Phởholic — Restaurant in Garden Grove

I, along with my family, arrived at the restaurant around 9 PM time. Most other Vietnamese places were closed, but fortunately, this a) was opened until 10 PM and b) was of great recommendation. Getting there, there was quite a bit of a long list of people waiting! I find it somewhat amusing that we were a group of 11 compared to the others of around 1-4. Wait time was around 30 minutes, but the whole Black Friday might have to do with some of the time (aka, it probably is shorter on a regular day)

We were split in two tables, 6 and 5, respectively, but the waiters allowed us to sit together in the same area after a table opened up next to ours (+)

The menu was simple and easy to read, all phố! (+)

Food was served extremely quickly*! It was around five minutes after ordering, which is insanely fast relative to other places. (+)

The food was quite delicious, the meat brisket and soup being my favorite parts. (+)

Mild negative detail, this applies to almost all phố places, but there was a considerable amount of soup left after I ate up all of the delicious content (meat, noodles, etc). (Slightly edited for clarity, tiny minus)

Now the elephant in the room. One of my family members was ordering in Vietnamese for our subgroup table of 6, and along with the others, ordered 2 of the same dish (#12, I believe), and the waiter was off. This is where the * comes in. They got the wrong dishes for both, but because it was so fast, everyone thought that they would pour the soup in later.

Turns out they didn't, and the same person who ordered went to ask the waiters about the quite limited amount of soup. They were, expectingly, confused. Then, the conversation between them went through several rounds, and we didn't understand any clearer why. Turns out, it was only after seeing the receipt after almost everyone had finished their bowl that, turns out, the waiter put the wrong food onto our order. My family was frustrated. Despite the waiters' apologies and attempts to correct course via quickly getting the correct soup in, it left a considerable bad taste in our mouths (no pun intended). We left with the review that the food was great, but only for those that received the correct order. In fact, one of the two that received the wrong food was the one that recommended going here in the first place.

Will we go here again? Most likely yes. Has it left a lingering feeling afterwards? Also yes, but negative.

TL:DR - Food is great, but service ultimately lets the experience down

Edit:...

I am amazed the amount of food that I got for the low price. At Phoholic, there are various arrangements of meat toppings for the soup, but regardless of which option you choose, it is all the same cost.

The parking situation is pretty miserable when this area is crowded, as I had to circle around multiple lots not only trying to find spots, but to try and figure out if I was allowed to park somewhere. Once I finally did park, I was able to put my name in and waited about 10-15 minutes to get seated. The turnover is pretty fast, but it is likely to see a crowd hanging around outside.

The menu is simple. Pick the type of ingredients you want in your pho, and perhaps some other sides or drinks. Thats it.

I went with a #11 which had a good variety of ingredients, and also added meatballs by recommendation. When I got seated, along with the basil, beansprouts, and other regular toppings, they provided a small bowl of meat to each table. I have no idea why, or if this was something they do normally, or they just had extra to give out. Either way, that was another portion of food on top of what I was already getting.

The selection of meats is delicious. Each of the toppings went well, and nothing stood out as out of place or lower quality. The broth was tasty, especially after mixing in all of the herbs, peppers, and sauces. This meal is without a doubt, very filling.

The overall meal is excellent, especially for the price, and I think the quality is on par with pho 79, and both offer absurd portion sizes...

The original PhoHolic. The second location is at Rodeo 39. That one is hit or miss but the original location has been consistent. Price increased by $2 from $10 to $12. I like that they only specialize in pho and doesn’t matter what you get, it’s one price for all. You can pay more to add on items.

When you look at the dining room furniture, I chuckled because it was IKEA furniture tables and heavy duty restaurant chairs. Every table was filled and people sharing with strangers so that no space gets wasted. There’s hanging plastic clear shield used for covid that separates the different parties.

We had 4 adults and one baby with a high chair. The second we sat down, two full plates of veggies, one full plate of steamed bean sprouts, one plate of sliced onions, one full plate of limes, and two small bowls of extra meat! All complimentary! Very generous.

I order my go-to, Pho Tai (rare steak). The best I’ve had! So tender not chewy. You don’t even have to get filet mignon and this is comparable. So much meat. The broth is fatty and tasty. Our family raves about the noodles. Something about the noodles that seemed different from others. It was neither under or over cooked. It was just perfect.

I never take home left over pho but the portion was too much. If you take home, be sure to separate your broth and noodles in different containers. Otherwise your noodles would expand in the broth and it’ll be mush like baby food. Even a day old pho,...