Pho Dakao

The Phở was delicious and they managed our slightly large group with grace. Communicating was a little hard but manageable for the most part. One dish came out the wrong size and one came out with peanuts when it was asked to be made without. The sent back dish came back quickly enough but it is not fun guessing if your dinner is dangerous to your health.

This place is great. Décor was clean and modern, staff was extremely attentive and the atmosphere was pleasant– quiet, but not too quiet.
the food came out reasonably quick, although it wasn’t too busy at the time. I ordered chicken Phở. Broth was light and not too salty. The spring summer rolls were the best I’ve had.
The price was fair.
I would return here next time I am in the area.

I love me some phở soup! For years, I had hoped that Phở Pasteur would open a metrowest outpost and I could get a to-​go for when my family was in soup mood. Now we have Phở Dakao! We usually start with some fresh summer rolls that come with the yummy hoisin/​peanut sauce. I was sad that it was watered down on my last visit and that is why I need to give 4 stars. I like to support local businesses and Phở Dakao gives back to the community. The also have a bar you can get a cocktail with your meal. Comfortable seating and the occasionally have live music. Street parking or park behind the building in a lot. Enjoy!

I am all about supporting local businesses, and even more about supporting businesses that hire people who have learned English as their second language. I will though, preface this review that part of the outcome did have to do with a language barrier. I’m Asian and I love Asian food. I usually don’t mind if my order comes out wrong or it’s not exactly what I ordered. I know it can be overwhelming having to take orders with specifications — I was a waitress once. I usually don’t complain unless I absolutely have to. My cousins and I decided to chance it with this restaurant even though we normally frequent Vietnamese restaurants in Dorchester or Chinatown. I ordered the grilled pork rice dish and I wanted the rice base to be modified. Every Vietnamese restaurant I have frequented will do this willingly, but will also warn that you will have to pay more and I am more than fine with paying more to have my dish prepared the way I wanted. When our waitress said «oh we don’t do that», she said it with such attitude. I overlooked this, knowing they always say this because they think we’ll make a big deal about having to pay a few more dollars. I said it’s fine, I’m willing to pay more to have it modified since most places charge you $ 3-​$ 4 to have this done.
First offense, being rude and condescending when she said «oh we don’t do that». Most people are very nice about it and just explain what they mean. She did not.
Second offense, asked for water with lemon, she gave us water with lime.
Third offense, everyone else ordered phở and there were no sauce dishes at the table. I asked for some sauce dishes and she came back with soup bowls…
We finally got our food and she named one of the dishes she was holding to see whose it was, my cousin promptly responded it was hers. She was sitting at the other end of the table. Instead of walking over to her, our waitress put the dish in front of the person closest to her. Great, we pay you to not give us our food properly?
We finished our meal around 9:05 — 9:10 and we didn’t realize the restaurant closed at 9. We felt awful we made her stay late until she never came back. She checked in once with us at the beginning when we received our food but that was it. We had to flag down the other waitress on duty just to get our check.
When we finally get our check, I realized she charged me for 2 meals. Once for the grilled pork I ordered and then again for the rice I asked to be substituted. If she had explained at the beginning she was going to charge me for 2 full meals, I might have reconsidered my modifications. I wouldn’t be so mad if she had been nice about it and tried to explain the situation. She gave so much attitude and repeatedly said «I told you». Actually, no she didn’t. She never clearly explained herself. The reason for our poor service was due to a language barrier, which I am able to overlook. What really upsets me is her attitude. Yeah, it sucks to have to pay for 2 meals but I would have done it willingly if she hadn’t been so rude. People go out to dinner to have a good time. Her rude and condescending attitude ruined our experience with this establishment. I will never be returning here and I will never recommend this place to anyone else. Why be a waitress if you aren’t going to make the experience enjoyable? The manager should really consider training the employees. You will not be receiving my business ever again.

Yummy great food, nice atmosphere and yummy drinks. Love the wings here too. Great for a lunch or dinner date.

It was a cold and rainy day on MAY 5^th in Boston and there’s nothing better to warm you from the inside out than some Phở. Service was friendly and prompt. I had the teriyaki beef as an appetizer and it was SCRUMPTIOUS! Seasoned perfectly and the peanuts and scallions sprinkled on top made it perfect! Steak phở soup as my entrée was great. I ordered the XL and it’s definitely a 2 person job! This place rocks!
If you like coffee I highly recommend the Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk

Great service! Reasonable prices. Decent beer selection. Semi-​fancy. Ended up there accidentally but so glad to have found it. Phở Ga was loaded with flavorful chicken right off the bone. Delish! Stir fried veggies were also great.

