A Dong Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant @DeZavala

A Dong is one of the very few restaurants in San Antonio that offer a menu closer to authentic Vietnamese food. Their “canh chua” (Vietnamese sour soup) is pretty great, might be on the sweeter note, but if you’re from South Vietnam it’s perfect. We also love their fish sauce chicken wings - so crispy and flavorful. Their lotus roots salad or beef salad is refreshing. Lastly if you enjoy savory and crispy, try the sautéed pork ribs!

This past Wednesday, we visited a restaurant we haven’t been to in years. A Dong Restaurant serves both Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. Hubby and I both had the Coconut Drink that was very refreshing. Love the fresh coconut meat! Dad had Soy Bean Milk. We started off with the Vietnamese Egg Rolls and Crab and Corn Soup. The soup tasted good but the crabmeat was not the star of the dish. Hubby had the Beef Rice Noodle, which is one of his favorite dishes. I tried some and it was tasty. Dad and I shared the Stir Fry Vermicelli Combo without the curry since we didn’t like spicy. There was some flavor but could’ve use some more. There are 2 locations. We visited the 5222 DeZavala Rd., Suite 318 location. The other location is on Agora Parkway in Selma.

I'm saddened to say that my last visit to this restaurant was today. I was first witness of clandestine tipping practices being high priority at this establishment as I overheard the host, 'Johnny Dang' complaining about not getting tips to another customer after I had not tipped them for my take-out order. I could see frustration would be expressed for me sitting down to dine and not tipping for ACTUAL service, but all he did was greet me at the entrance and charged me for the meal. Knowing the fact that I've contributed towards paying wages and tipped very well here in the past eating with family here at this location. Then, as I waited at least half an hour for my food (willing to bet that was retailiation for not tipping) that I had noticed 5 dollars extra on top of the purchase to my order was charged on my card. I showed him the evidence on my receipt and the text notification of the purchase amount not matching. I had asked to speak with the manager on duty, yet never made an appearance. I guess they were too busy or not caring enough to bother. Host even questioned me like I was lying. $28 dollars was the charge and the bank text notification showed me $33 and that's when I knew something wasn't right. I gave him a chance to explain this issue, but I'm afraid that my suspicion was correct in learning that he felt entitled to tip himself extra money on my card without my acknowledgement, and nothing is stated on the receipt about mandatory gratuity. Please steer clear of this business if you aren't in agreement with these shady dealings. Most people are probably not aware that this is happening, and are walking away with extra money being charged on their card until it's too late. Please be vigilant! Greed, shrink-flation (given less product) and inflation on top of everything is rampant. He was secretly betting that I wasn't going to pay attention, it's atrocious to treat your patrons this way.

Perhaps coming before 3pm would be a better deal. The food was just average, and, after 3pm, the Chinese dishes do not come with soup and an egg roll. I got sweet and sour chicken. It was okay, but their sweet and sour sauce tasted weird and contained chunks of vegetables and pineapple—my kid would not have eaten it. The fried rice was very plain. The atmosphere is okay. There are some nice Chinese art pieces; however, the ceiling is odd, like the ceiling of an auditorium. I could see insulation through a space in the ceiling from my vantage point. I tried to get the waiter’s attention at one point, but I had to get up and go to him—they were not that busy—only two parties seated and no one taking out.

I have been going to this restaurant for years. As a commercial real estate broker specializing in restaurants business and real property, I m a little pickier than others. Usually their food is very good. Last week, We ordered quail, seafood salad, vegetable shrimp and chicken over the crispy noddle. I was a little disappointed because the vegetables were way over cooked, almost taste like left over from the day before. But the quail and salad were very good, very tasty and fresh. So this time I gave only 4 stars. But this restaurant is still the best Vietnamnese restaurant in my opinion with their variety and authenticity.