Pho Lena

I had purchased a Groupon the first time I came here and I enjoyed the Curry chicken and sesame chicken and enjoyed the sweet waitress, however the 2^nd time I went back the owner told me I wasn’t welcome there and was sure it was me and I told him I had only been there 1 other time and he stood there and argued with me about I don’t even know what but I told him I could take my money somewhere else and he must have me confused with someone else because I left a generous tip the first time and I never expected to be humiliated and embarrassed coming back. Bummer deal cause they have good food but I can’t get past the humiliation and embarrassment I experienced yesterday. Sorry the foods ok but not enough to be humiliated

Not much to say, but good food and good customer service. My husband and I both left very full and happy that we got in some healthy food.

Been here twice. First time we ordered 5 dishes and 2 were inedible. 1 was a noodle soup that was lukewarm — not exaggerating. Instead of a new bowl they offered to MICROWAVE it!!! The other dish was pad thai that was intensely salty.
Visited a 2^nd time — I’ve had good experiences at their other location and really want to like this location bc it’s closer. Ordered 2 dishes. This time 1 was inedible. It was a noodle soup that had so little broth it was like a soggy stir fry. How do you mess up soup-​to-​broth ratio like that?!

I’ve been here several times and I really wanted to give it 5 stars, as I believe this might be the best place to get Thai in anchorage (My Thai on 4^th possibly being the spot to beat). I live nearby and go here at least once a week.
I have had all the curries, with the green probably being my favorite. The red is right there, though. The Pad Thai is stellar. I have also tried a couple of soups, like with the lunch special, which I highly recommend.
The food is usually amazing. But sometimes it’s just really good. So there’s some inconsistency there. It usually involves the temperature of the food. Sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it is not. So I drop half a star for that. My biggest concern is when I saw someone bring small dog in the kitchen /​serving area. Not cool. I couldn’t tell if it was an employee or a family member or friend or what, but nobody stopped it. I hope to not see that again. If I hadn’t been here several times already and loved the food I would have taken more off the rating for that… Other than the dog sighting, service has never been an issue.

If I am on Boniface I would stop by for lunch. It was not the best Vietnamese/​Thai fusion I have had. They did serve excellent Thai Coffee and that might be enough to get me to take an another try on the menu.

3.5÷5 rating. The Phở broth was a tad salty but tasty! I ordered the combination phở which had thin and cube cuts of beef, meatball, shrimp, squid, and tripe. I like the new location it is brighter and cleaner. However, the service could have been better. Waitress did not greet us, did not ask if we wanted anything to drink other than water, or if we needed anything else after serving our meal — they were not busy at all! Their food is step above other Phở places in Anchorage and improving their customer service could really win loyal customers. Overall, I recommend this place for their excellent food not service.

Same great taste and selection (smaller menu to accommodate the area) can be found at the Boniface location. Unlike the Spenard location, the dining area is larger offering more tables to accommodate customers. They do take out!
The seafood Phở was hot and delicious. I do feel it could have used more fresh fish like shrimp, scallops or crab.
The Tom Yum was spicy! I asked for fresh tofu but received fried. I brought this up to the waiter and he promptly returned (without attitude I must add) with a side of fresh tofu. This was much appreciated!

This spot was highly recommended by a friend, so we met her there and tried a number of dishes. I have been sorely missing the Phở Saigon that was located at Dimond Mall and had gone months without finding a new phở spot. This phở is different for sure, but not at all in a bad way. The broth has a much sweeter finish which really paired nicely with the chili oil and sambal that I added. I went with the beef brisket and meatball and the bowl was fully loaded! Tasted a bit of everyone’s dish (udon soup, curry noodles, fried rice, papaya salad, broccoli beef stir-​fry) and had no complaints. The new location has a bunch of seating and is nice and clean. We will be back for sure especially when the cold weather moves in.

The service here is lacking and the time to get out food is very slow. We were the only ones in the restaurant. Portions are very small. Ill think ill go elsewhere.

Phở was good and a pretty good size. They have offer a larger one if you’re a bigger eater so that’s good. I like spicy food and the hot sauce is REALLY spicy so just beware how much you add! The waiter must’ve been new he forgot our spoons and sprouts but he’s really nice. Pretty satisfied! The family’s children were running around for a bit so it was a little loud, but it looked like a 3-​year-​old boy so it’s understandable.

Love this place, I have never been disappointed. Food is yummy, and the atmosphere is quite. Servers are great and friendly.

I was very impressed with the cozy atmosphere, the friendly service and the wonderful food. The amount of food is… whoa! I will be going back to the place where you get more bang for your buck!

So good! Live this place. Lena (owner) is a foodie first and a business woman second. Anchorage is lucky to have the two locations for lunch and dinner. Thanks Lena.

My wife and I are always looking for something new in Alaska that’s not the same old same old. Phở Lena is not only a great place to eat but has reasonable priced food, huge portions and a great staff. For being in a strip mall in a not so great area we were pleasantly surprised with every experience we’ve had there it’s nice to see hard working people who obviously take pride in their craft.

