The Pho 2 — Restaurant in New York

Unacceptable Hygiene Practices

When my daughter and I arrived at this restaurant, we hadn’t yet ordered and were just settling in. I went to use the restroom while she stayed at the table to look over the menu.

As I tried to enter the restroom, I found the door locked. Naturally, the doorknob rattled when I attempted to open it, so whoever was inside would have known someone was waiting. When the door finally opened, I was shocked to see it was a kitchen worker. What’s worse, there were no signs of basic hygiene: I didn’t hear a toilet flush, water running, or a hand dryer while I waited outside.

The situation became even more disturbing when the worker walked out holding a visibly soaked tissue full of snot, blowing into it as they left the restroom. To make matters worse, they were picking their nose and then carried that same soiled tissue directly back into the kitchen without washing their hands. This behavior was appalling and entirely unacceptable in any setting, let alone a restaurant.

When I returned to the table, my daughter got up to use the restroom, unaware of what I had just witnessed. As she went, I approached the manager at the cash register and explained everything I had seen: no flushing, no handwashing, no use of the dryer, and the kitchen worker returning to the kitchen with a snot-filled tissue. Instead of addressing my concerns, the manager laughed at me, said something in Vietnamese to another staff member, and dismissed the issue. Moments later, I overheard laughter coming from the kitchen, further showing their complete disregard for this serious problem.

When my daughter came back, she immediately told me, “You’re not going to believe what I just saw!” She described a similar situation: a kitchen worker (possibly the same one, though we weren’t sure) with a runny nose, blowing their nose into a tissue and showing no signs of washing their hands before returning to the kitchen. At that point, we both agreed it was time to leave.

This experience was appalling from start to finish. The lack of basic hygiene practices, paired with the dismissive attitude from the manager, made it clear that food safety is not a priority at this establishment. It’s hard to overstate how serious this is—these are clear violations of health and safety standards that put every customer at risk. I strongly urge the management to take immediate action to train their staff on hygiene and enforce strict protocols. Until then, I cannot recommend this...

Tried to order take out on Friday night after 9 for the first time. The waitress/cashier asked for my order before the customer at the register had finished signing her credit card receipt. I would haves to shout my order over the customer’s shoulder.. When I told the cashier I would wait till the customer finished and moved from the register, the cashier walked away and waited on tables. I had to wait for her to return to take my order properly. Or so I thought,... as I was going through the menu choosing the food I wanted, she wandered away a few feet and began bagging pick up order as she continued to ask for my order. I couldn’t believe she was busily packing take out orders and asking for my next item. When I finally said she wasn’t paying attention to my order, she told me I was “ taking too long.” She said she was working the register and waiting on tables. Then she walked away to wait on more tables. As my first customer service experience with this restaurant, I was stunned by this level of rudeness. I’ve had more courtesy at McDonald’s on a busy day. I also find it unbelievable that the management would have one person taking take out orders and waiting on tables on a Friday night. Perhaps their food is decent to good, but when a restaurant employee makes you feel you should keep up with her crazy schedule, I walked out mid order andI went down a block to the old reliable, and friendlier, Chinese restaurant. I don’t just pay for decent food, I do business who offer friendliness and courtesy...

They lied and said they spoke with me multiple times that I couldn’t park in the lot and got a boot placed on my car. A whole day of pay went into removing that thing. I work in the same place and have to walk through there to get into the building. Wish someone could’ve spoke to me like a human being instead of lying for no reason. I was told I could park there by my building yet someone from another can report me and get me booted?? Make it make sense. Also, got food poisoning a few weeks prior after a patient recommended this place. Guess I got a bad batch.

Edit: Saw footage of what happened that day and they never said anything to me even though they’d seen me many times. I’ll chalk it up to racism then since I am a black woman, maybe they thought they couldn’t speak to me like a person. Maybe they thought I’d be angry instead of understanding....