So there I was... sitting on an oil rig in Alaska, talking to a sheriff's deputy with over 20 years…read moreon the job. He says, "My buddies keep telling me about this place called Pho King Good." Funny part? Even he had never been there. Well, that little story stuck with me. Fast forward a few weeks. My road trip partner, Koda, and I are heading home from Disneyland, cutting through Sacramento toward Grass Valley. We roll into Auburn and BOOM there it is. Pho King Good. Now let's just take a second to appreciate that name. If you're gonna swing for the fences with a name like Pho King Good, you've set the bar about as high as Mount Everest. You don't get to be "pretty decent." You'd better make me question every bowl of pho I've ever eaten. The sign? Absolutely iconic. It practically jumps out and hollers at you from the side of the road. Easy in, easy out. Road-tripper approved. Walking inside, though, I was expecting a little more "Pho King Palace" and a little less "we've been meaning to remodel since the Clinton administration." The marble counter looked nice enough, but the place just felt like it needed a little love. If I owned a restaurant with a name that good, I'd lean into it. Give me lanterns. Give me atmosphere. Make me feel like the King just walked in. Charge me another couple bucks if you have to I wouldn't mind if the experience matched the name. Then came the menu. It felt a little like Dysfunction Junction. They had everything listed, but it wasn't organized in a way that made ordering easy. Give me sections. House Pho. Beef Pho. Chicken Pho. Special Pho. Help a hungry traveler out. The food? Solid... right down the middle of the road. After hours in the car, a hot bowl of pho hits the spot no matter what. Koda really enjoyed his chicken dish, and our vegetable egg rolls with the peanut sauce were decent, although the wrapper was just a touch on the rubbery side. The owner was friendly, welcoming, and genuinely hospitable, which always counts for something. My only real disappointment was this: with a name like Pho King Good, I expected to leave saying, "That's the best pho I've ever had." Instead, I left saying, "That was... good." And then came the plot twist. Time to pay. Cash only. So now I'm walking out to the ATM like I'm making a withdrawal for a back-alley poker game or a dispensary run. I'm standing there thinking, "Well... this tip just took a hit because I wasn't planning on paying an ATM fee for my noodles." I still don't quite understand it. You're giving change, printing receipts, running a business... we're already 95% of the way to taking cards! Overall, this wasn't about whether the food was amazing or terrible. It was about the experience. Sometimes that's the story worth telling. Would I stop again on another road trip? Probably. Because sometimes a bowl of pho, your best buddy Koda riding shotgun, and a restaurant with the greatest pun in California are all you really need. And if they ever decide to polish the place up and make it live up to that legendary name... It might just become Pho King Great.

VEGAN SIGHTING!!! I…read moredon't even know where to start my fellow vegans. This quirky, Vietnamese restaurant in the city of Auburn, CA, has by far the best vegan Banh Mi sandwich. The tofu was prepared so it did not take up the whole sandwich. The pickled radish and carrots had the perfect and balanced of sour and sweet. Of course, can't leave out the herbs of cilantro and fresh jalapinjoes. The french bread was crispy outside but still soft and hearty as you take a bite. My earth was it a 2 thumbs up!!! Then their vegan pho with veggies and tofu did not disappoint. Their veggie broth was perfectly blended and made wonderfully that I was not even thinking this was vegan. The staff was kind and informative. They were attentive and friendly. Then comes the merch. If you like a play on the word Pho, then come and check out their shirts for sale. All I have to say is "Life is Pho king good." With this said, another gem in Auburn, CA.

