Vietnamese Grille — Restaurant in Gainesville

I HATE pho! Like, absolutely despise it! But the pho here? Omg! Chef's kiss My daughter got the pho, i got the shaken beed & my son got spicy squid. Of course my kids had to have their mommy try what they got (they're 9 & 12) & when i finally tried her pho, i ended up eating about half of it 😂 She's 9, so she wasn't eating that massive bowl by herself. That's something else, the portions are MASSIVE!!!! Everything was hot, fresh & absolutely delicious 🤤. Next time we're in Gainesville, i will be back. The man & woman (I'm guessing husband & wife just bc of fhe way they interact) were both so sweet! They make you feel like y'all have been long time friends from the moment you walk in that door. They seem to truly care about what you think about the food & they don't hover like a lot of restaurants. I absolutely hate when the server makes you feel rushed. We went into this place by accident, but I swear, that food was so good, it was like divine intervention. It was like God said "I know you're looking for the boba place, but you have GOT to go here bc their food is heavenly." And He made all 3 of us walk right past the boba place, bc neither of us saw it & it was dead in front of us! When I asked her where the boba place was & she showed me, i was so confused, like how did i miss that?! How did all 3 of us miss it? I'm telling you, there was something that knew we needed yo to try that place. The shaken beef is extra delicious with just a bit of the hoisin sauce. The spicy squid isn't so spicy you can't eat it. My son said it could be spicier, so i go him the chili oil (it says chili paste on the menu) & he loved it! Y'all know how i feel about the pho already & my daught, who is in a super picky stage when it comes to food, she loved it too! IF YOU LIVE IN OR ARE AROUND GAINESVILLE, YOU NEED TO GO TO THIS PLACE! I actually think it's only the 2nd or 3rd fully 5 star review I've given. I have very high standards about food & i always see room for improvement, but not here. Well, they could give spoons for when you have leftover soup. But that isn't worth taking...

Parking in this area was like looking for a sober soul at a St. Patrick's Day beer festival. Then, I had a difficult time locating the actual restaurant itself (one unit inside a grand building). However, I eventually succeeded in picking up my next day's breakfast: a beef pho. There were other customers inside.

Their parking/location were negligible hiccups. And it wouldn't have mattered if I began eating immediately. Mainly, the "pho" they served wasn't the real deal, but more like a cooking student's very first attempt... at cooking anything. The broth was bland and forgettable, and a clueless imitation showing clear deficiency in understanding crucial spices, how much to use.

Fittingly, this rubbish is being offered to an ideal customer base (i.e., students always in a hurry). Which is the formula for surefire commercial gold and extravagant "great!" or "wow!" reviews. Well, here a tip to the locals: your lack of quality options is duly noticed. Thus, go search online for "Quoc Viet Foods pho soup base." Order it, then follow instructions. Buy other raw ingredients—which aren't complicated. You can substitute most items—even "Thai basil" with regular basil (Trader Joe's has some). That simple creation would save money, blow your minds via deep/rich flavors, AND make you feel proud of actually cooking something decent—certainly more than any silly nonsense "pho" being purveyed by...

As I lay here on my couch at 10pm on a Friday night with tired eyes, a weary soul, and a tender heart from the hustle and hurry of the week, I am completely satisfied and grateful for my leftovers. I’ve been here twice, the first time I came to this establishment, I was skeptical. The establishment is clean and tidy, but I was thinking of my best friend’s mom. I once tried calling myself Kitty, and it never really stuck, a) because it’s a ridiculous name, and b) to demand people call you Kitty is also ridiculous. But the only person to call me Kitty with a thick English Vietnamese accent to this day is my best friend’s mom, Amy. Every time I go out to buy Viet food from a restaurant, I think of a newspaper wrapped table and scattered across it; a huge bottle of hoisin sauce, sriracha, home-made fish sauce, and whatever Amy effortlessly made. Amy shouldering every Viet party/ gathering (there are many), and most of if not every meal her family has ever eaten at home, I go to most Viet restaurants and get disappointed. I tried ordering chicken skewers, preemptively thinking about my disappointment, and the women said something along “no that’s appetizer, you need whole meal,” and I knew I was at the right place. Needless to say, I am writing all of this to say thank you for transporting me to a meal, around a newspaper wrapped table, that I have missed for a...