Phở ABC — Restaurant in Citrus Heights

There is a decades-old myth about Asian restaurants in America serving dogs and cats.

It pains me to write this, but something has to be said, as Pho ABC was once a wonderful business serving a very tasty bowl of Pho.

Whether an ownership change, management change, or just plain lack of no longer caring about their business or customers, Pho ABC has declined to the point of irrelevance.

Unfortunately for Pho ABC, there is so much competition in Citrus Heights and the surrounding area for a good bowl of Pho that they need to step up their game. Even prior to the pandemic, there have been errors in consistency (taste, portion sizes, etc.), staffing (leave the rude older staff in the back to cook!), and especially cleanliness (please, use your bathroom at home and save the trip to theirs otherwise you may not eat the food!).

If Pho ABC does not make changes, and quickly, more one-star reviews will be populating the review sites from patrons and their business may be relegated to a 'former business'.

But today, this One Star rating comes because of a serious issue with the staff and Pho ABC's policy...

They DENY access to Service Dogs.

Seriously, I kid you not.

A sign on the door states 'No Animals', yet clearly has a disclaimer of 'except service animals'. The sign even has a graphic of a service dog.

I enter Pho ABC on an extremely cold Sunday afternoon (December 18th) with my wife and Service Dog (who's in a vest labeled 'service animal', though this is not a requirement under Federal ADA laws). We are told 'you can't bring a dog in here' and I explain she is a service animal. A very confused look from the hostess/waitress who then tells us we can only sit in the small area where food delivery people are waiting... a small cramped table against a dirty window.

I explain we would like to sit in the actual restaurant, away from a window, and not in the waiting area as there is too much comotion.

She then converses with a man behind the counter and repeatedly points to us and our service dog. She finally says 'I ask if okay for you to sit' and proceeds to ask another patron 'if we can bring our dog into the restaurant'. I'm thinking, WTH? The restaurant is half-empty restaurant and there are plenty of available tables. I once again explain I do not want to be seated next to a cold window (and leave out the part that these front windows are filthy too). She just stands there and points to the window table.

At this point, it is not worth spending my hard-earned money at Pho ABC so I turn around and walk out. No verbal interaction. No scene. No attempt to correct them as to what ADA laws state... I just leave as it's not worth educating them when they clearly do not care to serve all patrons.

So, myth busted... they do...

If it were possible to give this restaurant zero stars, I would. The dining room was uncomfortably warm due to them having their rear double doors open during the hottest part of the afternoon. The young man who took our order seemed put out by having to do so. He seemed annoyed that I wasn't prepared to order for my entire family, even though more than half of them were in the restroom. He brought out the sauce we requested for our appetizers with the meal, and he did so in the kind of large squeeze bottle reserved for kitchen use, instead of in a ramekin or dish of some kind, like any other Vietnamese restaurant would do. The older woman who sometimes came to our table would only make eye contact with us to glare at us. When she returned to our table to give us our check, she did so without looking at us, saying anything to us, or asking us if we enjoyed our meal. Then we waited a very long time for someone to pick it up, so I ended up taking it to the register, where the young man had been taking to go orders and processing payments for them. The older woman suddenly appeared from the back to tell me not to give it to him, and that she would take it. When she brought it back to me, she did not give me a pen, and before I could ask her for one, she had already returned to the back again. I ended up having to go to the young man at the register after all to get a pen. There was also a younger woman working there. She was pleasant, but we only saw her twice, so unfortunately our interaction with her was all too brief. My wife and I would've had a much better experience if she could've been the primary person waiting on our family. This restaurant is so close to us, and we were really looking forward to making it a regular spot for our family, but we were really made to feel unwelcome, and that they would really rather not have us back again. The first time we went we had a nice experience, but I think our last visit will be our last visit. We all love Vietnamese food, but next time we'll probably try the Mexican...

OK first let me start off by saying the customer service from the gentleman in the front that took my order gave me a very unwelcoming feeling. He looked like he did not enjoy his job. He gave off a grumpy vibe.

I ordered the the Spring rolls with grilled chicken. It was missing cucumbers which is my favorite part.. It was very plain tasting.The grilled chicken tasted OK. The presentation was nice nice.

The 2nd thing that I ordered was two of the Phó soups. 1 in a small and 1 in an extra large portion. I believe we ordered #7 rare steak and lean brisket and a #16 the combination beef soup. It came with beef ball beef(which I only got one cut in half, pics below) tendon, tripe and some other beefs. When we ordered the small and the extra large, I was thinking more broth but it was based on the veggies. Some more onions, being sprouts, mint, and meat. The broth tasted, amazing, very flavourful. The noodles were dry, hard and old. When we put the noodles in the broth they were breaking up into little pieces. We were also given 2 broth containers total for a extra large and a small. That was not going to be enough broth, so I bought 2 more total was about 5$ more.

I do not think I will be coming here again, I would like to try other restaurants to find the...