Pho 75 — Restaurant in Rockville

This restaurant used to be my childhood favorite. I was in the area visiting my family and decided to eat here to revisit some memories. It has been almost a decade so I was excited to see what it's like now. Unfortunately, it's not the same anymore and for the cherry on top, all the employees were rude the minute we walked in. We were greeted by a girl who tried to sit us in the middle and we asked if it's okay to sit closer to the window instead. She looked annoyed but also didn't answer and just stared at us. I didn't read the reviews before coming so when our drinks and food arrived, I was shocked to see the cups and plates were plastic and paper. Even the soup spoon was plastic. I noticed a sign in front mentioning they're understaff so we thought maybe they don't have a dishwasher, but based on the older reviews this has been going on for a while. An indoor dine in restaurant that heavily relies on disposable dish ware is a major red flag. If it's not because they couldn't find a dishwasher, then it's because they're trying to cut corners and go with the easiest/cheapest route. This makes me wonder what else they're trying to cut corners on in the kitchen. I wouldn't be surprised if they reuse some of the plastic cups because one of ours was wrinkly and looked used already. The older man who brought our food out was a strange one. My mom tried to be nice and help him but he just swat her hand away and yelled at us. The food quality changed, it wasn't terrible but it's not as flavorful as I remember. Their sriracha sauce was also watered down. They are cheaper than most pho places but I rather pay an extra couple dollars to eat at a cleaner and...

Let me preface by saying that I travel in my career and I love all types of international cuisine. When I travel, I generally make it a point to hit up a different type of cuisine each night in order to get away from the monotony of hotel food. (I promise you that there's a point coming soon)

This week, I went to Pho 75 for the first time because I saw the good reviews. I must say that I was blown away by the how good the food was at this place. So much so that I completely disregarded my routine of trying a new cuisine the next night and went back again. In the event that you can't contain your wonderment with my second experience, it was extremely good the second time too.

If you're a bit of an atmosphere snob, this is not the place for you. It's a restaurant that's very, very (Did I say very?) plain in appearance. So if you want to feel like you've just been transported to Vietnam by the amazing decor, then invest in some VR goggles.

Also, another slight con for some people might be that they only take cash. I can already imagine the shock on some people's face. (What? I have to pay with physical currency? No card? No Apple Pay? No Android Pay? Sorry Millenials. This is your chance to be retro and process a transaction with tangible money.) However, rest happily in the solace that your "inconvenience" of paying with cash is rewarded by the fact that the prices here are amazing.

So withstanding those two (very small, in my opinion) cons, if you are a person that just loves good food, check...

Upon arriving to this establishment, the employees only had their masks hanging off their faces to greet us. We decided to order the usual and the price has changed with no real display or prior notice.

Just went in to order two large bowls of #2 for carryout and had the worst experience. After I ordered, they told me total for two large bowls was almost $29.00, when on their menu in the store it has $8.25 for large bowl of pho + $0.50 for "additional carryout fee.” When I pointed to the pricing on their menu to the girl behind the counter, a very small Vietnamese man interjected by raising his voice and saying, "sir, can you count," in an aggressive manner. They couldn't justify their pricing with logic, like civilized adults, so they resorted to insulting me, and I left right then and there. The entire encounter was around two minutes.

We hadn't been here in years, after I once came in on a rainy day and a leak above their old, dirty acoustical ceiling caused the ceiling tiles to collapse on the customers and their food. There were dead cockroaches everywhere after the ceiling came down and two couples were burned because their soups fell on them. All they did about the entire incident was offer to pick up the couples’ tab. They're greedy and rude.

Nice to see not much has changed :)

Never...