who you get as a server. But these servers aren't really there to make friends, just to get you your food and a refill. It's "not bad" service. Their specialties are pho, vermicelli noodle "salad style" (which is sort of pho without broth) and a popular appetizer called Gui Cuoun. Gui Quoun is also called "fresh" spring roll: it's wrapped but not fried! And it's a version of an egg roll that's fantastic, cool and light. The most popular noodle dish (bun, not to be confused with the Chinese word bao which means bun) is bun chai gao. It uses fried spring rolls as the "meat." IMO, bun thit nuong, using pork instead, is better. Unsurprising is that pho is the best dish there. There's probably 10 different types: beef broth with flank steak, beef broth with tendon and tripe, beef with brisket, beef with meatballs, beef with flank and brisket. Then the pork broth different ways. One kind has shrimp. Another, chicken. About the vietnamese part of the menu: some Vietnamese restaurants have six dishes, like two appetizers, two pho, one broken-rice dish and one other dish. Da Kao has, besides 10+ varieties of pho, a dozen more dishes, with noodle dishes, rice dishes, meat dishes and a vegetable fried rice praised by the beloved Carrie Duncan Newman when she visited Sioux City. This place has never disappointed me. Finally, it never disappointed my wife, Carrie Duncan Newman. This was a Top Ten restaurant for her, probably Top Five if you only count Sioux City. She liked coming after church (it can get very crowded after church!) and getting sodá chónn, a sort of freshly made lemonade soda. Photos: Pho wasn't creeated a thousand years ago? Could have fooled me.

A fried Vietnamese pancake with shrimp, pork, sprouts. It's different than any of the other dishes I've had ... and it's really good! Actually, since everything is pretty good at Da Kao I encourage myself NOT to get the same...

Love it. My go to place for Chinese. I just go for the chow mein. My friends really love the Pho. There are some minor issues. Really wish theyd redo the inside. its so worn out and looks really bad. There very popular so they tend to be very buisy during peak times. Also, the staff are nice, but don't expect them to check on you. If your lucky maybe once or twice. Especially when you want a refill there hard to get ahold of. And that's another issue. There soda is almost always off and not very good. IDK if its them not keeping the pop cool enough or the lines clean, but the pop is nearly always bad. Go for take out. Better that way. Other than that its literally the best Chinese in the city. I been spoiled so its rare to find another affordable Chinese place that equals. Hunan Palace is a second for affordable. The other good places are more pricey like Ichiban and Hu Hutt. For the love of spaghetti, stay away from wok and go, that place is nasty. Oh and I recommend checking your to go order. They have a tendency at night to give you steamed rice even if you specifically asked for fried. And I don't get why they have to upcharge you for fried rice for dinner. Like a extra dollar? Seriously? And the kids can be nice for the most part but can also be...

I’ve been to Da Kao a few times and while the food is decent, the service consistently falls short—mainly due to one particular waitress. The server with the ponytail is always visibly miserable and unfriendly. In contrast, the other waitress with shorter hair is warm, kind, and helpful. Unfortunately, the negative attitude from the other staff member really drags down the whole experience.

I witnessed her make a customer feel terrible for accidentally spilling water, and she was unnecessarily rude to another guest who simply needed a bit more time to order. Everyone has tough days, but if she clearly dislikes her job this much, perhaps it’s time to consider a change—for her sake and the customers’.

This isn’t just a one-off. I’ve seen other reviews echo the same complaint. The owners should seriously consider addressing this if they care about repeat business and the reputation of...