The phở dishes here have a lot more flavor complexity than I’ve had in most phở restaurants in this town. My Thai iced tea was sweet and large– just what I needed. They also have bao for takeout, which I anticipate getting next time.

So this is my go-​to local phở joint, and I typically get either phở or a veggie dish. Of these, the papaya salad and vegetable gyoza tom yum are probably the standouts, with the Lao-​style papaya salad with extra fish sauce being a nice change of pace. The phở itself is pretty good and the addon veggies are consistently fresh.
Service can be diffident, if friendly once you get their attention, and on at least two occasions I got meat spring rolls instead of ordered veggie rolls. Vegetarians should be extra careful about what they’re biting into at first. The dining area is pretty small and, if you’re a regular customer dining alone during the lunch rush, don’t be surprised if you get asked if you mind another single being put at your table. I don’t mind a bit of small talk with a stranger before I dig into my phở, but this place could really do with some bar/​counter seating along the window to handle all the singles who otherwise take up a four spot.
In any case, I’ve eaten here probably over twenty times and I wouldn’t do that unless I thought I was getting good food for good value. Some winter nights, ten dollars for a steaming bowl of rice noodles in broth from Phở Lena sounds like the best thing ever.

This review can be summarized with just one word: gross.
When I lived in Anchorage, I was a regular patron of both Phở Lenas. The Phở Lena in Spenard was always my favorite, but the east location was closer to home, and always worth visiting.
Things have clearly changed.
On a recent trip home I had lunch here with a handful of friends. The service was ATROCIOUS. Inattentive, rude, and just totally uncaring and unhelpful. I can handle this if the food is good, but that was really the biggest problem with this meal. The food wasn’t just bad, it was gross. Out of the five people at our table, only one had a satisfactory meal. All of the rest were, as I said, not just bad, but gross. My vegetarian pappardelle had a handful of previously frozen (and clearly freezer burnt — hard, dry, wrinkly) peas and some canned straw mushrooms. THOSE WERE THE ONLY VEGETABLES ON MY PLATE. When the dish arrived, I asked the guy who delivered it to double check that the noodles didn’t have something I’m allergic to in them. He was rude about it and he never came back. When our server returned at almost the end of our meal to ask how things were, I told her that they weren’t very good. She said ‘Ok’ and turned around and left. We tried futilely for about fifteen minutes to get our check. When the credit card slips came back, there was an error. After about ten more minutes of trying to get her attention and failing, we just gave up and left.
I’ve had many good meals here in the past, but this one was so unacceptable that I won’t ever go back.

Tiny restaurant in old building. Clean tables. Clean enough bathroom. Ambiance is not this restaurant’s strong suit but it is comfortable enough; although it would be better if it had more than two or three booths. Booths are more comfortable and they feel more private in a small space.
Despite only two tables with patrons when we entered, no one brought us menus. After several minutes of waiting without being acknowledged, we got up and retrieved our own menus. Friendly enough server finally approached us with water and to take our order, although she didn’t seem overly interested in us at first. She grew friendlier as time went on.
Good menu that included vegetarian choices. We were not interested in the seafood combos that contained fake crab and were disappointed the dish we were interested in contained it.
First dish was delivered at least five minutes before the next, and we were provided two forks to eat off the one plate together. We had to ask for plates so we could each eat off of our own, and then we were provided tiny little appetizer plates instead of dinner plates! At least five minutes later, the other two dishes we’d ordered were brought to our table.
Fresh spring rolls okay, but we didn’t taste the Thai basil that was supposedly in them. The vegetables in them were crispy, but they were bland. I prefer more peanut in my chili sauce for spring rolls.
Vegetable dish was okay, but one of the seasonings tasted a little too strong. I’m not sure which it was. Whatever it was put me off the dish a little. I sort of liked it, but something about it turned me off at the same time. The vegetables had nice crunch though, and I was craving vegetables, so I ate it anyway.
Curry dish was good.
Phad Thai was too strong and oily.
Given how thirsty I was later and how swollen my hands were, the meal was too salty. I look for Asian food restaurants that do not use so much salt and MSG (which is salty) for our return business, and they Are out there.
Phở Lena East was just so-​so, but worth giving it another shot if we happen to be nearby when we are hungry. I wouldn’t travel across town for it though.

This place always cures my hangovers! My usual order consists of papaya salad and a big hearty bowl of kaopiek! Their broth is pretty good. Not overly seasoned like all the other places in town. The noodles aren’t the greatest though. They’re a bit chewy, but still pretty good. Remember to ask them for a side of fried garlic for your broth! They can make your kaopiek with stewing chicken or chicken breasts! Food does take a little bit to come out, but worth the wait. Service is always great and the staff is friendly.

Phở Lena at Boniface:
2÷13÷2014 Spoke with the chef today and asked if my soup could be made without MSG. He said it wasn’t possible as the flavor packet for Phở broth comes pre-​made with MSG, darn !