If there's one thing I've learned since diving into the Texas food world, it's not that barbecue is king or that pecan pie is the quintessential dessert. No, all of those facts are well-known and widely accepted as being hallmarks of Texas cuisine. The one thing that truly opened my eyes to the food Texans love and cherish is the fact that good food doesn't just exist in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, or Houston. When we began compiling lists featuring the best restaurants in Texas, from the best chicken fried steaks to the best burger joints, I made it a goal to feature cities and towns that are rarely recognized nationally.
Places like Nacogdoches, Lubbock, Amarillo, Fredericksburg, Beaumont, and El Paso, to name a few, were important to us to feature, and it seems like the rest of the country is finally listening. Every year, Yelp releases a list of the restaurants that ranked highest in each state that, as Yelp writes, "takes into account the number of reviews and star ratings." It gives me so much pleasure to tell you that the 2017 Best Restaurant in Texas is in El Paso, Texas. Meet Viet Restaurant.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdx4f36FqC-/?taken-at=206597339744420
At 1700 N Zaragoza Road in El Paso, this Vietnamese restaurant is located on the East Side of El Paso. As KVIA reported, "owner Hung Ngo opened the restaurant less than a year ago." Manager Quyet Bui told the news station that "When you see recognition like this, you feel very good that you know you put the food out for people to try, and they enjoy every minute of it."
There are 46 items on the menu, which also includes six desserts and seven types of boba tea. A quick scan through the Yelp page for Viet Restaurant is all you really need to know as the front page is full of 5 star reviews and photos of the entrees.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc5aV5xFLqv/?taken-at=206597339744420
What the Customers Had to Say
Here are a few excellent reviews that make us proud to call Viet Restaurant a new Texas institution.
Whipped cream-topped boba teas? We're in.
Time and time again, the service is highly praised.
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Yelp
There's no bad item on the menu, from the sounds of it!
The reviews speak for themselves.
If there's one thing to glean from all of these reviews, and the rest on the Yelp page, it's that authentic Vietnamese food is hard to get just right. And the Viet Restaurant seems to have done it consistently and successfully throughout the year.
Now here are some delicious photos that customers have shared of their meals there.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba4hzxlFKe-/?taken-at=206597339744420
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXeBWlPAo9E/?taken-at=206597339744420
The best part about Yelp's list is that it's dependent on crowd-sourced data where real users give real opinions that aren't bought and sold. We covered Zagat's Most Exciting Food Cities in the Country recently, and while Houston and Austin made the list, it surely lacks the smaller and lesser-known cities across the country.
Finally it seems like other Texas cities and towns are getting the recognition they deserve outside of the major metropolitan areas. We'll keep covering those places off the beaten path, and we hope you'll send us some of your favorite less-recognized restaurants, too. To see the full list of the best restaurants across the country, click here.
Comment below and let us know the best restaurant you visited recently in Texas.
