Pho Ha Noi — Restaurant in Cupertino

This Pho restaurant is quite different from many others I have been to. This restaurant seems to be better managed systematically. The decor is more modern, and the staff seems to be more mechanical rather than personal as in most pho restaurants. This is not necessarily a bad thing though.

The restaurant seemed rather popular. We went as a party of three around 8pm on a Sunday. The parking lot's thirty-some spaces have all been taken. Each of the parking spaces is labeled clearly as for Pho Ha Noi's customers. Only one space was left, and it was marked as for Pho Ha Noi's manager. This is good and bad. The good thing is the manager, who is probably the owner, cares about visiting the restaurant frequently such that he/she needs a dedicated parking space that is the closest to the front door, except of the two handicap spaces. The bad thing is that the manager puts his own convenience over the customer's. One good space can be used by twenty or more customers a day, but the manager wants to keep it vacant most of the time.

There were six or so parties waiting in front of us. The waitlist is based on an App on an iPad, which somehow was not plugged in so it was running low in battery. The host did not notice it until 30 minutes after I signed in. We waited for about 12 minutes to get seated.

The dining room was very brightly lit, and the tables were bright white, making the whole place daylight bright. The chopsticks provided are disposable type. The napkins are thick (unlike in many pho places). The bean sprouts are self-serve via a station. I saw a staff pouring a new bag of sprouts into the container in the station. The arrangement seemed more sanitary. Imagine bean sprouts provided in regular pho restaurants. You might wonder how the sprouts had been handled in the kitchen. In the case of Pho Ha Noi, they are fresh out of a sealed bag.

We ordered pho and spring rolls. The pho was delivered rather expeditiously (almost as fast as in Pho Nam) but our spring rolls were probably forgotten. They were delivered about 8 minutes after I reminded a waiter.

The presentation of the pho is nice. The utensils and bowls seemed clean. The soup, however, was too salty compared to other places. The noodle was well spread versus in some other restaurants the noodle stayed in a bundle.

It was an okay dining experience. Wished they didn't forget the spring rolls. The prices are a little bit (perhaps 10%) higher than other pho places and the waitline is longer than...

Updated review 3/5/2022: Pho Ha Noi upgraded their beef rib. It has more meat now. For dinner, I had their grilled pork rolls $8.75, combo pho $15.35, a side of beef rib $12 and a hot tea $1.75. Please note, on the menu, a side of beef rib states $6, I asked the waiter why it was $12 instead of $6. He said it is because the menu prices are wrong. Giggling, he said: I should have told you when you ordered it but didn't and walked away. The food tasted great as always. My bill was $37.85 before tax and tip.

Updated review 8/24/2021: Water is free now! Before, only bottles of water were available for $1, which was kind of weird. They wouldn't service you a glass of water. Pho doesn't get any better than this. I had the pho dac biet $15, side of beef rib $6 and a Chinese bread stick $2.25. Everything was awesome as usual. Great job.

Updated review 7/18/2021: Outdoor dining was not available today, indoor only. The hostess explained they were short staffed. It would have been nice to dine outdoors as the weather was not too hot. I had the beef rib pho. It was perfect. I love the broth here. After the bowl of pho, I was still a bit hungry and order a side of garlic noodles and a side of beef rib. The garlic noodles were not as good as PPQ. It is not greasy or garlicky enough. I won't order that next time. The side of beef rib was pretty bomb. Service remains excellent. Love this place! My bill was $30 with tax + tip.

Original review: Outdoor dining 5/2/2021. What a great place for a bowl of pho! I was so full after my beef rib pho $13.45 and pork spring rolls $8.25. There weren't any other meats in the beef rib pho. The broth was very tasty. It came with the usual basil leaves, bean sprouts and lime. Yes! Lime and not lemon. They have a unique grilled pork spring roll. Under the pork and vegetables, there's a little deep fried egg roll wrapping underneath. It was a good crunchy surprise. Please note, this location does not have the sugarcane drink like their San Jose location. Service was excellent and my food came out fast. I'm in love with the chef and his cooking. Very tasty...

Fast service, delicious food.

We arrived around 12 noon, and the queue is about a full page long, maybe 20 ahead of us. Went back to the car so we can get seated bec the waiting area indoors is full, and it's raining outside. After 25 mins, we got a call on my phone that our table was ready. Went in and got seated immediately.

We were escorted to our table. It was empty except for the paper cover and the menus. When we got seated, another person brought the utnesils and glases of water. We were told to call her when ready.

We ordered one beef Pho to share with my wife and one appetizer plus 2 appetizers to-go. We were told there is a surcharge of 18% for dining in, so we will be charged separately for the to-go order - it makes sense, no problem.

It only took maybe 2 mins, and our hot Pho order arrived with one extra bowl so we can share. That was quick, considering the place is busy with a long queue. Then, after 5 min, the crab appetizer came.

The Pho was really good. It's not salty and tasted better than our favorite Pho place. It came in a larger bowl, so immediately, we can say that we made the right decision to share it. The beef peices are in cubes and they're cooked well and easy to chew and eat. However, it didn't come with a lot of meat - or could be bec they're in thick cubes, instead of several thin slices.

My wife's favorite was the crab appetizer. I liked it too, but I liked the Pho better.

Our to-go order were Pork Egg rolls and Goi Cuon. I avoid reviewing to-go orders if we don't immediately eat them as soon as we get home, so I will not comment on these unless they are exceptionally still good even...