Dakao Sandwich Two

Very cheap for a big sandwich but it was not to my liking. They put too much sauce and the meat wasn’t very good.

This place is real authentic Vietnamese food.
Of course it’s a sandwich place, so don’t expect any service or so.
But everything is really fresh
— the Phở soups are delicious. One of the best places I know so far
— the «Pâté Viet» are fresh and almost made on demand (still very hot when getting them). Extremely tasty
Very good prices: almost cheaper to eat to their place than getting stuff to cook from Ranch99 or so ;-)
Definitely a place to stop, either for lunch or to gather food for home.

This review is for the spring rolls and vegetarian banh mis. I LOVE spring rolls and the ones here (made to order) are so fresh! I appreciate that they put fresh mint leaves in them. I buy veggie banh mis here and my friend said its the best she’s ever had. I do wish they weren’t cash only though.

I decided to go here since I was in town for the weekend. I wanted something warm and crunchy. So I bought a bbq pork Vietnamese sandwich, the #1 sand which, and a Thai tea pearl drink. I give it a one star because the sand which was way too salty and had no flavor. The second sandwich had too much of the paste in it and was plain nasty. & on top of that she gave me the wrong change. By the time I realize I was at the corner and had to but a u-​turn to go back. I explained to them they short me $ 10 and they kept making excuses. But in the end they gave me the money. I would not recommend this place.

My now go to place for some Vietnamese sandwich, and some spring rolls if I feel like it.
Cash only!!!
So I ordered the shredded pork and shredded chicken! Both are delicious but the pork is the best one!
Not like lees, the bread is an actual sandwich roll, freshly baked, I always ask for no pâté. Pork is delicious, the right amount of greasy lol. People complain bc they don’t give enough meat but for me the ratio of meat to veggies is always on point.
I haven’t tried any drinks but everything looks good. It’s jus quick and in a quiet plaza with plenty parking.
Can’t wait to go back!

Just had their banh canh Dakao with shrimp, cha, crab, and gio heo and it was super yummy. Feeling under the weather due to this annoying cold i can’t seem to get rid of, banh canh sounded really yummy. Pulled out my Unilocal app and was able to find this spot .08 miles away from my office. Score. I called my order in ahead and drove to their shop. Got this spot confused with Huong Lan so i circled around a bit. It’s in the plaza with the Swagat if you are ever in the area. My banh can was wrapped and ready for me. Picked it up and took it back to the office and it was PIPING hot. Good flavor, i’m sure it had MSG, and the banh canh was perfectly chewy not overcooked. for $ 8 and some change, not too shabby. Kudos to them too as the had the AC running. Not typical of asian joints. So points for them!

Been coming here since I was a kid. I watched the prices raise from $ 1.50 to $ 3 bucks today. At least they accept credit cards now.
I always get the combination sandwich and the bbq pork sandwich.

I haven’t been to this Dakao in years although I’ve been to their original location in downtown San Jose a couple years ago. This was my go to place for banh mi before Huong Lan opened in the next plaza over. I don’t think the interior has changed much since my last visit. The lighting inside was dim during the day.
I recently came again to pick up shrimp rolls ($ 3.50) for my aunt as well a the grilled pork banh mi for myself (#14, $ 3.00).
The shrimp rolls were decent but the peanut sauce that came with it was very watery. The banh mi lacked filling and what filling it did have was really fatty. The bread was also not that good. It didn’t taste freshly baked. You’re better off paying a little more for better food at Huong Lan.

This is has been our favorite sandwich place for decades. Many places go down hill after such a long time, but this has remained the same little hole in the wall, and we have not found better sandwiches anywhere else.

My To go place to get quick vietnamese munch of Banh Mi!
Banh Mi is their strongest forte IMHO. I ordered their secret menu of noodle and roast chicken and like it a lot. Their other dishes are ok, but it is tasty enough to order.
Their spring roll is also good! I am almost always order a combo of Grilled pork Banh Mi with egg and Spring roll when I am here.

The Vietnamese sandwich standard
Been going here since I was a child; presently will go out of my way for their Classic Pâté & Ham: drools:
Thank you so much Dakao; your customer service is Vietnamese — through the language barrier, sweet and honest, very friendly service.

