Cilantro Noodle — Restaurant in Charlotte

So, where do we start with cilantro. Outside it is a beautiful little place, it is in the Midwood area, and you find out that they serve pho. I decided to go in and have a bowl. You can only imagine how excited I was until I got to the counter. It turns out that they are not a true pho restaurant in my standard, but they also have Bhan Mi. Like I said when it comes to my standards this is not a true pho restaurant. They do not have certain nuances that real pho restaurants have (friendly and family-oriented owners and staff) as well as some menu items that should be there are completely missing. For those who are a little more adventurous with their pho, tendon, tripe, flank, fatty flank, and crispy flank is not at all available. However, you can get a rib in it. Yes, I said it. A rib. They make it as basic as they possibly can which to me just is not right. To be honest I feel like this is more of a Bahn Mi restaurant with pho sold on the side. Now let us get to my food. Since I did not have tendon, tripe, or fatty flank, I had to settle for pho meatballs an eye round steak. I also ordered fresh spring rolls. My food was brought out to me and those of you who have eaten this before, you know that you are supposed to be given Thai basil as a garnishment. Although I have had it this way, I was given mint. Now that did not bother me at all but what bothered me is the fact that when I did ask for Thai basil, I was told that they were out of it. Now this was early in the evening and on a Tuesday night so I am not sure how that could have possibly happened. So, I ate and finished my bowl. Then I turn my attention to my fresh spring rolls. when I open the box that they came in because I did ask for them to be placed in A to go box, I was disappointed at how messily they were made. All spring rolls have a uniform shape whether they be fried or fresh. These did not. It seemed like they just wrapped up whatever they could inside of the rice paper and gave it to me. What also bothered me is the fact that the young lady asked me what I wanted in my spring rolls when I ordered them. I told her I wanted shrimp pet she then proceeds to ask me is that all that I want in there. she was questioning whether I wanted the bean sprouts and the noodles and whatever else goes in there to be in there. At that point I was just completely thrown as to why that needed to be asked. After I pay for all my food and sat down and waited for it, I happened to look at my receipt, and I notice that I was overcharged which is the coup de gras of this whole review. The menu says spring rolls for $7.50 for two. I was charged $5 for each meaning I was charged $5 for each spring roll. I also purchased a drink which was supposed to be $2.39. My receipt said I was charged $3.99. so, I went back up to the register to let them know and nobody seemed to be able to fix it until a young man came up and printed out a new receipt for me. Now nowhere on this receipt did it say that there was a refund. I was extremely upset about it and I said why is this a new receipt that does not show that he says oh it will change, and you will see it in your bank account. I looked at my bank account today and nothing has changed. The same amount that I was charged originally has posted to my account. Also, this really is not that big of a deal, but I was told that they were not allowed to give out napkins which I find strange but was given a paper towel. Now I want to say this if you want real pho you can go down the street Pho Quynh, Pho Hoa Noodle Shop, or Pho An Hoa. This is where you can get the real deal and where you will not have to worry about being overcharged for something, being told that it is being corrected, and then finding out that it was not...

Good flavors and I like that they include a spring roll and have a couple sauce choices and let you choose toppings (the house sauce is their traditional fish sauce based stuff that is super good). For what it is, some people might find it a tad over priced for how much carb base they have in the bowl and I would really like to be able to choose more than five items.

My main gripe: I requested veggies be added to my kids rice bowl in my kiosk order and apparently they don't do veggies for children (I asked about my order at pick up and they confirmed it's not a thing they normally do, womp womp, sorry kids that wanna be healthy). I am reminded how much I appreciate Crispy Bahn Mi where I can get similar items and spend a little less but there are definitely some things here worth trying. I'll reiterate that their flavors are good and this place might be worth it for some, but not quite there for me.

Update: thanks Larry for responding on behalf of the restaurant. $4.95 is definitely reasonable for the kids bowl, especially in a fairly high rent area (I imagine). I didn't get that option to add veggies to the kids portion as it wasn't in the kiosk so I put in a comment and asked when checking out. Might be something to look into for the kiosk? Final note, It's not so much about quantity, it's a little more about the ratios inching toward a little more veg. Or maybe adding a salad/shredded cabbage based bowl would be a good appeal to people interested in a lower carb option. Appreciate your work and your feedback. (+1 star for prompt response and will try again...

I've been excited to try this place since I first read about it opening.

We went for dinner on a Saturday night at 6:30. I was worried it would be really busy, but it wasn't too bad.

They have kiosks that you can use to order your food. We used them, but I kind of wish we hadn't because I think it would have been nice to see your food getting made Chipotle style.

We got the Cilantro Special--Bun Bo Hue, spicy and a Vermicelli Bowl. In our bowl, we got lemongrass pork, mango, jalepeño, cilantro, crushed peanut, crispy rolls, house sauce, and sweet and sour chili sauce.

We loved both. The broth of the Bun Bo Hue was spicy and flavorful. It was better than any pho I've had. The vermicelli bowl also stood up to the best I've had.

I would do a couple of things differently with the bowl next time. I thought the crispy rolls were the spring rolls that most Vietnamese places have as a protein option. They were just hollow rolls, so I would not get them again. I wish they offered spring rolls as a topping though. I would also get the peanut sauce instead of the sweet and sour sauce next time. We sampled some of our friends and it was better.

We got the lychee lemonade to drink which was fantastic. I want to try a banh mi next time I come.

I was skeptical about how good fast casual Vietnamese would be, but this place is really good and definitely worth...