What an experience! We're talking about bathing in the ambiance! The atmosphere was so warm and inviting. Our server was able to direct us through the menu offering a number of delicious choices of appetizers as well as the main entree. This was one of the most unforgettable dining experiences. Xin Chao is deserving of more than five stars. Let's talk about shareables. Yes!!! Everything is shareable. That's what we did. Smoked Duck Salad will have you drooling. The succulent pieces of duck on a bed of arugula with fish sauce vinaigrette was amazing. No greasy duck here! Now, the Pork Belly Boa gave us the WOW! The bun was delicate and yet crispy. Believe me when I say, order an extra one because you might not want to SHARE!!! We hit the jackpot on the Not Our Ma's Eggrolls. So far, we have already made the "Executive Decision" to return to Xin Chao! We are like two kids in a candy store! Can we get another one pleaseeeeeee? Have you ever eaten something hot and it's so delicious that you don't care about going to the emergency room from the burns? Me either but I was ready to risk it all for the eggrolls my friends! Our appetizers were just that good and we haven't made it to the main course. Our server suggested the smaller order of Nguyen-er Nguyen-er Chicken Dinner! And we are so glad he did. By this time, we're all googly eyed over the wonderful experiences so far that we knew the chicken was going to be even better. The crispiness of the chicken gave you crunch that hit so right on every level of crispiness, fresh out the oil without the greasy feeling and taste while being piping hot! (I'm dreaming of a piece of chicken right now!) Don't be thrown off by the Sidewinder Fries. Trust and believe, whatever restaurant or fastfood place you thought had the best fries, sorry CHARLIE!!! By now, my stomach is full and satisfied but we were not going to leave this place without sharing some Rubbish Apple Pie a la Mode. There's NOTHING! NOTHING rubbish about this apple pie. Go in Xin Chao and order the apple pie and tell me what you think about "fish sauce caramel"! Yep! I said what I said!!! Thank me later!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Pork Belly Bao, Sidewinder Fries, Nguyen-Er Nguyen-Er Chicken Dinner, Rubbish Apple Pie a La Mode, Not Our MA’S Eggrolls, Salad
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot

After a loooooong day of work, food and drinks was much needed. I'd heard about "The Blind Goat" but this was a last minute date night so I made a reservation after looking at the menu. First things first, I started off with the "Spicy, Smokey, Sweet" drink which hit the spot. We also put in a few apps to get us started. The "Lemongrass Chicken Skewers" were perfectly cooked. No one likes dry chicken breast and these definitely weren't. Each piece was juicy and covered with the right amount of glaze. It was topped of with micro greens and a slice of limes which pairs well with the glaze. I recommend ordering these for sure. The "Pork Belly Bao" wasn't bad but it wasn't my favorite. I'm normally used to crispy pork belly with a soft bao bun but this was the opposite. Also, I feel like the taste of the bao changes a lot when it's fried. This is a personal preference so if you like braised pork belly this is dish you'd want to try. The "Drunken Mussels" were out of this world. The lemongrass coupled with the coconut milk made for a creamy tang broth. I added pieces of mint to each mussel and it was a game changer. You may need more bread for the broth or you can just drink it. Recommend 10/10. The "Viet-Cajun Oysters" may have been the best oysters I've ever had and I'm not just saying it to say it. I don't know what's in the H-Town bang sauce but they should bottle it up and sell it or just let me know how to make it myself lol. If you like this dish, go back on Tuesdays because the Gulf oysters are half-off. Again 10/10, recommend. For our main dish we ordered the "FOB" whole fish because we've been craving fried fish. The portion was legit and perfect for two, if we didn't have all the apps we did. It took some time to get this dish but it was hot and fresh. Next time I would place the order when I get the apps. Back to the fish, it was perfectly seasoned, so much so that we didn't even use the sauce. I'd ask for lemons on the side when I order this again. Out of everything we ordered only one was a miss for me and again it was a personal preference. There were some items that were 86'd so we will be back again to try them out. For an impromptu date night, I stumbled upon a gem tucked in between the Bayou and the Heights and it was a great experience.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
East Coast Oysters

