Nam Cafe — Restaurant in College Station

I’ve come here before to sit and do school work and grab boba milk tea and thought the employees were polite and welcoming, but I didn’t enjoy the drink. I gathered my things to come sit and get work done for school. I parked my vehicle but needed to run next door because I had left my wallet the previous day. I went inside for less than 5 minutes and my car was getting prepared to be towed. I saw the signs but was a customer, so didn’t think it would be a problem to take a moment to get my wallet while I was in the area. I understand that y’all have limited parking, but if the parking lot is EMPTY, is it really necessary to immediately call for towing for a 3 minute detour to grab my wallet, when I’m actually a customer? I didn’t give y’all a hard time and just accepted it because anyone can give that excuse. I even went inside to explain and apologize. I could understand if the parking lot was full or if I had been 30 minutes to an hour gone but y’all didn’t even give me a minute to come inside before trying to tow my car. I was polite about the situation, even though I had to pay money I didn’t have, to avoid losing my only form of transportation and have limited mobility due to being a disabled veteran. I understand y’all have had trouble in the past but extending people grace is something we all should be able to do. The lady who works there that came outside was very rude due to her PAST experiences. She instantly thought my form of payment was a scam and made me jump through hoops just to get my car, when I had already made the payment and got confirmation from the tow company and driver. She originally came out to ask me to give the tow company a call once I get my wallet for confirmation but it seemed that once she saw me she changed her mind and ordered the tow driver to not release my car due to her PROFILING me and assuming I would scam them. I’m glad I had a picture of my ID on my phone or I wouldn’t have been able to get my car. The tow driver was polite but the lady came outside very aggressive for no reason, when the tow driver had no problem giving me my car back. I didn’t even know who she was when she arrived because she didn’t introduce herself but demanded that I show her the card I used to make the payment. Why would I give a random stranger my credit card to look at? She suddenly showed up in the parking lot after I went inside the restaurant to apologize to the staff and told them I should have let them know where I was going but I didn’t think it would be a problem since I was a customer and only took less than 5 minutes to grab my wallet, (which has my ID in it). I thought the owners and employees were welcoming (and some of them are) but the treatment I received from the lady who works there was unnecessary and could have been handled way better. I no longer feel comfortable being a customer here. Please consider this for your future customers. Not everyone is parking there illegally and you could be pushing away customers and at least extend people grace and give them a moment before calling a tow and also don’t let past experience cause you to be rude to people. You can still be polite and accomplish what you need to accomplish, especially if that customer is...

I would like to give this review as 2 types of people first. As a non-VIetnamese person and as a Vietnamese person respectively regarding the food.

TLDR: 8/10 for it's Pho, setting, and service.

The Setting: It is a cafe! This means ample seating areas to sit and chat with friends over food while also being a place one can study due to the sheer amount of outlets they have at almost every single table along the walls. It has warm light sparse throughout the cafe alongside natural lighting. First thing that surprised me was the large amount of space inside when one walks in. It gives an airy and open feeling that won't make you feel crowded even if the place was packed. It also feels like a classic Vietnamese place you'd find in Houston but cleaner and a little more modern. The staff is very nice and the food is great!

The Food: I had a bowl of their Pho Dac Biet (Special House Pho which just means you get a variety of most of their meats). As a non-Viet person I would likely find it delicious for its authentic bowl of soup and noodles. It is flavorful, warm, and quite satisfying without leaving you overly stuffed and food comatose. As a Viet person I will break the Pho down to their essential components starting with the broth. Beef Broth: It is clear, almost a clean taste, flavorful but a little sweet and salty. It resembles to home made pho albeit due to this being their soft opening, they are still tinkering on the recipe. I still find it satisfactory due to being the best in College Station by far. Improvements can be on reducing sugar and saltiness, simmering in bone broth longer, and skim more oils out just to get that perfectly smooth and clean broth you'd like in a refreshing bowl of Pho. Noodles: I found it surprisingly delicious! It was smooth, silky, and had a nice familiar chewiness found in fresh rice noodle you'd find at home. It compliments the broth very well and it was a good amount of noodles that leaves you satisfied. Meat: The meat was great! It was flavorful with good amounts of fat on them. The texture was very tender and did not require too much chewing while maintaining the clean feeling that pho is supposed to have. I wish it had a little more meat to supplement the value but t'was satisfying none the less. The round beef and brisket were delicious. The meatball was juicy and flavorful!

Overall: I found the bowl of pho to be satisfactory and pleasantly better than expected as due to the location of College Station known for its lack of Vietnamese cuisine. The bowl of pho will definitely satisfy although a little expensive for $10, it is reasonable due to it's location being right across from campus, a prime real estate spot. I give the place a 8/10 for now and expect improvements as the owner is very interactive and a extremely happy guy that loves to get to know his customers...

Took off another star from my old review. Read to the end for why. You're not getting gourmet food here but it's fast, near A&M campus, and the portions are large. I would NOT recommend anything but the pho though. Read the other reviews. The spring rolls were rice paper (bland) packed with rice noodles (bland and overcooked), bean sprouts (bland), and a little iceberg lettuce (yup bland), so it was like eating a cold glue stick. How about a little basil or carrot? The vermicelli bowls were also crazy under seasoned, but at least the meat was grilled and tasty. I also tried the sizzling tofu specialty, which was just fried tofu on rice drenched in something sugary, like heated up sweet and sour sauce from a bottle. Nothing is spectacular and it feels like the place is out to get your money over serving quality food. I ended up taking my vermicelli bowl home and threw on some fish sauce and jalapeños, but I shouldn't have to given what I paid. It's up to you to decide if the $10-$17 meal is worth it, just don't stray from the noodles. PS. Asking for more veg than what you see in my photo will cost extra (so will extra bread). To make it worse, I was told by an ex-employee that they serve previous customers' leftover veggies to...