Pho Vi Hoa (PVH) has been around for a while. When I was at Stanford, it served as a comfort food for students when you were done with your midterms or a weekend outing. It was cheap but also filled with warmth. It was affordable but didn't feel like a compromise. I've been coming to PVH from 2005.
20 years later, I think the owners have moved onto their next generation. The location is the same. But the food certainly isn't. The soup isn't as with weight it carried. The meat doesn't seem less but also just too dry. Smaller portions. Higher price commensurate to inflation I guess.
No longer is PVH the premiere noodle house in Palo Alto and the food has degraded in quality. Now don't get me wrong, they're still good. But just that the original soul definitely isn't there. If it was exceptional, now they're just good.
Seeing students fill their bellies in a group at PVH still gives me smiles and memories. Just wishing that it was as dense as mine.
Parking: Easy at the plaza.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Jody Shapiro
Fast kitchen, food quality varies by visit. Sometimes amazing, sometimes overcooked shrimp or flavorless broth
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 3
S R
This is the second worst pho restaurant in Bay Area (the worst is Pho Ha Noi) by far among over 15+ Vietnamese pho restaurants I've been to in the Bay Area. Last week we ordered pho on Uber Eats for delivery. After an hour and half no food ever arrived from only 5 miles away in the mid of afternoon, literally the slowest hour and not with heavy traffic yet. I called, and the server told me that it's not her problem why the food didn't arrive. She refused to cancel the order or refund.
Today, we tried them again in person. The server was worse than fast food restaurant workers in term of attitude and service. When I asked about different cuts of beef among their pho selections, she rudely told me to just tell her an item number unpleasantly, worse than how a robot would've performed.. She then walked away but stared at us unpleasantly, brought the dish but never came to check with us. After we finished our food and waited for 5 minutes, no server came to give us our bill. I walked up to the register for paying, but the staff were talking with each other and didn't care for another 5 minutes till the server came by to charge my card. The touchscreen didn't work well so my intended customized tip didn't go through but instead I was charged by their automatic tips. The same server didn't want to help and just said she couldn't fix it, until either the manager or owner came by and refunded me the difference between what I intended to pay and the automatic tips they charged me.
The food was overall ok, not spectacular comparing to other pho restaurants throughout Bay Area, though with this kind of service attitude, worse than a robot or having no service at all, they should just make themselves a fast food restaurant instead of charging customers automatic tips.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Raymond Flee
Traditional Vietnamese food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Yuna Jeong
my favorite restaurant ? the pho is so yummy and the atmosphere is so comforting and mellow. had pho for the first time here like 8 years ago. its the best
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jacob Sanchez
amazing service
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pho Tai Bo Vien, Chicken Pho, Steak, Brisket, Egg Rolls, Rolls, Pho GA, Peanut Sauce
Kat
This is our go-to Pho spot in all of Mountain View/Palo Alto/Los Altos. We think it’s the most authentic and tastes just like what my husband’s Vietnamese mother makes at home. Broth is light yet flavorful. Portions are generous. The side of toppings is appreciated! Service is very no fuss and quick.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jennifer Paniagua
Horrible service, The waitresses almost got up on my table to take away the plates without having finished eating and without having finished eating she brought me the credit card machine with the tip percentage already added, and since I had already added the "costume" tip, she didn't even let me finish doing my accounts and pressed continue to pay, I won't go back there and I don't recommend it at all. It should be added that the restaurant is quite messy with many boxes on the tables and things, and that it needs a little organization and cleanliness inside. We didn't have many options and we were already hungry so we decided to eat there, but never mine!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Steak, Rolls
Avirup Mullick
I had an awful experience at this restaurant. The staff is completely incompetent and doesn't seem to understand English at all. When I arrived to pick up my order, the person at the counter told me to wait, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. When I politely asked her to clarify, she rudely snapped, "Are you deaf?" The level of disrespect and unprofessionalism here is shocking. The staff clearly needs better training in both language and customer service. Avoid this place if you want to be treated with basic decency. Absolutely disgraceful.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
A H
Small special combination with meatballs pho. Generous meat toppings that were tasty. Noodle were a bit tough or stale for me. Beef broth lacked depth and beefiness.
If you are craving for a quick hot bowl of Pho and you are in the area, this is a pretty solid option.
I ordered a small combo pho, and a fried egg roll. I was going have one of their classic Vietnamese dessert drinks but they no longer serve them. Instead, they have the boba drinks which I didn’t feel like having at the time.
Both items came quickly, and both are exactly how you’d expected, the quality is pretty consistent.
