Pho Hoai Restaurant

Best spring rolls and phở beef noodle soup. However, some of the waiters are antisocial and rude.

I don’t usually like giving a poor review to an establishment that I’ve been going to as long as I’ve been coming to this one, but my outing here with my family last night was the final straw. Just to give anyone that reads my review a background about myself, I’ve been coming to this restaurant since 1991 when I lived in the area & was single. The food was wonderful & the service was good, not great. The owner & his sister used to be there & saw that it was run correctly. There was always a lot of competition on Avenue U, so they were trying to always please customers. I haven’t seen either one of them in many many years.
Jump 25 years and a few hundred visits later to this tired restaurant 1−30−16 and I came here last night with my family. We were facing a Saturday night typical crowd, so we expected a full house, but didn’t expected to be greeted so rudely. I would have expected a restaurant that had so many years of success to have someone with a little more skills to be at the door. He greeted us and other people like an ANGRY DOG barking at us and other people that wanted to come to their restaurant & spend money on their food & SERVICE !! He yelled at us the second we came in «no room, no room, you go !!!». Then he pointed his finger for us to go back towards the door. I’ve been greeted at the doors of many busy establishments before with a person with a smile to greet us and say «thank you for coming, & that there’s a slight wait for a table» would you like to wait ??? Then they would take our name on a pad. The atmosphere & mood was set negatively right from the second we walked in.
The next issue arose the second they stuck us at a table for 4 near a wall that had a buttress so only 3 people could sit there. My youngest daughter is 10 & tried to sit at this spot that was 6″ wide & I rolled my eyes !! This was not acceptable. I wouldn’t have it. The rude waiter said «this only table» you want wait again !!! This was a sign to me that we should have RAN, not walked from the restaurant. There were 2 larger round tables that could hold parties of 6 or 7 & I said I’d like to sit there & the waiter made a face & said no, to go back to the front & wait again. Another waiter came over & told us it was alright to sit there because they didn’t have a larger group for the table yet. Finally we sat down and ordered. The food came, but before I would rate it which is the point of this website I must comment about the waitress working there with the other waiters. She used the empty part of my table as a serving table for other tables orders !!! WTF was that all about. She was serving to other patrons using the empty space on my table? Where the hell did she think we were, in a 3^rd world nation? I was ready to blow my stack. This was not a normal dining experience. It might as well be a take out joint because this place has no «class» for sit down !!
To get back to the food, it was good, but at a price for the service being unacceptable I don’t think I’ll be back. Other Vietnamese restaurants have just as good food & with much SMARTER COURTEOUS waiter staff. I would definitely NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTAURANT ANY LONGER !!!

The best of the vietnamese restaurants in the area.

Came here the other week with my friend she wanted to show me some food food! Boy it was delicious ! We ordered spring and summer rolls. Fried Calamari! I order chicken curry with rice and she ordered beef cubes! Not bad! I am a fan of the Vietnamese ! Would sooooo go back again and try other things they have! Not too expensive and waiters are nice!

This place brings back good memories. I came here a lot after school with my grandmother and father. I’d say go for the no.1 phở of course. The pork chop rice. boluclac. the calamari. the grilled meats.
don’t go for the curry.
great place!

Whenever I have a craving for phở in Brooklyn, I come here. There are plenty of street parking available so parking isn’t a worry.
Even on a weekday this place is busy.
I usually get the phở noodle soup without any meat. Their broth is great on a cold day. And well, noodles are noodles.
My BF gets the cubed beef over rice. I’ve tried it and it’s not bad.
The food comes out fast, service is fast.

This is my go-​to cheap eats place. For $ 7 – 10 I am able to get a filling meal. I recommend grabbing a small order of spring rolls with every meal. My favorite dishes here are the marinated beef cubes, chicken curry with bread, and the pork chop special.

Had lunch here ¹¹⁄₂₀₁₅ so here’s a comparison with the nearby Phở Vietnam:
* bit less diverse menu but still enough categories of dishes & combinations of familiar dishes/​staples to suffice, it’s good, no problem
* equally great food, just delicious, flavorful, obviously fresh which is key
* dishes come out very quickly ensuring both tastiness & freshness
* interior design is spacious, good, lots of people still don’t make it too noisy
* good service, not surly at all, just right balance of attentiveness & overly watchful
Still good!

There are two Vietnamese places on Avenue U. I always get confused as to which is the one that I like. So I went to Phở Hoai and found out that it was the other place.
To start, our waitress was totally inattentive. And yes, I should be used to mediocre service at Chinese/​Asian joints but this was just bad. She was ridiculous. We asked her to order. She then went on her cell phone and went outside. When she came back, we asked her again. She told us to wait a minute but then she saw two tables come in and went to bus their tables and seat them first. Finally, we asked a different waiter to order and that was the solution to our problem.
I ordered the sautéed beef over vermicelli. This is usually one of my go-​to dishes at Vietnamese places but the sauce they made was way too thick. The taste was fine but the consistency was not appetizing. Maybe they just don’t know how to make this dish here and are better known for their standards (aka phở or pork chop over rice).
Either way, now that I’ve figured out which is the better Vietnamese spot, I’ll never have to come here again.

