Phở 88 — Restaurant in Grand Junction

'Its a soft opening'

That's what they kept telling us that's what this was. A soft opening. That's what you call it when you realize you dont have your game together on opening night. It's a shame when potentially good restaurants fail because of poorly chosen location, current economic climate, owners leaving their business to bad management, etc. But some restaurants plan their own demise by stumbling right out of the gate. When you open a restaurant its crucial to hit the ground running with a great menu, good well priced food, fully trained staff, organized management, and nice ambiance.

Unfortunately Pho 88 stumbled at the gate.

But I shall not judge too harshly and will give benefit of the doubt. I ordered the pho (the one with the most meaty bits, but not the 'filet mignon' version) for $14.99 and it was ok. Average. Not offensive. No better or worse than I'd had at Thai Chilli, Gingers or Thai Smile, also in GJ. But when you pay $3 more in an 'authentic' Vietnamese restaurant, you'd expect a slightly better product. The noodles were slurppy, the beefy bits were beefy, the side accoutrements were there but slightly underwhelming.Although I did like that they used mini red and yellow peppers instead of jalepenos. I love jalapenos, in Latin American dishes, but could never understand what they are doing in pho. To the broth. Pho is all about the broth. The piece de resistance. The raison d'etre. And it was actually pretty decent, albeit a little tepid. There was the star anise and cinnamon and clove and beef. The liquid was clear and bright but for the little globules of fatty goodness floating around holding the keys to the gate. Yum.

A little side note on pho in this country..bar a handful of legit conscientious pho joints, the absolute overwhelming majority of restaurants that offer pho will use a freeze dried base or starter. Now, you may ask the proprietor if he makes his own broth from simmering beef bones and he may say yes. But he will still use a base that he will add his own broth to. This is because a consistently good broth is very hard to achieve day in day out, and when consistancy is crucial to a brand certain measures are taken. I've made umpteen gallons of pho at home using many different methods and have settled on a recipe that yields great results. But I can never quite get the same consistent taste from batch to batch even when using same ingredients, weights and measures. And that's me, in my kitchen with top quality ingredients, all the time in the world and no expectant paying customers in the next room. But I can achieve this when I've used the base. The strip mall pho joints all do it and its all good (the ubiquitous sriracha/Hoisin sauce tag team is there to prop up a bland flavorless broth btw, I mean, why would you after spending six hours making the stuff?) Just dont expect the authenticity of a Hanoi back street set up where the vendor doesnt care so much about brand, but about bringing customers back day after day.

Looking forward to returning and working my way through the menu. Good luck to the owners, I hope they succeed in their endeavors.

Anyway, as my nan always said in situations such as...

Good restaurant. Run like a traditional Vietnamese restaurant, where the service is pretty hands off, and you pay at the door.

Egg rolls are good, dipping sauce was much better the second time we went. They could give a bit more dipping sauce for egg rolls and spring rolls, but I'm sure it would be easy enough to ask for a little more.

Pho is pretty decent, 8/10 for Junction, would only rate it 6/10 if it were in a big city. It's made the traditional way, with unseasoned slices of beef put into a highly seasoned broth. It's easy enough to order extra noodles (which were free when I went) to boost the bowls to what I'm used to from a medium or large bowl.

Boba smoothies are pretty good, got a taro one day, coffee another (which tasted more like the 3-in-1 packets, and slightly of melon, perhaps they made a melon one immediately before?). Bobas were firm and chewy, just the right texture, but could stand to be soaked in a syrup before serving; however, it's not a make or break decision for me, I'll still order taro bobas.

Didn't have some menu items available yet, so we are excited to try some other things on our next visit.

If you are expecting a meal where the waiter will hang around and constantly ask you about every little thing and bring you your check, maybe you should adjust you expectations or go somewhere else. If you are expecting the beef in the pho to be seasoned, or the Korean bbq to have more meat, maybe you should go somewhere else that has non authentic Vietnamese food. If you are expecting vegetarian food, either check beforehand what things are appropriate (since they have a menu online), or eat at a vegetarian friendly restaurant. If you are expecting a decent Vietnamese meal on this side of the mountains, then this is the place you are...

I am absolutely "addicted" to pho, having lived much of my life in larger cities where there is an abundance of foods from many different cultures. Unfortunately, I lived in Grand Junction for the better part of two years before I tried the pho at Phở 88. Why? Well, the pandemic and resulting shutdown was one reason, but another reason is because some hoity-toity people in town warned me away; after all, it's the only Vietnamese restaurant in Grand Junction, so how good can it be? Well, I regret listening to these people and I regret waiting the better part of two years to try Phở 88. Not only is it palatable, but it is actually very, very good! I'm a creature of habit -- the only pho I ever eat is the pho tai (i.e. rare beef noodle soup) -- so naturally the pho tai was the first and only thing I've eaten in the few instances I've been to Phở 88. I have to say that the quality, portion size, and flavour of the pho tai is absolutely comparable to what you'd find in larger cities with a greater selection of multicultural food. I also had their boba tea and loved it -- though you might want to order it on your way out as more of a "dessert" lest it spoil your appetite. Service was very friendly and fast. Don't make the same mistake I did and listen to people who would ignorantly bash a restaurant just because it happens to be the only one of its type in a small town; I've eaten pho in at least three cities populated in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, and I think that the food and service at Phở 88 could be just as competitive in a larger market. If I could turn back time, I would have eaten here much for regularly over the past couple of years. Try it out...