I walked from the Residence Inn next door, and I was able to get back to my room within half an hour!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Cha Gio-Deep Fried Egg Rolls
Diana Escobar
If I could give this place zero stars I would. I feel so disrespected and in dismay.It started when I was ordering my food, the waiter was politely being rude. I had wanted to start with an appetizer, nothing crazy just some vegetarian egg rolls. The waiter ( older lady, short, copper hair) proceeds to say, "not pork" , "not chicken", "not shrimp, and "not spring rolls". When I politely answered each time and said "no the veggie deep fried egg rolls please."Second as we are eating our food. I realized its been a while, main entree is out and we still yet to receive the egg rolls. I politely go and ask the same older waiter if my egg rolls were forgotten. She answered politely rudely ( trying to be funny), " you have to wait little more time and continues to say that. Puts her hands out like you would do a kid and does a gesture ( I will post to better understand), laughs as I just walk away.Then here comes the worst part. As my husband and I are eating our food, same waiter and two other employees are constantly looking at us and laughing. My husband looked over a couple times, and so did I.As some eggrolls come out, older waiter again yells out, " give the egg rolls to table #44 (our table) since they couldn't wait for table #41 to get theirs first. She said it so loud that other guest could hear." That so uncalled for.As I am eating my soup I hear all there employees laughing when the eggrolls were delivered. And the older waiter keeps saying something and they keep laughing even more. I look over and they laugh even more after that .At the point mid eating , I walk up and let her know she should be ashamed of herself for laughing at us with everyone else. Not only that, but I never was once rude to here. I gave back the eggrolls that we never touched & said you can also give these to whoever was first. She laughs again at me and says" don't worry, i'll give them for free."That is not what we wanted.We go ahead leave our unfinished food and pay. We even paid !!!!She keeps laughing and saying " sorry honey." Shame on her, shame on the other employees laughing at us and shame on this business. I have never experienced so much humility when all I wanted was to enjoy comfort food with my husband.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Jessica Zou
I usually don’t write food reviews, but this restaurant is awesome and become my go-to dog place. I have ordered pickup order three times! My fav combination would be brisket, tripe, and steak, but they don’t have this pho combination in the online portal, so I left a note says if they can add tripe as an add on option, then when I picked it up, I found that they have put tripe in my order!!’ Surprise!!! Definitely 100 score on the customer service!!!!!
Pho Vi Hoa (PVH) has been around for a while. When I was at Stanford, it served as a comfort food for students when you were done with your midterms or a weekend outing. It was cheap but also filled with warmth. It was affordable but didn't feel like a compromise. I've been coming to PVH from 2005.
20 years later, I think the owners have moved onto their next generation. The location is the same. But the food certainly isn't. The soup isn't as with weight it carried. The meat doesn't seem less but also just too dry. Smaller portions. Higher price commensurate to inflation I guess.
No longer is PVH the premiere noodle house in Palo Alto and the food has degraded in quality. Now don't get me wrong, they're still good. But just that the original soul definitely isn't there. If it was exceptional, now they're just good.
Seeing students fill their bellies in a group at PVH still gives me smiles and memories. Just wishing that it was as dense as mine.
Parking: Easy at the plaza.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Fast kitchen, food quality varies by visit. Sometimes amazing, sometimes overcooked shrimp or flavorless broth
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 3
This is the second worst pho restaurant in Bay Area (the worst is Pho Ha Noi) by far among over 15+ Vietnamese pho restaurants I've been to in the Bay Area. Last week we ordered pho on Uber Eats for delivery. After an hour and half no food ever arrived from only 5 miles away in the mid of afternoon, literally the slowest hour and not with heavy traffic yet. I called, and the server told me that it's not her problem why the food didn't arrive. She refused to cancel the order or refund.
Today, we tried them again in person. The server was worse than fast food restaurant workers in term of attitude and service. When I asked about different cuts of beef among their pho selections, she rudely told me to just tell her an item number unpleasantly, worse than how a robot would've performed.. She then walked away but stared at us unpleasantly, brought the dish but never came to check with us. After we finished our food and waited for 5 minutes, no server came to give us our bill. I walked up to the register for paying, but the staff were talking with each other and didn't care for another 5 minutes till the server came by to charge my card. The touchscreen didn't work well so my intended customized tip didn't go through but instead I was charged by their automatic tips. The same server didn't want to help and just said she couldn't fix it, until either the manager or owner came by and refunded me the difference between what I intended to pay and the automatic tips they charged me.
