I really wanted to love this place - reminds me of my own family restaurant. Food’s allegedly good (only ordered takeout for my girlfriend), but it was death by a thousand cuts in all other aspects.
I ordered #22. The item reads grilled pork with egg. The lady at the register asked “what meat?.” Dumbfounded I asked “what would you recommend, cô?” to which she said “No idea. You choose.” Then you know I went with it and said “I’d love grilled pork please.” It was 7:05p after all (they close at 8p), and perhaps it’d been a long day. She then said “eggs or no eggs - eggs extra.” Alright? I reiterated that I ordered #22 which includes a fried egg. The POS system then showed a laundry list of add-ons - what stood out were a container fee, a bag fee, and an item price higher than what’s listed on the paper menu. I didn’t confront about it, only a few dollars extra after all.
The lady said “10 minutes” and walked away. It took them 15+. Keep in mind, there were only 3 tables occupied at the time - all 3 already had food out.
What struck me the most is that the ultimate sign of respect as a Vietnamese is to speak Vietnamese to an older person, to which I did to the lady at the counter. She insisted on speaking English - no problem, but she looked at me as if I belittled her by speaking Viet and then treated me worse for it. When she brought the food out, she put it on the table & slid it across to where I was seated & turned away to the other table to clean up. No words exchanged. No thank you.
Writing this review as I’m waiting for the food because it’s bewildering to see this behavior in 2024. Reading other reviews, it seems that other people were prejudiced against in other ways.
The rice plate stands on its own merit - I hope the owner here understands the business could go far simply with better customer service, already facing stiff competition being next to Bai Tong & YGF Malatang.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 1
Xander No
Not a whole lot going on, service was okay and food was good. My friend did find a bone in his chicken but still an average dinner overall
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Jan C
I brought my grandparents here on a last minute decision because Bai Tong next door had a waitlist, and while they were very efficient and kind I had to decline the wait because I didn’t want to keep my grandma standing. We ventured to Pho Tai and I was relieved to see one person eating inside, which at the moment to me meant no waiting. In hindsight I should have taken this as a bad sign. The waitress took one look at us, pointed hastily to a table near the door and walked away toward the back. We excused her demeanor to perhaps regrouping after a dinner rush, but things only got worse from here. Not long after we were seated another group, this time a family with three kids, arrived. She came out and treated them even worse. The family had a little girl with them and when she changed seats to sit with maybe the mother or grandma, the waitress stopped and literally rolled her eyes. After catching this I immediately just felt uncomfortable. We gave our orders and because my Grandma is hard of hearing, she asked the waitress one time if she can repeat her explanation of what was in the sandwich, and if the jalapeños can be removed - but the waitress reiterated her words loudly and slowly, as if my grandma was stupid. At this point I had to take over because the interaction was so disrespectful. I told the waitress exactly what my grandma wanted and quickly changed the topic once she left with our orders so my grandparents would feel more settled. They hardly eat out, so when they wanted to accompany me to look for furniture near the Southcenter area I just wanted to treat them to a nice meal. Our experience in Pho Tai Southcenter was so bad. Eating out is a luxury these days but it’s worth it if you’re sharing a meal with family, and a huge plus if all people involved were just kind. I regret not waiting for Bai Tong, honestly. They seemed more genuine and it felt like our experience there would have been better. Later I checked the reviews for both restaurants and sure enough I could see why one was highly rated while the other was so-so. Now about the family that came in - I overheard the Mom asking the same waitress if she could take a picture of her family - the waitress replied, “no, we’re too busy.” My grandpa literally laughed out loud and had to finally say there were only three parties in the entire restaurant, then offered to take a picture for the family instead. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Go somewhere else instead.
