Cha Pa's Noodles and Grill — Restaurant in New York

I am a reasonable person and I like to think I look at the glass half full but today I am upset/fuming at the service we got at this Vietnamese Restaurant of all places! Cha Pa’s had great reviews in NYC so I thought we go there for lunch. My children decided to share a chicken pho (bc they can never finish one) and I asked for another pho bowl. I never imagined this would spoil our time there. The wait staff brought out 2 small slurping soup bowls for him. My husband and I looked at each other and thought to ourselves “How is our son going to eat pho out of it?” For those of you who eat pho - you know that you need at least a mid size bowl to eat it. How will the noodle and soup fit into a tiny slurping bowl??? I politely asked for bigger bowl And the wait staff’s response was “We don’t have bigger bowls only small ones.” I thought that it was ridiculous - bc this was a pho place....so I asked for clarification “Why can’t we have regular size bowl to eat pho?” He kept giving me excuses as if the bowls were all locked up. I told the waiter that was I willing to pay for another empty bowl to be used or even wash a bowl after we use it if that was the case. He shouted “Ok, I will get you another bowl.” He comes out with another small bowl slightly bigger than the other 2 but this bowl was still small and it titled at the lip...so the broth just comes pouring out. I could not believe the service! Instead of giving us another regular size pho bowl they gave us 3 small bowls for my son’s pho! Unbelievable! At the end of our meal, I told our waiter that I was disappointed that my son had to eat out of 3 small bowls and how ridiculous this was. He sent over the manager/owner and the manager began to argue with me that his wait staff did give us a bigger bowl as requested. I showed him the 3 small bowls and stated “You think these tiny bowls are big enough to eat pho?” Then I told him, “This is really bad service and any person with or without children would know this was just poor service.” He was explaining to me that they could NOT give out bigger bowls...and told me had I ordered broth bowl then I could get another pho bowl!!! Seriously this was ridiculous that is was almost comical! It’s not like I would be cheating him out of business!!! The bottom line - My children were sharing a meal; therefore he said they do not give out extra bowls. He was arguing and implying that I should be thankful that he gave us 3 tiny bowls and went on to explain that “bigger pho bowls are left for the other pho orders!” THAT IS THE DUMBEST EXCUSE!!! Their menu should state: “If you share a meal you will not be provided proper eating utensils for the other person!” I was just shocked that the manager/owner was such a rude person justifying why my child was given 3 bowls!!! He acted like getting another pho bowl would cause him to lose money or we would be getting free pho refills taking advantage of him. As a manager/owner instead of making it right, he just argued wanting to be right about his services. I finally got really upset and said, “You know what, this sad that you are Vietnamese just like us, and you are treating us this way!!! You just have a bad unkind heart!” Then he started to argue with me about how nice he his “Ooo no Miss, I don’t have bad heart, I hope the food was still good!” I told him, “No, the food became distasteful due to service here!” And I left. Therfore, I am NOT recommending this restaurant if you come to NYC! Texas Vietnamese pho is so much better, and the VIETNAMESE people there will give you an extra bowl, plate, spoon, fork or napkin if you ask them - bc it’s the right thing to do! This place is not a family friendly restaurant. The owner/manager is just right out stingy and unkind over a bowl. ...

I am not one to let a DoorDash coupon expire and I also happened to be craving Viet (I often am), so we decided to order from here one Thursday evening for pick-up. We chose Cha Pa's because it was on my husband's way home from work and was available on DoorDash. I'll admit, I was a bit iffy at first with only 3.5 stars on Yelp but we gave it a shot, and I'm really glad we did. Here is everything we ordered:

Vietnamese Spring Rolls - the spring roll skin was a bit chewy here but the filling was good

Bun Bo Hue (spicy lemongrass soup and added beef meatballs) - this was so flavorful and it was pretty spicy. There's lots of bits of lemongrass on the bottom, which I don't think you're really supposed to eat, but everything else was great. Adding the beef meatballs was a great move. Plus, not a lot of places even have BBH on the menu, so this was much appreciated

Thit Ko (Vietnamese braised pork belly with egg, and added a sausage) - this was too oily for me but my husband enjoyed it. He also loves rice and pork belly so I'm sure any rice + pork belly is better than no rice + pork belly

Large Beef Pho Broth - we just ordered the broth because we thought getting a regular pho with everything would be too much food, and this was the best move. We got to try the broth itself, which is the most important part and it was great. LOTS of bone marrow flavor so if you don't like bone marrow, this isn't for you

Grilled Pork Banh Mi - not the greatest banh mi but better than most average banh mis I've had. If you're craving one, this will do

Everything was packaged perfectly, and was intact and still hot after a 40 min-ish trip back home. They even gave us packets (instead of little cups) of sriracha and hoisin, which was really convenient, since these can sometimes pop open and spill. Cha Pa's really thought it through. Would definitely...

What made Cha Pa’s Noodles & Grill famous around is the pho. The pho is a soup with fresh rice noodles. The Pho-nomenon is a local phenomenon and got very famous around. The Super Bowl, the Special Pho, and Hell’s Kitchen are great additions to their long list of dishes. The vegetarians have a great option with the Vegetable Pho. The Vermicelli Bowls are noodles with veggies. You can add Sunny eggs, shrimps or Crispy-Fried Cha Gio Roll. They come with pork, chicken, shrimp, and pineapple. The Popular dishes are probably the coolest offer on the menu. Obama’s bun cha (yes, named after the President), the Saigon Special and the Grilled Five-spice Chicken are a must-try. Although featuring mostly meat dishes, Cha Pa’s Noodles & Grill offers amazing vegetarian options. The Lotus Salad Tofu, Summer Rolls, Vegetable Pho, Lemongrass Tofu Noodles are tasty, nutritious and are a great fit for anyone’s taste. The lunch menu is sufficient, diverse, tasty and gets served pretty fast. It is always hot and it’s great for the cold winter days. And with offers such as the Perfect pair, Five Spices Fried Chicken, and the Pho Special can turn Cha Pa’s into a favorite lunching place. The staff works with the typical for the Far East precision, politeness, and speed. They are always smiling and helpful when you have a doubt about what to pick. The place is very nice and cozy with minimalistic design. The interior carries the vibe of modern-day...