Pho Ivy — Restaurant in Elk Grove

Pho Ivy is fairly new pho restaurant located in Elk Grove; however, don't let its short history fool you, Pho Ivy delivers flavorful Vietnamese cuisine to anyone with a hungry stomach. Pho Ivy prides itself in its use of spices including sumac, tumeric, cumin, and za'atar to elevate the flavor and taste of their food.

Their menu includes a variety of noodle soup dishes with both rice and egg noodle options, which I have found is somewhat unique as not all restaurants will offer egg noodle options as well. They also have a selection of banh mi and rice plates if you're looking for something different to try. They offer both dine-in and take-out options; however, keep in mind if you'd like to take their pho to-go you can only order their large size (not that that should dissuade you, once you get a taste of their food you'll want to order their large size). Upon entering you can order either at the counter before taking a seat, or at your table, whichever is easier for you. We elected to order at the counter, and then find our seats.

Recently, I've been a chicken pho fiend after I tried a friend's homemade recipe, which immediately led me to questioning all my life decisions and wondering why I hadn't tried chicken pho previously - which then led me to sample the chicken pho here. As much as I enjoy the beef-based broth more commonly featured in pho, there's something about the lighter, yet equally complex, flavor of chicken that drew me in, and has since held me in its grip since then (I suspect it may be possible that the lighter broth doesn't make me as full as quickly, so I'm able to eat more noodles, which is a win in my book). I'm happy to report back that their chicken pho is absolutely delectable and I would definitely go back for it. That being said, their beef-based pho is equally as good, so you really can't go wrong with any of their pho offerings here.

If you're looking for Vietnamese cuisine in the Elk Grove area, then I highly recommend giving...

This is by far one of the worst places to eat. Customer service is the poorest I have ever seen. These people don’t care about your service and continue to over price their meal. I’ve been eating here for a little over a year, but only IF the NEED was great. I finally got to a point where we complained about one of our pho dish. My co-worker and I both ordered #35, which is rare steak and meatball pho. There was a decent amount of meatballs on each pho, but my co-worker received only one slice of rare steak on his pho. I received 3, which is REALLY small. I asked the waiter if he could add some more rare steak for my co-worker, since he received only 1. Waiter then acknowledges and questions the legitimacy of the existence of only one rare steak, by asking “are you suuuuuure”. As if, my co-worker and I were conspiring on hiding a few pieces of rare slice meat in our pockets. Anyhow, long story short. He refused to bring my co-worker any more meat and did not even remove the charges like he said he would. This place is the CHEAPEST EVER. If you order pho they will give you only ONE condiments dish to share with 3 people who ordered pho. You literally, have to ask them what to bring, while they snicker back at you as if your demands just ruined their whole day. We put a hex on this place and I’m sure it’ll close down in the near future. People like this should never own a restaurant. They are not passionate about their restaurant owning. It’s more of just trying to survive. Oh... one more thing... there was a bug in my co-worker's cup. She didn't want to...

The place was quite busy on Labor Day. Had fries, buffalo wings, combo pho, bun bo hue, fried rice, and salt and pepper spare ribs. Overall it was a pleasant experience.

Fries - pretty good. Slight crunch on the outside and warm on the inside. Flavor was also there. My nephew ate the fries plain because he's a plain fries kind of guy.

Buffalo wings - okay. Juicy and flavorful, but not knock your boots off yummy.

Combo pho - tasted ok. My wife thought it tasted better without adding the extra condiments.

Bun bo hue - really good. Best I have tried so far. The broth, meat, noodles, and blood really work together to give you a really great taste. I'm usually not a fan of thick noodles, but it finally works at this place. Must try. The only problem is they need spicier chilli oil.

Fried rice - very large portion and totally worth the price. Tasted good, had fresh looking vegetables, and the largest portion of fried rice I have ever seen. Totally worth it on the portion size alone.

Salt and pepper spare ribs - pretty good. They actually use spare ribs unlike some other places that call their dish spare ribs and serve you cut up pork chops. Comes with fresh chopped up vegetables.

Service - great service. Water refilled regularly and we did not have to wait long before ordering. Only issue we had was our order came out wrong like 3 times and they didn't bring out one of our dishes that I left off this review. They gladly fixed the mix-ups and we had a pleasant experience.

Will come again to eat the bun bo hue and try out some of their...