Xin Chao

DisappointedI ordered espresso martini, very odd that waiter said why don't you try lychee instead. I said, no I want espresso one. Then he says we are out of espresso. I ordered the drunken mussels from app side for dinner. It was no-go because out of mussels. We then discuss the prawn dish. I specifically ask if prawns are "breaded". He assures me "No, they are not breaded". The dish that arrived was basically orange shrimp.. breaded.The meal took sooo long to come out, that we had to skip dessert. Overheard Oscar was "stuck in traffic" which may explain the delay in service.

Would not recommend going here while they have their crawfish special going on. We were so excited to try the crawfish special - 5 lbs for $40 - and left 3 hours later incredibly disappointed and half full. We came on a Monday night, place was about 50% full, and the crawfish took 40 minutes to come out. This was the case for every single table that ordered crawfish. My guess is that the restaurant took on a special they are not ready for, resulting in both the kitchen and servers being "overwhelmed" despite the restaurant not being that busy at all. My table ordered nothing else besides crawfish so we just sat staring at each other for 40 mins straight.Crawfish was overcooked and seasoning was a bit salty. It's also ridiculous that they charge extra for simple garlic butter flavor. Mussels were also small compared to other places. Two hours after sitting down, we ordered dessert, and we should have known better, but we ordered anyway. Another 30 minutes passed before we received the apple pie. I'm also not saying this because I was hangry, but the famous pie tasted NOTHING like the one I had at Blind Goat years ago. There was little to no apple filling, while the crust was extremely thick, dense, and severely undercooked. The cherry on top of the entire experience was the entirely nonchalant attitude of the servers in response to the ridiculous wait they were putting every table through. Not once were we informed that there was going to be a long wait for crawfish orders, and not once did we received an apologize despite having to flag down the staff multiple times for service and spending 3 hours at their restaurant with just 2 people and 2items ordered. After ordering the apple pie, I flagged down our server and asked whether it will take a long time if I ordered the coconut dessert. He bluntly responded "Yes" with a straight face as he looked at me for an answer. Who would dare order anything else when this is the attitude of your servers?Was so excited to try this place for Christina Ha (who btw no longer owns the place, which makes a lot of sense) and left very dissatisfied.

We waited so long to come here only because of the price. We made a reservation but really didn't need it. It took a min for a waiter to come. I think I only saw a total of 3 men working. One was doing a ton of walking around. My glass of water had a fly in it and I had to ask for a new glass. The oyster looked AMAZING. But the flavor was lacking something. The problem really was that in almost every single oyster (10/12 of them) there were bits and pieces of shell. I know to be careful but these were cooked, pre-shucked and cleaned. I was terrified of biting down. Would I get shell or some crispy topping? I almost swallowed one too. It made my experience of eating these very un-enjoyable. For $38 I don't want to worry about breaking a tooth.The dumplings were good. But nothing too special.I got the prawns for my main and I really wanted to try a different sauce but accidentally ended up getting the same as what is on the oysters. Bummer. My husband got the flat noodles and he said he loved it. It was complex but good.Over all, I probably would not come back. The price and the experience weren't worth it to me although I did love the ambiance.

Upon arriving there is a small lot in the front and also in the back. I had no issues with parking! We were seated within 5 minutes but it took ages for the waiter to come. They had a special on crawfish, which is exactly what we came for. Boy were they good. We opted for viet style & medium spice. We also tried the cucumber salad which I wasn't a fan of. Everyone seems to make it differently and this style just wasn't for me. Next time our waiter came by was to bring us the check. It seems they need to expand the waitstaff because service was exceptionally slow and the nearby tables voiced the same opinion. I enjoyed the crawfish so much that I didn't mind though. The dining area is small but cutely decorated. They have the option to make reservations which didn't seem necessary at first but the restaurant quickly filled up so I'd recommend planning ahead just to be safe.

Party of 8Besides a few minor things, this place was amazing. Mostly everything we ordered was delicious.5/5 Tamarind Prawns 4/5 Grilled Oysters 5/5 Viet-Cajun Oysters 5/5 Htown Bang Crawfish (wish there was another level up of heat)5/5 Branzino2/5 Old Fashioned (has a caramel flavor and too pricey for what was given)Things I didn't try, but people lovedPork BaoPork Fried RiceIndoor/Outdoor dining that can accommodate large groupsParking on 2 sides of establishment and street parking as wellWish they would have been able to broke up the check so we didn't have to figure it ourselves.One server completely ignored a request.It was a pleasure to meet Tony Nguyen.

We came here to celebrate Valentine's Day on a Saturday evening. Located off of Washington Ave, parking was available in their private lot. The outdoor patio seems spacious but was closed due to the chilly weather. The interior was styled with neon lights and has the contemporary urban vibe. We were seated near an energetic Gen Z group, making it challenging not to inadvertently overhear their lively conversation filled with the latest gen Z slang. The inside was quite chilly, we kept our thick coats on, and noticed others doing the same. The bench seats were a tad higher than the chairs, resulting in a subtle elevation that had me looking down slightly at my hudsband seated in the chair. For appetizers, we ordered the smoked beef cheek dumplings and the smoked duck salad. Smoked beef cheek dumplings - although not exactly taste like bun bo hue, the flavors of the soup and dumplings were solid 4/5, the presentation on the other hand 0/5 (picture worth a thousand word). Smoked duck salad - This one is my favorite of the night, refreshing and well balanced flavors of the dressing, the greens, jackfruit and smoked duck. For the mains, we got the full fried chicken and braised pork&crispy rice. Fried chicken - The chicken was juicy and tender and goes great with the beef tallow aioli. Sadly given the cold temperature in the room, the curly fries got cold within 5 mins of being served. Braised pork&crispy rice - A nice take of the Cantonese comfort food, 4/5. Service was pretty minimal and our very limited interaction with our server felt pretty rushed. On a side note, upon entering, the front desk enthusiastically mentioned a complimentary dessert for the occasion, yet our server, unfortunately, didn't bring it up at the end of the meal and went straight to the check. We did not remind him as the dessert was not necessary for us, but the oversight in communication highlighted a noticeable lack of attention and care.