So long I haven't given 2 stars for a restaurant, but here we go. I have gone to so many restaurants and I am very disappointed with this one. Yesterday we went to celebrate my husband's birthday. The food was horribly salty. We took the duck salad and the cucumber salad. The duck was missing in the plate. We expected as a Asian/ Vietnamese that the duck was cut as a chashu and not minced. For the cucumber salad the spiciness and texture was ok, but both dishes were way salty. After that, we got rice. It was horrible made. My husband and my mother in law are Chinese. We eat and breathe rice everyday. The rice looked as leftover of the previous day. My mother in law complained about it to the waiter and we got a new one that was freshly made. So you can tell the difference right away. We also ordered the fish and it was a bit dry. I thought it was going to be salty as well, but fortunately, it had the right flavor. The sauces with it where good, just the containers were super dirty. About the service, the waiter was ok. We told him we were coming for a birthday party and he was nice enough to attend us, but not doing anything special. The problem was I was expecting that he delivered a better quality of food, paying attention for those details (rice) before serving, but no. Even the cup for tea was dirty. In the restaurant,there is a waitress that she was trying to explain the dish when she brought. Her explanation was so fast that I actually couldn't understand what she was telling. Also, the way she rolled her eyes to me when I was paying attention on the description of the dish makes me feel that she underestimated us. Looks like she doesn't like to work as a waitress or maybe since we don't look rich enough, she doesn't care how to attend customers correctly. It's a shame for a restaurant holded by a MasterChef. We didn't order dessert, because there is not much to take and the bill looked pretty expensive. About the place I can say that looks nice, but it is super cold. There is no way to make it warmer?. We sat down near the door and we were freezing. Overall, I am disappointed about the restaurant and I don't think I would recommend it or come back again.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$100+
Food: 2
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 1

Xin Chao is a trendy and delicious modern Vietnamese restaurant serving great food with quality ingredients. Vibe: the exterior and interior are tastefully designed, with many areas that are clearly instagrammable. Patio has a neon light spot and good seating. Interior has a good amount of seating and a clean modern boho aesthetic. Kinda feels like a casual-formal kinda place. Service: The servers are outstanding! They were attentive and cheerful, and gave great recommendations. Food: We had the eggrolls, smoked duck salad, fried chicken, pork belly vermicelli bowl, shaken beef, and apple pie. The smoked duck salad, charred pork belly, and shaken beef were particularly exquisite. We had not really had an "asian-style" salad before, and we were very pleasantly surprised by how delicious this was! They give a good amount of duck. The pork belly was cooked perfectly, tender, flavorful, and crunchy. The shaken beef was tender and juicy, and the sauce was a flavor bomb that went perfectly over rice! In all the entrees, the superb quality of the ingredients was clear. The nitro vietnamese cold brew was robust and sweet even without condensed milk (as far as black coffee goes), but the portion is pretty disappointing as the glass is about half ice. Looking forward to coming again and trying some more dishes! This place is Let's Eat Houston approved ✅️
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Rubbish Apple Pie a La Mode, Rubbish Apple Pie, Eggrolls
Parking space
Somewhat difficult to find parking
Parking options
Free parking lot

Been long time fans of Christine Ha and excited to try her Houston brick and mortar restaurant, Xin Chao. We ordered a variety to try: - Not Our Ma’s Eggrolls - great texture but not the star today. Had a heavy shrimp / fish paste taste that wasn’t for everyone at our table. - Phở Tái - clean broth, delivered as expected for this house made pho - Chef’s Special Phở - smoky broth, thanks to the smoke texas beef rib meat. Great variety of beef cuts making this a meat lovers win! - Sizzle & Shake Steak with Rice - I didn’t get to personally try this dish but my friend described the need as “chewy” and reached for pho instead. - Nguyen-er Nguyen-er Chicken Dinner! - outside of the pho bowls, this was the sleeper hit! Perfectly brined, seasoned and and fried chicken with a generous portion of the sidewinder fries. - Pandan Colada - another winner today! If you love boba drinks and piña coladas, this drink is add for you! Perfectly sweet and what a ice flavor twist with the pandan. Love a unique tasty drink and this one delivered on all levels!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Nguyen-Er Nguyen-Er Chicken Dinner, Eggrolls

