7800 S 1st St

I first encountered Song La when they were still in the back of the Co-Op near UT, and I was so sad when they were forced to move. It wasn't until I graduated college that I made the trip to their S 1st location. I love Song La so much. I used to go so often back in college that the owner of the truck started remembering my name. (I go less often now just cause it's a little bit of a drive). I always get the chicken bites bento box and it's such a filling and delicious meal - true Taiwanese comfort food. The longhorn sauce and Song La sauce are both super yummy and I always get both. Highly recommend!! Only thing is when they moved from behind the Co-Op the boba milk tea was taken off the menu. I'll always miss it

There are few places in Austin where you can get authentic Taiwanese food, and Song La is one of them! Taiwanese popcorn chicken is one of my favorite versions of fried chicken. They execute this dish so well. The box portion is generous. Their food is delicious, warm, and comforting. The owner was so nice! She even threw in an extra egg for me and apologized for the wait even though we weren't waiting that long for our food! I recommend arriving early because some of the menu items were sold out. Parking at the Thicket Food Park can also be a bit tight.

Song La is a must-try with its perfectly crispy chicken bites and amazingly crafted Taiwanese cuisine. We got the chicken bites and pork chop, and they were absolutely mind-blowing. I've had Song La before, and their quality is consistently top-tier. The chicken bites are so crispy and perfectly seasoned you can feel the satisfying crunch with every bite. The pork chop is also fantastic, the radish is sour and tangy, while the rice balances the flavors out so you're not too overwhelmed. The sauce they provide is magical, and I love dousing my meat and rice in it. The wait is a bit long, but that's how good restaurants are. The lady who makes the food is sooo nice, she gave us some beverages while we waited without us asking. Overall, very solid establishment and a must-try. Wish it was a bit further north .

This place is so good! I totally recommend! It's in the cute food trailer park and will definitely be nice to eat there when it's cooler. I got the chicken bites with Thai basil and omg it's so yummy. Everything is fresh and made to order and you can tell! The owner is so sweet and attentive. The portion size is so good too with juicy chicken thigh bites. (The pic is when I had eaten like 5 pieces already). I will def be going back!

Delicious, fresh, authentic Taiwanese flavors! Perfect food truck to kick off our Austin vacation. The chicken was tender, juicy & perfectly battered. I would highly recommend ordering online to skip the line! Will definitely be back when I'm in the area.

Delicious. Authentic flavors of Taiwanese chicken nuggets. Service is polite. Food truck ambiance. Made to order, can be a little bit of wait. I ordered online.

Got the fried chicken bento box from this food truck. Came by on a Saturday for lunch and waited 30 minutes for 3 meals. Definitely worth the wait! The chicken was fresh and flavors were authentic. The portion sizes were huge for a very reasonable price. The food truck is located in an area with a bunch of other food trucks in a circle with tables in the center. There was even live music on Saturday, very Austiny vibes. Parking is around the perimeter of the area. Will definitely be coming back!

"Song la!" means something along the lines of "HAIL YA" in the Taiwanese Hokkien dialect, and this phrase perfectly captures how my husband and I feel every time we eat here. Song La is a well-loved food truck and often sells out of their popular items, so be sure to order ahead of time on their website. The Chicken Bites & Braised Pork are our go-to. We've always gotten the bento boxes for both but may try downgrading one to a side order because the portions are huge! As far as taste and quality goes, Song La gets this Taiwanese girly's full stamp of approval. Every bite is juicy, well-seasoned, and perfectly texturized... brings me right back to the night markets back home. I love love love the fried basil leaves and the sweet tangy crunchiness of the pickled veggies. For how busy Song La is, I'm amazed by the speed at which their orders fly out the window - and it's usually just one person running the whole show. The owner greets all customers with a huge smile and waves them over for food pick-up like a classic Asian auntie. She could probs tell I was Taiwanese by my Mandarin accent and, when she noticed us packing up to leave, made sure to say goodbye from afar. So. Freaking. Sweet. Song La is located in the Thicket Food Park along with several other vendors, and it's honestly one of the better food truck locations we've been to around Austin. There's live music, easy parking, and plenty of shaded seating for hot sunny days. I can't wait for our next meal here!