Came here for a quick lunch… at it truly was. It’s a very very very casual little café (filled with lottery signs and a scratch off lottery ticket machine by door and I think you can buy lottery tickets by register, but not sure) I felt I was in Chinatown as there was boxes everywhere (boxes I’m sure should be in back) it filed with paper signs and just kinda cluttery. But if looks are not a high point and want cheap and fast food, definetly go here.
The food ordered of a dry rice noodle bowl w/​beef was standard. It was filled with white noodles, thick charred beef, carrot/​sprouts w/​mint and lettuce prices and peanuts w/​sweet fish sauce dressing (nouc nam?) also ordered was phở ga (chicken w/​white noodles. Chicken was not plentiful, but just enough. Broth was very Litzy seasoned and not salty tasting.
Overall, there was a constant flow of people ordering at register (no wait staff). If it’s to go, you pay upon order and wait. If your eating in, you tell them your dish # (dishes with pictures are on top of wall, then sit, eat, and pay at register when done.
One negative… They forgot limes for soup. So an older Asian man brought to us. Instead of sliding limes into bean sprout/​basil plate, he stuck his hand and «touched» the limes and slid out. Unsanitary don’t you think?

I am delighted to discover how good the mì khô is. Just the way it’s supposed to be. Unpretentious, just perfect! Will drive from
wherever to come here just for mì.

Dakao is good for banh mi, but not for bun bo hue.
Food: Large portions, tons of meat, but also tons of pieces of fat. I picked out enough to fill a small bowl. The meat was okay, but the fact that there was so much fat really upset me. The broth was the part that bothered me the most, I was sipping on water after every bite. I had it for dinner and had such a hard time sleeping, I felt like my heart was racing all night and I had my boyfriend take me to yogurtland late at night because I need something sweet since I felt like my blood sugar levels where offset. I got a normal sized plate of veggies for garnishing, but when I asked for extra lime she literally have me one tiny wedge.
Service: Insanely slow, we were the only customers and no one attend us. My boyfriend had to get up and practically walk into the kitchen to get her to bring me water and lime.
Price: Average price you would pay for bbh.
Overall: Bad service and low quality meat and the broth was not the business. Probably only coming back to get banh mi to go.

I’ve been a long time customer of Dakao (4+ years). I’ve gone there so many times that the hostess’ knows exactly what I get, #14 sandwich and a vietnamese ice coffee. I will miss this place once I move.
If you’re in a pinch and can’t select which sandwich to go for, go for #14.

*** These stars are JUST for the FOOD ONLY!!!***
Came here today for lunch with some friends and to be honest… after my experience here… I felt like the workers are racist. I NEVER say that out loud or even in a review either. I felt like that for a few reasons. I’ll explain.
There was a total of six of us, half of the group was Vietnamese, the rest weren’t, but still asian. I was part of the non Vietnamese side. My two friends order for the rest of us speaking Vietnamese to the lady. That was fine to me, I rather have someone who could speak the language of the place order that way there won’t be any confusion. The food came out pretty fast. First the two sandwiches, then the noodle bowls. Only three of the four noodles bowls came out @ once. So my friend who isn’t Vietnamese asked about the fourth bowl, of course in English, and the worker looked @ him like he was totally questioning her about her job. So my friend who speaks it came out and said it in Vietnamese and then the lady responsed back to her. Not giving her a hard time. I didn’t like that. So we get our food, and we start to eat. I already had this uncomfortable feeling in me.
The food was good. I got #13. I loved those shrimp egg rolls!!! That bowl filled me up and it was a pretty good size too.
Next I wanted to order the avocado smoothie, but didn’t want to talk to the lady. So I had my BF go do it, and I thought he was going to order in Vietnamese, but he said it in English. So when it came out it wasn’t filled up all the way to the top like my friends smoothie was. I looked @ that drink like «are you serious?» Why didn’t mine get more? So then it hit me, we ordered in English. My friend didn’t.
Then when we were paying, I was going to pay for my friend who didn’t speak Vietnamese, and neither do I, but figured I’ll just pay for him anyway. I get up to the register and tell the worker I got #13 and she looked @ me with a mean look. So then my BF came over and then talked in Vietnamese to her and things were once again okay. I stood there looking @ that lady, just starring @ her. I don’t do that normally, cause it’s rude, but I’m not stupid.
CASH ONLY place too!!!
So overall, the food, the drink, the price GOOD. I would definitely recommend to get your food TO GO!!! Save you from what I went through.