It's one of my favorite places in Houston to recommend to visitors. I feel confident saying that you won't find a place serving elevated, lovingly crafted Vietnamese-American food anywhere else. It's a place that reminds me of my mom's cooking, but also not quite. It can be a date place or a nicer-casual meal time with friends. It will almost certainly be a good time. It's rare to find a Vietnamese place that my parents enjoy, but they were able to appreciate this despite being a fusion place, so to speak. I think they really liked the crispy rice and braised pork dish the best, along with the FOB. The former reminds them of when they were in Vietnam (plus I'm in love with the crispy rice texture!!!!), and the latter is so well done + hard to find! I also personally recommend trying the gulf oysters. It's my favorite oyster dish in the city so far! The crawfish was a limited time special.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Nguyen-Er Nguyen-Er Chicken Dinner, Braised Pork & Crispy Rice, Rubbish Apple Pie a La Mode, Rubbish Apple Pie

I was very very excited to try Xin Chào based on reviews and being on multiple recommendation lists for Houston. We had the grilled oysters - they were okay. A bit dry and I felt the ingredients didn’t add much compared to how delicious it sounds on paper (scallion oil, pork cracklin’s, roasted peanuts). Next, the Texas BBQ Fried Rice was fantastic !!! This had so much flavour and it was unique. My boyfriend and I loved it. Lastly, I was disappointed with our half order of “Nguyen-er Nguyen-er Chicken Dinner!” - the batter was somehow too dry and the sauces didn’t add anything (we actually really disliked one of them). Overall, the service was friendly and the atmosphere was pretty quiet on a Tuesday night. As for the food I had high expectations which were not met but I really wanted to like this place! I think it has a lot of potential but the execution needs some work. Maybe it was an off day, and so since we did enjoy the fried rice and since some of other menu items sound good I would still come back to give it another chance (maybe after trying a couple other places first though) ★
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner

Excellent food and incredible service. Our server was attentive, friendly, and helpful when we had questions about dishes, portions, and drinks. The oysters and dumplings were good but I'd say the soft shell crab was the highlight of the appetizers. The wagyu Wednesday steak was fine but nothing special. If you've had a steak, you'd had this. The fried whole fish was special though and although $62, tasted incredible. It could have stood to be a little less dry on the outer edges but overall great. Desserts were hit or miss. The coconut bread pudding was excellent but the "rubbish apple pie" that Gordon Ramsay thought was great isn't that great. You can smell apple but you can't taste it.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Braised Pork & Crispy Rice, Coconut Bread Pudding
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot

We started with poor service. I don't even know his name. Just not welcoming. A big issue to sit us where we wanted in an empty restaurant because of reservations starting an hour after we arrived. We had the lobster special. Nothing but lobster. I Iove lobster but come on at least one side to accompany the lonely crustacean. Seriously! And it was overcooked on top of everything. The mushroom skewers..not sure about the spices or the texture. Big chunks that were simply off putting. And I love mushrooms. The lights, the music and the strong sewage smell in the bathroom are definitely not setting the right atmosphere. I really wanted this to be good but cest la vie.
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 2
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 2
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot
Kid-friendliness
Not kid friendly

Went here for my birthday and they were very accommodating with our large party. Ordered the Braised Pork Crispy Rice, Wagyu Meatballs, Bao Buns, Texas BBQ Fried Rice, Smoked Duck Salad, Congee and Steamed Snapper. Oysters were Scallops are definitely my favorite. Not super traditional, but a wonderful modern take. The service was immaculate and very attentive. The menu is limited but every dish was cooked to perfection. Portions are great for larger parties or date night. Will definitely return.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Braised Pork & Crispy Rice, Five Fungi Congee Vegan, East Coast Oysters, Braised Pork & Crispy
Parking space
Somewhat difficult to find parking
Parking options
Free parking lot, Free parking garage

My partner and I really wanted to love Xin Chao but I think we came at the wrong time on the wrong day. To be clear, Alex was a phenomenal server but unfortunately, everything seemed really chaotic and like he was running the place as a host, server for all the tables, busser, and we joked, cook. The kitchen sent my pho with vermicelli/glass noodles because they ran out. The bathroom was in need of repair (e.g. TP roll was on the floor because the dispenser was broken), the place was kind of a disheveled mess when we walked in with dishes everywhere. The draft lychee martini tasted like a Jolley Rancher. We left sorely disappointed by Xin Chao but very impressed by Alex.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 1

