All Pho You — Restaurant in Des Moines

I always try new pho restaurants in Des Moines when I drive through. My party ordered Pho Deluxe, egg rolls, fried dumplings, thai tea, limenade and pork spring rolls. Food was average at best but the Pho was surprisingly good. I got two bowls of Pho Deluxe which comes with two beef ribs. One of the bowls had two beef ribs. The second bowl had 4 pieces of ribs that was cut up and was equal to a single rib... Very disappointing! I didn't say anything but I also can tell the waiter was avoiding our table due to the embarrassment.

Would I eat here again? No. Bad first impression, bad service, and average food at best. You know the restaurant is good when you see the local Vietnamese come eat here. This restaurant was almost empty.

Egg Rolls: 2.5/10. 4 small eggrolls with barely any fillings.

Fried Dumplings: 6/10. Average.

Pork Springrolls: 6/10. Average.

Limenade: 3/10. I've had lots of limenade and this was one of the worst. It tasted very bitter as if the limes used were over ripe or the juice has been refrigerated for days.

Thai Tea: 4/10. Lacked tea flavor, but nice sweetness.

Pho Score (max 100 points)

Price (5): 3.5

Bowl size (5): 3.5

Presentation (5): 3

Herbs (5): 3

Noodles (5): 5points

A.      Quality (5): 3

B.      Portion (5): 4

C.      Bonus meats (5): 3.5

Broth quality

A.      Clearness (5): 5

B.      Spices (5): 1

C.      Depth (5): 2.5

D.     Balance (20): 15.5

E.      Richness (20): 15.5

F.       MSG aftertaste (-3): -1

G.     Secret special factor (5): 3

Total score: ...

My husband and I thought the food was just average. Not terrible, but not great either. I got the grilled banh mi with pork and spring rolls with pork and peanut sauce. The banh mi was pretty good but I didn't taste much sauce or dressing in it. I'm a person who likes a lot of sauce, so the more, the better. The spring rolls were mostly lettuce and noodles and not much meat. I didn't taste any bean sprouts, cilantro or mint so it was kind of flavorless. The peanut sauce didn't have any zing, either. My husband was very disappointed that his Hunan chicken didn't have any baby corn in it. It clearly mentions it in the menu and that's his favorite part of the dish. He thought his dish wasn't spicy and it didn't have a lot of flavor. It also didn't have much chicken, either. It was mostly vegetables. I'd say they're pretty skimpy with their meat here.

The atmosphere was very nice and the decor was much nicer than most Asian restaurants. Our waiter was super friendly but the service was slow. They had a lot of carry out orders so we waited awhile for our food.

I would have liked to try their pho to see if it's as good as everyone says it is, but we don't feel like coming back anytime soon. There are so many other great Asian...

We made a pit stop driving through Des Moines craving for some pho on a cool summer evening. All Pho You is easily one of the best pho spots in the mid-west. They have a nice balance of savory to sweetness in their pho broth that is very unique and you're going to be coming back to over and over again for those giant beef ribs in your pho. The spring rolls are made just how I like them with even amounts of sliced pork to shrimp ratio. Their sauces are great, and the Bahn Mi pairs well with the pho broth kind of like an Au jus if you dip it in and eat it, it is quite succulent. My kids gobbled up the pan seared dumplings as if there was no tomorrow, the boba drinks are fantastic as well and the tapioca pearls are really soft another star 🌟 to my liking. Service and staff were generous, kind, and professional. We'll most likely come to this hidden jewel again whenever we drive though Iowa. The locals of Des Moines count yourself blessed to have a great pho restaurant amongst you as I wished their was one in my town that has quality food like this near me. I'm salivating just thinking...