We went here to celebrate an 18 year old's birthday. He wanted Viet-Cajun crawfish and Xin Chao has now merged with Saigon House on 1960 that recently closed. I believe that the chefs are siblings. We all love Tony Nguyen and Siagon House so we followed him here. Food:1) Appetizers: * Pork Belly Bao: 10/10. This fried Bao is perfection. Softly crisp bao bun, decadent pork belly, cucumber, and a nice slather of beef talo aioli. * Not Ma's Eggrolls: 6/10. It was decent egg rolls, but I have had better. In fact, we prefer the shrimp rolls at Saigon House so maybe this will be on the menu shortly. * Viet Cucumber Salad: 4/10. Decent umami flavors but a tad bit salty according to my friends * Chicken Skewers: 8/10 according to my friends. *Crawfish: we all agreed that they need to get their transition flow to a full merger with Saigon House. While we all are used to Saigon House and would rank it a 9.5/10, Xin Chao gets an 8, for now. -For a crawfish shortage period, there was a good mix of sizes.-Flavors were decent, but they didn't get the ratio of H-Town bang for our 7lb order compared to our friends that ordered 5lbs. The folks that ordered 5lbs at a time were satisfied. -The Angry Dragon (spiciest) was more of a mild -The crawfish themselves were a little "fishy". -There was a little snail in our crawfish order but we understand that stuff like that can happen. -The corn and potatoes were good. *Ngyuen'er Ngyuen'er Chicken Dinner: 9/10. This tasted home made which was excellent. The chicken was juicy and the breading was like my mama made it. Perfectly crunchy, tasty, etc. Good value for the money. A half portion can comfortably feed 2 adults. *Ambiance: the restaurant is small and has a decent bar. There were neon lights and a cool vibe. The restroom was always clean. The patio on this perfect Houston evening was ahhhhmazing. Casual seating, cute lights, and a nice spot overall. ln summary, we understand that there are growing pains in mergers. The flavors of the crawfish were there, but the ratio of crawfish-flavor needs to be proportionalized better. Meaning, the 5lbs should taste like 7lbs, 10lbs, 20lbs, etc. We also need the Angry Dragon heat level back!!!! Tony Ngyuen and fam, we will follow you wherever you go for our crawfish. Still the best in HTown. Just some minor adjustments need to be made. We will definitely return.

First time at Xin Chao in over a year... and was a bit disappointed. We went for the special HTX Mini Restaurant Week. I was excited for the pork belly and they apparently were completely out of pork related menu items... which always sounds like bad planning on their part but I obviously know there is more to that haha. For drinks... their lychee martini was amazing. Highly recommend! However, make sure they charge you the right $... menu said $13 but receipt was charging $14 for them!!For food we shared the egg rolls (pretty average) and the chimichurri oysters which were good but overpowered the actual oyster itself. Had a nice kick to them.For mains we shared the fried chicken - which was yummy - and the salmon special. The caramelized salmon special was the best dish of the night but came out so delayed - probably 20 minutes after our other main (the chicken) came out which was very odd timing... server kept saying it was on the way 100 times. Overall, still a nice spot but I probs won't go back anytime soon.

We visited Xin Chao on a cold Tuesday during dinnertime. The restaurant is easy to find and has parking in front and in the back. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. We did not have a reservation, but they were able to accommodate us. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and clean. The food was delicious, we enjoyed:- Pork Belly Bao- Smoked Beef Cheek Dumplings - Scallop Crudo- Five Fungi Congee (vegan) - Smoked Beef Rib Phở- Coconut Bread PuddingAs we watched the food being delivered to other tables, we decided on multiple items to sample on our next visit. We hope you give them a try and that you enjoy your experience.

Came here on Thursday night around 8pm. There were plenty of seats so we decided to sit outdoors due to the good weather. They must've been short staffed. There were maybe 5-6 tables of guests outside and 5-6 inside. It took a little longer for the waiter to come take our order, maybe 10-15 mins but that was ok. He took our order but the Brisket Bo Kho was missing the bread so we had to ask. Then we never got the dumplings we ordered so we told the waiter but he seemed overwhelmed and it seemed like he went to check on it. Then 15-20 mins later came to check on us and was like ok you got everything but we actually didn't. What I believe happened was the bus boy was putting food on wrong tables and must've given out dish to someone else. The reason i say this is because he gave us the wrong dish twice!! Food wise the bo Kho was very salty so I would skip that. The Nguyen-er nguyen-er chicken was AMAZING. Snapper whole fish was market price so it was $65 that night. Would not get that again as it was so so. The Cajun oyster also very good. The chicken really was the standout--moist and full of flavor. Food-4Ambience-5Service-3