Best Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken I've ever had. As a Taiwanese, I didn't expect to find such amazing taiwanese food...in Austin, TX of all places! But this truck will not disappoint. Not only are portion sizes good, the prices are extremely reasonable! The owner is kind and amiable, and also Taiwanese, so you know you're getting authentic Taiwanese cuisine by dining here. She's extremely friendly and you can tell she makes the food from her heart. As for Thicket Food Park, it is very kid-friendly, with a playground in the middle, and lots of small toddler toys. Great place for families as well.

This is totally the same as I eat in Taiwan, the food is awesome! I never eat the food flavor so close like my home. If you never come here, you must come It is really Taiwan style! Song La!

I've been wanting to go here and finally made the drive to it. It's in a food truck park so there's a lot of options. They were definitely the busiest on a Sunday afternoon and there are trees so it's not as hot. I ordered the chicken bites box and it was yummy. Adding the rice helped make the dish more filling. The pickled radish was a little too sore for me. The chicken bites were flavorful and crispy. One of my friends did comment that it would be nice if there was more Chinese five spice to the chicken. I think the sauce was spicy mayo. This place is definitely worth trying!

At this point I've lost track of how many times I've been to this place. The owner is super friendly and sweet. The yard is covered with trees so it's nice to visit in the summer time as well. I normally order her chicken bite box which is the top seller. I always make sure to get lots of sauce with my order, it's not spicy and is a bit sweet. Chicken bit box (cbb) is usually sold out within the first 2/3 hours or so. I've also tried her pork bite box, and buns with condensed milk which are always on point but since I enjoy chicken the most, i get cbb the most.

Yummy food. Food came out fast and service was great too. I would def go back to this place.

Really enjoyed Song La because authentic Taiwanese is hard to find in south Austin. Was just here on a Friday afternoon for lunch with my friend. Thicket has many shaded seating options with water misters so the 102° weather didn't bother us too much. Between the two of us we got 1 chicken bites bento box 1 braised pork bento box 2 sodas The service was quick and easy . I paid $18 for my meal and my friend paid $14. In my opinion, the chicken crisp and texture was cooked perfectly but the flavor was a miss. Although good, It was a bit bland. The tofu that accompanies this bento box was good. Veggies that come with this combo are cabbage and broccoli. Pretty standard. The braised pork over rice was accompanied by 1 egg. The flavors were great! I Could taste soy and five spice. What I didn't like about this dish was how fatty the pork belly was. Yes, it's pork belly. I know it's suppose to be rich and fatty but wow, some pieces were straight up fat and the tenderness from braising made it hard to palette. The chili oil really helps with flavor enhancement. The egg was well over done lol but was still good! The portions are huge so you can split a bento box with another and still be full. I had the leftovers of my pork the next day and the fattiness was even more intense lol. I do like Song La so I'll be back to try other items on the menu but maybe not the braised pork :p

I've only visited Austin a couple times now, so I'm obviously not the best source for what's considered "must-try" in the city. With that said, there are a handful of places I've tried and walked away from so impressed that I'll think about their food for months (even years) after I've left; those are the spots I'll look back at fondly while simultaneously looking forward to stopping by again. Song La is officially one of those places because of the immense levels of care, service, and flavor that go into each dish. Before I ordered, I was told by the lady running the truck that it would be a 40 minute wait. Long wait times trigger a sort of fight|flight response in me but I decided that if people were waiting this long for a meal, it had to be good. Plus we were in the Thicket and were just lounging around so I didn't mind waiting. Either way, I'm glad I did because Song La knows how to cook up some delicious chicken bites and pork belly. The fried chicken bites were absolutely perfect - I have nothing else to say. Nothing else really needs to be said other than "you should order the fried chicken bites because they are perfect". If I had to nitpick, I wish they gave me more sauce than the tiny container it came with because the sauce was also perfect. The pork belly bento box was delicious, and the serving size was much bigger than expected. Like the chicken, Song La nailed the pork belly and rice - no notes, nothing to add, get the pork belly too. Everything else in the box (veggies/egg) was tasty enough but not nearly as memorable. To top it all off, the lady running the truck was incredibly pleasant the whole time, even while she was very obviously stacked with orders. It was really impressive to see them push all these orders through consistently while also taking the time to talk with each customer and let them know the status of their orders. Easy recommendation - I now have a new core memory associated with Austin thanks to Song La.

