Sticky Rice Bites to mark grand opening with enormous pho bowl challenge in Rockford

Locally owned restaurant waited to celebrate its ribbon-cutting until family could join in

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Sticky Rice Bites, 298 N. Mulford Road, waited to celebrate its grand opening until the whole family could be there. Now, it’s looking for one fan who can eat a whole lot of pho at once.

The locally owned Laotian restaurant is celebrating its official, albeit delayed, grand opening on Saturday with a challenge fit for competitive eaters. It calls it the Superbowl Pho Challenge, and it dares customers to eat a massive bowl of pho the size of five regular portions. To increase the difficulty, you have to do it in just 40 minutes and keep it all down.

“Our pho is pretty good, so who wouldn’t want to eat five of them in a row in 40 minutes,” joked Sophia Chanthalangsy, daughter of owners Rowena and Nit Chanthalangsy.

The winner gets that meal on the house and bragging rights including a special Sticky Rice Bites sash to wear. Even if you lose, you still get $89.95 worth of food for $59.95 as a consolation for making the attempt.

“Hopefully we have somebody who’s willing to take on the challenge and win the whole thing,” Nit Chanthalangsy said. “You’d be surprised at how much people can take in.”

Sticky Rice Bites opened in September but has held off on an official grand opening until Sophia Chanthalangsy could be at the event. The Rockford Christian graduate is the creative voice behind the restaurant’s social media and helped create a lot of the decor. She’s been away, however, studying at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

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“It’s very hard for her to find time to come and join us to celebrate this event,” Nit Chanthalangsy said. “She’s instrumental in making this happen: Decorations, ideas and all the social media. It’s all her work. We can’t do it without her. I know it’s delayed for most people, but it’s better late than never.”

On Wednesday, the family held its official ribbon-cutting celebration with city of Rockford representatives and KH Food Safety Consulting.

“Small businesses are the heartbeat of the city and this really adds to Rockford being a community with such a diverse food culture,” said Francisca French, the city’s economic development diversity and procurement coordinator. “This takes a lot of hard work, a lot of determination, a lot of grit and a lot of planning for someone to open up not just a restaurant in Rockford but something as beautiful as this one.”

Rowena Chanthalangsy said she has dreamed of opening a restaurant that offered an authentic taste of her home country since she and Nit moved to Rockford from Laos 25 years ago. While she often prepared meals for her church, Lao Evangelical Free Church in south Rockford, this was her first foray into the restaurant industry.

She said she’s thankful for customers who have been patient as it held a soft opening, tested the waters and tweaked its menu.

“Some people have been so kind and so nice. It made me feel so comfortable to be vulnerable,” Rowena said. “I don’t have experience about this business. We started from scratch. I’m learning and doing it at the same time. … I’m learning and trying to do my best.”

The restaurant has earned fans of its pho, and it January it shared the Rockford Restaurant Week award for best deal with 8th Ward Pub.

Sticky Rice Bites specializes in authentic Lao cuisine, including new desserts such a as khao lod song, which is made with sweetened coconut milk and floating green pandan. Popular items include pad kee mao, also called drunken noodles, which is a stir fry dish. Pad see ew and pad Thai have also been top sellers, but pho is the top seller.

The beef pho house special, Sophia’s recommendation, is served with steamed thin rice noodles in an aromatic beef broth with sliced beef flank, brisket, meatballs and tripe.

“It’s my mom’s homemade broth,” Sophia said. “She cooks it for six to eight hours. It’s a whole process. It’s a labor of love and you can definitely taste it.”

Sticky Rice Bites grand opening challenge

What: Sticky Rice Bites will celebrate its grand opening this weekend. The grand opening includes the Superbowl Pho Challenge, which challenges customers to eat and keep down a giant portion of pho the size of five regular bowls in 40 minutes. Win and the food is free, and you’ll be decorated in a custom Sticky Rice Bites sash. Fail and pay $59.95 (for $89.95 worth of pho). The first 100 customers will also get free Sticky Rice Bites keychains.

When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 31

Where: Sticky Rice Bites, 298 N. Mulford Road, Rockford

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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas