Phở Plus — Restaurant in Provo

I wish I could fully emote how much of a negative experience I had through text. And I am truly disappointed because I have come to this restaurant many times before and LOVED it.

It all started with a phone call. My friend and I have dietary restrictions, so we called asking if they had vegan and gluten free options. The phone didn’t pick up the first time, so I called twice. The second time someone picked up right away and couldn’t hear my questions through their own laughter and people around them. Once I finally got my question out, the girl didn’t even answer the question. I presumed she was new and I hung up. We checked on the website for the menu.

We got to the restaurant and were seated. I ordered the “2 Summer Rolls” and a banh mi. Understandably, the Summer Rolls had 2 in the title, so I understand the confusion. I received 4 summer rolls in total. I let someone that was clearing off the tables (and at the time was presumably the supervisor) know that I was confused because I made an order of 2 summer rolls, but not 2 orders of summer rolls. I also did not touch the extra rolls I didn’t order. The response was, “Well...we wrote down that you ordered 2. Sorry?” And she WALKED AWAY. A couple moments later she came back and told me very rudely that I could either eat the rolls and be charged or I could send them back. I sent them back. But that is an understandable confusion.

Finishing up our food we could tell that the restaurant started closing. But the main way they let you know they’re closing?? They play ANNOYING CHILDREN’S MUSIC ON MAX VOLUME. Songs included: Thomas the Tank Engine theme song, the Veggie Tales theme, The Duck Song, and screamo music. Each song got louder and louder. I could barely speak to my friend in front of me. The other people inside the restaurant also were looking at each other confused what was going on.

Upon leaving, we were thinking maybe they were just having a rough night. As said before, I have been to Pho Plus many times before and had an excellent time. So my friend, who was looking for a job, asked who the server’s name was and if they were hiring. She was clearly the supervisor amongst the 2 that were working that evening. The response was, “Target is hiring.” And that was IT. Like the scene from Mean Girls where Regina couldn’t fit in the dress and the employee said, “You could try Sears.”

So needless to say we screamed in the car on the way home from this whole experience. My friend and I work in customer service ourselves and are generally very understanding when it comes to being the front of a business. But this experience was just terrible.

We aren’t sure if this is that server’s real name that told us to go to Target, but Marie, if you’re reading this... I hope you marry someone extra rich, so you never have to work and speak with customers again. And to the other girl that works there, I’m sorry. And I hope you get better training.

So to the girls that worked closing at 12/14/2020...Target is hiring. Maybe you try it there.

But the...

I have changed my review for this place from a 4 stars to one because In the last several months Pho plus in Provo has turned into a restaurant of terrible service. My last visit to their restaurant was the single worst restaurant experience I have ever had in my life (and I am not exaggerating). First, they got our order wrong, they proceed to bring half of the "wrong order" out to us and while the wrong order of pho is getting cold and mushy we then proceed to wait 40 minutes before the new bowl of pho come out of the kitchen along with side ingredients to fix the first wrong bowl of pho. By the point I walked to the front desk to cancel our order, most if not all of the people that came in after us had already been served and eaten their food, and a couple of them were already paying at the front desk. I couldn't eat my food because it was time for me to get back to work to a meeting, so they offered to give me the last bowl of Pho for free to take, but I didn't even have time to eat it later because I was late for a work meeting, which I rushed out of the restaurant to attend. I will never go back...

The service was absolutely AWFUL. Both me and my friend have worked in the restaurant industry for years and we have never experienced service that bad before. I had to call the server over 5 times to ask for very basic needs (a straw, chopsticks, share plates, chili oil and to go containers), he never once asked “Is there anything else I can get you?” or “How is the food?” and he seemed annoyed every time I flagged him down. There were only 3 other tables in the restaurant, he was busy clearing tables instead of checking in on us. We asked for an arnold palmer (half iced tea, half lemonade), he told us “We don’t customize drinks”……

I eat a lot of pho, all over the country, northern & southern style. The pho was okay, broth was good, way too many noodles, and the veggies looked like someone bought a bag of pre made salad at the grocery store & poured it in. They were literally just shreds of lettuce, carrot, and the smallest broccoli florets I’ve ever seen. The gyoza were the best thing we ate.

I would say go there for the food only and order takeout so you don’t have to deal with the...