bun bo hue pho — Restaurant in Toronto

Absolutely appalling experience that was discriminatory and inexcusable.

I came to Bun Bo Hue Pho with four friends for dinner. The food was decent, but nothing could make up for the disturbing and frankly racist encounter that occurred when it came time to pay.

This restaurant is cash and e-transfer only. One member of our group (the only Black person among us) paid FIRST in cash. Her receipt was even marked “PAID” by the staff member at the register. The rest of us paid afterward, some in cash, some via e-transfer. As payments were finishing up, few of us stepped outside for fresh air, and the friend who paid first stayed inside while our last friend finished paying.

After most of us had stepped outside was when things took a turn. A staff member accused the first friend of not paying, despite the fact that we ALL witnessed her do so and her receipt was clearly marked as paid. Our friend calmly explained she had paid cash and even showed the change she had been given. The staff member kept reaching for the change as if attempting to prove otherwise. Despite all of us multiple witnesses confirming the payment and walking the staff through the payments she had received, the staff member continued to argue and single our friend out. She went so far as to say she believed that the REST of us had paid yet still chose to harass our one friend.

It was only when the rest of us came back in and continued to speak up that the staff member finally backed down, rudely dismissing our friend with a wave and continuing to grimace at her. No apology, no accountability, and no acknowledgment of the stress and scene she caused. It was incredibly clear to us from the actions and behavior that this was not just a mix up, this was discrimination.

This restaurant may serve food, but it serves no respect, no integrity, and no safety for Black customers. We will never be back, and we strongly urge others to reconsider supporting a business that treats its customers with such blatant disrespect and...

I never thought you could be scammed and racially profiled at a Pho place until I came to Bun Bo Hue Pho. Be warn fellow patrons, you might be next.

Recently, five of us went here and got food. When we were settling the bill, the cashier was confused about how to divide it, so I worked out how much each of us owed and wrote it on sheets of paper with our names on it. The cashier took no issue with my calculations.

When I, being the last person, paid my bill, I note curiously that the cash register does not record transactions, as in it does not print out a receipt. You simply get told the price on the screen and pay it. This was not a problem until much later when the cashier (a woman with a short bob) pointed at our friend who is the only Black person in the group and said that she didn’t pay. We were all confused as our friend paid first and had the change in her hand as proof. We even pointed out her receipt on the table with “PAID” written by the cashier with big red caps.

Thinking that the cashier must have suffered from short-term memory loss, I asked that she check the register because the machine should have recorded all the cash transactions. The cashier pretended to open and close the machine. I realize now that the machine is wired to never record anything permanently to scam customers into paying twice.

The cashier eventually gave in and stopped saying our friend didn’t pay, but she kept giving our friend the dirtiest look as we left. It’s evil and chilling.

The behaviour we witnessed is not only racial discrimination but also the most abhorrent form of financial dishonesty from an establishment responsible for cooking food we put in our bodies. If this is how they behave at the end of the bill, I don’t want to know what goes on in the kitchen when it’s out...

The other day a group of friends and I went to this place and the lady at the front 100% tried to scam one of my friends.

We were splitting the bill on appetizers and one friend took the liberty to do the numbers, and even the cashier lady agreed to this. On each piece of paper, she wrote our names down and what we split + what we individually ordered. One friend only paid through cash and she was the first person to pay and then the rest of us followed to pay through e-transfer.

While we were saying bye, after we paid, the lady insisted that our first friend did not pay. This started a back and forth because she was very insistent that she did not. But my friend brought cash and even showed her that 1. the change the lady gave back to her and 2. on the piece of paper of my friends total costs the lady even marked it as PAID in big red letters. Lol

The rest of us intervened and she kept looking at her phone and I was thinking, why does she keep checking her phone??l we said multiple times that it was cash and to look at how she wrote PAID on my friends receipt. After some while she just said “ah ok”. And we left.

It was very weird because we all saw our friend pay with cash. And the lady was also not a good actress. At first I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt but something felt off because we kept saying cash and physical money… but she kept looking at her phone. MIND YOU, sometimes her phone wasn’t even on. She was looking at a blank screen. So it made no sense.

There is ALSO another review on here that our other friend found last night and the Reviewer recounted a similar storey. So be very careful - especially of the lady with the short brownish hair cut.

I will not be coming here again, because this whole situation was just...