Song La is SO nostalgic for me because it used to be located in the famous food truck park behind the Co-Op at UT. I used to order an Apple Sidra soda and braised pork rice as a comfort meal, and it hit every time. I'm saddened by the fact that Song La has moved so far south because it's hard for me to go, but every time I've gone, it's still been such a yummy and nostalgic meal. I recently tried their fried chicken, and it was so good! It was perfectly fried, and their spicy mayo sauce is delicious. I also highly recommend getting their braised pork rice (I believe that's what they're known for). The pork is cooked perfectly, and the radish is a nice and refreshing touch to the heavier meat. My only complaint is that I wish they would give more pork because of how delicious it is. The owner is super sweet too, so you should definitely go visit and support a small business!

I've spent the last 5 years looking for Taiwanese food in Austin. I also gave up on looking for Taiwanese food in Austin because it's just never the same. Enter Song la. Their chicken bites box (get some eggs, too) taste EXACTLY like a food cart I used to eat at in Taiwan. It was a shock to my system how exactly alike they tasted and it literally took me back almost a decade. 10/10 So delicious and truly Taiwanese flavors.

Fresh, authentic, and delicious! Not to mention the portion size. One bento box is enough for two lol

Song La is a food truck in the Thicket food park, along with many other food trucks! Great place to hang out and try a bunch of different food! I tried the chicken bento which was great but I really wish there were a ground beef option, or ground pork. I'll have to try the pork belly one next time. The bento itself comes with some veggies and rice, too... Overall makes for a good meal (or two really). Hoping more taiwanese food comes to south Austin!!

I got the chicken bites, and it was really good. There's basil in it and come with the sauce. The sauce compliments it well. The chicken flavor was nice, and it was slightly crispy and tender. Definitely recommended to try it. It cost around $11-12 after tax. It does take a lil bit of time to cook so be patient.

I was so excited to find out that a Taiwanese food truck was at Thicket, which is super close to me. This food is such comfort food for my high school and college days growing up in California, going to get milk tea with friends practically every day for lunch or after school. And what always paired so well was that savory popcorn chicken with blistered basil. I decided to finally try Song La today for lunch and got: - Pork Belly Bun - Chicken Bites Box - Pork Chop Box The Pork Belly Bun is pricier but it is big. It has a really thick cut of pork belly, perfectly braised. Paired with cilantro and a lightly sweet peanut crumble. The boxes felt like great portions for the price. Big, thick pieces of perfectly fried, juicy meat on top of a huge bed of perfectly cooked and fluffy rice. You definitely get more rice than you need but I always use leftover rice for other meals I make. The one downside for me is that across the board, all the proteins didn't have any salt. Salt (or msg really) is so important to the memory of that dish and not having salt in general wasn't able to bring out the flavor of the chicken or that five spice blend. The Chicken Bites and Pork Chop do come with the Song La sauce (sweet and spicy, with honey mustard or thousand island notes), which tastes great with the proteins. I'll still be coming back but my humble suggestion would be to have that salt and spice shaker so we can be uncouth and choose our own adventure like they have at milk tea places.

Outstanding flavors! Like a dumpling and fried chicken all in one. Some of the juiciest fried chicken I can recall eating! Will definitely return!

Phenomenal food and an amazing price! All homemade, very generous portions, and tastes fresh! The Taiwanese style fried chicken here is out of this world and the go to for me! Not greasy at all, light, crispy, and fragrant! Shout out to the incredibly kind and friendly owner, she is a gem!

I love this spot. The chicken is crispy and the rice is done right. The spicy mayo changed a little but it's still delicious. Getting some bites of fried basil in between is also a treat. The only downside I've ever had is the jumbo wings. They were way too fatty for my liking. The pork buns are also a treat but are limited in availability. Perhaps what brings my rating to a complete 5 stars is the friendly caring attitude of the owner. As an immigrant I love to support small immigrant family businesses.

Song La is one of the best food trailers in all of the city. I don't know why I've never written a review. I've been enjoying their food for an insanely long time. I love that they have moved down south so now its easy for me to stop in for a quick lunch. They make the best fried tofu I've ever had and I'm always amazed at the quality of their rice. If you want Taiwanese food, heck if you just want a good lunch this is the spot.

