Pho 89 (RANDOLPH) — Restaurant in Randolph

I almost gave five stars if not for the last few minutes of service. I was on my lunch break and decided to stop by to grab a quick bite with some to go. I spent a total of about 10 minutes or less there because I was on a time crunch so I was hoping they would bring out my to go food quickly. I paid and was ready to run out to my car so as not to be late for work but as soon as I paid and waited for my to go to get to me the cashier stopped me and asked if I left the tip on the table. That was so shocking because first of all, tipping is an option. I told her no I didn't and she went ahead and told me to tip before leaving. Mind you, I'm all for tipping when I spend time at a restaurant and get great service or if my delivery gets to me in a timely manner so I was appalled that she would request I tip before leaving. I gently went through my purse, found two dollars, gave it to this cashier and ran to my car. I ended up being a few minutes late to punch back into work. I never leave reviews but I definitely had to after this experience. I would like the management to remember that tipping is a choice depending on the service given so, for any employee to feel entitled to a tip is beyond my understanding. This is my first and last...

been going here a lot since we discovered this place a few years back: sit-in, takeout...at least once every few weeks.

have enjoyed items on their menu from Vietnamese coffee and pho to seven course beef; felt like we ate through changing dynasty of chefs too: for one, pad Thai was never spicy by default, and then it was (still is, which is bizarre). gratefully, other things have remained quite constant, staff and food alike.

in general, food was fantastic. great portion size, delicious, authentic (from what i can tell, except the spring rolls - i'm still waiting for the ones made with actual rice paper that is NOT this face mask-looking thing, but it doesn't seem to be a thing with Bostonian Vietnamese).

staff is efficient and friendly. couple times they had mix-ups when they got really busy, but they acknowledged and rectified issues promptly, which is what counts.

highly recommend: special pho (soup base is so good!) plain pho with grilled pork chop (best of both worlds!) quail appetizer grilled meats (beef, pork chop, chicken; all good) on rice or vermicelli seven-course beef (if you are in the mood and got the time) Vietnamese coffee w/condensed milk red bean shake

p.s. boss lady speaks...

Unfortunately, our dining experience was dampened by a racist discrimination encounter. I cannot understand why the hostess ignored my son and me - twice. We walked up the entrance ramp, ahead of a Caucasian father and son. The Vietnamese older lady who was the hostess chose to look past us and proceeded to talk to that father and son standing behind us “how many of you?” The father and son pointed politely at us, “but they were here first.” All of us walked in a single file towards the hostess table, waiting to be seated. Again, the same lady ushered the father and son to be seated at a table .

The father was as astonished as me and apologized. It was very rude the hostess completely disregarded us for no apparent reason. I was too hungry to deal with it but management should address this.

Pho was delicious. Had seafood combo pho and pho beef. The bean sprouts and basil were generous and fresh. The restaurant is really clean and pretty. They had fresh flowers at the lobby entrance and even in the...