What the Pho?

I like pho noodle soups. There's a PHO restaurant on Fry near Morton by my house. I have promised to Mrs. SwoLy I will take her to eat the PHO there and will report back to you later.

I believe, like you say, that cleanliness drives some peeps away. This one I mention above, seems like it's kept clean. There's one here in downtown that has stayed open for a while but, again, it's kept clean and the service is great.

Near where Mrs. SwoLy works on Bellaire, I've had it at Don's *where they sell the sandwiches* and it's decent.

I haven't seen any good pho restaurant near 529, either... I will keep looking.

The cable is working great, sir. Thank you!

 

Poor management - Employees always look so lethargic I have yet to go to a Pho place that had good management
MSG based soup vs Chicken - You think people can't taste the difference? I cant tell
Overpriced - ($7 for a bowl of noodles? seriously wtf) Do you know what kind of noodles they make!
Cheap quality - (When I order fat free brisket, why is the meat chewy with a lot of fat?) Is it really brisket?
Cleanness? - 1/5 times I see a dead bug in my tea/water/soup.....and the utensils are dirty. Welcome to Houston!

I've been to that one on Jones and West and wasnt too happy. I saw the "What the Pho" tee shirts and thought it was funny.

 

The answers are within the questions you asked.
You don't want to pay but little for it so what you get is the others.
If you have a chance, ask any of the owners if they are becoming rich at this job.

 

I had me a big bowl of Pho at Pho Saigon on Milam before meeting up with Fatty and JBII at Lucky's for the TTU-OU game last Saturday night.

Pho is great to eat before you go out drinking. Soaks everything up.

 

Pho Binh on beechnut and Wilcrest = greatest pho EVER.

 

I've sampled many Pho spots all around town, from Bellaire, to Downtown, to the trailer on the southeast side of town. My favorite is Pho One, located at Westheimer and Wilcrest. Extra large P1 and some beef spring rolls. MMMmmmhh.

 

pretty much the biggest problem i see with pho establishments is the cleanliness. it's as if they think they're in vietnam. the silverware and cups are dirty, the water tastes like they just dipped the cup from toilet, and the restrooms themselves are filthy. oh yea, the service is beyond horrible.

 

Man I love Pho. Don't really care for the employees, I go there for the food. Never paid $7 for a bowl of Pho, ever. I always thought Pho was well priced. Say what you want about cleanness but I never got sick or anything from eating Pho. So it can't be that dirty!

Its doesn't do good business because it is not a common food everybody eats. Everyone eats pizza, donuts, burgers, ect. The market for pho is not as big as the other eateries. Only people I know that eat Pho regularly are my Asian friends.

 

+1
Problem is if they cater to 'Americans' then the food isn't as good. If they cater to Vietnamese they treat you like **** and the place is dirty as hell.

 

poor economy- restaurants in general are not doing that well.

poor service- this part never bothered me. Just serve me my pho and refill my water a couple times and we're good. Shoot, you don't even gotta say Hi, Bye or Thank you. I'm not looking for Prime steakhouse service at a Pho restaurant but I know the overly poor service can bother other people.

poor quality- cheap ingredients a lot of the times. brown/yellow bean sprouts seriously? Brown/shiny/purple flank meat that a poop fly probably wouldn't even dare to land on.

cleanliness- I've seen prison toilets cleaner than some of the crap at pho restaurants. The utensils and dishes are never clean.

My biggest complaint is inconsistency. Sometimes I'll have what seems to be the best tasting bowl of pho ever and then the next time the soup will be totally flavorless .

With all that said the Pho restaurants here in Portland do really well.

 

There is a Pho place at 2920 and Kuykendahl called Kim Long. I've been to Pho Binh and several others down in that area. I was introduced to Pho by my Vietnamese coworkers so I've had the good stuff. Kim Long is the best I've had and the restaurant is very clean.

We go at least once a week since we live 5 minutes up the road. I know most people don't live up this way but if you do or if you are u p here for whatever reason, try the place out. You will not be disappointed.

 

Tau Bay on bellaire - shrimp only pho is the best in Houston I've had.

 

Anyone else love Bun? Bun was my first introduction to Vietnamese food. I always get the one with the charbroiled pork and cut-up eggrolls.

I always have the hardest time deciding between Pho and Bun. They are both equally satisfying.

 

Maybe it's because the customers aren't flushing

 

Good points brought up here. I love pho, but if you're going to run a restaurant here in this country, please use American hygiene standards.

The other stuff - such as poor service - some of us can live with, but what about our family/friends/whoever we're eating with? It's already out of their Caucasian comfort zone, and if they can't figure out the menu, feel like the server is impolite or unhelpful, etc., then they're just going to want to go for burgers next time out.

I would like to see more pho restaurants do their business from a take-out counter, or even a fast food type setup. That way, those of us who want it but can't find anyone to eat it with can still eat it and take it home. Or can order for our shy friends/family and then take it back to them. They wouldn't have to deal with the service that way either. Or knowing how to make my own pho (substitutions and inauthentic ingredients are fine with me, I'm too white to know the difference ), but I have no idea how.

Finally, not sure where to get it here... and don't think any of y'all live out this way or would know. The cutsey little "Americanized" places shown above look good, as long as they don't overprice things.

 

You guys should try "bun bo hue"...it's a spicy soup noodle dish served with beef.

 

I eat at their Mangum at 290 location. I agree.

 

love vietnamese, love japanese, tai, hell any asian cuisine. for me though, it's korean for the win. kimchi jigae ruleth the earth and is > pho.