Diana Barriga
Love their pho it tastes amazing. Service could be a bit better. Sometimes an older lady is there and is very serious and rushes you. Other than that it’s great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Jon C
Excellent price for a large bowl of pho. Delicious broth. I love the addition of the roasted garlic. Very unlike most pho places but I like the added flavor. Plenty of chicken. No skimping. My only complaint is some of the cuts of chicken was a bit to fatty with skin still attached. Overall, fantastic value. Half liter glass bottle, real sugar coke. Always a plus
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Sienna Kim
Go to place for consistent, good quality food at a great price. I really like their fresh rolls, bun bowls, and pho. Their fresh rolls are always soft and have the right amount of noodles and lettuce, and they give ample peanut sauce. Pho is solid with great portion size that my husband and I can often share.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chulalak Sarisree
I ordered 4 rolls but no noodles bc limit of carb(sugar) for my friends but they still put a lot of rice noodles inside. Maybe they pre- prepared it and can not did special order but cost nothing to inform customers.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
이서륜
Kind and the food is delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
MrJ FC3
I've been coming here for years. After venturing out to other restaurants, I noticed this place is terrible. The broth is very greasy and sometimes not hot enough to cook the steak. The thai tea is always the worst drink ever. I stopped coming here for a reason, and I thought I'd give them another chance. But never again.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Manolo Y. Flores
Food are all delicious if you're familiar with asian foods. The place is nice and clean.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Stake and Tripe Noodle Soup, Brisket, Salad
Bahn-mi tofu with extra jalapeño was very good for price and will do again. Picked up warm and ate right away.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dong Kang
This restaurant exceeded all expectations! The broth was flavorful, the noodles perfectly cooked, and the service exceptional. A definite must-visit for pho lovers!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gina Park
My go-to pho spot! Food portions are VERY generous especially given the price. I've tried many dishes from here including their pho, fresh spring rolls, fried eggrolls, banh mi, and vermicelli bowl and they are all phenomenal! Staff is very friendly too, which is always a plus.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp Spring Rolls, Bun Bi Cha Gio - Salad Julienne Pork & Fried Roll, Fried Spring Rolls, Noodle Soup, Brisket
Jen
My new favorite place for a banh mi!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bun Bi Cha Gio - Salad Julienne Pork & Fried Roll
karen stoaks
Went at lunch. Waitstaff forgot our drink-but quickly prepared after being reminded, also had to ask for check. Food was good, and fairly large portion size.
I really wanted to love this place - reminds me of my own family restaurant. Food’s allegedly good (only ordered takeout for my girlfriend), but it was death by a thousand cuts in all other aspects.
I ordered #22. The item reads grilled pork with egg. The lady at the register asked “what meat?.” Dumbfounded I asked “what would you recommend, cô?” to which she said “No idea. You choose.” Then you know I went with it and said “I’d love grilled pork please.” It was 7:05p after all (they close at 8p), and perhaps it’d been a long day. She then said “eggs or no eggs - eggs extra.” Alright? I reiterated that I ordered #22 which includes a fried egg. The POS system then showed a laundry list of add-ons - what stood out were a container fee, a bag fee, and an item price higher than what’s listed on the paper menu. I didn’t confront about it, only a few dollars extra after all.
The lady said “10 minutes” and walked away. It took them 15+. Keep in mind, there were only 3 tables occupied at the time - all 3 already had food out.
What struck me the most is that the ultimate sign of respect as a Vietnamese is to speak Vietnamese to an older person, to which I did to the lady at the counter. She insisted on speaking English - no problem, but she looked at me as if I belittled her by speaking Viet and then treated me worse for it. When she brought the food out, she put it on the table & slid it across to where I was seated & turned away to the other table to clean up. No words exchanged. No thank you.
Writing this review as I’m waiting for the food because it’s bewildering to see this behavior in 2024. Reading other reviews, it seems that other people were prejudiced against in other ways.
The rice plate stands on its own merit - I hope the owner here understands the business could go far simply with better customer service, already facing stiff competition being next to Bai Tong & YGF Malatang.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 4
Service: 1
Not a whole lot going on, service was okay and food was good.
