Just Pho You — Restaurant in New York

As a Vietnamese living in NYC for more than 3 years. I know that whenever I go to Vietnamese restaurants here, I need to lower my standard and my expectations. And this place "Just Pho You" just gets far below my standard and my expectations. We came here and ordered 3 dishes in lunch menu: Pho (of course because it's in their name, their specialty), Lemongrass grilled chicken vermicelli (this is their signature, highly recommended by chef) and Lemongrass chicken wings (many reviews said this one is good). Let's start with the Lemongrass chicken wings. They should change the name to Garlic chicken wings. I didn't see the Lemongrass and didn't taste it as well. All I saw was garlic garlic and garlic. A lot of garlic, and it made the wings had bitter taste. And their chicken wings taste like frozen one, didn't taste fresh nor delicious. Next is my dish: Lemongrass chicken vermicelli salad bow, again no Lemongrass and the chicken was grilled so burn at one side that I can taste the bitterness (you can see in the picture how dark the burn was... yuck), the fish sauce is so bland that I needed to ask for an extra one. And finally their star, their signature! PHO! I don't want to talk about it that much because that's my husband's order. As you can see in the picture, he left 2/3 of the bowl. That's how bad it was. Talking about the staffs and their service are another nightmare story. Their staffs were like zombies and they weren't trained well. One of the staffs took our plates and put our utensils on the table. I don't know how clean their tables are, or what chemical they use to cleaned that table, but the moment she put my utensils on the table. It made me feel sick.

If you wonder why this restaurant had many good reviews. Yes they have a promotion that if you review them on Google you will receive 10% off for your next order. I've been trying many restaurants in different places and being a food reviewer on Google Map many years. I CAN'T TELL LIES. I feel shame for them to put their restaurant as a Vietnamese restaurant, it's not even close. I would never come back here again. Save your money and try another...

There’s a lot of really good Vietnamese food in this part of UWS including Banh and Saiguette a few blocks up, but nothing compares to Just Pho You! Everything is well made and high quality. It’s my go-to spot for takeout but also for dining-in thanks to the friendly service and comfortable ambience.

Everyone loves the Short Rib Pho and Oxtail Pho when they come here, and I agree that they’re phenomenal. But the vegetarian pho is my personal favorite order — savory broth with lots of umami which is very impressive for a veg soup. Truly a masterpiece of a bowl!

My partner’s favorite order is a banh mi, the bread is fresh and crispy and the pickled veggies are perfectly acidic to complement the richness of the house mayonnaise. Classic pork is incredible but don’t miss out on the tofu version either.

Save room for the papaya salad and crispy spring rolls for appetizers — not that you need to be held over while you wait for entrees though because service is quick here.

And even if you think you don’t need dessert afterwards, you do. And it should be the mango sorbet!! Look out for their occasional tasting menu events where they pair up with other local chefs and restaurants to throw what is a essentially a giant dinner party,...

pros: the short rib for the pho is very tender and pretty good, it’s hard to find a vietnamese place serving pho with a big chunk of beef like that (but it’s super expensive!)!

cons: the papaya salad was terrible. there was barely any papaya and so much of everything else. it didn’t taste like a traditional papaya salad at all. i would not order anything but pho from here.

the papaya salad was served in a flimsy cardboard box. salad! such high prices with mediocre packaging is disappointing.

the customer service is lacking. i had to tell her to put the discount for paying with cash. and i also had to tell her to put my number for my loyalty rewards. she seemed to be slightly annoyed that i asked but these are things she should ask me. i shouldn’t be reminding her of her restaurants policies.

not packaged well. they can make sure take out orders are packed securely. when i got papaya salad, she put it in the same bag as my pho even tho i told her to pack it separately. a salad packed with a steaming hot pho order is not going to travel well. please use common sense.

final take: the pho here is okay. its not the best i ever had but irs not bad. it’s convenient (but pricey) if you’re...