Phobar — Restaurant in New York

Overall rating: 0.5

I absolutely wish I was able to try the food here but unfortunately the poor service made it impossible. I went on a Friday around 7. I really loved the vibe and was looking to eat something quick before meeting up with a friend. I thought it would be easy because the place wasn’t too crowded (like there were empty seats).

The first time I ordered it was super quick once I sat down at the bar with the bartender. Cool. Then a waitress came by asking for what I wanted. I said I ordered with the bartender, so we should be good. She was surprised (which honestly should have been my red flag) & went about her day.

She immediately came back & wanted me to confirm my order aka take my order again (which btw was literally spring rolls). Alright, fine. I’m already pressed for time but I was starvingg. So at this point, I’ve accepted I’m going to be a little late to my other appointment because that’s how hungry I was. Whatever.

During this time of waiting, another server tries to serve me Pho. I tell her it’s not mine, then she goes to a different person & they’re like “we didn’t order yet” 🙄 Then basically as this waitress squirms trying to find the people, the actual orders had to raise their hand. Why was that hard?

Anyway, the bartender comes back is like what would you like to order. I’m not joking! I’m like 1) you took my order when I got here, but then you didn’t put it in so 2) the waitress came and took my order. They were apologetic but just confused. Mind you, at this point it’s been 20+ minutes I still have not gotten 4 Spring Rolls.

Given my time constraint, I just asked for the check so I can scarf down these spring rolls when they come.

I kid you not, this bartender comes back and says “unfortunately we didn’t get your order, can you tell us what you want?”. HOWWWW?! Please explain this to me!? 4, spring, rolls.

I literally said no & that I’m leaving. It hurts me because as an Asian, I want to support other Asian businesses. But broo. Do better.

Not sure if this is a new place, but please consider writing orders down so you don’t forget.

If you’re pressed for time, do not come here. If you have all the time in the world, you do you. Just don’t...

The hostess is racist…ruined my experience

I was so excited to try the pho here after seeing it recommended on social media. Unfortunately, the hostess completely ruined my experience before it even began. She had told us the wait would be about 30 min and we were seated in the awning-covered waiting area. When it came time to call my name for our table, she didn’t even attempt to pronounce it correctly—nor did she say anything resembling it. My name starts with "Z," which would have been obvious to hear if she had tried. To make matters worse, she didn’t call the number I provided either, leaving us waiting outside in 38-degree weather for over 40 minutes.

When I went inside to ask if she had called my name, she immediately snapped at me, saying, “They were here before you, so no need to get aggressive,” referring to a party that had just been seated. This was shocking and completely uncalled for—I hadn’t mentioned the other party at all and had asked politely, simply if she had called my name and the wait. Her reaction was an obvious microaggression, rooted in the assumption that I, as a Black woman, was being aggressive when I wasn’t.

After I went back outside to wait, I noticed that she continued to call parties that had obviously arrived after us, each time looking directly at us first as if she was trying to make a point. It was clear that we were being singled out and treated disrespectfully. We were finally seated—after about an hour outside (with strangers). To top it off, the restaurant’s policy didn’t allow substitutions, even for people who follow religions or cultural practices that restrict certain foods like pork.

This experience left me feeling incredibly disappointed. It was clear that Black customers are not welcome or treated with respect at this establishment. I will not be returning and cannot recommend this...

I’m going to keep this short & simple because I don’t think this place deserves anymore of my energy. I never make reviews on places but this needs to be said. To start off, the customer service was HORRIBLE. The staff were rude and standoffish aswell as inattentive and all over the place. On top of that, the food took forever! My group of 5 ordered appetizers, and our pho at the same time and we didn’t get our appetizers until about 20-30 minutes later. When our appetizers did come out, only 2/5 came. The rest of my group had to wait another about another 15-20 minutes for there’s which is insane. Fast forward, we were waiting about another 20-30 minutes for our pho and when it did come, only 3/5 came. About 10 minutes later the fourth came. Our last person still hadn’t received his food while the rest of us had already started eating. We had to contact the waitress to tell her that he hadn’t gotten his food and it took about 15 minutes for him to get it after the interaction. Besides the customer service & wait time, the food was horrible. The meat was rubbery, the broth was bland, and the noodles were soggy and hard to pick up. Overall, nobody from my party enjoyed their food and nobody finished it. A waitress then came and asked how everything was going (finally) and when we voiced our opinions she brushed us off and handed us to-go containers in a very rude manner. We said thank you for the containers and she ignored us. On top of all of this, they had the nerve to have a $35 gratuity included which WAS NOT deserved for the horrible customer service & food. I will not be coming back nor recommending this...