Dakao

The banh mi here is just ok in my opinion. My coworker picked up the Banh Mi #1 (Dac Biet, w/​Ham, Headcheese, Pâté, Jalapenos, Pickled Carrots/​Radish, Cilantro, $ 2.75) and it was just ok. The pâté was bland and needed more pepper, and their mayo doesn’t add any flavor. Although they are on the cheaper side for banh mi, I would rather drive the 2 extra miles to Tully and pay a little more for a better sandwich.

I love the fact that the sandwich here are so cheap. 2.75! And the grilled pork sandwich is the way to go. Always. The bread was decent to pretty good. But now lets get to the detail of the inside of sandwich. Not too much in there. I can definitely taste the pork, but wish they could have added a little bit more meat. The veggies were plenty, but the jalapeño spice was overwhelming and found some seeds still in their. I love spicy, but in this instance I want to taste the pork, bread, and the pickled veggies put together to bring that great bahn mai taste. But it is so cheap and I had to give it on the little over higher rating. College students this is the way to go if you want to save money and get enough food to nibble on.

Pretty good food, employees are nice. Usually get the cold shoulder from viet workers because I can’t speak viet but they were cool. Prices are really good too

This is a really really good viet place. The prices are amazing for the amount of tasty’s you get. If you are at San Jose downtown for some convention (like I was) then i highly suggest making a stop here for some authentic viet cuisine.

While Dosa’s next to me seems to get worse and worse especially at night, Dakao never ever lets me down. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal here or stomach upset. And I have no idea how many times I’ve eaten here, but every time I come here I love how they keep college students happy and fat with relatively healthy choices.
It is like a vietnamese version of peanuts except again much healthier.
Also, despite appearances I actually come here when I’m sick. I get phở, go home and feel better much faster.
Their turn around rate is much higher than before, and you see people order party trays of their food and there are lines now.
I don’t mind their very modest price increases because their food is just solid.
If their service is not the happiest, remember where you are: near silicon valley and not a single entrée prepared with care that tastes great can be found for under $ 10 nowadays. This place is the exception.
Everyone I bring here approves and my absolute favs are:
shrimp and crab egg rolls, phở (I get the 141 but others like the special), banh it tran, the little rice togo boxes, #1 sandwich, the rice dishes and I’ve also heard their sesame balls are to die for (I’ve never gotten it myself).
Word of warning that if you are grossed out by asian grocery stores, are vietnamese or want excellent ambiance and food that is microsealed so not a single hair follicle, dust spec, or microbe falls into your food this is not for you. South and North bay is filled with tons of high end Vietnamese and other restaurants that will cater to your $$$ needs.
That said, I’ve eaten around the world, lived in hong kong, and had wonderful gastronomic cuisine and not so. But to me, there’s something about food that is clean, fresh, tastes home cooked none of those places can touch. That’s why I keep coming back here.
So if you’re going to freak out it looks less than picture perfect, all I can say is more for me/​us. But if you’re a fellow foodie and so long as it’s clean and has a high turnout you’re set, then try this. It might not be for you but to over 6 people I suggested this place to, this place is awesome.

Super grungy place I like to go to get Bahn Mi sammys! Not sure what kind of mayo they put in there (don’t want to know) but it’s Amazing!!! Also, fried shrimp! When fresh, the batter is out the game! …Prices are cheap as fuh. Solid gem, with a soup can holding up the counter! Hah

Got the Banh Mi #1 which included ham, headcheese and pâté. It also came with jalapenos, pickled radish, cilantro. Cost was $ 2.75.
Assorted sandwiches, goi cuon, hot items and drinks (hot /​cold /​pearl tea /​coffee),
Cash and debit only. Debit if you spend $ 5 or more.

I love Vietnamese sandwiches but I have no idea what I ate here. My coworker got me cha with pâté sandwich… it was one of the worst tasting sandwiches I’ve ever had. I couldn’t eat it. It had an after taste of a trash can. Everything tasted rotten and nothing seemed fresh. I was afraid of food poisoning so I threw it out. This is not how a Vietnamese sandwich should taste. My coworkers agreed there was something weird with their sandwiches. I was pretty bummed since Vietnamese sandwiches are my thing and I probably eat one once a week. I always have a tub of pâté in my fridge too…
This place has been around for a long time, for as long as I can remember. I’ve never tried it before and growing up, my parents never bought me food from here either. And they know all the Vietnamese places that have been around since they came to California. Now I understand why I’ve never had anything from Dakao. Won’t be back.

Best Vietnamese food ever allot of choices and good varieties I recommend as a hot spot for authentic Vietnamese gourmet food

Close to downtown, this place is really easy to get to and has a private parking lot and a lot of parking near it. I came here to pick up some shrimp and crab eggrolls for a potluck, and I wasn’t disappointed. The eggrolls are bite-​sized, and they’re deliciously crunchy outside and piping hot inside. There’s no dipping sauce, but the flavor is great! At $.45 each, they’re not expensive at all. I also got a grilled pork sandwich which was good. I wish it had more meat, though the meat flavor was delicious. The bread could have also been softer inside and crunchier outside. The sandwich I would give 3.5 stars, but the eggrolls get 4 stars for sure!

Pretty good place to grab some Vietnamese sandwiches, haven’t tried much else though. Went in here on Tuesday and ordered a steamed pork banh mi sandwich with an iced lemonade. You get a good amount of food for the price.
One sandwich was under $ 3.00 if I remember correct, compared to lets say Subway which we all know if at least five dollars. The actual taste of the sandwich was good, but nothing too amazing. It needed some kind of special sauce on it or something, it was a tad bit boring to me. They didn’t put a whole lot of pork in it either, but I can’t complain too much for a good sized sandwich under $ 3.00.

