Finding good Asian food in Waco takes a little local knowledge. This isn’t Houston or Dallas — there’s no dedicated Asiatown here, and the best Asian restaurants in Waco are scattered from a converted Sonic drive-in on South Valley Mills to a 50-year-old Korean diner off North 18th Street. The upside is that almost all of them are family-owned, and several started as farmers market pop-ups or food trucks before graduating to a storefront. If you’re looking for Thai food in Waco, Vietnamese street food, sushi, dumplings, or a plate of Korean bulgogi, the options are better than the city’s reputation suggests. Below are 10 spots worth the drive.
1. Best Thai Restaurant in Waco: Bangkok Royal
Bangkok Royal has been the default answer to “where’s good Thai food in Waco” for years, and it earns the reputation through consistency more than novelty. It sits on South University Parks Drive, an easy walk from the Waco Suspension Bridge and most downtown hotels, which makes it one of the few sit-down Asian restaurants in Waco that visitors can reach on foot. Order the pad kee mao, the panang curry, or the tom kha kai. Longtime regulars will tell you the green curry and pad Thai have tasted the same for a decade, which is the point.
Two things to know: it closes between lunch and dinner, and it’s closed Sundays entirely. Plan around both.
Bangkok Royal | 215 S. University Parks Drive | wacobangkokroyal.com
2. Best Thai Curry in Waco: Curry Up & Wok This Way
Curry Up & Wok This Way is the more ambitious of Waco’s two Thai standard-bearers. Chef Bank and Ning Garsee, both born and raised in Thailand, started as a Waco Downtown Farmers Market pop-up in 2020 and built the business into a stall inside Union Hall. Their slogan — eat Thai food like Thai people do — is not decoration. When you order Thai heat, you get Thai heat.
The curries are the reason to go. Panang runs sweet and creamy, the green curry is brighter and less sugary, and both come with a generous portion of rice. The pad kra pow and pad kee mao are the other regular orders.
Big change worth knowing about: after closing their Union Grove Woodway location, the Garsees announced a full-service brick-and-mortar on Waco’s riverfront development along University Parks Drive, with a bar, patio seating, and an expanded menu adding northern Thai and Laotian dishes, set to open later this year. Google currently lists the restaurant at 412 McKeen St., where diners can order online and pick up to-go orders in the meantime.
Curry Up & Wok This Way | Currently at 412 McKeen St. | curryupandwokthisway.com
3. Oldest Asian Restaurant in Waco: Kitok Restaurant
Kitok opened in 1975 and is the closest thing Waco has to a culinary landmark that isn’t barbecue. Kitok Moore met her husband Robert while he was stationed in South Korea after the Korean War. When she opened her own place on North 18th Street, she kept the previous tenant’s Burger Factory signage and stuck to diner food before slowly working Korean dishes onto the menu. Fifty years later the restaurant still serves both, and the crossover is the whole appeal.
Order the oriental fries — tempura-battered shredded potato, carrot, onion, and parsley, adapted from a Korean pancake recipe Moore grew up with. Pair them with the Lip Locker, a double-meat burger, or go the Korean route with beef or chicken bulgogi served with fried rice, soup, and salad. Get them dine-in — the fries lose their crispness in a takeout box.
Kitok | 1815 N. 18th St. | kitokwaco.com
4. Best Chinese Food in Waco: King Noodle
King Noodle on North Valley Mills is the strongest sit-down Chinese restaurant in Waco, and it’s a genuine restaurant rather than a strip-mall takeout counter — clean room, attentive service, real menu breadth. The steamed and fried pork buns come out fresh, the Mongolian beef is the dish regulars repeat, and the stir-fried noodles hold up. There’s Korean crossover on the menu too, including a well-regarded bulgogi.
It’s a reliable choice for a group dinner or a family meal where not everyone wants the same thing. One catch: King Noodle is closed Tuesdays, which surprises a lot of first-timers.
King Noodle | 1230 N. Valley Mills Drive #700 | kingnoodlewaco.com
5. Best Vietnamese Food in Waco: Le’s Kitchen
Le’s Kitchen ran as a Vietnamese street food truck for years — you may still catch the truck at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market or a festival — before opening a permanent kitchen off Chapel Road in early 2025. Owner Le has said openly that she wanted to show Waco that Vietnamese food is more than pho, and the menu reflects that: hu tieu, dry noodle bowls, sticky rice plates loaded with multiple meats, beef stew with warm bread, tofu skewers, and seafood egg rolls.
The banh mi is the easy weekday order. The sticky rice plate is the one to get if you’re bringing someone who has only ever had pho. It’s a family operation with two generations working the counter, and it’s out west near Hewitt, so budget the drive from the Baylor-area.
Le’s Kitchen | 9107 Chapel Road, Suite B | leskitchenwaco.square.site
6. Best Boba Tea and Dumplings in Waco: Cha Community
Cha Community started as a 2018 boba pop-up at the farmers market and is now the anchor of Waco’s Asian American food scene — woman-owned, immigrant-owned, and the only Taiwanese-owned boba tea café in the area. There are two Waco locations plus one in Temple, and the pan-fried dumplings are as much of a draw as the drinks.
