Pho Kim Long — Restaurant in San Jose

I have been to Kim Long many times since I have family in the area and they are big fans of the food. Over the years, the level of service has gone downhill.

Before I get into details, let's get some disclaimers out of the way. Unfortunately, there is a definite lower service standards at some Asian restaurants, but I'm already taking that into account when grading Kim Long. I'm also not sure having no sauces and condiments on the table was a health precaution in a post-Covid world and/or if it was the owners' discretion.

However not having sauces, salt, pepper, and napkins on tables mean your servers have to be extra attentive to guests. This is where the service at Kim Long was shockingly bad. I was here 2 weeks ago and chalked it up to maybe 1 server having a bad day, but today I observed multiple servers and confirmed that it was a pervasive issue. What I saw was  that the servers treated guests as transactions, and everything was approached with a let's get them seated, take their order, drop off food, and clear the table afterwards as quickly as possible. The servers around the dining room avoided eye contact with diners and rushed customers through the ordering process.

I took my elderly dad here at his request, and our server basically rushed thru the order and mumbled to himself that my dad wanted the Chicken Pho, small size, regular noodles, skin on. Normally, you would hope your server give you (the customer) the options to choose from and not order for you. I did not want to ruin my dad's mood so I let that go.

My dad had Pho and I ordered Hu Tieu Dai (clear noodles, pork broth). Only one plate of fresh vegetables was brought out but it was just Pho basil and bean sprouts. Hu Tieu normally comes with its own (different) vegetables. They also brought out hoisin and sriracha for both me and my dad. I wanted soy sauce and chili for my Hu Tieu and finally was able to flag down a server to ask for it after at least 5 mins of sitting there looking around. And my request, just like other requests from other diners, was fufilled with an attitude that we were inconveniencing the servers.

Overall, food - above average, maybe even very good with the caveat that you will have to ask for whatever sauces you want. The ambience was busy and loud, and the lackluster service made it feel like a food court or cafeteria. Being busy is great for the restaurant, but when your service suffers, then your diners do not feel appreciated.

I will probably be back again when family wants to eat here but I will not take anyone here of my own volition, and cannot recommend this place to anyone that has a standard expectation of what good restaurant service is, until...

I'll break down my review into various important categories:

Food - The pho is great. The broth is deeper and more flavorful than you get from a lot of pho restaurants where the broth is stock and lots of salt. I especially like the pho ga (chicken pho). The other dishes are also quality. My wife likes the Bún riêu quite a bit. I've also liked the BBQ plates but personal tastes may differ.

Service - This is a no-nonsense volume restaurant. Service isn't polite nor rude. My interpretation is that it's just straightforward and practical. They seat you as fast as possible, ask "What do you want?" as soon as you sit, and get you your food asap. As soon as you're done they clean your table and look to seat the next customer. Don't expect pleasantries, someone to chat you up, or to sit and relax for more than an hour chatting. If you go with your expectations set appropriately, the service won't bother you more likely than not.

Value - Great value for the price and quality. I've brought 5 or 6 coworkers and the meal is always really affordable (less than $80 for 6 people is pretty good in my book). I always order the large size pho and walk away satisfied. Some of my companions order the regular and have trouble finishing the noodles.

Parking - It's a small parking lot and sometimes you'll need to park further away. Even the spaces in the lot itself are on the skinny side. Leave your trucks or giant SUV's at home imo.

Wait times - If you get unlucky and hit a busy time, you'll probably wait. This is going to be further exacerbated if your party is great than 4 people. Go during non-peak hours. The fact that people are willing to line up really says something about the quality of the food. I'm always surprised by the line at the door considering that there's quite a bit of seating in the restaurant.

Cleanliness - I've never had a problem with the conditions inside the restaurant but if you're looking for upscale dining, this is the wrong restaurant.

Summary - If you like good/great tasting food in more of a "hole in the wall" type atmosphere, you'll fit right in and enjoy the experience. If you're looking for upscale dining, your expectations aren't a good match...

Oh dear. I really was hoping to write a positive review. I had visited this place pre-pandemic and got some great beef pho to-go. My post-pandemic experience was…unfortunate. Firstly, the lady who appears to be the owner/manager she is extremely rude and her attitude is very offputting. Despite this I was determined to get a delicious bowl of pho to-go, so I patiently endured the dismissive tones, being ignored while I tried to order (even though there were very few people in the restaurant and it was not busy). I waited about 30 minutes after finally getting to order. After watching the staff hustle around clearing the two tables that had finished, the lady coming in and out of the kitchen, a male employee approached me and asked me what I was waiting for. I informed him of my order, he went behind the counter, plucked up my small bag, handed to me and dismissed me. I tried to ask if the food had been there long and received no response or further acknowledgement. I got home and found that my order was improperly packaged. I’ve never been to a place that serves pho…and they didn’t package my food ready to eat. They put the soup contents in a regular meal take out container as opposed to the pho bowl (which is sometimes microwaveable, sometimes not). So needless to say after feeling the top of the noodles I noticed how crispy they felt, indicating they were old and not fresh, the meat had been sitting out for who knows how long in addition to the inexplicably long wait, I threw out the dish, not before trying the broth, which was bland and not worth the hassle of asking them to remake my meal. I wouldn’t waste your time, energy, or money at such a place. There are plenty of places to get pho in the area, this is NOT choice. The food sucks or from reviews is tragically inconsistent and the service leaves nothing to make up for the poor handling of...