Pacific Rim Cafe

Got lucky stopping here on a long drive. Best spring rolls I ever had. The phở had beautiful huge pieces of really nice chicken white meat. Super good food and service. Nice décor as well. Highly recommended!

First impression was the immaculate and vibrant ambience. Nice menu layout, easy to read. I ordered phở and spring rolls for lunch. Both very good. I would have taken pictures, but all the photos on this listing are spot on. I saw someone say the prices were high… I’m not sure what dumpster they dive in, but the prices are fair. The best thing to do if you want Vietnamese food is order, eat, and leave happy. Definitely recommending.

The phở bowl is amazing! Stopped by for a place to eat during a road trip and wanted something hot for the weather. The small bowl was a perfect size for me and was delicious. It comes with fresh basil, bean sprouts, and lemon on the side (probably unlimited if you keep asking for more). The servers were all friendly, nice, and very welcoming. Definitely a place to go to if you’re in the mood for some phở!

Found this place recently and will be coming back as often as possible! They impressed and surprised me with their delicious veggie phở and veggie spring rolls. I didn’t expect to find any vegetarian broth phở options in my home town, but here they are.
Of course they have a great variety of meat dishes for everyone else out there, including Pad Thai, Stir Fry, my dad liked the spicy chicken dish he got there. Lots of good variety for everyone. Friendly service with lots of attention to water refills.

Pacific Rim is one of those little-​known gems in the area. Their food is consistently great, and the staff is solid and friendly. Oh, and their phở is «phở-​nominal.» (See what I did there? Seriously, it’s good stuff.)

Great food and service. Place was much nicer than I expected it to be. Only downfall is it’s a little pricey for Vietnamese food but in South Dakota that’s to be expected.

Who would have thunk it? Yummy high quality phở in South Dakota!
This place was excellent. We were hungry and had a hankering for Asian food and there’s nothing like phở to fill that void. The broth here was flavorful and the rare steak in mine was very tender and not chewy at all. Color me impressed.
I’m cursed with always having to try the crab rangoon after having the best crab rangoon of my life from Sukhothai in Rochester Hills, MI. The ones here were overly fried to the point that the tops were super crunchy and not edible. Per another review, it’s true they are stuffed to the brim with cream cheese and have way more crab than most restaurants put in this dish but the texture of the filling after being fried wasn’t creamy but more chunky and I found that off-​putting. Bummer. Other people don’t seem to mind it but I wasn’t a fan.
Other than that sore spot, the service was great. The waitress was very attentive to us and we got our meal in a timely manner. In and out in a flash and we were back on the road.
For some reason, we ran into some trouble locating this place. The restaurant is in a plaza across the street from Pirate’s Cove, a pirate-​themed miniature golf course which you cannot miss. Happy eating!

Awesome combination Phở on a cold cloudy day! Don’t be fooled from the outside appearance… the book on the inside is the real deal! I’m from the Houston TX metro area where there is a Phở house on every corner. This place stacks up to any of them.
Great service from Rachel… she rocks!

Bless, it took us two days to get here because of dense fog, and nearly scrapped plans to eat here. Thank goodness we didn’t — it was excellent. The space is decorated — «upscale strip-​mall renovation» — which is a good thing. It is warmly colored and softly lit.
I was chilly after a loooooong day (half-​marathon, driving/​touring Deadwood and Spearfish, then back around to Rapid City) and phở was the way to go.
Veggie phở and a bahn mi for myself, a stir fry dish and Vietnamese wings for the spouse. The bahn mi was the right mix of textures and with plenty of everything a good bahn mi deserves. My phở was delicious (it is a beef-​based broth, FYI vegetarians) and filling — I couldn’t come close to finishing it. We would definitely eat here again, and recommend it for a solid Vietnamese-​cuisine experience.

We came here on a Monday not knowing that Monday’s menus are limited (probably the chef’s night off). There were only a handful of Asian dishes that were available.
The Thai iced tea is not their strong point. It was good but a little too sweet.
I highly highly suggest their phở instead. I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted the broth– very clean tasting with no MSG. I think it was better than most of the phở places around Los Angeles.
Service was really good– waitress/​owner checked up on us multiple times.

