Pho Viet USA — Restaurant in Washington

TLDR: Busy casual spot, with an Americanized twist to Vietnamese food. Non-Vietnamese waiters do not know their menu. Food is edible.

I came in with a party of 8 Vietnamese some tourists and some local to Virginia. We were greeted promptly and politely from the waitress. Since there were 8 of us, a lot of menu items were ordered, which included egg rolls, spring rolls, rice, pho, and a vegetarian dish. The menu itself is very beautiful, but the actual food definitely looks nothing like what is pictured.

The service: Our waitress was very nice, took our order, and repeated it to us. The appetizers came out within 10 minutes, but the main entrees came out, no exaggeration, 45 minutes later. I asked for extra beansprouts, as the existing amount they gave was enough for ants, and later on found out that they gave the entire table extra and charged for it. This would have been nice to know beforehand that this would be extra, which definitely was not the case. We also ordered a banh mi, but after over an hour, we told them not to bring it, as it was taking too long. Our drinks were full, but had to politely ask them for it.

The food: The food all came out at sporadic times, with the children's food coming out 1 hour after the appetizers, again, no exaggeration. Given the restaurant's name, half of the table decided to order pho, and our waitress got it all wrong. We ordered the "Pho Tai Nam" and got the "Pho Tai Lan" My table being Vietnamese, pronouncing it correctly, thought that this non-Vietnamese waitress was pronouncing it incorrectly but giving us the correct order. Upon the first 2-3 bites, we were certain that we did not order this entrée, and asked the waitress and manager what this was? They kept repeating "Pho Tai Lan" and we were like this does not seem right. Anyways, I found a menu on another table that hadn't been pre-bussed in about an hour, and went through it. Saw that they had both a "Pho Tai Nam" and a "Pho Tai Lan" (For the record, there is no such thing as "Pho Tai Lan" so be aware that this proprietary to the restaurant. This is essentially beef pho with the beef being stir-fried with garlic and topped on the pho. sounds good but the beef was over-cooked and tough) Message to the non-Vietnamese waitress: Please double check with your Vietnamese patrons on their Vietnamese order using your menu.

Management: Management was a Vietnamese kid who spoke very softly and decided to give us 50% off of two bowls of pho (there were 4 total on our table), which was nice. We spoke to him in Vietnamese throughout our time in the restaurant to get things sorted out, but he was so timid and not confident in his communication. Not much got resolved.

Conclusion: This restaurant is definitely catered more to Americans who would like to get a basic feel on what Vietnamese food is. The food is mediocre, at best, but maybe this restaurant is catering to the area. Pho Viet USA is a casual spot, with a fancy menu, and a poor food presentation. The prices are high, a little too high, given the food presentation, taste, service, and restaurant ambiance. Would I go back? No. Would I suggest this to an American? Yes....

This place is down the street from me and I was so excited to have it nearby for the days I crave Viet or lazy to make my own pho. I don’t know why I give this place a chance because every time I come for dine in or take out I have some kind of bad experience.

Dine in waiting times are so long at times. Only when it’s not busy it’s generally decently paced. My noodles are a hit or miss because sometimes there are not cooked enough. Another time my partner had to wait 20 minutes to get his food after I got mine even though we ordered at the same time.

I ordered takeout online a few times. I’ve had them forget items which is frustrating when I get home and unpack it. Recently I ordered, I used the link they had provided on their website as I normally do. The site tells me when it will be done, I arrive a few minutes early. Some people walked in and ordered takeout as I waited. After a few minutes I told them I was picking up, and they were confused. I waited 30 minutes to get my food while in the meantime the 3 people who ordered takeout after I got there already received their food. It’s not like I had a complicated order. It was two of the same type of beef pho.

Pro: they make a good Banh xeo and if the noodles are done correctly, the House special is nice

Anyway, I tried to be positive and tried coming back but...

Our usual go-to for pho takeout since it’s close. However, today was an off day for service as it’s New Year’s Day.

I ordered through Uber eats and someone working today must not know how to use their side of the app.

They never notified me via app when the order was ready until AFTER I had my boyfriend just show up to see if it was ready. I’ve never had to wait more than 15 min so was strange they never sent a status update even after 25min.

They also made him pay in cash even though I already paid in Uber eats. When he got back, he said they only charged for the two bowls of pho even though my order asked for pho AND an appetizer. He only paid for what we got, which is fine, but I made note to refute my order on the app later.

After eating, I opened my app to see that they never closed my order - so I had to cancel, get charged for cancelling and then notify Uber Eats for a refund request.

I have no idea what the restaurant did or didn’t do, and yes, we got our food eventually. However, they definitely need to train their staff how to use the app or just not make it available at all. Would advise to call for pick up instead of ordering through the app.

FOOD WISE: satisfactory but...