PB Phở & Grill — Restaurant in San Diego

Review for PB Pho & Grill I’ve been eating at this place since they opened 9 years ago. It’s always been my go-to spot when I go to the beach, usually once a week. Generally, the pho has been good, and I’ve ordered the filet mignon pho—the house specialty—literally hundreds of times over the years. Unfortunately, there have been three incidents that finally convinced me never to return: Car incident: One day my car brushed against a concrete trash can placed right against the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. When I mentioned it to the manager (Jasmine), she became angry that I bothered her, showed zero concern, and simply said it wasn’t her problem. Metal in pho: On another visit, I bit into a piece of metal that was in my broth. It hurt, though thankfully I didn’t chip a tooth. When I brought it up, Jasmine laughed and offered me a single dollar off my $16 pho. Bad meat and poor response: Today’s visit was the final straw. The filet mignon was completely inedible—chewy, rubbery, and impossible to swallow. I flagged Jasmine multiple times but she was busy. By the end of the meal, I had a full plate of untouched meat sitting there and only ate the noodles and broth (which itself tasted old and off). When I showed her the problem, she dismissed it and said she couldn’t do anything since I had “already eaten the meal.” She then offered me 10% off, which felt insulting after nearly a decade of loyal patronage. I reminded her of the past metal incident—where I could have sued but instead stayed quiet because I liked the food—and told her this was unacceptable. Her response was a scoff, as if to say, “I don’t care.” At that point, I did something I’ve never done before: I told her I wasn’t paying, and I walked out. It’s sad, because the pho has often been good, and years ago I remember James (the owner, who I believe is her husband) being very kind to everyone. But Jasmine has consistently been impersonal, dismissive, and greedy. I even overheard her once bragging about buying an expensive Rolex for James—so clearly business is doing well. Yet loyal customers like me, who have supported them for years, get treated with no respect. After nine years, I won’t be...

Date of visit: 9/20/2016

This is definitely my new favorite pho place because it's near my house and it tastes delicious. Since we were helping Laura move, we had to

Egg Rolls. These were pretty typical egg rolls, but were served with a weird sweet and sour sauce instead of fish sauce. The lettuce was also chopped instead of full leaves, so it was impossible to wrap up the egg rolls. These were just okay, but I'll probably try a different appetizer next time.

House Special Filet Mignon. At first I was a little disappointed because I thought that the meat to noodle ratio was off, but I was definitely wrong. It felt like there was almost too much meat, which is unheard of for a pho place. The noodles were pretty typical, but needed an extra minute in our bowl to loosen up. The broth was delicious, although I won't add lime in next time because it made it too sweet. Laura also really liked this dish and ordered her meat rare, which is what I'll probably do next time as well.

Cubed Beef Marinated with house special sauce. I don't know how Vietnamese places make their rice, but I really like the texture of it. The meat was also perfectly marinated, but I didn't think it was any better than the grilled beef that Amit got. I'll definitely try the combo plate next time. This dish also came with some toasted potatoes, which were a little bland.

Overall, I'm really excited to not have to drive out for some decent pho. The service was also extremely quick...

We are visiting San Diego and are staying at Pacific Beach! Dinner night one. We chose delivery. PB Pho & Grill was awesome. All 4 of us got different meals and they were all winners! My Ban Xao was delicious. Crispy, crunchy filled with shrimp, Lots of green onion in the batter, along with fresh bean sprouts. Accompanied by crisp fresh lettuce 🥬 and, shredded carrots 🥕. Good size container of Fish Sauce too!!! Heaven on a plate! The girls had Bün one chose pork the other beef. Large portions were consumed…..fresh veggies and lettuce and lots of rice vermicelli. They shared an order of Spring Rolls-also fresh and tasty! Last was hubby’s Beef Banh Mi. Tender morsels of beef with fresh lettuce and herbs enclosed in a crust French baguette. Wow-wow...