Not much to look at from the outside… but you have to eat here if you like Phở! We were seated promptly and they had Hot Green Tea, my favorite. I also noticed after we ordered our drinks that Wifi is available… password is pacificrimcafe. Anyway, we ordered the Phở Combo, large bowl, the Crab Rangoon, and Fried Tofu. The Combo has meatballs, tripe, brisket, and rare beef… really the way to go… It could have used just a little more of the meats, especially the tripe, but there was enough. The noodles were great, and be sure to take all of the basil they give you and tear it up then mix it into the bowl, along with the sprouts and Jalapeño pepper pieces. I added some other sauces from the table into mine, which made it a little spicy. It was awesome… I could have easily eaten two bowls. Now, if you order the Crab Rangoon you will not believe the size of each one… we ordered 6 instead of the smaller order of 4. Wow! They were absolutely FULL, and STUFFED to the MAX with crab and cheese, especially crab! We would make a meal of these but they are so rich you really would be full before you could finish too many of them… again, wow! I didn’t try the fried Tofu, but Janet ate all of it herself and really enjoyed it. We ate the two fortune cookies for dessert.
The service is great and they came to the table just often enough to make sure we had everything we wanted. I would eat here once or twice a week if I could. We were here for lunch… give this place a try, you will love the food.

Wow, I was really worried about finding something fresh and healthy out here in frontier country, but this place fit the bill! They also have delivery and their menu is on facebook
The spring rolls are huge and two of them is easily a meal in itself. The phở was really delicious and served with fresh basil right on the stem. Service was excellent. Can’t recommend this place enough!

Great food. For a not-​so-​Chinese town, this place sure knows how to prepare some good dishes. I’m from LA and eat plenty of this stuff and wouldn’t hesitate coming back here again.
We had the Phở Combination and Phở Beef Ball. Great…
Also had the Vietnamese wings and these were absolutely fantastic. My daughter and I fought for the last one!
I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is sick of typical American fair.

Service was great, very attentive. The food is the closes I’ve found so far being in the middle that taste the closes to real Chinese food.

South Dakota, you surprised me. The phở here is about the same as the ones I get in NYC! Not bad for a place in the middle of nowhere. The broth was rich and the portions were big, the combination is definitely the way to go.
I noticed other reviewers highlighted the bad service but I didn’t get any of that? My server wasn’t a teenager either, she constantly checked up on us, refilled our waters, answered all our questions about the menu. I had absolutely no trouble with her at all.
The only downside here is the vermicelli noodle salad, the noodles were served hot when they’re usually suppose to be cold (salad, hello!) and the egg rolls tasted like the Chinese rather than Vietnamese, the wrapping wasn’t crunchy either.
3.5 stars but I’m rounding up to 4 cause of the free wifi, it’s like South Dakotans know there isn’t any cellular service here. Thanks for saving my ass and letting my google maps work its magic.
P. S. Wifi password is pacificrimcafe.

Fantastic phở and pad Thai. Very reasonable prices and outstanding service. Definitely a great recommend – thanks, Unilocal

The service is top notch. The gal we had for our waitress was so attentive and friendly.
Their summer rolls are amazing! They had something crunchy in it that added such a different and nice texture to what I’m used to. The peanut sauce was also great!
To my surprise this place had decent phở. The broth was so flavorful that I did not need to add any hoisin sauce or sriracha.
What really topped my experience here were the bean sprouts. I’ve never had such fresh and clean bean sprouts before. They take their time to cut the tails off of each sprout. This may not seem like a lot but it made quite a difference. There were bursts of water with every bite and it was so crunchy!
If you live in the area do stop by for a meal, it’s totally worth it.

