Based strictly on the food, is it crazy to say that Mike’s Café is one of our best restaurants in Little Rock?

Probably not.

While the service can be a little sketchy at times and it will never be confused with the cleanest of restaurants (the front of the house tends to be untidy), Mike’s Café delivers on outstanding Vietnamese and Chinese food each and every visit. The main draw, as it should be, is the rare beef pho (P2 on the menu). A massive bowl of beef bone broth is swimming with onion, cilantro, vermicelli noodles, and thin slices of barely cooked beef. No worries. The rare beef is cooked once it rests in the piping hot broth. Mix in a little fresh jalapeno and bean sprouts and you’ve go yourself a damn fine bowl of soup. It’s nearly impossible to finish, so make sure to get a to-go tub and eat it for lunch the next day.

What else is good at Mike’s?

The Beef Chow Mein is a delight. Crunchy noodles turn soft as you mix them around in a corn starchy sauce. Thin slices of tender beef, sliced carrots and chunks of quartered bok choy make this a must-order dish.

Beef Chow Mein

Just save some room for a banh mi sandwich. It’s $3 dollars of pure joy. That’s right … $3 for a sandwich. It’s not huge, but even if you order two of them, that’s still $6 for what ends up being a sizeable sandwich. Mike’s banh mi is pretty traditional … a soft baguette is filled with sweet and savory beef, cilantro, cucumber, carrots, cilantro, and fresh jalapeno. Getting a taste of all of the ingredients in one bite is what makes this sandwich so magical. The heavy hand of mayo doesn’t hurt matters either.

Banh Mi

Mike’s does a good job with take-out and the food travels well, so keep that in mind.

If you’ve never been to Mike’s Café, please consider giving if a try. If you’re a regular, then you already know that the restaurant serves up some of the best food in Little Rock.

Mike’s Café
5501 Asher Ave
Hours: Open daily 11am-9pm
Phone: (501) 562-1515