Pho Tre Bien — Restaurant in El Paso

We went there last night for my siblings birthday and as soon as we went inside we were left waiting for a few minutes, the hostess then approached and asked how big our party was and took the menus then came back and told us to go to the back to get to our table just by pointing at it, which was weird but okay. The place looks like it needs maintenance, kind of old and sticky menus. We were 4 people and my baby, no one ever asked if I needed a high chair and since no one even approached for the very first minutes even though the restaurant wasn’t busy at all, I just went to look for a high chair myself. Everything was fine by that time. Then we got some boba teas and when we asked for the appropriate straw to drink our boba the waiter told us to use a spoon instead, we laughed, there wasn’t anything else we could do about it. We ordered and food was good we really enjoyed and were satisfied, at the end we asked for the check and to our surprise they were charging $18 dollars for the automatic tip on the total and on the bottom it suggested an additional tip. Then we asked the waiter if we were forced to pay for the tip they added and she said that the tip was automatically applied to the total since it was a party of 5 or more, i interrupted and asked how come if we were 4: my mom, my two siblings, my baby and I and she said since we were a part of 5 we were going to be charged that tip. We were very confused, even though we were planning on leaving a tip it was just her attitude that was rude. I’m not saying it’s the waiters fault but it’s unfortunate how they trick you into thinking you’re paying for your food and they add that extra tip and suggesting to add a tip???? My mom just wanted to clarify and the girls just told her there wasn’t a manager physically there until two more weeks and it’s ridiculous. It was a very unpleasant situation we went through and I’m sharing for others to be aware of this situation that happened at this...

Change of heart on this restaurant. If you would've asked me 3 months ago what I thought of Pho Tre Bien, I would've called it the best in town. My wife and I have been frequenting this restaurant for years. And have seen the steady decline to the point that I'm here writing a disappointed review. So here it is in Summary. Wait staff is mediocre to non-existent. Portions are shrinking, and the price of the food doesn't reflect it. I've seen my drinks sit at the bar so long that I've been tempted to get up and get them myself. But that's the least of it. If the food is good, most people will endure bad service for great food. So here is where the biggest decline I've experienced over time. The portions are shrinking, to the point that they don't even match what you order on the menu and nor is reflected in the price you pay for it. Every time I go in, I get the same thing. Brisket and Tendon Pho. When it arrives (after a long wait), it's basically just a little bit of brisket Pho (no tendon or scraps at best). This has happened to me the last 4-5 times I've gone. Too often to be an anomaly. I always feel cheated and disappointed because the Tendon is my favorite part, and it's just non-existent. To be clear, I'm a frequent customer, that is saying goodbye to this establishment because the portions are shrinking, and the wait staff is not good enough to make up for it. Only upside is the food is still good in terms of flavor, but I can find damn good Pho elsewhere, where the portions are on par with what I'm paying. Good Pho is not hard to...

Disappointed… I have been here several times before with friends and family. This time we were a party of 5… I had several issues with the service and billing. Food was ok, not as good as other times, and prices rose….We ordered drinks and food. The waitress kept bringing out our items and kept placing them at the edge of the table and walked away quickly. So we had to pass drinks, food and items on several occasions amongst ourselves. Food arrived, but no utensils or napkins were brought to us; I had to get up, go look for the waitress and request them. Towards the very end, when we were almost done eating, she became a bit more attentive. The bill came and we checked it, all seemed well but noticed a 18-20% gratuity charged in the bill. When we requested an explanation from the cashier she said they have a sign (a very small sign facing the wall near the cash register about the gratuity for parties of 5 or more) and also because we sat down in the made shift room with a large party and had to put two tables together (we did not request that room and our party was 5 would could have fit in one regular table.) I explained that our service was not that great and it would be courteous if the gratuity policy was informed to us before or if there were larger more visible signs. She said she could remove the gratuity from the bill if we’re willing to leave the gratuity in cash $20 dlls plus (in other words no matter what we had to pay for it.) Not happy nor satisfied. Not...