Pho Tre Bien Bistro — Restaurant in El Paso

SMALL RESTAURANT BIG FLAVOR

A small-almost overlooked restaurant lies in a random shopping center. If you aren’t looking for this place, then you’ll probably miss it driving by. After you find it, you stumble upon a real treasure in dining. Upon entering you feel an immediate sense of welcoming by staff and other individuals eating there. The scenery is clean and refreshing while still being warm and foreign. You may get the experience you’re no longer in El Paso even. The eating experience was overall pleasant and delicious. I ordered the rare steak pho, shrimp spring rolls, and honeydew bubble tea.

Pros: The size- A small warm eatery like this somehow makes the food taste a bit better, especially on cold days when a soup is necessary. The food- the pho presented as clean, and was not greasy in taste, there was no film of oil at the top of the broth despite ordering a beef protein. Despite this, the flavor was delicious and savory with the correct combination of spices provided by the waitress. The spring rolls were a little tough but made up for it in flavor. The waitress- A kind individual allows you to sit where ever you please, and with a multitude of table sizes, it is not difficult to choose a table that won’t make you feel awkward or overbearing. The service was quick, the food came out quick, and the check was also quick.

Cons: The size- the restaurant begs to be a bistro, but lacks the staffing and kitchen for such an undertaking. It does not lack the elegance of a bistro, but rather lacks the support of one and in the end feels like an up-and-coming local eatery with lots of potential.

The bubble tea- I did not try every flavor, but the honeydew was incredibly sweet, perhaps too sweet, coupled with the whip cream on top it is more of a dessert rather than a drink to have with your meal. Pro tip, do not order bubble tea before 11AM, as it is prepared fresh daily and is ready after about 12 or so.

User...

This has been one of my favorite spots for the 5 years we've lived in the area but when I picked up Pho on Monday evening I was really disappointed.

Normally, I wouldn't post a negative review but this location...it needs some work or they need to reduce their hours to what they can handle because our last order was just overall, not a great experience. I took off 3 stars because 1) the drink prep/bar area was not clean or kept up, 2) service was poor, and 3) as a result, the food ended up cold.

There were 2 FOH employees when I arrived, and only 2 guests in the dining room. I was greeted and then left to wait at the bar at least 10 minutes to pay for my order, which was ready to go, and getting cold. I had cash in hand and there were no other customers waiting. I had planned to order Boba Tea but when I saw the state of the drink station...I changed my mind.... The real kicker is that after waiting a while, another guest arrived for pickup several minutes AFTER me and they helped them first.

I came to pick up dinner for my whole family after a long day, hugely pregnant (lol) and to be left waiting there on my feet while they both ignored me was inconvenient, and honestly kind of insulting.

I really hope things improve because this spot has been one of our mainstays for takeout the past 5 years and especially during COVID! I'll be happy to update this review if/when...

This was probably the worst dining experience i have ever had. My 16 y/o sister is visiting for spring break and she wanted banh mi, so we went here. She ordered a boba tea, and they were out of boba. Which is fine, I’ve worked in restaurants before so i get it. My husband ordered a beer, they said they didn’t have any alcohol currently. Mind you, there’s two huge chalkboards hanging with all of their different boba flavors and beer options. You’d think they would either take those down or put some kind of notice over it that they aren’t available. So we ordered water. When we ordered our food we asked for a pork banh mi, they said they were out of bread, which was the whole reason we went 😅 so i ordered pho, husband and sister ordered a beef & rice dish. My pho was cold, there was only a few pieces of meat, and a tiny side of cilantro and bean sprouts. No mint, basil, onions, which has always come at any other pho restaurant I’ve been to. Husband and sisters dishes were absolutely tiny, half of the plate was just iceberg lettuce with a few slices of tomato on top. $51 for the most subpar food I’ve ever had. I get running out of things but I feel like they should tell you when you’re seated all the things they are out of, instead of waiting until we ordered said...