Phở Ban Mai Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

I was visiting my family in San Diego and they wanted to meet up at Pho Ban Mai in Mira Mesa. We usually go to a different Pho place down the road but, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d like this place because of the low reviews.

I was quite surprised to find I really enjoyed the food here!

Pho Ban Mai is nestled within the same plaza where Rite Aid, Boiling Crab and Seafood City are located. It was a little hard to find because the signage wasn’t as visible.

We were seated quickly but we had about a dozen family members and we were split into separate tables. Note: This restaurant is not made for large groups; however, the staff were accommodating and made it work.

Because of the smaller group seating, the orders were placed by table number. For example, there’s a QR code which launches their menu and you would place your order from there. It’s pretty cool actually. But if you’re someone who does not have a smart phone, you’ll be ordering the traditional way through a server and, from our experience, the language barrier was a challenge.

We ended up placing 3 group orders due to our split tables but we were able to ask to pay on one big check.

A few things we ordered from our table:

Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio (Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Egg Rolls) - This is great for sharing. The dish itself is plentiful and you have your carb, protein, and veggies. This came with an egg roll, which is filling on its own.

Grilled Pork with Broken Rice - This came with a side of pickled veggies and a perfectly rounded scoop of steamed rice. I believe you get the option of fried rice or steamed rice but we opted for the latter. The taste was delicious!

Pho #1 - House Special Noodle Soup - It’s just standard that we order the first pho option whenever we go to a Vietnamese restaurant. The broth had a good flavor and it wasn’t oily.

Beef Steak Cubes with Fried Rice and Salad - Bo Luc Lac is a family favorite. The beef cubes are always tender and juicy and comes on a sizzling hot plate. It’s perfect served over steamed rice. And the nuoc cham (fish sauce) flavors the dish with a sweet and salty umami.

Overall, everyone enjoyed the food. Ordering was a little chaotic but we were able to get that settled quickly. I’m glad we gave this place a shot - the ratings are low but I guarantee you, you’d be surprised how good it is here! You won’t know...

Came here with my family. These ladies at the front desk just looked at us and notion toward the table near the front. After we sat down, no one came to take our orders, no menu. After an awkward waiting for 5 minutes. While the ladies at the front just talked among themselves. I waved a waitress down and asked for a menu. She looked shocked saying. We only take orders from online. Oh, ok....it would have been nice if they actually mention that when we came in. I mean the restaurant looks like a typical Vietnamese restaurant....as a first timer here. How would people know?? They just assumed we just know? My phone died unfortunately and so they gave me a iPad with the menu on it. So we ordered. Food came quick but man...the first man that delivered our food doesn't look happy. Actually not many of the staff looks happy. It wasn't until we were halfway through our meals that we got a friendly waitress refilling our waters with a smile. The pho was ok, kinda bland but plenty of meat which my son loves. I got the 4 spring rolls for 14 dollars. It was so staled liked it's been prepared in the morning and was left out all day. I finished 3 because I was hungry but didn't feel like eating the last one because my mouth was tired from all the chewing I had to do to finish one roll. Overall, it was a awkward experience 😅...but experienced we did and I don't think anyone in my family wanted to go back. We're just going to stick to...

The first couple of times we had dinner here it was so amazing we almost stopped going anywhere else for Pho and Vietnamese food. The last couple of times though, it has definitely changed.

I'm not sure if it's the cooks, the ingredients, quality of meat, unhappy staff members or all of the above but we went from having a great experience to thinking about not going back. Within the last 3 visits we noticed the taste of the food was not on point, the servers seemed annoyed when asked for little things like no ice in water or extra hot sauce and the wait to sit usually averages around 20 to 30 mins.

We regularly order a couple of bowls of Pho, marinated cubed steak with rice, sauteed veggies over crispy noodles, salt and pepper chicken wings and Thai tea without bobba. The cubed steak that used to be quality tender meat got switched out with something so bad it was like chewing on seasoned rubber. The Pho broth still tastes good but it seems like they don't put in as much meat as they used to so you end up just getting a great amount of noodles. The Thai Tea is actually very good here and I can honestly say it's in my top 10 places for Thai tea taste.

Overall, this place stays busy so obviously the food isn't horrible but I just wish and hope that they find a way to get that...