BELLA'S LAO BEEF JERKY & CAFE LLC — Restaurant in Wichita

Edit for February 2025: I'm not sure what happened but the last like four times we've ordered from here the pork belly is almost burnt. Like it's DARK. I'm not sure if they're frying big batches and then double frying as people are ordering but it's resulted in tough, dry meat. It could also be the oil they're frying it in is old resulting in a darker color but the only explanation I can think of for the meat being dry is a double fry or at least frying too long now. It's a shame because we love this place but it makes us hesitate to order since now the quality we are getting is going down more often than not. 3/5

Ordered from Doordash and it was overall great. Nice to continue to expand Wichita's food scene.

3.5/5

Pros: Pork belly, seasoned-- lightly coated and fried. Rich, fatty and zero gamey flavor that occasionally pork belly has. What's not to love. The texture still maintained a crispiness and a pleasant chew even with the delivery time. Sticky rice texture was perfect also.

Cons: The pork sausage was just not for me. The size and coloring on it was visually pleasing but the casing lacked that familiar snap that really nice sausage has and I just could not fully get behind the flavors. I think there might have been some fish sauce flavoring or perhaps it was the lemon grass? It was complex and interesting and it grew a little on me as I ate it but it just could stand up to the pork belly for my personal taste. Do take what I say with a grain though. I'm by no means a Laotian cuisine expert so maybe its supposed to taste exactly this way and I'm just ignorant. Many other reviews provide GLOWING reviews of the sausage so really it probably just was not for my specific palate.

Most of their meats appear really rich and if I had any suggestion at all it would be to include some kind of fresh vegetable with it. Cucumber, tomato, even a lettuce garnish to help break up the strong umami flavors and act as a palate cleanser. People tend to eat more when there's something to break up monotonous flavors.

Overall, a good first impression from this new restaurant and I hope their business...

Our food was very delicious. We ordered to go, everything we had was wonderful. the sausage was something we did not dislike but did not love, but and I believe it was because it was so different for our taste buds lol. It seemed like an egg roll inside of the sausage without any wonton, cooked perfectly and interesting but something for the acquired taste im sure. Very spicy as well. I would probably try it again, though. We have eaten here twice and both times we had a pleasurable experience. My favorite egg rolls hands down. The pork belly is so good and i think well priced, too. We tried ths beef jerky today and that was really interesting too but we very much enjoyed it. Highly recommend for not only the delicious soup (comfort food, definitely) but also the jerky, pork belly, spring rolls, egg rolls, and other interesting items made with good quality food. Quality and...

I tried their signature dish; Beef jerky. I am not Laotian, so maybe this is supposed to be like this, but this was pretty bad. It was as hard as rock. Literally, no chewiness that one is accustomed to with beef jerky. I could use it to etch into glass. I asked the waitress if this was normal, and she sputtered something and ran off. I couldn’t eat it without having to purchase dentures afterwards.

I also tried some noodle dish which was subpar.

I ate at the restaurant. They make you get your own plastic utensils. They don’t have plates but instead you have to grab a paper tray.

This is not what I expected and I should not have tipped when u ordered had I known it was pretty much fully self service.

The restaurant’s atmosphere was just as demoralizing as the food. Cheap furniture and sparsely decorated. I don’t understand how anyone is giving this place more...