The downtown Franklin Avenue café has the full experience: dumplings, bao, Taiwanese cold noodles, braised pork over rice, matcha that regulars swear by, and enough table space to actually work.
Cha Community | 1001 Franklin Ave. | chacommunity.com
Listen now: Your Cup of Tea: An Interview with the Owners of Cha Community
7. Best Cheap Asian Food in Downtown Waco: The Blasian Asian
The Blasian Asian is a stall inside Union Hall, the shipping container food hall on Franklin Avenue, and it’s the answer when you want Southeast Asian food downtown without a sit-down commitment. The combo plate is the move — it lets a table split several things — and the orange chicken with garlic fried rice is the order people come back for. There’s a banh mi on the menu as well, though it leans more fusion than traditional.
Union Hall gets loud on weekends, especially during Baylor home games, but there’s patio and upstairs seating if the main floor is packed. Prices are the lowest on this list. If you’re building a downtown afternoon around it, it pairs well with the rest of the [best downtown Waco restaurants] [INTERNAL LINK].
The Blasian Asian | 720 Franklin Ave. | theblasianasian.com
Read more: 8 Black-Owned Restaurants in Waco to Try
8. Best Gluten-Free Asian Food in Waco: YAKI Texas Teriyaki
YAKI Texas Teriyaki operates out of a converted Sonic drive-in on South Valley Mills, and the entire kitchen is gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free — not “we have options,” but a dedicated facility. For anyone in Waco with celiac disease, that combination is close to nonexistent otherwise.
The concept is a rice box: pick a protein, get rice, yaki sauce, and a slaw salad. The smoked meats are where the Texas half of the name earns its keep, with smoked chicken, brisket, pulled pork, and smoked salmon on the board. The scratch-fried chicken nuggets and waffle fries are the other reason people stop. Broccoli and mushroom makes it vegetarian or vegan.
Seating is outdoor only — picnic tables under string lights in the old drive-in bay. In July and August that’s a real limitation, so plan on takeout or an evening visit. YAKI is closed Mondays.
YAKI Texas Teriyaki | 1307 S. Valley Mills Drive | eatyakitogo.com
Read more about YAKI: If You Grill It, They Will Come
9. Best Indian Buffet in Waco: Taz Indian Cuisine
Taz Indian Cuisine on North New Road is the newest of Waco’s Indian restaurants and currently the highest-rated, and the lunch buffet is the draw. It runs daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and works as a full survey of the kitchen rather than a few steam trays of tikka masala — you get a rotation across both northern and southern Indian dishes, and the vegetarian side of the buffet is as strong as the meat side.
The palak paneer is the sleeper order, and the naan comes out fresh rather than pre-stacked. Off the regular menu, the Chicken 65, gongura biryani, lamb vindaloo, and butter chicken are the dishes regulars name. The room is clean and unfussy, and the staff are patient with people eating Indian food for the first time, which matters in a college town.
Taz is closed Tuesdays — the one day the buffet doesn’t run. If they’re closed or you’re on the south side of town, Saffron at 2305 Marketplace Dr is the long-established alternative with its own lunch special; it’s closed Mondays.
Taz Indian Cuisine | 160 N. New Road | tazcuisine.com/waco-tx
10. Best Sushi in Waco: Wako Roll
Wako Roll out on West Loop 340 is the volume sushi spot in Waco and the one most locals name first. The fish is fresh, the seaweed is fresh, and the menu runs wider than sushi alone — there’s Korean on it too, including kimchi stew and bulgogi tacos, plus a boba menu that keeps students coming in late. Rolls are where the value is — the specialty rolls are generous enough that two people can share three or four and be finished.
If you want a different angle: MASA on Hewitt Drive is the better date-night sushi room, Domo Sushi inside Union Hall has the most student-friendly prices downtown, and Umiya Sushi on the Jack Kultgen Expressway does all-you-can-eat sushi and hot pot. Any of the four beats driving to Austin.
Wako Roll | 2804 W Loop 340 | wakoroll.com
Read more: 14 Fun & Romantic Waco Date Ideas
Plan Around These Closed Days in Waco
Half the frustration of eating Asian food in Waco is showing up on the wrong day. Quick reference:
Closed Sunday: Bangkok Royal, Kitok, Le’s Kitchen, Wako Roll Closed Monday: Kitok, YAKI, Saffron Closed Tuesday: King Noodle, Taz Indian Cuisine (buffet doesn’t run) Open seven days: The Blasian Asian, Cha Community, Curry Up & Wok This Way
The Bottom Line
Waco’s Asian restaurant scene is small, but it’s almost entirely independent, and that shows up on the plate. The best Asian restaurants in Waco are also spread out — downtown, North Valley Mills, South Valley Mills, and out toward Hewitt — so pick your neighborhood before you pick your cuisine, and check hours first. Several of these places close two days a week and a couple close between lunch and dinner. If you’re new to town and want a short list: Kitok for the history, Bangkok Royal or Curry Up for Thai food in Waco, Le’s Kitchen for Vietnamese, and Cha Community when you want dumplings and a place to sit for an hour.
