PhoEver — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

My family and I came here about two weeks ago. We love Pho and usually ONLY dine at our favorite place in San Carlos. However, we live about 5 minutes away from this place so we decided to give this place a try.

What a disappointment! The establishment looks desireable from the aesthetics of the place but the atmosphere, as difficult it is to describe it really just left us with a bad taste in our mouth (no pun intended).

If you are looking for hospitality, you certainly wont find it here. Everyone who came to serve us couldn't crack a smile back or respond with a simple gesture as "you welcome" after we thanked them for placing every item on our table.

We ordered our appetizers (mediocre quality) and our main courses (no comment) and they brought out everything all at once. We were pretty shocked that they could not let us just enjoy the appetizer first (there were about 6 other dinners there but were just leaving) so it wasnt busy to just bring out everything all at once.

When you do that to your customer, it screams "hurry up and eat and get out!". After they served all our entrees no one bothered to see if we needed anything else.

I had to ask them twice for our check and upon being finished with our meal. We had our tween with us and for some reason they thought it was okay to play some undesireable music (rap) with lyrics that I felt were inappropriate. Like its a family restaurant not the club on Broadway or Mission in SF! They were quick to come get our money. They are way over priced for food already pre-prepped and not freshly made.

I would never or consider refering any of my family or friends here. This experience was horrible. I dont know how they could even be...

I used to frequent this place as I liked their Pho, which was excellent and the portion was generous. Yesterday, after not being there for 2 years due to the pandemic, I had dinner there by myself. I ordered my old favorite Rare Beef Pho. I noticed that the price for this dish increased by $2.50. When the Pho came to my table, I was surprised that all beef slices were stuck together, overcooked (not rare) and hard, and did not have the flavor. The portion was nearly 15% less of what it used to be. The soup was still good, but not enough left to take home. (I used to take almost 1/2 of the soup home.). The service was non-existent. After delivering the bowl to my table, the server did not come to my table to ask me how the food was or to offer more hot water for my tea. There were customers at 2 other tables, and two servers were just sitting around. I finally asked one of them to bring me some more hot water for my tea. One of the servers bring the check to me instead saying that they are closing at 8 PM. It was 7:45. She just stood in front of me until I finished paying. She did not bring the hot water. I had to ask for it again, and another server gingerly poured some into my cup and said they are closed. They might as well stay closed for good. I will...

PhoEver? More like PhoNEVER again.

I wanted to love this place—I really did. With all the hype about their broth being simmered for 16 hours, I was expecting something rich, aromatic, and deeply comforting. But what I got was the complete opposite. The broth was shockingly bland, almost as if it had been watered down beyond recognition. It had none of the depth or warmth that makes a great bowl of pho so satisfying.

And the noodles? Overcooked to the point of disintegration. Every bite was a mushy disappointment, falling apart in the already flavorless broth. To make things worse, the broth wasn’t even hot enough. Pho should be served piping hot, with steam rising as you stir in fresh herbs and condiments. Instead, it was lukewarm—yet another letdown in an already disappointing meal.

Desperate to salvage the experience, we asked for fish sauce, hoping for a miracle. But even that couldn’t breathe life into this bowl of sadness.

The only thing that didn’t disappoint was the service—the staff was friendly and accommodating. But no amount of kindness can make up for a pho that lacks soul. Pho is supposed to be comforting, nourishing, and full of flavor. This was anything but.

Heartbreaking. I...