The food is consistently good! Made fresh. The portions are so generous. Very authentic and what you'd find at a Taiwanese night market.

Hands down one of my favorite food trucks near UT campus. Pre-COVID, the lines were always at least a 20min wait but that's because their food is all made to order. With COVID, they've switched to online pre-ordering which makes things immensely easier and convenient. The lady that works in the truck is also super nice and accommodating: Last time, for example, I decided to order more dishes and placed my online order right at the truck and it was ready within 15 minutes. Now on to the food. My go to is the braised pork rice which comes with my favorite fatty pork belly, an egg, Taiwanese cabbage, pickled daikon, and chili oil. From the top, the amount looks really unassuming, but once you dig in, there's actually so much food that it lasts me at least 2 meals. The cabbage is nice and soft and the pork belly is perfectly cooked. The Taiwanese fried chicken is also really good, with the chicken being very juicy and crispy. It also comes with their longhorn sauce, which can be described as a slightly sweet and creamy sauce, and goes very well with the chicken

Taiwanese foods has its own distinct style and flavor that aren't always to find in many restaurants; Song La makes a terrific rendition of it from its food truck (for the next few days, at least) behind the UT Co-Op. The menu isn't huge, but all the mainstays are there: Taiwanese pork chop rice, braised pork rice, fried chicken, and fried chicken bites. Fried foods will always be graded on a curve because...fried food is delicious. But what Song La does well is to ensure that its fried pork chop and chicken are both crispy and aromatic. The crispiness comes from the potato starch--a common breading used in Taiwanese and Japanese cuisine--and the aroma comes from the Fivespice powder mixed into the breading. Both ensure that the meaty interior is nice and juicy. The pork chop bento also comes with two solid servings of vegetables to offset the guilt of the fried entrée, as well as a cube of braised tofu. For the price, it's a great value for a tastymeal. Due to UT's decision to turn the food truck lot into a parking garage, Song La will be relocating to a food truck park down by the river. It's a shame, but it's still worth a visit for those looking for good Taiwanese food.

Song La is one of the best food spots my husband and I have found in Austin so far. These chicken bites are phenomenal, I can't even explain it. The seasoning and the fry on them are delicious and not at all overwhelming or oily. The chicken texture is excellent. The sauce is SO good. We saw other people with pork belly dishes that looked equally as great. We will be back many, many times to try the rest of the menu, but would come back for these nuggets alone!

Haven't been back in a really long time but I don't know why I don't come here more often. There was a little bit of a wait but the line wasn't long because most people flocked to the newly reopened Don. Food was really good, all the veggies were really yummy. The broccoli was soft, a little too soft do or my personal preference. The cabbage was good but had a few large and hard chunks. The chicken was really delicious and nicely cooked and seasoned, no complaints :) Overall, really good and worth it for the price!

Ordered the pork chop box and added a braised egg- very delicious! The batter on the pork had a sweetness to it and it almost melts in your mouth. Definitely worth the wait! The lady was super friendly, too.

Huge portions for the price. Super tasty and flavorful. The popcorn chicken tasted just like the ones I used to get in NYC. Nice to have an authentic Taiwanese spot in Austin. I had two meals with this bento set. I recommend getting the spicy Mayo to have with the chicken. Quick service during lunchtime. It's also located in a nice shaded outdoor food truck park.

Best Taiwanese food you can find in ATX. Being from Taiwan, it's been a blessing to have found this food truck in Austin. Everything they serve is delicious and the owner is super friendly. Due to their popularity, there can be a wait. My advice would be to order on their website ahead of time.

Dang we ate too fast to take pictures! But this is definitely some legit Taiwanese street food. We had the fried pork chops which were so good we went back and ordered the fried chicken for late night eating. When we ate the fried chicken later that night I was sad we didn't order even more bc it was so good! Taiwanese fried street food has really distinct seasoning that I'm not sure how to describe so you just need to try it! Food took about 10 minutes to come out on a slow weekday night. I've already posted a review for Thicket park but I'll just summarize by saying it's one of our favorite places to eat with a toddler :)

We took a campus tour today and tried out this food truck. The bento box came with a good amount of foods including broccoli, cabbage, pickled daikon, tofu, and pork chop. The pork chop is crispy and savory on the outside but with very thin batter, not heavy at all. I really enjoyed the tofu and the veggies. Overall it's balanced meal with really large portion size and friendly price.

