Pho Hoa Noodle Soup (Minneapolis) — Restaurant in Minneapolis

First I want to mention that I’ve been a regular there for 4 years turning 5. I was there with my boyfriend today and we both wanted to eat dinner there, since it was a couple mins away from our church. My boyfriend accidentally made a mistake on an order. The only change they needed to make was to swap two sides he didn’t want and give him a couple new ones which we were willing to pay! Once he finally understood after repeatedly telling him, he went back and add the bean curd in the fryer. After this he came back taking one order and after that he sat down with the other server sipping on a drink, 10 mins passed and The food was starting to get cold. The server noticed that we were very upset, and he went back to the kitchen and grabbed just one of our sides, I had told him we had ordered 2 sides and he said oh yeah I’ll put that in right now. I was already upset that the food was cold but what made me even more upset was that the bean curd was Burnt, I don’t know how you manage to burn a frozen bean curd. Obviously we were both upset and were not planning on eating a burnt bean curd. We went to pay our order and told our server we were not paying for that, he argued with us and said that we can’t waste it and we need to pay for it, we both told him to go look at it and tell us if he would eat that. He went to the kitchen and came out with another man, these two had a conversation for a few minutes in Vietnamese and then the server told us that he will remove the charge of the burnt bean curd, and also said never come back here. We were shocked and asked what authority does he have to tell us that, and he claimed the man he was speaking to was the owner and WE ARE NOT WELCOME TO COME BACK HERE. This place went from a restaurant I really enjoyed at one point to a place where they don’t believe the customer is right and THEY WILL TREAT YOU LIKE GARBAGE...

usually I come here and the food has been edible enough to keep me coming back and the service has been pleasant but yesterday when I went there with my father the service was disappointing. I ordered a Thai Tea with no ice and the server who brought it back to me, when he did tells me because there was no ice that’s why it was half way full. So are you going to charge me half the cost? Then he tells me that’s all they had left which makes no sense to me but Basically what you’re telling me is you once you put the ice in it makes it look more full. Okay I get it. Then the server never came back to check and see if we were enjoying our food which is usually what servers do at restaurants but maybe not this one but I believe they have when I have went before. Then when we were done with our food he didn’t come to collect our dishes or ask if we wanted our bill. But I seen him do that to other tables as if he was intentionally not coming to our table. I do believe this was some form of racial prejudice towards my father who is African American because I have come in the past and never had this experience. The behavior was just odd from him and the other server who came with the food. It was just giving a stiffness where I can tell they didn’t want to come serve us or deal with us.

This type of service is where I don’t believe a server deserves a tip which is tough because there is already this outlook that black people don’t tip enough if at all so it almost feels like it’s feeding that notion but in cases like this, it’s rightfully so. I usually try to tip what I can even if it’s not as much maybe as someone else who has it to give, personally, but I make it a point to when the overall service food and atmosphere is good.

Pho Hoa I’m disappointed with this. Don’t know if you will even see this but this...

My comfort food spot in Minneapolis when I don't know where else to go for food! In comparison to many phở spots that I have been to in the Twin Cities, Phở Hòa is pretty solid because as much as the food here can never been compared to home-cooked Vietnamese meals, they still do a good job providing decent quality food that one can still enjoy if they do not feel like cooking that day. The phở broth is better than that from most places that I have been to.

I am not sure if they have Bún Bò Huế because I don't recall seeing it here, but I have had the Bún Bò Xào before here and it tastes pretty good to me. The tofu is well pan-fried, and the onion is nicely caramelized. Mixing them with the noodles allows flavors to combine nicely. In terms of phở, I am always going for #97, which is Phở Chín, Nạm, Gầu, Gân, Sách, meaning brisket, flank, fatty flank, tendon, and tripe. Again, it's the broth that counts, but meat lovers will have #97 as a good option for sure. One can also order #91, which, instead of brisket, has steak instead, and everything else is the same.

It seems like this restaurant is actually a chain business which I did not realize until my friend in Boston went to the one there! Even on Nicollet Ave, commonly known as Eat Street, with several Vietnamese restaurants, this place still stands out as a solid option for one to get comfort food.

Service was pretty fast and on point. You should not be expecting anything above and beyond simply because that's not the way these small Asian restaurants do it, but the waitresses get the job done, and that is more than enough for me!

One thing to know, which I am not sure if it applies nowadays, is that they might charge extra if you pay with a...