FOOD - Walnut Shrimp: battered shrimp with candied walnuts…read moreover broccoli. The shrimp wasn't crunchy enough. Walnut shrimp is my go-to when I have Chinese food so I'm a little bit of a walnut shrimp snob. This was pretty mid. 3.5/5 - Mongolian Beef: beef with onions, red bell peppers, and bok choy. The flavor was pretty good. The beef was tender enough. 3.75/5 - Orange Chicken combo: orange chicken with chow mein, and egg roll. The chicken wasn't dry but not very tender either. The flavor was okay. The chow mein and vegetable egg roll were pretty standard. 3.5/5 - Fried Rice and 4 Dumpling set combo: the fried rice was, also, pretty standard. The pork dumplings were pretty good. The side of wonton soup was good. 3.75/5 SERVICE: Service was pretty fast and friendly. 4/5 FINAL THOUGHTS: Everything was okay. Nothing was bad, just nothing to write home about.

Walked in from the foggy weather and ordered Home-made noodle soup. The broth had nice depth to it…read moreand enough bok coy , chicken, beef, shrimp etc. noodles was silky soft. . When I see Singapore chow mein on menu Is a plus. I love the curry spice & stir-fry noodle taste! Cordial staff- waited on me as a solo diner instantly. One thing I did notice was they didn't offer tea which is usually customary at Chinese restaurants. It's just an observation ( not a critique). Love all the original work of art on the walls. I felt like I was in someone's tasteful livingroom. Looking forward to returning after another hike in Auburn.

Happy Mother's Day!!…read more Today for Mother's Day, we decided to celebrate with my neighbor and have the best sushi in town here at Jinme. Jinme is consistent. Delicious every single time... so tonight, we celebrated with my daughter. We sat right away and how gorgeous was it tonight!? Balloons, streamers, and Mother's Day table cloths. After a little bit, our server came over and we ordered sunomono and vegetable tempura. Their vegetable tempura was a mixture of the vegetables, in one. Like a birds nest. It came with 4 pieces and a dipping sauce. It was different, but very good. The sunomono (cucumber salad) was cut in half into thin slices without the seeds, and the dressing on it was delicate and went so good with the cucumbers. Quite a bit of time had passed and we were given some complimentary spring rolls to snack on. The sauce it came with was a little spicy & sweet. We ordered a Simba roll, Auburn City roll, 49ers Roll, the Ultimate Roll, and salmon sashimi. All looked fantastic! The sashimi came with miso (as an appetizer). We will ended up sharing everything with each other. I really like that baked salmon roll (Simba). It has a sweet mayo on top. The Salmon Sashimi is my favorite bc the salmon on top is made with high quality salmon belly. The freshness makes me crave this often. The 49ers roll was delicious. It was different from your regular sushi rolls with rice in the outside. it had an entire cucumber casing on the outside of it. The Auburn Roll has thick pieces of red rings and salmon throughout... what a dream... Lastly, we ordered moochi ice cream and deep fried strawberry ice cream... both were out of this world!! This was the first time I have ordered dessert here and it was phenomenal! Strawberry just gets me! Our service was great! The decorations were a cute touch, too. Jinme went above and beyond to make us feel special on Mother's Day!

Excellent, friendly service and delicious flavorful food. We had sushi and sashimi. Very refreshing…read morelunch on a hot day.

food is top-notch, and wide selection. mongolian food…read moregalore, and tasty too. the staff is very attentive, pleasant, and courteous... i bring friends to show how much i enjoy sum's bbq... so eager to eat, forgot my phone for photos... pleasant atmosphere for a bbq...

