EAD Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Shenandoah

Recommend: No. I didn't enjoy taking my family here for dinner. *A good dining experience consists of not only just good food but also good service. And with the poor service that we and other patrons of the restaurant received, I didn't enjoy and can't recommend EAD. The staff seems mismanaged and the ENTIRE staff was only hyper focused on one table with a party of 10 or so, while neglecting the rest of the restaurant patrons (approximately 6 other groups consisting of 4 or less patrons). *Perhaps attention to customers is based on potential tips required from larger parties? I understand having one or two wait staff to a larger party table but not all of the staff. The restaurant did not seem that busy and we were seated right away. The dining experience:

1. It took approximately 15 minutes for staff to even acknowledge our table and provide menus. She even expressed that she was a bit confused if this was her table or not??
2. We ordered. 2 sodas, 1 glass of water and a 1 lemonade. We also ordered 4 egg rolls and 3 pho right away because we weren't sure when she would be back. It took another 10+ minutes for the drinks to arrive, except for the lemonade which was forgotten for another 10 minutes.
3. The pho took approximately another 15 minutes to arrive. I was bit disappointed to find that an EAD regular size Bowl was smaller in comparison to other pho restaurants regular size bowls. EAD actually cost was about a dollar more than other restaurants as well.
4. The egg rolls never arrived and when I asked where they're at they unfortunately delivered them to the big party table (*hence, my comment about only focusing on that large group). I canceled the egg rolls. The pho was no more unique or generous in meats and noodles then other pho restaurants in the area. Normally at other restaurants, the portions almost twice as much the portion and have to take some home. The dining area was clean, modern and updated. However don't let that deceive you that this is a great restaurant because all of that is null and void if the staff is disorganized and selective about who gets preferential service. Unfortunately, since we did not win the "preferential selection lottery", nor did other patrons receive very good service either. *Normally I like to provide photos of the food and menu but do not feel that it is worth providing those, since I do not recommend this restaurant. In my opinion, there are just too many negatives from this experience and there are so many alternative Vietnamese/pho restaurants in the area with superior service, pho quality...

Staff is friendly, however it should be noted that the 3 individuals who assisted (on more than one occasion) do not speak english very well. You should definitely be extremely clear on what it is you’re requesting as the staff has brought out incorrect orders now 3 visits in a row. I love to support local business, especially local Asian business, but not being able to communicate well hinders quality of experience. Also, the protein given with the pho for $15 is abysmal at best. Would recommend finding different fare for prices this high.

Replying to the restaurant’s recent comment

I understand that you think you’re doing what’s best for the customer, I advised our waitress that my order was incorrect, she smiled & walked away saying she’ll talk to the staff. Approx 15 minutes went by when I asked her again if they were going to bring out the correct dish, to which she replied, “oh I didn’t know you wanted another one”. Of course I want the meal I ordered, why would I want to eat something that I didn’t order..? & to be frank, you’re doing what you think is best for your business & bottom line, which I think is fine all things considered, but for a $15 bowl of noodle soup, it was seriously lacking. I get that most users on here probably don’t realize that pho was originally intended as an affordable & hearty meal sold commonly by street vendors in Vietnam, making it accessible to people from various socioeconomic backgrounds. The ingredients such as rice noodles & bone broth along with sprouts & basil are all relatively inexpensive. The most expensive part of the meal would be the protein, see photo, of which I was provided very little. There’s no malice behind this post, simply a call out to how I think it’s relatively frustrating to have experiences like this, paying upwards of $45 for 2 individuals, then still go somewhere else afterwards to eat more because pho isn’t very filling unless you gorge on noodles or (insert protein of choice). All in all, the staff did what they could, but fell short on multiple occasions upon multiple visits. I hope y’all can do better...

Over the years, EAD continued to offering good food to me, now to my family also. Offering good food is hard enough - but what really motivated me to leave this comment is their hospitality and service quality. (I rarely leave a Google comment) I’m not originally from this country but have been to numerous restaurants, both higher-end and everyday-style, in the US. EAD is one of the very rare restaurants where every waiter/waitress has smile on his/her face and proactively helps you out. My first visit was in 2018. During 2018-19, I visit EAD when I had business trips to Houston. In the year of 2020, I moved to Houston and have become a regular customer of EAD since then. Everyone who has a baby knows that how much help you would need in the restaurant when you eat out with you kid. In EAD, I always got offered for a baby water, extra plastic fork/spoon, extra napkins, and even scissors to cut the pho. It’s fair to say that almost every waiter/waitress we met was very helpful, genuinely. Yes, of course, I’m sure there are better-tasting pho places since Houston has a huge Vietnamese-American community. But I still highly recommend EAD. Don’t get me wrong- their food is...