Authentic and Delicious. I'm Taiwanese and lived in CA Bay Area This place definitely is impressively good and legit. Pork and Chicken bentos and all veggies - you must try! Order is slow so plan (order online) ahead!!!

Crazy it took me so long to try this place. It's ran by the sweetest Asian aunt. Food is fantastic, especially the fried tofu. Portions are surprisingly large, especially considering that it's from a food truck. You definitely won't go hungry after a bento. Food isn't crazy heavy or oily so you won't feel gross afterwards. Definitely worth a try

My favorite food truck in Austin. I've had nearly everything on the menu and all of it is tasty, high quality, and authentic. The chicken bites are perfect and I want to eat them forever and ever. They have an excellent website where you can place an order in advance so stop reading this and check it out.

The chicken bites are great and an excellent departure from the southern style fried chicken most of us out here are used to. Additionally the braised belly rice is a huge serving of warming savory comfort. It's always tough to pick which truck to eat from at Thicket but you will never be wrong if you pick Song La.

Very tasty and perfectly fried pork chop Taiwanese style. The pickled cabbage was lacking a bit of the sourness but other than that it was very good

We got the pork chop bento and the braised pork belly bento. The meat was good and the rice was fine. I like that vegetables were included, but they were bland. I think they were just steamed plain without dressing or spice. I really dislike the plastic container that each dish came in. These big plastic containers can't be recycled and they are made from fossil fuels. Some restaurants are putting their food in compost-able containers, why can't this one?

We're now loyal frequent visitors of the Thicket and I'm sure I'm not making a controversial statement when I say not all food trucks are at the same level... Song La, along with a couple others, is in a different league than the rest of the food trucks. With that in mind, the expectations were different. The chicken bites, with the sushi rice, we're ver impressive. The batter was a welcome surprise and the pickled veggie added another layer of flavor. The pork was great too, although a little more difficult to eat outside with plastic utensils, in a plastic box. The reason for the four stars was that the spicy sauces weren't very spicy at all. I was expecting a good slap in the face or a another layer of flavor to each bite but they were nice, quiet contributors to the presentation but not as memorable as the other components. Either way, I definitely recommend them because I'm sure many of you probably welcome the lack of heat.

Can't go wrong! It's like eating food someone's mom cooked you. Their food is so authentic and perfect. Shirley is always so nice and friendly. Can't recommend this place anymore.

First things first, the food is delicious. I love their pork belly buns and the braised pork and rice. I'm a huge fan of fatty pork belly so I loved it. I've tried their fried tofu and also enjoyed it. I definitely think it's authentic (I'm Taiwanese). However, I don't really understand why it took so long to get our order. We went at a less busy time and there was no line. The food isn't made to order. For example, you would cook rice in big batches rather than making one bowl at a time in a rice cooker. The same idea goes with the braised pork and egg. The definition of braised is that it is stewed and cooked over a period of time. With this in mind, assembling the food should've been quick since the elements were already made. All they needed to do was cook the cabbage and add the pickled radish which doesn't take 20+ mins... especially at an unbusy time.

Disclaimer: This is not my typical review. Specifically, this review is a complaint about Song La's relationship with Postmates. Postmates shows one set of prices for Song La on its website, allows Song La to charge whatever it wants to the customer, and doesn't allow the customer to accept/reject the new pricing. This is incredibly unethical behavior, which is a shame because the food at Song La is actually pretty good! But it's a terrible customer experience to a) pay more than expected for a given dish and b) have an entire dish missing from the delivery order! Song La: Stop working with Postmates. They reflect poorly on your business.

$11 for the FAMOUS braised pork rice. So much flavor. The lady working was so friendly and accommodating to make my order ahead of when I scheduled it. Would highly recommend but make sure to ORDER AHEAD!

The food here is freakin DELICIOUS! I had leftover could not finish it all! You have to order and pay online and it could take a while for the food. I waited 30 min for the food to be ready but it was worth it! The only reason for 4 stars for having to order online and the wait.

Best Taiwanese food in town. Definitely recommend! Very delicious food! Try the braised pork rice!!

we got the chicken box, the food is amazing! the chicken and rice were super good & the sauce has a yummy flavor. 10/10 recommend