I grew up eating here so I’m always going to be a little biased towards Dakao. That being said, I’m going to be fair and doc them one star because they kind of stinge on the filling for their sandwiches, and I have to order my sandwich in fear because the main person who works the front is pretty scary with her mean mugs.
My favorite sandwich has got to be the vegetarian shredded pork (banh mi bi chay). This place does it the best! I just wish they will put a little more on the sandwich. I usually get this with the baguette, instead of the regular bread that they use. It’s a little extra but totally worth it if you like your bread crunchier. They also have awesome snacks! I love their crab eggrolls, which are the emall ones that are made with spring roll paper, and their banh cay (spicy cassava snacks). I pretty much grab everything insite at this place because no matter what I do I never seem to spend more than $ 10. So cheap!
See you again soon Dakao!

I’m actually surprised with the food at Dakao. It looks dark inside with the low lightening and is known for the sandwiches and take-​out food. However, if you sit down to eat at the restaurant, there is a lot of variety — sandwiches, noodle dishes, rice plates, etc. This is a plus since I’m a pescatarian and Vietnamese food tends to be meat-​heavy.
Prices are cheaper than other places and the food isn’t too salty. I had the noodle soup with fish. Pretty large bowl and a good amount of fish inside. My husband had the Mi Quang and said that it was pretty good. It was similar to the dish that we had in Danang, Vietnam.
Service was nothing special. we gave our order and received the food.
Cash only.

Was brought to this place by a friend of mine and despite the dingy interior I like the food that we ordered. We tried the rice plate#22 with shrimp (literally it was just one (1) measly grilled shrimp), 3 beef rolls, one egg roll, a side of veggies and fried rice ($ 6.95) (
). I also had the sour sop smoothie with pearls ($ 2.75) (
).
The fried rice was very nice. Not greasy and had a nice chopped meat and veggie ratio on the rice. My friend who likes food on the salty side dashed liquid seasoning on her plate. The beef roll was perfectly grilled with onions, and pepper on it. I did hope there were more shrimp on my plate too (there was about two on their menu pic). And the roll was crunchy but the filling was overcooked.
I guess our meal was leaning towards being just OK basing on the hit and miss reviews of the other Unilocalers.
I also ordered grilled pork Bahn mi to-​go for my daughter ($ 3.00). According to her the food was delicious. This coming from a future Unilocaler.
After our meal things kinda went bad when a guy came out with a mop and opened the doors of the place. He then started moping the floor with his Lysol soaked mop that was so strong that I had to control my breathing… i didn’t want to offend my friend who brought me here… however my friend seems unaffected with what’s happening (go-​figure).
Oh well…3 stars because of the food.

I used to really like this place and suggested my friends to try it out. Unfortunately my last visit here left a bad taste in mouth (literally and figuratively).
I ordered the roasted chicken banh mi with an egg and it was super dry. The bread was stale to the point that it scraped the roof of my mouth when taking a bite. The chicken wasn’t moist and the onions were way overpowering. The only reason I tried Dakao in the first place was the fact that they offered a fried egg on their banh mi sandwiches. Not even the fried egg can redeem their dry sandwiches.
To make matters worse, during my last visit I asked for a cup of water and was directed to the water «over there». I didn’t understand her because she arbitrarily pointed to the corner. My boyfriend asked as well and was directed to the bottled water in the fridge. Another older lady gave us ONE glass of water but it wasn’t even worth the trouble considering how salty it tasted! I don’t understand why we couldn’t have a glass of water when we dined in. Not to be cheap, but I wasn’t trying to pay for a large bottle of water when I wasn’t going to drink it all. Two other families were served water and tea upon being seated but we had to repeatedly ask for water. It wasn’t any problem before to get a cup of water to go and I was even given a cup of iced tea the first time I dined in.
I wanted to believe that this place was different from your average Vietnamese restaurant in terms of customer service. Horrible service and dry sandwiches. Dakao, you’ve lost a customer.