Sara Crocker
Audio By Carbonatix
Mekong Plaza is a destination for dining and shopping in the heart of Mesa’s Asian District. With its recent expansion, there are more places than ever to taste the flavors and cultures that span the world’s largest continent.
Picking where to start your food field trip can be daunting as there are more than two dozen restaurants and food stores that are currently open or coming soon. They’re located across the 135,000-plus square feet that comprise the large plaza, located at the southwest corner of Main Street and Dobson Road.
This guide can help you get started, breaking down every restaurant, bakery and cafe at Mekong Plaza, along with eateries opening soon.

Dominic Armato
Phoenix, make your New Year’s Resolution Count!
We’re $11,000 away from reaching our $30,000 year-end fundraising goal. Your support could be what pushes us over the top. If our work has kept you informed, helped you understand a complex issue, or better connected you to your community, please consider making a contribution today.
Full-service restaurants
At these spots, you can get comfortable at a table, often order a drink and linger over a meal, should you choose.
- Broken Rice, formerly known as Com Tam Thuan Kieu, has delighted plaza diners (including our former food critic) for more than 15 years with a diverse Vietnamese menu that omits pho.
- Haidilao is a hot pot restaurant that launched in Sichuan, China, in 1994. Its first Arizona location opened in the expanded plaza in November.
- Happy Bao’s has been New Times’ go-to for stellar dumplings since 2022. The restaurant, tucked in Mekong Plaza just off the food court, also makes bao, noodles and soups.
- Mekong Palace Dim Sum Chinese Restaurant buzzes with lunchtime diners noshing on small plates of dumplings, seafood and sweet buns served from bustling steel carts wheeled across the expansive dining room during its daily dim sum service.
- Sizzling House serves steaming bowls of Wagyu ramen and sizzling plates of rice topped with salmon, courteously dropped tableside by the cat-inspired robot BellaBot.
- Tasty Pot is a Taiwanese-style hot pot chain that was founded in Southern California. Diners choose from a menu of brimming bowls of soup made with lamb, pork, curry or fermented tofu.
- Thai Spices serves classic dishes like pad Thai, tabletop cauldrons of tom ka soup and sticky rice and a large selection of curries and noodles. The restaurant also boasts a bar with craft cocktails and boba teas.
- The Kickin Crab is a Cajun seafood boil chain that encourages diners to don a bib while picking at crab, shrimp, crawfish and lobster.
- Unphogettable, which sits across the hall from Broken Rice, celebrates pho with eight renditions of the comforting Vietnamese soup. The restaurant’s large menu also includes bahn mi sandwiches, rice bowls and vermicelli salads.

Mekong Sandwiches
Casual eateries
These places are ideal when you’re on the go or looking for a quick bite.
- Bun Bo Hue is a Vietnamese counter in Mekong’s food court. Diners will find noodle soups, rice rolls and crispy, savory stuffed pancakes.
- Heng’s Kitchen neighbors Bun Bo Hue. This Chinese restaurant serves plates of mu shu and kung pao along with dim sum, rice and noodle dishes, plus to-go bags of frozen dumplings stuffed with pork and napa cabbage.
- Mekong Sandwiches specializes in bahn mi, offering 15 varieties of the Vietnamese baguette-wich. The counter-service joint also offers a wide variety of teas, Vietnamese coffee and milkshakes.
- Wholly Grill hangs a Filipino flag from its outpost in the Mekong food court. The restaurant barbecues chicken, beef and liempo — marinated and grilled pork belly. Pair your protein with macaroni or grilled eggplant salad.
- Zhengxin Chicken Steak is a Chinese fried chicken chain known for fried-to-order wings, nuggets and “steaks,” or chicken breast cutlets. These come packed in little paper boxes, on a sandwich or in a bucket with crispy fries.

Sara Crocker
Cafes, bakeries and desserts
Stop into one of these spots for a little treat.
- Coconut Jelly King’s titular dish is a jarred pudding-like dessert served with fresh fruit, preserves or tea. The shop also offers egg bubble waffles, slices of durian crepe cake and tea drinks.
- Crafti Tea & Mocktail brews drinks made with matcha, hojicha and oolong, as well as a roster of fruit and herbal teas. These form the base of colorful sips that can be plussed up with jellies, boba and housemade syrups.
- Roll Avenue Ice Cream Rolls is a sweets shop that serves the viral curled frozen treat in flavors of matcha, Thai tea and chocolate. You can opt for a special dessert cup, such as the S’mores, which features chocolate ice rolls garnished with graham cracker and toasted marshmallow.
- Sweet Time Bakery is a go-to spot for artisan bread, pastries, cakes and desserts, including popular Korean stuffed hodo cakes.
- Tea Snow and Boba has an expansive and customizable menu of smoothies, boba teas, shaved snow and Vietnamese coffee.

Sara Crocker
Stores
Where to find groceries, pantry items and sundries from across Asia.
- Mekong Supermarket is the anchor of the plaza and a one-stop shop for fresh produce, meat, seafood, baked goods, snacks and pantry items from around Asia.
- Tan Hua Inc. imports and sells Chinese teas, herbs and other dry goods.
- The Jerky King, located inside Mekong Plaza, sells Asian dried meats as well as nuts and candy.

Sara Crocker
Coming soon
These restaurants are all part of the plaza expansion and are set to open by summer 2026.
- ANH is a Vietnamese restaurant specializing in customizable Vietnamese bowls. Diners will be able to build their own spring rolls, salads and noodle and rice bowls.
- bb.q Chicken is a Korean fried chicken chain that has two Arizona locations, in north Scottsdale and Chandler.
- Hong Kong Cafe and Mama Lu’s Dumpling House are two popular Los Angeles-based restaurants that will operate from the same corner space in Mekong Plaza. Mama Lu’s is a Chinese family-style restaurant with a Taiwanese twist, while Hong Kong Cafe’s menu spans steaks to dim sum.
- Meet Fresh, a Taiwanese Restaurant that also serves boba and desserts, will open its second Arizona location in Mekong Plaza.
- Snowy Village Dessert Cafe is a traditional Korean dessert shop that has locations in Washington and Oregon. The cafe will serve bingsoo, or shaved ice, along with filled croissants, Korean toast and teas.
- Udon Shin, a renowned, viral Japanese restaurant known for its house-made noodles and crispy tempura, is launching its first U.S. location in Mesa.
Mekong Plaza
66 S. Dobson Road, Mesa