Phở Boca — Restaurant in Parkland

I usually don’t write a review when I go places but this place really pissed me off. My boyfriend and I gave this place a try for the first time since they had pretty good reviews. I’ve had pho before so I knew what to expect but my boyfriend was going to try it the for first time. I ordered the pho with boiled chicken and he ordered his with brisket.

The food came out pretty fast, I took a quick trip to the bathroom and it was at the table when I came back, which means they probably have everything already prepared and don’t cook to order. I thought the food was ok, I added Sriracha, bean sprouts and jalapeños for flavor. By boyfriend took a few bites and wasn’t happy with his food. The brisket was dry and the noodles and broth was bland and had no flavor. He didn’t see the point of trying to eat it if he didn’t like it. Our waitress never came over to check on how we were doing. Not once. We sat there for about 15-20min deciding if he would want something else or just forget about eating there. Finally the guy who works there came over, when he was not our server, and my boyfriend nicely asked if he could get something else. The guy just said no you have to pay for it, then I said he did not eat it and didn’t like it, he still has to pay like $10 for a meal he didn’t eat? The guy said yeah and ran away. I’ve never heard of that in my life, that at a sit down restaurant they don’t even offer to make you something else or offer to take it off the check. My boyfriend didn’t mind paying for the meal, but I thought I’d ask our waitress to see if we could get a different response.

Well, word must’ve gotten around to our waitress because she was avoiding our table like the plague. At that point I was done eating, just wanted to take the rest of my food to go and get the check. She was helping two other tables, boxing up the rest of their food and nicely delivering it to their tables, I had a different experience. I was finally able to flag her down and said I would like to box this up and get the check, but my boyfriend did not like his food at all, he didn’t eat any of it. Her response was “if he didn’t like it then he should have said something at the beginning,” which I replied with that she never came over to check on our table until now when I flagged her down. She angrily walked away without giving us any direction on what she was doing. She then came back, threw the to go container on the table at me and threw the check on the table.

After a failed attempt at pouring my broth into the container, and seeing that all of the other tables around me were getting their food packed up for them, I flagged down another girl that worked there and asked her if I could get my food boxed up for me. She said yes and took my bowl of food and delivered it back to me all packaged up like the other customers leftovers.

They did take off my boyfriend’s meal from the check, which is why they got mad and threw a to go container at me. With that being said, I will NEVER be back to this place and will tell everyone I know not to bother going here. I’ve never had such a bad experience like that in my life. They were not accommodating or attentive and once word got around that one of us didn’t like our meal, they avoided us, when all we wanted to do was get out of there...

Two stars: I enjoy the food, but the service I received today was just...a deal breaker for me. (More below.)

EDIT: The establishment responded honestly (I hope) to this review. And honesty is something I appreciate. Thank you. However, they only apologized for how I felt (when confronting them) with no acknowledgment of their disrespectful actions during my food order over the phone. Take responsibility.

I have been coming to this establishment for a few years now. Usually, I am treated nicely over the phone and in person. But not today. I understand how busy this establishment is. And as someone who has worked in the food industry before, I know the stress and the pressure of receiving multiple phone calls and in-person orders simultaneously. But under no circumstances is it appropriate to force any (not just paying) customer to hang up, cut their order short, just so they can continue not prioritizing another interested customer who took the time to call their establishment. In addition, when I made an attempt to speak about this with the man who answered my call (who I believe is also the manager, but I am unsure), he said his poor behavior towards me was because I made a custom order when those are not allowed. Keep in mind, I have made my so-called "custom order" more than once before with no issues whatsoever. If it was ever brought to my attention, of course I would respect it and order something else. But my order was always taken with no complaint until today. Thus, if there really is a legitimate rule about this, it is not my fault nor my responsibility that their employees are not emphasizing them whenever I make my order. Also, that was a very poor excuse with no relation to his disrespect towards me. He did not take responsibility nor apologize for his actions as a food industry employee, nor as a genuine human being. (But of course he showed respect to the gentleman behind me, and treated me, a woman, as inconvenient and insignificant.) Yet, knowing the hard work that goes into this establishment as I have been a frequent customer, I kindly left a small tip AND I was the one to apologize because I had tried to acknowledge the wrongness in this employee's behavior towards customers (I wrote an apology on the receipt I signed. I felt gross for doing so, but it is better to be merciful towards those who have yet to learn respect and kindness.) Apparently, he believed I was in the wrong for speaking up. Busy or not, you should treat everyone with respect. Upset, I left with my meal and will allow myself to enjoy their food one last time as I do not believe I will return. Of course this saddens me, but I must prioritize my comfort over my palate. Now, none of this writing will matter as EDIT: they don't care. But, I would like to leave it here to let anyone know to be mindful when ordering over the phone for a to go order. They will be rude and force you to hang up, especially if your order is too long for their convenience. (And mine was a simple Pho soup, eggs, and shrimp chips. For one person. And it was too much for them.) Everyone used to be so nice here, especially when I used to dine in a few years back. I am unsure what has happened to the once kind and gentle atmosphere of this place, but I do hope they will learn to be respectful...

I don't normally post, but felt compelled to do so in this case. I'll start by saying the staff was friendly and service was fast. I'm a self proclaimed foodie so I enjoy eating foods from different cultures, and I freqent my favorites. Vietnamese cuisine happens to be one of my favorites. I'm now working in Boca and went online to find a local vietnamese restaurant and I ended up at Pho Boca as it hsd great reviews. I walked in and was greeted by a very congenial young lady who seated me. I then told her there was no need for the menu as I already knew what I was having. I ordered the combination Pho. When my bowl came out it was missing a couple components. I asked the server if their combination bowls came with tripe and tendons and was shocked when she said no. Oh well, continue to load my bowl with the normal accoutrement that accompanies pho. I say this with all honesty, it was the most bland inauthentic pho I've ever had in my life. I've eaten pho at over 36 different restaurants throughout the united states. In states like California and Texas that have very large vietnamese communities, just to name a couple. If you have never had Pho before, I guess you may find it appealing, but to anyone who has truely had that beautiful aromatic and flavorful broth, Pho Boca completely misses the mark. It taste like what I would expect if an american attempted to recreate the broth. If you are looking for some authentic Pho, you have to travel to Broward. Shame on you folks who gave this place points on authenticity!! I take that back, I guess if you don't know, you don't know.

In response to your reply, I never described myself as an expert in any of the culinary arts! In regards to your chefs and their 75 years of experience, Mc Donalds has been making burgers for years, but they are far from being the best at making burgers. You enjoy some measure of success primarily out of a lack of options for folks looking for vietnamese food in boca. I never commented on anything but what I sampled today and stand by my opinion. It's funny that you attack every person that leaves a less than favorable review, instead of heeding the constructive criticism. If you look at what I wrote you would see that I did say if a person was unfamiliar with what pho is supposed to taste like, they might find it appealing. Any one reading this that wants to do a taste comparison on authentic pho, go down to Broward and Check out Pho 79, Noodle House, Pho Hoa, or Pho Brothers and please come back and share...