My friend did find a bone in his chicken but still an average dinner overall
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
I brought my grandparents here on a last minute decision because Bai Tong next door had a waitlist, and while they were very efficient and kind I had to decline the wait because I didn’t want to keep my grandma standing. We ventured to Pho Tai and I was relieved to see one person eating inside, which at the moment to me meant no waiting. In hindsight I should have taken this as a bad sign. The waitress took one look at us, pointed hastily to a table near the door and walked away toward the back. We excused her demeanor to perhaps regrouping after a dinner rush, but things only got worse from here. Not long after we were seated another group, this time a family with three kids, arrived. She came out and treated them even worse. The family had a little girl with them and when she changed seats to sit with maybe the mother or grandma, the waitress stopped and literally rolled her eyes. After catching this I immediately just felt uncomfortable. We gave our orders and because my Grandma is hard of hearing, she asked the waitress one time if she can repeat her explanation of what was in the sandwich, and if the jalapeños can be removed - but the waitress reiterated her words loudly and slowly, as if my grandma was stupid. At this point I had to take over because the interaction was so disrespectful. I told the waitress exactly what my grandma wanted and quickly changed the topic once she left with our orders so my grandparents would feel more settled. They hardly eat out, so when they wanted to accompany me to look for furniture near the Southcenter area I just wanted to treat them to a nice meal. Our experience in Pho Tai Southcenter was so bad. Eating out is a luxury these days but it’s worth it if you’re sharing a meal with family, and a huge plus if all people involved were just kind. I regret not waiting for Bai Tong, honestly. They seemed more genuine and it felt like our experience there would have been better. Later I checked the reviews for both restaurants and sure enough I could see why one was highly rated while the other was so-so. Now about the family that came in - I overheard the Mom asking the same waitress if she could take a picture of her family - the waitress replied, “no, we’re too busy.” My grandpa literally laughed out loud and had to finally say there were only three parties in the entire restaurant, then offered to take a picture for the family instead. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Go somewhere else instead.
Love their pho it tastes amazing. Service could be a bit better. Sometimes an older lady is there and is very serious and rushes you. Other than that it’s great.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Excellent price for a large bowl of pho. Delicious broth. I love the addition of the roasted garlic. Very unlike most pho places but I like the added flavor. Plenty of chicken. No skimping. My only complaint is some of the cuts of chicken was a bit to fatty with skin still attached. Overall, fantastic value. Half liter glass bottle, real sugar coke. Always a plus
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Go to place for consistent, good quality food at a great price. I really like their fresh rolls, bun bowls, and pho. Their fresh rolls are always soft and have the right amount of noodles and lettuce, and they give ample peanut sauce. Pho is solid with great portion size that my husband and I can often share.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I ordered 4 rolls but no noodles bc limit of carb(sugar) for my friends but they still put a lot of rice noodles inside.
Maybe they pre- prepared it and can not did special order but cost nothing to inform customers.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kind and the food is delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I've been coming here for years. After venturing out to other restaurants, I noticed this place is terrible. The broth is very greasy and sometimes not hot enough to cook the steak. The thai tea is always the worst drink ever. I stopped coming here for a reason, and I thought I'd give them another chance. But never again.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Food are all delicious if you're familiar with asian foods. The place is nice and clean.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Stake and Tripe Noodle Soup, Brisket, Salad
Restaurantji Recommends
Bahn-mi tofu with extra jalapeño was very good for price and will do again. Picked up warm and ate right away.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This restaurant exceeded all expectations! The broth was flavorful, the noodles perfectly cooked, and the service exceptional. A definite must-visit for pho lovers!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My go-to pho spot! Food portions are VERY generous especially given the price. I've tried many dishes from here including their pho, fresh spring rolls, fried eggrolls, banh mi, and vermicelli bowl and they are all phenomenal! Staff is very friendly too, which is always a plus.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp Spring Rolls, Bun Bi Cha Gio - Salad Julienne Pork & Fried Roll, Fried Spring Rolls, Noodle Soup, Brisket
My new favorite place for a banh mi!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bun Bi Cha Gio - Salad Julienne Pork & Fried Roll
Went at lunch. Waitstaff forgot our drink-but quickly prepared after being reminded, also had to ask for check. Food was good, and fairly large portion size.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
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