For the price, It’s nice and cheap.
Other wise I wouldn’t had came. The people at the front aren’t really friendly.
I ate in today. Pricing are apparent for the vietnamese sandwiches and the take-​out. I found a piece of paper embedded into my rice and a hair stuck to my chicken. My chicken was dry. The sauce was an odd tasting sauce that I didn’t like. They started clearing the table before I was finished eating.
The plate I ordered didn’t look anything as advertise. The lettuce wasn’t washed thoroughly because there were still sand/​dirt crunching in my teeth. for 7.25 $ I shouldn’t complain but the few pieces of chicken wasn’t even equivalent to a thigh and drum at KFC.
Just to sandwiches or take out. don’t order in.

I came here to grab a quick meal with my friends before the concert in SJSU. My friend ordered #78 and I got #79, both were noodle soup. The soup for #78 was too sweet and #79 was okay but not as good as other Vietnamese places I went. The spring rolls’ skin was a little hard. The restaurant is like a food court, but it is at the convenient location.

Stopped in to pick up sandwiches on the way to the beach. It’s a sizable store/​restaurant. In addition to sandwiches, they also have pastries, sweets, spring rolls, drinks, dessert, snacks, chips, etc. About 20 varieties of banh mi’s. I stuck with number 1-​combination sandwich. Number 10 is the same with fish cake (chau) and 50 cents more. Also picked up some pork spring rolls for breakfast. It was the one with pork and shrimp bits. Lots of veggies inside. And 2 containers of peanut sauce. Nice. I had the banh mi a few hours later and it was a good sandwich. Filled with delicious pâté. Also had lots of the veggies (pickled and fresh) and only had to pick out a few jalapenos, which I don’t like. Prices are pretty good. I think it was $ 7 for the two meals (spring rolls and sandwich). There’s a few parking spaces right out front so we were in and out easy peasy.

One of the last banh mi places with their #1/​special/​all-​the-​fixings sandwiches still at the unbeatable price of $ 2.75. A lot of other places charge $ 3+ for their simpler sandwiches and viet style food trucks can be closer to a painful $ 7 – 9.
Service is fast, and there are plenty of ready to grab n go snackish things as well. One of my favorites is banh cay, a small savory green onion/​pepper fritter… A fresh batch was coming out of the fryer as my sandwich was being made (score!!!) so I got some of those as well. Only $ 1 for 9! Can never go wrong with fried goodness. :)
Everything was delicious! If I stopped down in SJ more often I would totally hit up this place all the time.

Fast service, really good sandwich for the cheapest price ever.
Also, the Banh Bao is $ 1.20 which its not bad after all.
This is way better based on how cheap it is if you want a really good meal for under $ 10 bucks.
Would come back if I visit SJ for sure.

Didn’t feel like driving to SJ for banh mi so we found this place which was open on Sunday. I ordered 4 sandwiches for $ 2.75 each. The grilled pork was decent but skimpy on the meat. Bread was ok. Hubby said the viet coffee was ok. I got a prepackaged nem nuong which tasted as good as it looked…
I ordered a pork pâté chaud which was disgusting. The crust was under cooked and the meat was just blah. I should have driven to SJ. Lesson learned.

This review is for the frozen yogurt part. We’ve come here many times for phở and other meals and loved it.
The fruit topping containers are labeled but missing actual fruit. They are empty.
The lights were off.
The atm was broken although there is a sign that says cash only and they actually have debit card machines.
The worst part is that the actual frozen yogurt machines don’t get much action. We can see why. A few of us stopped by to enjoy a treat and were all Completely grossed out by the taste and texture of the product. We ended up throwing it out and going somewhere else. I’m posting a picture of the next place we went to as an example of what our expectations are. As I write this we are enjoying our treat and hope that Dakao will either tell people the machines are not working or shut them down. Better to not serve a poor quality product that to leave a customer with this foul taste and memory. You should be proud of the food and service you have for your establishment. Please, try the product and think about if you would serve that to your friends or family. Yuck!

I was craving for some Vietnamese sandwiches one day and stumbled upon this place when scrolling through Unilocal.What a great find! It’s within walking distance from SJSU, which was great. The exterior of the place may be a little deceiving, but don’t be fooled! You’re walking into a land of deliciousness!
You basically order up front and wait for the food right there. There’s an option for either to-​go or eat-​in and they definitely have a lot of tables for you to sit in there. There are definitely a lot of varieties in terms of food as well! From noodle soup to sandwiches to rice dishes! I’ve had their sandwiches and it’s definitely one of the best I’ve ever had! It’s very consistent and the food are great!
Overall, I would definitely be coming back. This is a great place for college students, or anyone really, because the food is good and it’s so cheap! Highly recommend! The only down side is that it’s cash only.

I’ve been back to Dakao and back often. Still the low price and consistency leader for banh mi, which I fondly named Vietwiches! You can also order other things like Panda Express style but those items are a hit or miss.
Do try the avocado shake, and the iced coffee there. They make them sweet and strong like I like my women. Make sure to allow the ice to melt or else it may be overwhelmingly strong.
The same owners over the many decades never smile but they’re just workaholics and provide quick and courteous service. Don’t be fooled if they don’t have a smile on their face. I’ve grown to accept their grumpy faces because they make up for it in so many other ways. :)