FRESH PHO (Pho & Banh Mi) — Restaurant in Lacey

First of all I want to say , food and service , inside the restraint 5STARS!! However don’t order TOGO . My go to is the wonton noodle soup . It’s pho essentially with wonton noodles , but also crispy onions on top with, so good . You do have to ask for sprouts separate . However , no matter where you go pho is never the same to go . Anyways , that’s a no brainer. My other go to is the fresh spring rolls . They have a couple different varieties for spring rolls but I love the original. The pork is a very fine, flat piece (some places have a huge piece of bbq pork that’s too chewy! Not here !) comes with rice noodles traditionally , I want to say romaine ? Maybe butter lettuce , shrimp and a unknown crispy /crunchy something that adds a delicious crunch along with rice paper . Usually spring rolls have basil or something fragrant inside … but not here. Comes with peanut sauce !!! This is the BEST spring roll . I always ask for extra peanut sauce .

HOWEVER . There’s a major language barrier and it’s sad because of many reasons . I have previously tried asking questions about substitutes for menu items and or just what something meant or a general description. It’s always super hard for them . I end up just settling for what I know . I have tried calling in order with no luck due to the barrier or understanding , and I try to be nice … I give up and order in store .

Today I called in spring rolls and chicken gyoza . Extra peanut sauce and sweet chili sauce . They couldn’t understand sweet chili and kept saying sweet n sour … eventually he says sweet chill and repeats the order back . It was correct . they say 15 min wait . I show up at 15 min. They ring me in and it says spring roll and chicken terryaki … $23. I had ordered 2 appetizer items and was only expecting to pay $13 ish . The care to fix the order and deliver any sort of compensation or deal isn’t there . I told him it’s fine . I didn’t want to make a big deal. So at this point im paying $20 for terryaki I didn’t want . Which is the worst terryaki I have ever had .

The meat is in the same container with the veggies and the rice in a separate container . Rice looks like it was thrown in and very dry .the meat and veggies are in an open container with no separations . The meat is dry and chewy . The vegetables (which is my favorite part usually , broccoli and cabbage yum!) is covered in ranch ?!?! I’m not sure if they think all Americans like ranch on veggies but it was bizarre specially since it’s all combined , not to mention taste like hidden valley , BLECKKK! For $20 terryaki portion was very small . Super super let down on this one .

OH and my spring roll which I love and was craving was steaming hot due to it being in a bag with hot terryaki….. I’m assuming it was done faster than than 15 minutes. To Top it off I can’t call and complain… or Try to get a refund they can’t understand, super disappointed due to the fact of loving this place . So all in all. Don’t get anything to go here...

I got a bowl of pho, it was really large and good, however the service wasn't good. When you sit, there's no one bussing the table, there were two guys at the back near the kitchen who were talking, and they were not attentive to us when we were ready to order. It was awkward trying to call them to us, it seemed confusing whether we were supposed to go to the cashier to order or to wait for the waiter because they weren't attentive. Additionally, it took more than 30 minutes to get our bowls of pho, when usually it's very quick at other restaurants to pour the soup and put the noodles in. The wait time was frustrating considering we ordered pho. Lastly, the music was way too loud, it made it hard to hear other people talk and was not a calm atmosphere. Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant due to the lack of customer service and wait time.

Edit: returned on Feb 16, 2024.

Would not recommend coming here. We came in here with about an hour till close, yet they acted like they were closed. One of the waiters - Asian teen, glasses, mushroom cut hair, was incredibly rude to use. He didn’t even talk to us, all he did was hand us menus. Then when it was time to order, he didn’t say a word to us as we ordered. It was extremely uncomfortable and hostile, especially when the female cooks in the back started bickering about us, in front of our faces. Then two older Asian men kept going around and looking at us. When they brought out our pho, the same waiter rolled his eyes because he had to go all around the table to hand out the food. Furthermore, this waiter made a fatphobic comment about one of the tables next to us, essentially calling him fat in Vietnamese to the other waiter. All in all, we had a terrible experience here. We did not feel comfortable eating here, and it was extremely poor service from all the workers involved that did not make us feel welcome, and I wouldn’t recommend that...

My friend and I wanted to try some pho for lunch. We picked this spot based on reviews and its grand opening. When we came inside there was the option to go to the left and wait for the DingTea ( Bubble tea is sold separately from the Dine-In side of the restaurant). We wanted to dine in and were lead to our seat fairly quick. Our waiter brought us water, but no menus. We waited about 20 minutes to receive a paper menu and then placed our oder. While we waited we walked over to the counter to order a hazelnut and mango milk tea. Both were delicious and the wait was about 15 minutes. The appetizer took about 20 mins to come out from the time we placed our order, but they were good and fresh. Overall, we waited an hour and 10 minutes to get our pho. The broth was delicious and worth the wait- time. I would like to come back to see if the serving time improves because the food was really good. We arrived around 1:05 pm and left the restaurant around 3:05 pm, but we enjoyed the experience overall because the employees knew they were behind on serving dishes. The restaurant is still making changes, but the price was good in my opinion for the amount of...