Haiku #8
How to pronounce «phở»
Just kidding! This is not class!
Lets review this place!
Standard Viet fare
I come here to eat cheaply
It is in my ‘hood
Plenty of tables
Tables seat from 2 to 6
Full when dinner time
Number one (Xe Lua)
Different cuts of cow parts
Clear, tasty beef broth
One-​Zero-​Seven
Pork chops are a hit-​or-​miss
Thin like a smart phone
Chicken lemongrass
Forgot the order number
Taste: memorable
You can add spices
Sriracha, hoisin and soy
Found on all tables
Cheap Viet diner
There are better in Brooklyn
But I’m satisfied

Decent food but service is terrible. Grilled chicken bun was extremely salty. The lettuce that came with our spring rolls was old. The cups we got our tea in was cracked. Staff seem unfriendly and pissed off. Not a good environment for dinning in. Will not be returning.

I don’t know what happened here the other night. This is the closest viet place to me. I always come here to get phở but it was a complete mess the other night. I usually get it to go for dinner but my aunts and uncle wanted to go out for dinner this time. We should have just stuck to take out.
I understand that its the dinner time rush but I feel like we got ignored so much. Not to mention that the lady never looks happy, never.
It took her forever to take our order. When our orders came, one of the phở orders was missing the noodles completely, one was forgotten and two of the other orders came approximately an hr later.
When we asked her to check the order (maybe they forgot it in the kitchen or left it there or something?), she said Ok. I watched her and she didn’t even walk near the kitchen until approx. 15min later…
I love this place and would still visit during lunch time and order from them but for take out…

This would be my to-​go phở restaurant when I am in the area. Their staffs are friendly and the service is quick. Nonetheless, their food is delicious. I always order an order of the spring rolls. One day, I wanted phở at 10pm and was afraid they would not seat me by the time I got to the restaurant because it closes at 10:30pm. However, when I arrived at the restaurant at 10:15pm, they were still super friendly and seated my friend and I happily. The staffs did not try to rush us either.

I have been coming here for over 10+ years. The food and service has always been consistent, except for the prices, which gradually increased over time, but that’s understandable because of inflation, etc.
The food is something I forgot to take a picture of, because I was that hungry. I always come here and order the #1 which the a big bowl of noodle soup, its great. Comes with a bunch of meats, lemon, basil, and bean sprouts on the side. Also the spring rolls here are amazing. Comes with lettuce, which you van wrap the crispy hot springs rolls and dip it in the excellent fish sauce they provide.
I highly recommend this place because the food is just excellent. As you enter, you could tell already because at 3:30pm, an odd time to eat either lunch or dinner, the restaurant was packed. A definite must try restaurant.

Next to cereal, this is probably the safest spot that i can eat at during Lent.
1) décor is a little awkward in that it looks like a grocery store that got converted to a restaurant. not that this matters because
2) the food portions are huge. Pretty sure you will end up taking leftovers home
3) the food itself is great in that it is packed with so much flavor you dont feel guilty about eating it… i am specifically talking about the calamari
4) it just so happened that the 2 times ive been here the service was on their A+ game. Very attentive and fast service (helps that it was a friday night)
Out of the many places on ave U. this one in particular stands out.

I hated viet food until this place. I never thought someone who loves chinese takeout could ever love viet because it’s not unhealthy enough lol. Boy was I wrong. We go here weekly. It’s a go-​to.
I get the fried pork vermicelli. It’s perfectly marinated and fried thinly sliced pork over vermicelli, fresh veggies, and delicious sauces.
Between the beef cubes, the stew, fried squid, summer roles, you can’t go wrong. Great local spot. So glad we moved here.

It’s so hard to find good Vietnamese food in NYC. Phở Hoai seems to be our family go to vietnamese restaurant but it might be time to find a new place. Since I come here a few times and I can honestly say the food is descent but it can be a hit or miss.
As per usual, you cannot go to vietnamese without ordering a bowl of phở. I ordered a number 1. Number 1 is perfect for the cold winter season. The phở is rich in beefy broth, raw (cooking) meat, and fresh herbs. I enjoy the broth favor at this location but during my last visit, the broth was only warm and it took a lot longer to cook the raw meat and bean sprouts. Another dish that I enjoy here is the grilled chicken pork chop over rice. The grill chicken can be a hit or miss as well since it can come out really burnt. If your are looking for a appetizer, I recommend the spring roll. The spring roll comes with romaine lettuce and fish sauce. It is also a dish that never seem to never disappoint me.
The restaurant is clean and service is A-​OK but nothing to rave about.

Being vietnamese it’s hard for me to find a place that taste like my moms home cooking. However, this is my go-​to in brooklyn and the staff is really vietnamese!
The summer roll is hefty being filled with noodles and lettuce but it’s a shame they slice the shrimp in half. Calamari is crispy, seasoned well, even the onions are delicious — dip with nuoc mam and some sriracha. Beef wrapped with grape leaves (bo la lot) is always good and you can’t find it at every restaurant. Phở is average. Bo luc lac (beef cubes) is a very popular item, sauce is amazing!
Skip the banh xeo, it’s supposed to be a thin crêpe filled with meat (pork) and shrimp and bean sprouts but this one is thick and deep fried. It’s crispy while it’s hot but once it cools down it’s soaked in oil.

Ok for Phở soup but bland beef cubes and pathetic Vietnamese sandwiches. Spring rolls are close to $ 1 a piece which is overpriced for this place compared to all the other meals which are pretty cheap. Vietnamese beer for $ 4 and Vietnamese coffee for $ 3.
R&B music started playing with lots of uncensored cuss words. My friend and I scanned the restaurant and started laughing hard because there were families with kids, and few older couples in the restaurant. Not a single gangster-​ish individual to be seen. Probably should play more suitable music.

This is a go-​to spot for me whenever I’m in the area and want phở. The staff is friendly, and service is quick.
I recommend the calamari if you have a group of friends. The broth is good as is, but a little hoisin sauce never hurt anybody!