Pho Lyfe — Restaurant in Santa Clara

I was excited to try this place after placing delivery order and my food coming out decent for delivery and local to me. Mobile apps are usually a hit or miss and this one was smack dab in the middle. My take out portion was good so I thought maybe dining inside would be better. I wasn't really greeted but I was sat down right away. The dining set up reminds me of how I went to vietnamese restaurants when I grew up so they get points for nostalgia. Someone took my order and I ordered large pho. I was about to order coffee but then my server walked away right after. I had to call to the head cashier to put in my drink order. My pho came out SUPER quick, under 2 minutes. But my rare beef slices were already cooked before it got to my table. I have no idea how long it sat in broth but they were scarce and all well done floating inbetween the noodles and bottom. I honestly thought they gave me the wrong order. The meat balls were also scarce. They cut up the balls into quarters so I had one and a half meat ball if it was assembled together. I would probably stay away from the rare beef slice combo-anything. The portion was not there or even. Just stick with one meat to get a better quantity in your pho. The iced coffee, is very strong, BUT very small. Less than 8oz it looked like with light ice. Maybe 7oz? 6oz? Hard to tell. Some customers are rude, I can understand why they do quick service to get a flow of service rotation. Customers demanding to be sat at a booth when it's either just a single person or when a table hasn't been bussed. I saw two people wait by a dirty table to get cleaned. I don't know if Customers know but other customers coming in that see that, will think the staff isn't doing their job. I saw the whole thing, that table barely left before the two stood next to it. If I had to deal with that I would probably give the same type of service as well. The door is open so it's really drafty, wear...

This is a place my wife frequents on her lunch break and she's been trying to tear me away from the usual spot I go to and, I'll say this, it's a good second place from my other one. I had the P5 (rare flank and well-done brisket), and the broth was about a 7.5-8 out of 10 for me, and the meat itself was great, a 9/10. We also ordered a seafood combo pho, and my wife always loves it. She gives it a 10/10. The pork egg rolls were tasty as long as they were hot, but once they cooled off, they became mushy inside. The service was my biggest complaint, the host/server was not very friendly and did not take his eyes off his phone the whole time we and other customers were eating, one of the other couples had to get up twice to get his attention to give them water, and their appetizer. We had to do the same with the water refills. This person had bleached blond hair and a few tattoos on his arms. All and all, I'd still return, I would just hope for a friendlier person at the door or...

Honestly, this is some of the better pho I've had that's not in San Jose. 🍲⭐

This is a lowkey spot, located next to the large Korean grocer Kyo-Po. You'll always find plenty of parking and no need to reserve. Get a treat at Tous Le Jours next door afterwards! 😉

I always order Pho Tai, a thinner cut of the flank steak that is my favorite. Very clean broth and not too oily. Service is very fast and there's not usually any line or difficulty. I've also ordered to-go before and everything is nicely packaged for you to re-heat at home. 🏠💥

I order the small size, it's more than enough for me to finish on my own. Unless you're really, really hungry, I wouldn't opt for the regular size-- it's pretty big! I've never tried any appetizers here, I just stick to the pho.

The price here comes out to about $16-17/pp incl tax for the small bowl of pho. Compared to other options in San Jose, this is slightly cheaper per person, though still pricey in...