Region’s most underrated Vietnamese restaurant is this south Sacramento ‘broken rice’ joint
The public has spoken. Sacramento’s most underrated Vietnamese restaurant is a “broken rice” place just off Stockton Boulevard on the outskirts of Little Saigon, according to a recent poll.
The Sacramento Bee’s readers voted Com Tam Dat Thanh as the Sacramento area’s most underrated restaurant from a list of eight previously reader-nominated favorites.
Hung Tran’s unassuming restaurant at 5035 Fruitridge Road in south Sacramento’s Stockridge Plaza amassed 25.9% of the vote on the back of its com tam, plates of fractured rice grains served with proteins such as shredded pork skins, shrimp cake and barbecued chicken.
Downtown lunch spot Kim’s Restaurant was a close second with 22.2% of the vote. Found a half-block from Cesar Chavez Plaza, it’s become a state worker favorite for affordable yet tasty banh mi and pho.
Pho ABC (18.5%) was third, perhaps buoyed by being the only restaurant in the poll with multiple locations. Customers flock to the Citrus Heights and Folsom noodle soup havens for savory pho and bún riêu, as well as Chinese dishes such as fried rice and chow mein.
South Natomas banh mi shop Saigon Corner, La Riviera outpost Pho Momma and East Sacramento build-your-own-meal concept Origami Asian Grill all tied for fourth with 9.3% of the vote.
Readers previously nominated the Sacramento region’s underrated Mexican and Thai restaurants, which appear with their Vietnamese neighbors on the map below. Next up in the series: the region’s most underrated Italian restaurants, due out in August.