Xin Chào, Master Chef winner Christine Ha’s restaurant in Houston was good but I wasn’t wowed by the food. Her other restaurant, The Blind Goat (now a brick and mortar) had better food, in my opinion. I got some apps and liked the Wagyu sliders and sidewinder fries with beef tallow aioli but the mushroom skewers were way too rubbery and chewy. Good atmosphere. I do need to have her famous Braised Pork and Crispy Rice dish.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Sidewinder Fries, Braised Pork & Crispy Rice, Fries, Bao Bun

Service was excellent. Food was delicious and creative. The portions were generous except for the mixed vegetables. That was the only dish that was disappointing. The chicken skewers were very tender and full of flavor. It was so good that we had to order another portion. Beef cheek dumplings was another dish that burst in flavor and extremely delicious.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Braised Pork & Crispy Rice, Smoked Beef Cheek Dumplings

My wife and I decided to have an early dinner here. The place was kinda out the way, not a lot of traffic. Nice place, food was good. Wagyu steak was cooked to perfection, the oysters were a little Salty but out server offered dessert on the house to make it better. The dessert worth coming back for. Our server was very attentive.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Coconut Bread Pudding

We dined here on a Friday evening around 630pm, had a reservation for two people which was made on the same day. It was not too busy though and we could have still been seated immediately without the reservation. We picked a few items to try, found out they were out of a few menu items already (perhaps it was the end of the week for their supply). So was disappointed to not be able to try smoked beef cheek dumplings or soft shell crab, but we enjoyed everything else we ordered. Definitely recommend the braised pork with crispy rice.

Wow, I’ve eaten a lot of Vietnamese food in my lifetime and this definitely ranks in the top five. Lovely outdoor patio with fans and plenty of shade and access to parking. Amazing decor with in-house bar and private room for larger parties. Overall a beautiful space with top notch food and great service from Joseph. Highly recommend.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–50

Went for lunch. The food was fantastic. The pho is the best I have had and the fried chicken was amazing! Also legit Vietnamese coffee was so good.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Pork Belly Bao, Sidewinder Fries, Nguyen-Er Nguyen-Er Chicken Dinner

Appetizers, main courses and coconut desert were amazing. Definitely coming back to this place again! Portions are great also. Left satisfied and fulfilled.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Smoked Beef, Pork Belly Bao, Coconut Bread Pudding

Food is good, some new takes on Vietnamese food. Nguyener-Nguyener chicken dinner was good and would honestly come back just for that. Pork belly was okay.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Nguyen-Er Nguyen-Er Chicken Dinner

WOW where do I start. This was a bucket list dining experience while in Houston. We arrived for lunch without a reservation and they were kind enough to seat us even though they mentioned being short staffed in the kitchen. We were greeted

Food was delicious. The crispy rice and pork belly is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. The wagyu meatballs were salty, but I prefer that. The oysters were delicious, and the mango ice on top was a refreshing surprise. The

Xin Chao has been on our list for a long time! Everything was amazing! The waiter was very kind and personable. Our favorite drink was the Pandan Colada, it was a unique twist with the boba! Our favorite dishes were the Smoked Beef Cheek

I am not exaggerating one bit when I say this meal changed my life. We got the Viet-Cajun oysters, beef cheek dumplings, and smoked beef rib flat rice noodles. Every bite of every dish was incredible, but the beef rib was quite literally

Not sure why the reviews are anywhere below 5 stars. This restaurant deserves to be a Michelin Star restaurant. We have tried a couple Michelin Star restaurants and none can be compared to this. The food and service are both spectacular.

We came late in the evening yet the staff was still happy to serve us and take the time to explain the menu instead of hustling us out. We started with appetizers as everything is easily shareable. The Viet-Cajun Oysters were very

All dishes we ordered tasted so good! Our favorite were the chef special pho and fried chicken, but we truly enjoyed everything that was set on our table. We will come again when we are in town. More

I am a huge fan of Christine Ha ever since her debut on Masterchef and was excited to finally have the opportunity to visit on of her restaurants during my visit to Houston.

Ordered several dishes. The Pho was the best. Only thing I would come back for. Everything else was ok to good. Fried chicken was the only real disappointment.

This place is a pretty good casual dinner spot. Service could be a bit better though.

Food: A+ Service: A+ Ambiance: A