Pho Ha Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Oceanside

I've been to Pho Ha's 3 other locations(Rancho, Pomona, City of Industry). Spent 6 years in OC eating in Westminster, GG, FV, but despite Oceanside having more pho than any other city in North County, this location still seemed to be a good idea. I mean location, name, what I thought would be good food (or at least comparable to other locations). I eat pho at least once a week, more often when I'm hungover.

They opened late November, going then was a mistake, an unfair representation of what I expected. Long waits to be seated, long waits to order, even longer waits to be get the food. Dishes were wrong, rushed, they had no sense of efficiency. Rancho's servers way more people in less than half the time, with less employees and the food is better. Decided to come back about a month later, not much had changed except wasted first impressions . Another 3 weeks go by and it's beginning to be hit or miss on the timing, service and food. Prices are pretty good, but I'm not seeing the progress I would expect by now. They should be humming along, not faltering with custom orders and seatings and over/under staffing.

Large pho special, extra tripe, meatballs and egg noodles, easy on the onion topping has been my go to lately and they have not gotten it right yet. The broth is good, pretty clear, but a little light on the amount and depth. Twice I got vermicelli and both were bricked at the bottom. Why doesn't anyone ever plate the noodles like high end ramen restaurants? Steak is good, it's not filet like Ever, the brisket is tender, fatty, the tripe is clean, the meatballs could use more bounce. Tendon is overcooked.

I tried ordering Bun bo hue, they were out. I tried ordering Bun seo and they were out. My friends ordered some non descript rice dishes which they thought were good, more starving than anything. Water, forget about it being refilled. They have quite a few dessert drinks which seemingly take little time to make and come in fancy glasses, they should put that extra effort into the food. Bo Kho was good, I get it with rice and extra baguette because generally 1 or the other is not enough. Slow cooked, tender everything, not too oily and the proper acidity level, no need for any garnish or seasoning like with many soups.

The décor is actually pretty nice, somewhere between old and new, where is that fish tank though? Haven't looked hard for it yet, too busy with other things here. They did not honor our egg roll/soda opening special. The prices are actually pretty reasonable. The portions are good. Some places have huge bowls, but small plates or visa versa, these are good all around. The bo kho could be cheaper as could a few other dishes, but all in all it's affordable, probably not going to steal you away from your normal favorite Pho spot.

As I mentioned service is mediocre at best, food is only ok overall and frankly they don't do any one thing better than other places yet. I normally come a few times before I review and I'd done that here, but still feel bad because I love their other locations so much that Rancho is my go to for the entire IE.

Also, Bar & Grill, not much done on either of those, still can't get a decent drink at a...

Okay peoples! They just opened on 11/24 so they are still trying to work the kinks out. Here are a few thoughts you should consider before going to Pho Ha I did and I didn't end up walking away or angry. Be prepared to wait. You will wait for your food.

When you walk in there's a podium. Walk up to the podium and write your name on the sign in sheet. If no sign it, wait very close to it until an employee walks up and make sure you give them your name.

I asked for a table of 2 on a busy, rainy, cold Thursday night. The wait was about 20 minutes for a table. I knew there would be a wait and I chose to wait.

Food: I'm that odd person who didn't want to order PHO. But, I only wanted to taste the broth. -Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings -Pork Banh Mi -Pork Ribs in a stew broth -It came with Pho Broth too. The food were all bursting with different flavors and it was delicious. The pork ribs were define and had a sweet taste to it. The wings cooked crispy but it had too much of the sauce. But that's my preference because Tupac thought otherwise. He enjoyed it. The Banh Mi was just alright. The bread was not toasted or crispy on the outside like I've had at other restaurants. The pork meat however was yummy!

We waited about 35 minutes for our food which again I knew would take a bit longer. We did not order the traditional Pho. Everyone's food were being served before us. Sigh, but again, I knew that Pho is quick.

The workers were hustling all night long. I watched them runaround and they all did well. Our server was very nice. I wish I got his name. I even saw people getting mad. One guy was upset because he said he didn't know that he was supposed to check in at the podium when he walked in and that he had to wait then he had to wait again to order. The server that helped him apologized for the confusion and made it right. Within 5 minutes they got their Pho and other dishes.

Overall, I would definitely return. I've been to a lot of Vietnamese Restaurants and I'm happy that Pho Ha Grill & Bar is in...

I came here for a good hearty meal worth my 40$ for 2 people . I asked for a certain dish on the menu to only be disappointed by the laxk of meat and the poorly washed dishware whih i have unfortunately used and got sick from the same day and i usually never get sick at all. I had a slight fever. When i asked one of the male employees about the wrong dish they brought he kindly and politely offered to exchange the dish for another i happily replied yes. As our food were dished out and we ate and they gave the bill i was greatly unimpressed by how the male employees told me i had to pay full price for the "exchanged dish". So i was paying double for something i was agreed to have changed and never told i would have to pay full price for the unwanted dish. It would have been courteous if they have told me i could have my dish exchanged for another price of the dish. They said nothing but we will change that order for you. And when i confronted them politely about it they laughed and smiled and said i have to pay full price. I will never willingly come back to that place again. Another time i have eaten here previous before i ordered the vermicelli and it tasted of lemon dish wash soap and i paid for it to be kind. My throat burned and the residue taste of dishwash soap lingered into my mouth. I hope that pho ha does great and changes the way they talk to their customers and hopefully alter their ways of making money and cleaning their dishes so no other customers get sick. Either than that the soup has always been big and decently priced...