All You Can Eat-ish... Bar-B-Que…read more.. I was excited to find out there was a Mongolian BBQ in Auburn. For weeks, my coworker and I have been trying to get our schedules lined up so we can go try it out together. Finally, tonight was that night. We parked in a large parking lot around the corner and noticed it was not busy. One of the employees was sitting outside (outdoor seating is available) on his phone, but he was so welcoming and opened the door for us. He took us to a booth and gave us the run down. Sit. Order your drinks, and go get food. Go back for more, because it's ayce... Tony was really nice and had a great smile! He told us how it works - The server would be over to get out drink order. Then, she brought us some crispy wonton chips with some sweet & sour, a cup of soup each, and a small bowl of rice to share... although there are signs that say "do not share," lol. I'm not sure why you can't share if everyone is paying the same price and eating almost the same exact thing... especially, if it's ayce for everyone... It was exciting to see what they had to offer. After finishing the soup, we walked around the wall to fill your bowl with meats (choice of pork, chicken, beef, or lamb), noodles, vegetables, and at the very end, the flavorful liquid. These liquids make your dish. You can put on a simple teriyaki, but that will make it sweet. There is a house sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, wine, vinegar, and kung pao sauce. If you aren't sure what you like, there is a "Sum's Sauce Recommendation" recipe up for your convenience. **Be sure to tip the grill cooks!! The best way I have noticed to do this is to grab 2 bowls. One of for your food and the other, you will want to fill to the at least half way with your liquids. The saucier the better with me! I spoke to the cashier in the front... who told me it's $21 to dine in, and $17 to take it to go since the person taking theirs to go wouldn't be ayce.... (never mentioning the extra charge.) When we sat down, it felt like something in it was missing... maybe a little salt? Usually, I nail my own sauce recipes. Good amount of soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger... garlic, chili oil... a little kung pao... Since we weren't too happy with the flavor of our first bowl, and finished just over half... and this was an ayce... we decided to go back and tweak our creation. This one had better flavor (I added A LOT of soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil), but I seriously could still not taste the sesame oil and this trip, and I used a lot (is there such thing as sesame water?). Then, I wondered if they were using low sodium soy sauce (i asked, and it was regular). I'm wondering if all these sauces are watered down since the soy sauce and ginger sauce were lacking major flavor. The sesame oil couldn't even be detected... so either it is old or a not so good brand. I figured I would just take the rest home and fix up the flavor... and since I overheard a server offer to box someone's meal up...I thought that was neat that we were able to take out food home...turns out... we had to pay to take home the rest of our bowls(extra$9), or pay extra to not take it home... a "waste" charge(extra$8). When we first walked in and we asked how this Mongolian BBQ worked, they left out the part about paying for waste/ or taking home the rest of your food for a charge. If we had not gone back for a 2nd bowl, we would not have had to pay the extra charge because we would've just not finished it and left. I felt a little ripped off. Of course, after we were ready to pay, they pointed to the sign on the wall that we did not see... in fairness, we did ask how they operated and we were told to go get more... but we were not told about the extra charge. I felt cheated. Over all, it was not bad, it just was not good. It was edible, but definitely not worth the extra charge.. i didn't even want to bring it home, but with the extra charge, I figured I would fix it up at home to make it taste better. This brought our bill to close to $60... $30 split each. Not worth it. I feel like a great honest business that is confident in what they serve would have been up front about the charges before springing them on you in the end. They even brought us the bill without the extra charge when they noticed we were close to finishing, but then took the check back to add on the extra charge. The signs should have been pointed out. Service was great. Food was not anything to be excited about. Day after, I warmed up my food with a few drops of a sesame oil that I have.. it added 10 times more flavor than the 2 ladles of soy sauce and 3 ladles of sesame oil that I added at this restaurant.

Past 2 times we've been here.Very , very good services been very good . All food was very delicious…read moretonight. Try the new sparkling Sake, it was very yummy also.

Surprisingly tasty food. My daughter and I called ahead since we were charging our Tesla and didn't…read morewant to wait long. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised that our table was ready for us, food piping hot, and drinks set out. I got the spicy Thai chicken. My daughter got the beef noodle dish. We both loved our dishes. I'd say the beef noodles was slightly tastier than my chicken but both were great. The CA roll was fine but missing cucumber. Overall the portions were large, prices reasonable, and the service was great. The leftovers a couple of days later were still fantastic!

this place is amazing…read more i got the wonton soup and i will be back for more the ambience is fine. The chairs are cushy. This place pretty much has something for everybody. The wonton soup came with eight wontons and vegetables. I'd say the portion sizes are perfect.

