Four dynamite Asian restaurants to visit along Redwood Road

Editor’s note • This article is part of an occasional series, the Redwood Road Challenge.

I’m more than halfway to my goal of eating at every locally owned restaurant on Redwood Road, but I’ve been collecting information about this state highway’s Asian restaurants since day one of the project.

On a cold Jan. 9, I kicked off my Redwood Road Challenge at Pho 777, a popular Vietnamese restaurant in West Valley City. Its pho with rare beef and meatballs warmed me up that day, and I’m sure it will warm you up, too, now that the weather has gotten cold again.

There are a lot fewer Asian restaurants along Redwood Road than, say, Mexican restaurants, and every time I discovered a particularly good one, I treasured it like a rare jewel.

These four restaurants represent Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese flavors that will perk up your palate and ignite your senses.

If you have an Asian restaurant on Redwood you’d like to recommend to me, let me know by emailing me at kpeterson@sltrib.com.

Dee Garden Thai Kitchen

Slightly hidden in a strip mall a ways back from the street is Dee Garden Thai Kitchen, at 7098 S. Redwood Road in West Jordan. Its exterior is plain, but inside you’ll find a welcoming space with cozy leather booths, walls the color of orange sherbet, and vibrant posters of villages with lush palm trees.

Dee Garden Thai Kitchen was opened in December 2019 by a family that came to the United States from a city in northeast Thailand called Nong Khai, said Fon Phothiworn, whose parents own the restaurant. “We make everybody feel welcome here,” she said.

They serve Thai mainstays such as soups, curries, stir-fries and pan-fried noodles, and make all their sauces from scratch, she said.

“We love giving our food to customers and see that they’re enjoying our food because we make it from the heart,” Phothiworn said.

When I visited in August, I ordered the waterfall beef, sweet mango rice and a pot of jasmine tea. The waterfall beef was made with sliced beef cooked medium rare, served on top of greens with cilantro, slivered carrots, chopped green onions and a zippy lemon dressing, with a side of sticky rice.

This was the first time I’d ever tried sweet mango rice, and it was to die for. The mango was perfectly ripe, and sang sweetly combined with the coconut milk and tender grains of rice.

Pho 777

This Vietnamese restaurant at 3585 S. Redwood Road in West Valley City has received two major accolades that make it stand out among pho places on Redwood. In February, Salt Lake Magazine named it one of the best Utah restaurants of 2024, and a year ago, it won the Pho King Championship and was declared to be the home of Utah’s best pho.

That’s a lot of hype to live up to, but I can honestly say it’s well deserved. Pho 777′s soup is rich and flavorful without being overpowering or heavy.

General manager Tien Avila, whose parents have run the restaurant since opening in 2019, said they make their pho broth by simmering beef bones, brisket, seasonings, onions, spices — cinnamon, coriander and more — for over 24 hours. They constantly have four gigantic soup pots going every day, so when they do run out of pho, hungry customers can be assured that another pot will be ready soon, she said.

Besides the pho, Avila said that most of Pho 777’s food is made from scratch, including all the sauces and marinades.

Pho 777 is a popular spot for lunch. Avila said that on most busy days, the restaurant will close a half-hour early because they’ve run out of food, so keep that in mind.

While dining in the sleek, modern space, it’s hard not to look at the golden Buddha statue up at the register. Surrounded by fresh orchids and festooned with $2 bills, he’s a much-loved figure in the restaurant.

Itto Sushi

Itto Takashi, the owner and founder of Itto Sushi, is serious about sushi. As a chef for almost 30 years, Takashi said his concern isn’t making money. It’s providing the best fish at the best price.

Takashi started Itto Sushi with the opening of his original Midvale location in 2013 at 856 Fort Union Blvd., which was staffed by just himself, his wife and a dishwasher. He opened his second location at 547 E. University Parkway in Orem in 2017, his third location in downtown Salt Lake City at 12 E. 300 South in 2018, and his fourth location at 10555 S. Redwood Road in South Jordan in 2021. In 2023, in West Valley City, Takashi also opened a Korean restaurant, Myung Ga, at 3353 Decker Lake Drive, which also contained the fifth location of Itto Sushi.

He flies in his fish fresh every day, directly from Japan, Hawaii, California and Alaska. And he uses a special type of Japanese sushi rice. “Sushi is a very simple food. So sufficient rice is very important,” he said.

Plus, he travels all over the world to taste sushi and keep his knowledge sharp. “We learn from good things, and then we learn from bad things, too,” Takashi said, and they update the menu based on those experiences.

One of Itto Sushi’s most popular dishes is a nigiri showcase called the Stairs of Heaven. Featuring tuna, salmon, hamachi, white tuna and toro, carefully placed on a series of wooden stairs, this dish is a “greatest hits” of customer favorites.

If you’re in the mood to create your own sushi, order the sashimi teishoku platter, which comes with a chef’s choice selection of sashimi, miso, rice and nori, so you can assemble your own hand rolls.

The adventurous ought to go to the Midvale location for Itto Sushi’s 15-dish omakase dining experience. Literally translated, “omakase” means “I leave it up to you,” and it involves the sushi chefs deciding what to prepare and serve based on what’s in season.

Rollz

Rollz is hard to see from the street, but just look for the Taylorsville location of Harmons and you’ll spot this Vietnamese restaurant just south of it at 5480 S. Redwood Road.

Inside, you’ll find a no-frills eatery with a long counter on one side, where you’ll place your order. The menu is made up of Vietnamese mainstays like spring rolls, pho, rice plates, banh mi sandwiches, rice platters and noodle dishes.

When I visited in the spring, I got the spring rolls with veggies, pork, steamed shrimp, mint, sprouts and vermicelli noodles. By the way, make sure to get something you’ll need to dip in peanut sauce — it’s made in-house and is really good. I also got the grilled pork banh mi, and I loved the combination of the crunchy and soft baguette with the flavorful pork, pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro, lettuce and butter.

The restaurant itself, with its altar on the west wall, feels new and clean. The glowing lanterns on the ceiling are pleasant to look at while you enjoy your meal.