Lau Bo by Lao Beo — Restaurant in Garden Grove

This place is an absolute disgrace and a scam. Do not fall for the influencer TikTok telling you otherwise. It is not an "all you can eat" pho restaurant, but in reality, the only thing you can refill is the broth. That was not even the worst part. At the end of the meal I requested a take-home broth which the server told me would normally cost $3-$5. What a deceptive business practice to charge money for broth that is supposedly "free" and "refillable" which would've been the equivalent of me dumping existing broth for a new one.

The rest is a pathetic lie. The noodles, meat, and other toppings are limited, and you can't get more of them without paying extra. Not only is it a rip-off the meat was chewy, tasteless, and had a strange, rubbery texture that was downright unappetizing. The portions were ridiculously stingy and miserly. It felt like they were more interested in cutting corners and saving costs than providing a decent meal. The serving sizes were so small it was laughable, leaving us feeling both hungry and ripped off.

To make matters worse, the customer service is almost non-existent. The staff are rude, inattentive, and clearly couldn't care less about their customers. I was basically doing a staring contest with a statue until I got the server's attention. It felt like they were doing us a favor by even acknowledging our presence.

The broth itself was bland and tasteless, making the whole experience even more disappointing. Don't waste your time or money at this joke of a restaurant. There are plenty of other places where you can get better pho and actual good service. Avoid this dump at...

I came on the weekend around 2 p.m. and the restaurant was not busy, so I assumed my food would arrive quickly, as I was hungry. However, after ordering a few dishes and waiting for them to arrive, some of the appetizers were served first, followed by my husband's food, and my food was still not ready. When my husband had nearly finished his bowl of Pho and my food was still somewhere in the kitchen 😂, I had to ask my husband if they had forgotten about my food, and then my food arrived. When I asked for a sauce later, they ended up forgot it in the microwave 🤣. For the food, I liked their mini baguette, my husband liked the taste of pho, but the sizzling beef was a little salty for me. This restaurant just opened, so everything is kinda new to them. All of the staffs need to be trained more or more employees need to be hired; seeing all of the waiters run back and forth with a confused look on their face and the customer's anger when they missed their food or drinks or waited for too long just for a drink was not good. I felt bad for them. (both staffs and customers). Hopefully, everything will be improve in the future, and I will be able to return to try their popular...

A small place, about 25% occupied Sunday lunch. They have added broken rice dishes to menu to attract more customers.

Basic hot pot set costs $42 for 2 people, served with a hot pot of beef broth, 6 thin slices of raw beef shank, a plate of various cooked beef cuts, shank, brisket, heart, aorta, feet, tendon, balls and 2 slices of testicle which smell and taste like a public toilet in downtown Los Angeles. I had to quickly spit them out and buried them. Also a plate of rice and wheat noodles with various veggies.

This hot pot is like a beef Pho with the broth kept hot on a gas stove. The broth is thin and too sweet. The meats are tough and gamy, not tasty, not having the beefy and spicy aromas of good Pho. We had to discard most of those exotic cuts of meat and just ate the familiar ones.

405 or 84 Hot Pot has a better AYCE set up at lower prices with both grill and hot pot, both Pho and spicy Thai broths, larger selection of meats, seafood and veggies which you can either grill or poach. The beef here is fresh top round, delish to grill; broth is beefy and aromatic, more like good Pho. You can make a very good bowl of Pho with this broth.

We are unlikely...