AUTHENTIC phó IN SOUTH DAKOTA!!! It may be hard to believe but… YOU BECHA! We were displaced Californians trying to defrost after a few days in chilly Middle America. BRRR! Usually if we’re craving Asian soup, there’s a Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, or Korean spot near by where we call home, but do we have the same kind of options here in Rapid City? Unilocal sure does come in handy when you have specific cravings in foreign places. After spinning the Unilocal wheel, Wifey thought this place would fit our fams eclectic needs, so off we went. Big sign out front helps to spot it sooner. Once inside, the fish tank inside is HUGE and mesmerized my young squires. Staff is interactive and helpful, which makes any visit that much more pleasant. Pacific Rim actually has a variety of Asian dishes, and Vietnamese phó options take up some of the menu. So, let’s sample a few things!
*COCONUT DRINK: Doesn’t say it in the menu, but it’s STRAIGHT FROM THE COCONUT!!! Yup, full on Coconut With a Straw! Quite refreshing. Then when you’re done with the «water,» they’ll split it open so you can scoop out the inside yumminess! Nom nom NOM :)
*SPRING ROLLS: Vietnamese version, comes as a pair. Quality is about the same as anything I’ve had in Cali. Peanut sauce was tasty, too.
*FRIED TOFU: Prepared just the way WE like it! Nicely crisp shell, yet still soft inside. Not greasy at all. I had to ask for two more orders of this because the young squires were just inhaling this stuff and Wifey & I could only watch the devastation! We must’ve been having tofu withdrawals or somethin’, geez!
*PHÓ GÀ (P5-​CHICKEN): My Munchkin’s favorite soup! The broth here is light with a nice flavor to it. Ample serving of tender white chicken. Sometimes Munch will let me squirt some Hoisin sauce in, but not this time. Like Baby Bear’s porridge, it was JUUUST right :)
*PHÓ COMBINATION (P1): AHHH! Such a comfort to breath in the hot & steamy broth on a chilly day. They have all the normal fixin’s you typically get with phó, except a lil chintzy on the basil leaves. Broth had a good flavor to it, but I always hype it up with Hoisin, Sriracha & chili paste. This option comes with meatballs, beef brisket, tendon, rare beef, & tripe (but no tripe or tendon for me). The meats I had were tender and in ample quantity. Yup! Yummy Chilly Willy protection :)
*GENERAL TSO CHICKEN: Best General Tso’s we’ve EVER had! And, it’s IN SOUTH DAKOTA, of all places!!! Big tender chicken pieces here covered in a crunchy shell that had a caramelized sweet & tangy covering. SOOO GOOD!
*BROCCOLI STIR FRY with SHRIMP: The lil man enjoyed this, but I thought it had too much sauce for a stir fry. Looked more like a stew. Ample servings of broccoli and shrimp came with the order. Eh.
*DEEP FRIED ICE CREAM: I was pleasantly surprised to find this on the menu and happily ordered it. Batter Shell is thick, crispy on the outside but a bit doughy inside. Vanilla ice cream is pretty firm despite being deep fried. Not the best I’ve had, but a decent attempt.
This was SUCH a welcome change in a trip filled with new eateries and/​or often settling for whatever was close. Nice to know there’s access to tasty Asian comfort foods we SoCalis are use to, in this part of the United States that’s far from any boomin’ metropolis. WORTH sampling :)

We took the kids to Mount Rushmore for spring break and happened to stay in Rapid City. It was so cold that the family wanted to have some noodle soup, yes, it’s so easy to drive down the block and get it in SAn Gabriel Valley.
We found this place on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. It is unexpectedly great phở noodle!!! It’s even better than the ones we usually go in downtown LA. The soup is light and flavorful. We all ordered the combination phở. The best phở I have had!!!
We are leaving in couple days and we will definitely back here before going to the airport!

Of the two Vietnamese restaurants in Rapid City, Pacific Rim Café is the newcomer. The décor here was lovely, with shades of red, blue, and brown, accented by brick and Vietnamese paintings, vessels, and figurines. It was simple, but elegant. Interestingly, this is really an American style café with Vietnamese specialties. Vietnamese appetizers and phở are available for order, alongside sandwiches — but I don’t mean banh mi. I’m talking cuban, reuben, and roast beef. There’s even a kids’ menu with grilled cheese and PB&J.
The phở here is cheaper than at its competitor Saigon, with a small option for $ 7.95 and large for $ 9.95. I ordered the «Phở with rare beef,» which came quickly, and with the proper garnishes.
My first impression was uh oh, this broth is very light in color, but it turned out to be more flavorful than I thought! It did have a light taste, but it wasn’t bad at all. I wished the bowl was bigger though, because the broth came right to the top, leaving no room to add bean sprouts and mix it all up! Once I drank a little of the broth though, I was able to eat properly. The noodles were good, but the meat was a little strange. It had a stronger flavor and was a little tough, more like brisket than rare steak. The cut was slightly different than what I was used to, with the slight slickness of fat in some areas, when usually the rare steak for phở won’t have any fat at all.
Overall, it was a satisfying bowl of phở, much better than what I had at Saigon the night before. The service at Saigon was better though; at PRC the one server was a little slow to get to me even though there were only two other parties. She seemed busy, but checked on the party of four near me a few times before checking on me. Maybe because I’m just one unimportant person? Who knows.
Overall, I enjoyed my visit. It has a nice atmosphere, and I think it’ll do very well for years to come. Plus there was a special that day — 10% off! When I paid, I also got a fortune cookie, which read «All of your hard work will soon be paid off.» Excellent. I hope that comes true soon!
Rating Breakdown
Taste (⁹⁄₁₄):
Broth flavor– ³⁄₅
Noodle & meat quality– ⁴⁄₅
Garnish selection– ½
Portion size– ½
Restaurant (¹⁵⁄₁₆):
Service– ⁴⁄₅
Cleanliness– ⁵⁄₅
Atmosphere– ⁴⁄₄
Speed of arrival– ²⁄₂
Total: ²⁴⁄₃₀
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