RiceSticks in Atlanta

[Milt]

Last Monday a new Vietnamese restaurant opened in Sandy Springs. RiceSticks is at 5920 Roswell Road B-113 between Hammond and I-285. My wife and I had dinner there last night and it was fantastic. We shared an order of Shrimp Spring Rolls, then she ordered Chicken Curry as her entree and I ordered Braised Tofu and Mushrooms as mine. For dessert she had Lemon Flan and I ordered Pear Jasmine Sorbet. I went in to a brand new restaurant hoping that the food was decent and the service not too harried. Service was exceptional - helpful, pleasant, but not hovering. We never felt ignored or rushed. The food was beyond my dreams for a new venture. They obviously hired qualified, experienced, capable staff. Even the young man bussing the tables was impressive. The decor is beautiful. Kevin Tran, one of the owners, told me that his sister (an artist) worked closely with their architect to achieve the results we observed.

Check them out now, before they are discovered. They are closed on Sundays.

www.ricestocks.com is their website.

[Gifted Gourmet]

The food was beyond my dreams for a new venture.  They obviously hired qualified, experienced, capable staff.  Even the young man bussing the tables was impressive.  The decor is beautiful.  Kevin Tran, one of the owners, told me that his sister (an artist) worked closely with their architect to achieve the results we observed. 

Thanks, Milt, for this lead to the type of restaurant I am anxious to try! Actually spend a lot of time in Sandy Springs and will go by there shortly. I hope you will encourage Kevin Tran to join eGullet and post here as he has done on other local sites ... would love to hear his "take" on the restaurant business and what his newest concepts are on Vietnamese cuisine. His website is lovely and appears to mirror your "review" closely!

Permit me one very tiny correction on Tran's website, Milt:

Ricesticks website

[Kevin Tran]

Thanks for the kind words. I truly think RiceSticks not only adds something unique to Sandy Springs, but all of Atlanta. I'm glad you enjoyed it Milt. And thanks for inviting me to the forum, Gifted. I'll have to get use to finding myself around in here.

Kevin Tran

RiceSticks

Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine

[Kevin Tran]

Hey everyone,

I run a brand new upscale-casual Vietnamese restaurant in Sandy Springs, GA (northside Atlanta) called RiceSticks. GiftedGourmet kindly invited me eGullet a few weeks ago and I've been lurking since.

I'm running a special for the entire month of August that will be advertised in Access Atlanta Thursday 8/5. I wanted to give you all here at eGullet a heads up on the special and invite you to try us out.

For all of August, we will have a 2 for 1 lunch entree special.

Vietnamese cuisine is the lightest of all Asian cuisine. A concentration is put on the use of lots of fresh herbs.

If interested, email me at kevin@ricesticks.com and I will email you further information. It will be my pleasure to answer any questions you may have about the restaurant or Vietnamese cuisine in general. Thanks alot.

Kevin Tran

[agbaber]

I look forward to tryin your place out.

[Milt]

We ate at RiceSticks on Friday evening of their first week in business and it was excellent. Lovely decor (very important to my wife) along with excellent food (important to both of us), I can comfortably recomment RiceSticks to any who have not yet been there.

[TheFoodTutor]

I've been to RiceSticks once so far, but plan to go again. It's a very nice place with a clean, upscale look.

Kevin, can any of the dishes you serve be adjusted to add more spice, if the customer requests?

[Kevin Tran]

I've been to RiceSticks once so far, but plan to go again. It's a very nice place with a clean, upscale look.

Kevin, can any of the dishes you serve be adjusted to add more spice, if the customer requests?

Tutor, short answer is yes.

Here's the long answer. If I were to compare Vietnamese food to one of the more common Asian cuisines, I'd say that we are most like Thai food without all the chili peppers. We have a concentration on flavors such as lemongrass, ginger, garlic, mint, and others. The hot spice of chilis are usually reserved for sauces and dips. Of course, by request, we can always spice a dish up with some fresh Thai chilis though.

Hope to see you soon.

[CoolPapaBell]

Definitely very good and more than worth a visit. I will be back.

[Kevin Tran]

Just a couple of announcement if y'all don't mind:

RiceSticks will be having our official Grand Opening next Thursday August 26. Portions of the whole day's sales will benefit the local Community Action Center. They have been a source of aid for emergency assistance to families in the community for many years. We will also feature traditional Vietnamese dragon dancers in the evening. If you're in Atlanta, come enjoy a great meal and help out a good cause.

Also, exclusively, RiceSticks is now offering a special dinner spring roll menu containing 8 different and new types of rolls including calamari, octopus, eel, carmelized pork, surf & turf, flank steak, California, and vegetarian. Not available anywhere else in town.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have just returned from a marvelous dinner with a friend at Ricesticks in Atlanta and came away in awe of the beauty and delicacy of the Vietnamese cuisine served there! Some of the flavors were new to me and I found the entire experience quite an eye-opener: the pristine and clean fresh tastes of Tran's springrolls full of shrimp, meats, noodles and basil with a bright, spirited dipping sauce of hoisin mixed with sambal (not sure of this exactly but I was thrilled with the heat and sweetness!).

The entrees were equally theatrically presented with various dipping sauces and fresh limes: the "shaking beef" was rare and delightful on a bed of greens of all types while the pork and shrimp on rice noodles was equally flavorful. Coconut flan rounded out the meal without adding to one's already full stomach ... a definite must if you want a learning about ethnic culinary artistry in north Atlanta! the autumn menu

Thanks, Kevin Tran, for giving this town something very different and most welcome!

[Kevin Tran]

Melissa, thanks so much for coming in. It was a great pleasure to finally meet you.

kevin

[Gifted Gourmet]

This week's Atlanta Creative Loafing has an updated, comprehensive review by Cliff Bostock, on RiceSticks here in Atlanta:

Executive chef Paul Gregory's menu of food, elegantly plated on black china, is certainly authentic ... For novelty, there's a lengthy menu of goi cuon, rice paper rolls stuffed with rice and a variety of fillings.... market-priced whole flounder, fried after a salt-and-pepper rubdown, was sweet and flaky, served with some tasty bok choy. My own dish, "shaking" beef, was marinated cubes of tenderloin sauteed ("shaken" in a pan over high eat) with onions and served with cherry tomatoes and some greens....