Ben Thanh Restaurant — Restaurant in Pinellas Park

I'm not sure if the owners have changed. When I used to come here a few years ago, it was amazing. Delicious food; wonderful service.With that being said, if you want pho, go down the street to Pho 97 or PKG. Last Sunday I was there and the service was terrible. We weren't given any of our drinks, not even water, until halfway through the meal and we had to ask twice. My kids asked for boba that wasnt made until we were ready to leave. We had to ask multiple times. Our food was not served together. They forgot my daughters food but served several other tables. We had to ask twice for her dish and for our egg rolls. When we asked for the rest of our food, the waitress said it takes time. I understand that but when 3 other tables have been served that came after us, that statement is invalid. And then the eggrolls that "needed more time" were undercooked. The inside was not cooked at all; the wrapper was still mushy on the inside. Completely inedible. The prices have been jacked up. What I paid for the 4 of us was not worth one penny I spent there. The broth isn't even the same. Very bland and barely enough to cover the noodles. I will not be frequenting this...

2024Feb. Ben Thanh made strong comeback. I hope more people will find them.

Pho is one of the best in town. You can tell care went into the broth. Standard spring rolls are tasty and not filled with shredded iceberg lettuce. Classic mi vit tim is excellent . Perfectly cooked noodle. Plenty of greens. Duck was flavorful and cooked to the right level of tenderness. Their bo ne needs work though.

It's not fast food or fast dining. Below is the rating that I drafted years ago before Ben Thanh closed down BUT forgot to post. Apparently Google automatically keeps drafts of reviews.

I rated excellent for certain dishes. We go there almost once a week. They have very good food at very good prices. They have a couple of dishes that are not on the menu at other; bo la lop (seasoned beef wrapped in leaves) and bo bia (spicy springroll). Both are very good. My favs are springrolls (best in town), ca kho to (fish cooked clay pot), wonton & noodle, bun bo hue (Hue noodle) (very spicy unless indicated otherwise when ordering. The description given in Dave's review (May 2009)...

This place sits right in the middle of a strip and if you’re not familiar with the area can be a little hard to find.

Upon entering, it is a small restaurant and the sweet old lady welcomed us and I think she thought we were Vietnamese because she started speaking to us in Vietnamese. She showed us where the high chairs were and took our drink and food order all at once. The food did come out in a timely fashion with the stone soup pho coming out last still boiling.

Fresh coconut juice: so good! Not too sweet and not too sour! It was perfect! Banh mi: 3/5, it was good but not that great. Chicken wings: 5/5, delish! Came out hot! Stone soup pho: 3/5, flavors weren’t all there but it wasn’t too bad. Fresh noodles were okay.

Overall, the experience and food wasn’t too bad but not the best. The lady only came to us when we had food coming out and didn’t check up on us but that was okay because she already gave us a pitcher of water and cups. It was good but I don’t know if I...