Ai bao is a rare spot in Auburn with both great asian snacks and teas…read more Auburn is typically low on good Asian spots so this is a real find. First off when you enter the interior is rather modern and very clean you are greeted by the smell of incense (which I like) . The service is cordial and quick, our server was very nice and took our order quickly service. For the food we got some fried BBQ pork baos I think these were homemade the filling was really good not too sweet not too fatty and not too salty - very balanced I liked that the top was brushed with oil and had some scallions on top! My only feedback is that these should be filled more and they bottoms should be fried till golden. For their drinks we got the berry freeze and the mango fruit tea, this might sound like a complaint but It really isn't - they took their time to make these drinks and they made it damn good. Especially the mango fruit tea, strong tea flavor but not too bitter and tasted not overpowered by the fruit flavor either

Discovered this quaint Thai restaurant in a non-descript strip mall off I-80 while traveling…read morebetween the Bay area and Reno. We visited at 2 PM on a Friday for lunch, and we were the only customers at this late hour (they close at 2:30 PM and reopen later for dinner). Ambiance was good, restaurant was clean, and there was ample seating. Service was great, very attentive (well, we were the only customers!). Menu selection was varied. Pricing was average. The four of us ordered: Pra Ram with chicken, Pad See Ew with chicken, Yellow curry with chicken, and Red curry with chicken. Dishes were flavorful (but not as flavorful as my favorite bay area Thai restaurant). Portions were good. Food was served quickly. Nice to have Asian food options in Auburn!

Stopped by this spot after a hike. The staff was really friendly. I like that they have photos of…read morethe food on the menus. The portions are really big and the prices are good! We ordered the Fresh Avocado Rolls ($12.95) and the Grilled Beef Salad ($15.95). The avocado roll was super refreshing and the peanut sauce that came with it was warm and flavorful. The beef salad was flavorful as well but a bit too tangy for my liking. The beef part was also cold but I assumed it was going to be warm/hot.

Authentic Chinese food and generous portions Tender szechuan…read morebeef with rice was tender. Reasonably priced and fast service

Shocked as this was a quick travel stop. This food was actually so good. General chicken +…read morecombination fried rice.

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Auburn. Always friendly…read moreservice! Relaxing atmosphere. Clean Delicious food. Gluten free and vegan options. For celiacs, I have celiac. Confirmed they have a GF protocol they follow, a separate prep and cook area with clean utensils. Fried items are pan fried with corn starch. I order sweet and sour chicken and they prepare it properly. Just ask them questions before ordering. They offer GF soy sauce. No reactions after eating here several times!

$60 of totally inedible take out... worst Chinese food i have ever had…read more Cold food, uncooked vegetable's, no flavor. Someone must be paying a shill to leave positive rviews.

PSA- Prices doubled July 2026 (that is when we noticed our take out is too costly...). Instead of a…read morebi weekly little family favorite treat this is now a family fancy dinner out - it went from feeding the family with leftovers for takeout costing to $60 to $115 This food is fantastic and they have gluten free options. we live in a society where you can charge whatever you like. especially when you have nice food. however instead of stating a price change, or please see our new prices before placing your phone order... It was sticker shock from the register! So just a PSA on pricing. It's still busy and still a ton of people eating here. so maybe it doesn't affect everyone but it definitely has affected the 5 families I have talked to about it!

Crab Fried rice off the special board was excellent. Good amount of crab meat, onions, cucumber,…read moregarlic,egg, Jasmine Rice, really tasty & brought some home. Mrs had the chicken pad Thai with chicken also excellent. Thin rice noodles, good tofu, scallions,bean sprouts and crushed peanuts on the side to mix in, fresh. Wasn't as busy as our previous visit and we noticed a pretty big jump in prices overall. Fully understandable in the current economy and as noted by the owner in a recent review, their 1st increase in 10+ yrs, still a bummer. In comparison,completely priced for lunch. Th