Pho Cafe — Restaurant in Wilmington

Dined in on 05.15.25 at around 11:07am. I had my mom with me (because she had a Dr. Appt that morning) so she was trying this for the first time. Because I know the inside is super small, I had my mom read the menu outside on the wall to prepare for what she wanted to order since really only wanted broth and noodles to try for her first time.

We walk in and stand there for a few mins waiting for someone to appear, finally a little lady walks around the corner, checks on something in the kitchen, sees us and says “I’ll be with you in one minute.”

When she comes to the register to take our order she says “dining in or taking out?” We answer “dining in” and she says “what can I get for you?” I say “my mom would like only broth and noodles - not any of the extras like onions, scallions, or meat or the other toppings - she can only have broth and noodles. What do you recommend?” She says “oh you should get Plain Broth order - comes with only broth and noodles, that would be best.” I say “perfect we will do plain broth with comes with only noodles and broth. And I will get vegetarian pho but I only want tofu and mushrooms - I don’t want to waste the carrots, daikon, onions or scallions, so you do not have to give me those in my bowl - just broth, noodles, mushrooms, and tofu, please.” And she says “no you can’t order it that way - the carrots and daikon are big pieces - you just pick them out yourself. We serve the vegetarian pho only one way and you have to pick out, it’s super easy you can do it.” I say “yes maam but if you are chopping these vegetables up fresh and throwing them into my bowl of soup - I am just saying I don’t want you to waste those pieces on me.” She said “no you have to pick them out ok. Anything else?”

The food comes to the table - and my mom’s plain pho with just noodles has onions and scallions all in the bowl. She has to pick them out and of course I already know my bowl would be filled with carrots and daikon and onions since I didn’t want them and they would put them in anyways. Before the lady leaves to walk away I say “oh ma’am may I please have 3-4 extra slices of lime? She says we only give you two slices of lemons for free, any more than that and we charge you for extras. We don’t have lime only lemons.” I say “ok may I have a couple extras, please.” Nothing ever comes out afterwards.

The male cook who was working with the little lady came out into the kitchen - mind you this place is SMALL, max of 6 small tables and a counter style table facing the window - so as he is ranting and yelling at her about people speaking English and something else. He brings out food to one of the tables and another patron from a different table asks him in passing “what is that, that you are eating? That looks really good!” He grumpily says “rice cake - not sure how to explain to you in English … you all just call anything Asian a cake something” and walks away. (Seemed like a brash and rude quick interaction but the patron didn’t seem to care.) The man came back to sit at one of the 6 tables (because he had two plates of food and his iPad on the table) and the male cook says “yes it’s rice and I’m not sure how to explain it to you.” The patron says “how do you cook it - on your grill?” The male cook scoffs and says “we don’t have a grill I just cook in a pan. So many Americans believe we don’t understand or speak English and we do understand and speak English - it’s Americans who can only speak one language … a lot of other countries are much smarter than Americans and the one language you people know.” And at this point I’m just thinking - why did this man become so bitter and go off on a tirade about Americans being dumb and only speaking one language - what is happening??

I say all this to reiterate - the restaurant is super small, the team seems grumpy or have a grudge for some reason, & the food is decent but don’t expect anything special or any accommodations unless you press that you are allergic & even then I would advise not to go because that isn’t to say they can...

SERVICE AND TIME

I ordered beef and meatball pho to go. While waiting for my order a lady was being rude about their sauce policy, which I found disrespectful. Her complaint about not being allowed to prepare her broth with the sauces in bottles where she was sitting while waiting for her order was an understandable complaint, but her attitude towards them as they asserted their policy was unnecessary in my opinion.

That being said, she was frustrated due to waiting 30min for her meal. It was a rainy day, and they were very busy, but I ordered two phos to go and even I waited close to 35 minutes for just that, and I’m not sure why—most people had their meal already and from what I could tell they had at least 4 or 5 people working the back not counting the cashier. I saw several comments about April in the reviews, but she was polite to me and even suggested a similar item when I asked for grilled pork spring rolls, which they don’t serve.

FOOD AND FOLLOW UP

I received my order and when I got home I made to prepare my meal as usual, but there were several problems for me. The broth was oily, and pho broth should be clear of oil if drawn correctly. It could possibly be due to the fact that they actually put the meat in the broth for takeout orders, but the reason I believe it is from the pot itself is due to the fact that they give a very small amount of meat and i don’t think the amount of oil would come from the meat. I had 3 meatball quarters and two or three pieces of beef. The beef was tough from being in the broth too early, but it was still tasty.

I called to ask if this is the usual amount of meat, and I believe April answered the phone and handed it off to someone else, saying “Another problem.” I didn’t mean for the call to be a problem, as I was just curious as to whether or not the amount was normal. I didn’t catch the name of the lady who answered the phone, but she advised me that the amount of meat for the pho I ordered is 4 meatballs and 4 beef, and thats the way its been for 6 years. Fair enough! Especially for the price (I even asked April if she had in fact rung up both phos on the order, because the price was so low lol!).

CONCLUSION

All in all, the taste is still delicious. For me I prefer more meat for my pho, so I will probably keep an eye out for another pho shop. But Pho Cafe was still not a bad stop for a...

I came here as an Asian customer visiting for the first time this afternoon around 1.15pm, and I have never in my life been treated with such hostility at a restaurant. When I walked in, no one spoke to me, so I politely asked the older Asian male worker (50s+) if I could sit anywhere. Instead of answering like a normal human being, he aggressively pointed at a sign and shouted, “Can’t you read? Order there!” Then he disappeared into the back.

I explained to the lady at the counter that it was my first visit and I didn’t know the procedure, but I did not appreciate being yelled at. That same man stormed back out, red in the face, screaming at me in front of everyone: “If you don’t like it, don’t eat here. This is America, I do not want your business.” He kept raising his voice, moving closer and closer until he was right in my face. At that point I had no choice but to call 911 and tell him to back off. He hovered within an elbow’s distance, spitting insults, repeatedly flinging the door open and yelling for me to get out, as though intimidation was the restaurant’s idea of customer service.

This was not just rude, it was harassment. I kept calm and told him again and again to lower his voice and treat people respectfully, but he only screamed louder. His behavior was so unhinged I genuinely feared for my safety until police arrived.

If this man believes screaming “This is America” gives him the right to bully and humiliate customers, then he has completely misunderstood what America is about. Respect, courtesy, and decency should be universal. Instead, he treated me as if I were a second-class citizen in his self-proclaimed “America.”

No business should operate by terrorizing the very people who walk through its doors. If the idea of treating customers with basic dignity is too complicated for this establishment, then maybe it should stop pretending to be a restaurant and rebrand as a boot camp for verbal abuse. Folks, go to Pho Basil for Vietnamese food, where the service will not treat you the way...