Pho Bar — Restaurant in Burlington

I stopped in here for lunch today (weekday, for those interested) while running errands. The gentleman behind the register was talking to a person waiting for a to-go order, upon my approach he promptly and politely paused his conversation with her to greet me and let me know I could sit wherever I wanted. Which I did.

The place was dimly lit, and I was the only person in there at the moment. Given the number of restaurant options (at least 5 could be seen from where I stood in the parking lot), I wasn't surprised.

I was surprised to spy a bottle of Blantons behind the bar! Which I gladly ordered. They also had some reasonable mixed drink specials on the board.

I ordered two fresh rolls with shrimp, and the beef pho. The fresh rolls were very good, ingredients were fresh. It was served with a fairly standard sweet/sour sauce.

The beef pho, though? It was wonderful. In addition to the normal accouterments that come with this dish (hoison sauce, siracha sauce, a basket with bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, jalepeno slices, lime wedge), they also brought out a jar of fried garlic bits and red pepper chili oil (which had a warning on the lid about being very spicy, which the host/waiter reiterated).

I tried the dish before adding anything, to get a sense of what I already had (I always sample food before seasoning it - why assume what it's going to need?). The broth had this subtle sweetness to it that was really good, and I could imagine it can easily be covered up by the other bold flavors in the condiments.

Thankfully I was able to bring the other flavors into it that I wanted without totally wiping out that hint of sweetness (the noodles did a nice job of carrying it).

Overall, fantastic food. I will gladly...

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVERRR! It never fails to amaze me how much it sucks! Especially that waitress, Crisa. I used to love this place. Lately it seems like customer service has been lacking so I stopped going. My first encounter with her was a few months ago, dine in. Ordered 2 beef phos and 1 chicken pho. The 2 beefs came out and we literally waited 30+ minutes until we decided to speak up. Mind you that Crisa was serving her other tables but never came back to ask us how is everything. We asked a different waitress if the chicken pho is coming out yet, she said she would go look, she came back and said oh I don’t see it I will put in for you. Which left us puzzled because we did put it in, with our waitress. 5 mins later the chicken pho came out, I asked “ what did you mean by put it in?” She said “ the waitress said yall never ordered it so I went ahead and placed it” which is a lie! She wanted to save herself from getting in trouble with her boss so she decided to blame the customer. We waited for our friends pho so we let ours get cold. To which we then asked the other waitress if we can get hot broth because we waited so long. She said “no, you would have to purchase a new pho” to which I laughed at. Crisa never came back. Until it was time to pay and we met her in the front. To which my friend still tipped. Today i decided to give this place another try and I was disappointed again! Came in @1:12 and was not givin a menu or anything until after 1:34. Mind you Crisa was handing out food for other customers. A nice young boy took my order and apologized. I had to go and decided to leave because I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my pho in a rush. Pho bar, do better! And train that girl on...

I am not sure where to start! I can't rave about this place enough! PHENOMENAL food, amazing service, atmosphere, music, and good beer! Absolutely a new favorite!!!! First of all - the Pho was THE MOST AMAZING Beef Pho I have ever tasted! I will go back a thousand times more just for the Pho! The broth alone was so smooth and beefy and robust at the same time. Then add the most perfectly cooked noodles and the rare beef 😋 we love ours spicy so of course I had to add their homemade chili oil paste crisp or whatever and WOW! Their paste with lime juice, Sriracha, the bright delicious notes of the licorice in the fresh Thai Basil and then the cilantro......mouth watering! The entire dish just made me want to dance, it tasted so good. Oh, and the super hot jalapeños on top made it even better! We actually arrived a bit after 9 (they stop serving pho at 9 and switch to more apps than dinner) but they were so nice and offered to still serve us Pho! The service was wonderful throughout and they were so polite and accommodating. We also love the atmosphere. Everyone that came in seemed to know eachother and it felt like I was hanging out at a friend's house. I am so excited to go back as soon as I can! They also stay open until late/early morning hours which is great because I am one of those people with a crazy schedule and it's nice to go to a chill spot sometime to get away that actually accommodates hours for people like me....