Pho Cali

::NEW (2023):: Refreshing updates, great food and fantastic service! It took five long years before I ever decided to revisit this establishment, but what a great experience. Had a severe craving for Pho Tai (rare beef). My usual choices were not opened, so I figured I'd have to settle. However, it turned out to be a great visit. They had updated the entire restaurant decor. The sweet lady told us we could sit anywhere, was it was outside of normal lunch hours, so there were plenty of seats. Once we were seated, she provided us with menus immediately and asked what we would like to drink. After we received our drinks she came back shortly and took our order. Less than ten minutes later, she came back with our food. The Pho Tai soup had changed and was slightly less concentrated compared to before. The rare meat slices were not the paper thin kind, but had some chew to it. It was still very delicious! The Banhmi was delicious. But the highlight dish was definitely the grilled pork chops over rice and the fried spring rolls. They were so delicious. Ready to return to redo the whole experience again. OLD (2018) - The short: Food is delicious, but wait time is horrendous. The full scoop: So hard to rate. This place needs to be on an episode of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare or Robert Irvine's Restaurant Impossible. The food is delicious and authentic. The staff members are polite, but did not take ownership or accountability. Rating the food alone, this place is a 4-star. But, the service and management needs a lot of guidance and training. We waited almost 10 mins before being seated. There were 4 empty tables that needed to be cleaned off. We (my husband and I, as well the couple ahead of us) were very patient and waited for the staff to clean off the tables. After we were seated, a party of 10 people came in and were seated and given menus immediately. We were still waiting for menus. A few minutes later, the party of 10 had their orders taken. I started to chat up the table next to us and they were a party of three that had waited 20 mins...and have not received menus. They got up and left because they figured it would be another 30 mins before they got their food, since the large party had just ordered. I was really craving pho, so I convinced the fatty in me that it was worth the wait. Wrong decision. We waited another 10 mins before receiving menus. Then, 10 mins later, my husband's food came. He finished his food and about 30 mins later I asked the staff how much longer I would need to wait. He replied that I had come in at a bad time and that we did not make it known that we were seated first. In the restaurant business, you should not push the fault onto the customer. I explained the entire situation and he apologized. The waitress later came by with a cup of water for me. While she asked if we had ordered, another restaurant patron set a cup of water on her tray. She gave that same cup of water to my husband. When we left, the couple ahead of us had just started on their food. Highly recommend management to implement a system to identify the status of each of their tables. The restaurant is well staffed, but they need training. May want to consider implementing a traffic light type system: red-stop to give table menus and take drink orders; yellow-slow down to take food orders; green-table received food (check in occasionally). It may be helpful to have the staff play some Diner Dash app game for training tactics. Will be returning again in the future and would love to change my rating.

10/10 recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for amazing food and service. We live in the middle keys and the ambiance and friendliness of the staff will keep sending us back. Very clean, fresh, fast, and totally delicious. Pho, summer rolls, egg rolls, and Vietnamese coffee ‍ can't wait to come back!

I was craving for Bún Riêu and planned to go to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, but they are closed today. So I found out about this restaurant. The inside is a lot bigger than the outside looks. The food is amazing & authentic. I loved my Bún Riêu. My husband did not know what to order, and the server named Thương recommended him to try "Fried Rice with Grilled Duck". And it was fantastic. My husband loved how the grilled duck was tender inside and crunchy outside. The sauce & the fried rice came with it was so good. He also loved the free refills of sweet tea. Now, it definitely becomes our favorite Vietnamese spot. Definitely will come back.

Take it from a chef. You have been sleeping on Saigon pho. Food is fresh, hot, well balanced and with an uppercut of flavor. It’s everything the food is suppose to taste like. Only a hand full of places in my life have made me want to visit their country after eating their food. This pho, bahn mi, pad Thai and lemongrass chicken make me look at flights to Vietnam. The staff is super helpful and friendly and restaurant is nice and clean. Trust me go get take out or dine-in tonight. You won’t be disappointed.