The food was overall ok, not spectacular comparing to other pho restaurants throughout Bay Area, though with this kind of service attitude, worse than a robot or having no service at all, they should just make themselves a fast food restaurant instead of charging customers automatic tips.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Traditional Vietnamese food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
my favorite restaurant ? the pho is so yummy and the atmosphere is so comforting and mellow. had pho for the first time here like 8 years ago. its the best
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
amazing service
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pho Tai Bo Vien, Chicken Pho, Steak, Brisket, Egg Rolls, Rolls, Pho GA, Peanut Sauce
This is our go-to Pho spot in all of Mountain View/Palo Alto/Los Altos. We think it’s the most authentic and tastes just like what my husband’s Vietnamese mother makes at home. Broth is light yet flavorful. Portions are generous. The side of toppings is appreciated! Service is very no fuss and quick.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Horrible service, The waitresses almost got up on my table to take away the plates without having finished eating and without having finished eating she brought me the credit card machine with the tip percentage already added, and since I had already added the "costume" tip, she didn't even let me finish doing my accounts and pressed continue to pay, I won't go back there and I don't recommend it at all. It should be added that the restaurant is quite messy with many boxes on the tables and things, and that it needs a little organization and cleanliness inside. We didn't have many options and we were already hungry so we decided to eat there, but never mine!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Steak, Rolls
I had an awful experience at this restaurant. The staff is completely incompetent and doesn't seem to understand English at all. When I arrived to pick up my order, the person at the counter told me to wait, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. When I politely asked her to clarify, she rudely snapped, "Are you deaf?" The level of disrespect and unprofessionalism here is shocking. The staff clearly needs better training in both language and customer service. Avoid this place if you want to be treated with basic decency. Absolutely disgraceful.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Small special combination with meatballs pho. Generous meat toppings that were tasty. Noodle were a bit tough or stale for me. Beef broth lacked depth and beefiness.
Restaurantji Recommends
The wonton soup was really good.
The usual, please. Karb koom krop.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sriracha, Chicken Pho
If you are craving for a quick hot bowl of Pho and you are in the area, this is a pretty solid option.
I ordered a small combo pho, and a fried egg roll. I was going have one of their classic Vietnamese dessert drinks but they no longer serve them. Instead, they have the boba drinks which I didn’t feel like having at the time.
Both items came quickly, and both are exactly how you’d expected, the quality is pretty consistent.
I walked from the Residence Inn next door, and I was able to get back to my room within half an hour!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Cha Gio-Deep Fried Egg Rolls
If I could give this place zero stars I would. I feel so disrespected and in dismay.It started when I was ordering my food, the waiter was politely being rude. I had wanted to start with an appetizer, nothing crazy just some vegetarian egg rolls. The waiter ( older lady, short, copper hair) proceeds to say, "not pork" , "not chicken", "not shrimp, and "not spring rolls". When I politely answered each time and said "no the veggie deep fried egg rolls please."Second as we are eating our food. I realized its been a while, main entree is out and we still yet to receive the egg rolls. I politely go and ask the same older waiter if my egg rolls were forgotten. She answered politely rudely ( trying to be funny), " you have to wait little more time and continues to say that. Puts her hands out like you would do a kid and does a gesture ( I will post to better understand), laughs as I just walk away.Then here comes the worst part. As my husband and I are eating our food, same waiter and two other employees are constantly looking at us and laughing. My husband looked over a couple times, and so did I.As some eggrolls come out, older waiter again yells out, " give the egg rolls to table #44 (our table) since they couldn't wait for table #41 to get theirs first. She said it so loud that other guest could hear." That so uncalled for.As I am eating my soup I hear all there employees laughing when the eggrolls were delivered. And the older waiter keeps saying something and they keep laughing even more. I look over and they laugh even more after that .At the point mid eating , I walk up and let her know she should be ashamed of herself for laughing at us with everyone else. Not only that, but I never was once rude to here. I gave back the eggrolls that we never touched & said you can also give these to whoever was first. She laughs again at me and says" don't worry, i'll give them for free."That is not what we wanted.We go ahead leave our unfinished food and pay. We even paid !!!!She keeps laughing and saying " sorry honey." Shame on her, shame on the other employees laughing at us and shame on this business. I have never experienced so much humility when all I wanted was to enjoy comfort food with my husband.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
I usually don’t write food reviews, but this restaurant is awesome and become my go-to dog place. I have ordered pickup order three times! My fav combination would be brisket, tripe, and steak, but they don’t have this pho combination in the online portal, so I left a note says if they can add tripe as an add on option, then when I picked it up, I found that they have put tripe in my order!!’ Surprise!!! Definitely 100 score on the customer service!!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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