By: Anna Pham
Have you ever been so indecisive between your friends or family on who wants what to eat and sometimes give up because you don’t want to drive to multiple places at once to satisfy each craving? Well, look no further because Rodeo 39 has all the options you could ask for! Rodeo 39 located in Garden Grove on Beach Blvd, caters to a variety of Asian, Mexican, and American foods. The market is a very huge place and can get pretty overwhelming for someone who has no idea what they are walking into. So here are some recommendations from personal favorites and popular well known favorites. Some of the well known favorites are Phoholic, Shootz, and Banh Xeo Boys. A few personal favorites are Kare Japanese Curry, Tenori and Primal Cuts. They also have a wide variety of different desserts like ice cream, milk tea with boba, and crepes both savory and sweet!
Phoholic is known for their fresh noodles and big portions of pho. They have a variety of options on what kinds of meat you want with your pho broth. They have been serving pho in Vietnam since 1991 and opened their first location in Westminster. You can have steak, brisket, or meatballs with your noodles and soup. If you aren’t a meat person you can also order your pho without meat too. The wait times can get long as this is a very popular place so make sure to either call ahead or add yourself to the waitlist ahead of time! While you wait you can walk around the market for a snack to eat beforehand or shop around in the small stores opened.
Shootz is Hawaiian inspired, combining cultures of Hawaiian BBQ with California unique taste. They have a variety of different plates and appetizers. They have a unique take on the popular dish musubi, but instead of using just spam they have Honey Coconut Shrimp and a Spam Brulee, both are delicious. You can purchase the Spam Brulee in a bundle with their Kimchi Butter Katsu Chicken plate or Kimchi Butter Shrimp plate. You can also order refreshing drinks for when it gets hot during the summer or something to just sip on while you are traveling around the market.
Banh Xeo Boys serves Vietnamese pancakes as their main dish. They are known for their crispy pancake and are traditionally made filled with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, and onions; dipped in fish sauce. They also offer a vegan option or chicken instead of pork. They aim for authenticity and prove that by traveling to Vietnam to learn how to properly prepare this dish from scratch to serve the most authentic Vietnamese food in America, according to their website. Next to Phoholic, this is the next best place to try if you are craving Vietnamese food. They also have pork eggrolls and pork belly fries if you don’t want a full meal and want something to share with friends and family.
Some personal favorites that are recommended would be Primal cuts, if you are a steak person! They have some delicious cuts of meat along with delicious side dishes. One of the customers in line named Dylan said “Picanha is the best cut!” Tenori is great if you want something small. They serve onigiri with many different fillings, some being spicy salmon, spicy tuna, and tuna mayo. They also have some unique items such as KBBQ, pork belly, and honey walnut shrimp as fillings. If you are not familiar with onigiri it is a common japanese dish made to eat on the go. It comes with compact rice shaped as a triangle with your preferred filling wrapped by seaweed to avoid stickiness and at Tenori has sesame and bonito furikake sprinkled on top for additional rice seasoning. Valerie, a worker at Crepes Avenue, said she “really recommends Kare Japanese Curry,” which has a wide variety of authentic curry dishes. The wide variety includes chicken, pork belly, and beef belly curry. They also serve fries with either furikake or curry, chicken or veggie gyoza and shrimp tempura.
There are only a handful of places listed here but you can never go wrong at any of the places that were not named. You can come here to study with the free wifi that they provide to all their guests. They have plenty of seats indoor and outdoor, just make sure to bring a jacket as it can get chilly. You can walk around with the various stores that occasionally swap out and change throughout the years. They are also pet friendly and have a very open facility for many to come by and hangout. They also have an arcade in the back of the market for families to bring their kids or friends to hang out at. If you are ever in Garden Grove and want to try various places from different cuisines check out Rodeo 39, located at 12885 Beach Blvd, Stanton, CA 90680. They have lots of parking but beware at popular times it can become quite difficult to find a spot, but it is worth the time as you will leave satisfied.
