Phở Ca Dao & Grill — Restaurant in Escondido

The first handful of times we went not bad pretty good. The lemongrass beef bahn mi was good. Sometimes the extra broth is super salty. But tonite though, worst meal i ever had there. It was “crispy” shreadded pork spring roll. It was more cold pork, a lil bit crunch, basil n noodles. And then the duck noodle soup, worse duck noodle soup i have ever tried., it was yellow, pretty much tasted like greasy chicken broth, the duck was just boiled i guess, not much flavor, cooled pretty quickly. I tried to make it taste better with all the extras it came with but it was not good. My partner asked the man if we could at least compromise on the check but the man who came to our table just gave us excuses and we just paid for it. Left a very full bowl on the table. N half a spring roll. The man who came to our table was not even our original waitresses, they did fine. But the table was never cleaned. How did the man just all of sudden decided he needed to come to our table? Was it the fact that we stopped eating n there was still a lot of food in front of us? What prompted that? Hmmmmmmm… anyway whoever cooked that meal tonight, well keep cooking like that n u will lose more customers. We should have had at least some decreased check, but no, paid w a bad taste in my mouth from not just food but now...

We were happy to come and try this location as it just opened not too long ago. We tried a few pho restaurants in the north county area, but have never been happy or impressed with the food. I grew up eating at Pho Hoa on El Cajon Blvd, which I feel is the most authentic. Since I have moved many times I have not been there in years, but crave to find that 1 restaurant. This is better than any of the other restaurants I have found in North County. This is part of a chain, so the food is comparable to the other locations. The food seems to be a bigger portion, but the price also reflects that. I don't think I have ever paid so much for a plate at any pho restaurant. Maybe due to COVID? Anyway, it ranges from $13 - $15 a plate without the cost of add ons. The inside of this location does not match the outside. The inside is very clean and with modern decoration. The outside location is run down and there were homeless on sitting at the other end of the building. As far as service, it is the traditional pho restaurant service. They do not engage in small talk, just want to get your order and get you in and out. Think of it as a fast-food restaurant with a restaurant setting. Then you won't be disappointed in the service because your expectations will...

Update: From 2 stars to 1 star! I try not to eat here anymore. Everytime I order from this place they always, always, mess up my order. 80% error rate so far on my to-go orders. It's so frustrating.

I recommend those who order to-go open your bag, trays, bowl, everything and throughly, I mean throughly, check all your orders. As I've experienced missing side orders, meats, requested sauce, and even a complete main dish! Just how does one restaurant do this, not once, but multiple times. To be exact, 4 out 5 (80% error rate). So I'm giving up on this place and onward to the other local Pho restaurants.

Old Review: Im a big fan of Pho CA Dao. Since this one opened recently, figured I go try it. Great place and always good food but workers there arguing in front of customers. Very unprofessional.

The host and waitress was arguing the whole entire time I was eating there. Very awkward. I just wanted my food and I just wanted to enjoy it but couldn't. Hope they can...