Phở Hut & Grill — Restaurant in Escondido

This unassuming Vietnamese pho restaurant is located in a strip mall conveniently next to the freeway. We seated ourselves and ordered the food ourselves on a tablet. Comfortable and low key ambiance and only a few tables set up. Restaurant is under new ownership and part of the Pho Hut and Grill chain now. There was only one waitress serving all the customers and our server seemed very flustered and unsure about what was going on or how to use the ordering tablets We ordered pho, green papaya salad, sweet potato fries and a grilled pork rice dish. The appetizers were small portions. Large pho soup was on the small portion as well and the noodles were still stuck together in the original form until we stirred and loosen them up in the soup. They gave us two side condiments of bean sprouts, lemon and basil for 3 orders of large beef pho noodles. Also, they were not generous with the side condiments like regular Vietnamese restaurants. In fact, there was only 1 sprig of basil found in each of the condiment basket. The kitchen forgot our order of the grilled pork with rice and had to send a reminder to the kitchen. No apologies were given. Waitress was under instructions to ask customers to leave Google reviews at the restaurant and in return, they will offer fried egg rolls as reward. All and all, food was average, small portions and no wow factors. Probably...

I pass by this place occasionally after I drop my kids off at my parents place. You can see the Boiling Pho sign right off the 15s freeway. And also by word of mouth, my bro mentioned he had tried this place. So, since my family was in town shopping at North County we decided to come and try it out for dinner. It was our first time and we were welcomed by Johnny. He had directed us that we order first and then we can take a seat. The menu was easy to follow and ordering was easy.

With 2 kids under 2 we loved how it wasn't busy dining in. But we did notice, that orders were going out via grub hub and take out.

We started off with the A1 Egg rolls, which by far is one of the best I've had. Fresh right off the fryer and you get 4 nice sized pieces. My wife ordered the P1 Pho (rare steak, flank, well done steak, meatballs) and I had the P2 Pho (rare steak and meatballs). We both loved the broth. Nice and savory flavor. and my wife loved how the noodles were cooked perfectly and not soggy.

By far one of the best Pho restaurants in North County and I highly recommend if you're in the area to...

Quick fyi: workers did not wear masks. However, they have a large shield around the entire counter and the one server girl only pops out briefly to bring food. It's a small place so can't fit too many people. Usually I avoid dining in to restaurants that don't mask as I'm a nurse and future NP and try to take extra caution during the pandemic to reduce risk. This place did not feel high risk (though the extra hunger may have had an effect on judgement). Some people may care more so I wanted to be clear about that.

Solid pho and short ribs for a reasonable price. Also really liked the fried tofu appetizer. Sadly they were out of regular boba and I'm not a fan of the clear boba... Classic milk tea was okay... Thai tea was on point. Staff were very friendly as well. Overall seems like a really good place that I definitely plan on coming back to!

(Sorry no pics - we were too...