I ordered the special noodle soup and fresh summer roll. The taste was average. The soup base was bland and you can tell that they have msg in it. There was not much meat in the special, there was probably 4 pieces of meat in a large bowl. so if you are a big eater, you may need an x large. The noodle soup in Chinatown Boston definitely gives you more for your money. The fresh summer roll is fresh and good. If you happen to be around the area and have a craving for Vietnamese food, I would recommend to come here if you don’t want to drive all the way to Boston.

If I could give negative stars I would; the worst dining experience I can remember.
My fiancé and I frequent this restaurant because the food is good, however the service is consistently terrible. Today’s experience was so awful, I can honestly say that we will never go back.
Our waitress today was clearly flustered and frustrated for no apparent reason; they were not particularly busy. We were sitting at our table for at least 5 minutes before anyone even brought us a menu or took our drink order. Once we finally ordered, the food took unnecessarily long to prepare.
Little did I know things were about to get much worse. Our check totaled $ 26.00. When the waitress returned with our receipt, she notified me that she charged us $ 48.00, but not to worry because she voided the transaction. I promptly checked my bank account and this money was already on hold in addition to the $ 26.00 for our actual meal.
I asked how does this happen? What did you do? She clearly charged us for the table of 4 sitting behind us. Upon asking to speak to the manager, we were told that he was unavailable and were met with much attitude and disrespect from the waitress staff.
I told them I would be leaving a negative review on Unilocal and was told they didn’t care. Take my advice, if you value good food and a pleasant dining experience, you should look elsewhere. I sincerely hope this review triggers the management of this establishment to take a look at their staff and make some changes. They definitely just lost 2 loyal, frequent customers today.

Came here for the first time with my boyfriend and we loved it! It’s a close second place to my favorite phở spot though.
I had a large rare steak phở with some tripe and he had beef and broccoli and white rice. He said although the rice wasn’t all that great, the beef and broccoli was super delish. My soup was very good, the broth was well made and the service was excellent. Our drinks were also pretty good, definitely going to come back soon!

I love Vietnamese food and always crave noodle soup when it’s cold out. We decided to go for lunch. We ordered summer rolls, the phở special, bo kho & honeydew milk tea. I was happy with the broths. The summer rolls serving size felt really small. Don’t know if it’s worth getting again.
We were allowed to seat ourselves at any table we chose. Halfway through our meal, the servers turned on a fan that was pointed directly at us so we asked them to turn it off. Service was noticeably slow and it wasn’t even busy. For weekday lunch, I have the expectation that patrons want to be in and out to go back to work.
For families with small children, I’d recommend asking for a high chair vs a booster for a booth. The space between the table and bench seating cannot be adjusted and children have to reach quite far. Also the booster seat can slip off the bench somewhat easily with their squirming to reach the table.

Great Phở, delicious Thai fried rice, simply lovely and affordable lunch. Place is clean, dark (but clean), and the portions are plentiful — perfect for sharing. Having a nice hot bowl of Phở on a super cold day — M O N E Y!
Service is upbeat and they are very proud of their restaurant. What a change from the defunct and creepy Sampan!

Battles top restaurants in Boston for best Phở.
The Phở was fresh, fragrant, and flavorful! Really great place to impress anyone who likes Vietnamese

Love the the Phở! Great for a cold snowy Saturday.
Went in for lunch and sat at the bar. No bartendar on duty. Had to wait awhile before our no personality waitress came over. She didn’t even smile once. It wasn’t super busy and she was inattentive. We even had to ask her for utensils after we got our appetizer. Someone she knew came in and sat at the end of the bar & she waited on him asap. Took us forever to get our check. After she took away our dishes, she disappeared.
The men’s room needs a good cleaning.
Other than the terrible service, the food is great!

Worst.Service.Ever. we waited 10 years to be seated. By then we just asked if we can sit anywhere, seeing as it’s nearly empty. Another million years for the serve staff to even notice us. By then we just waited for them to notice us so we can leave.

Stopped in for lunch and got the spicy beef udon noodle soup. It was delicious and fresh. Good service. Only issue was it was a hot day and it didn’t feel like the air was on.

Ordered the vermicelli bowl with grilled pork and spring roll. Wife ordered a large bowl of phở and side of spring rolls and Thai iced tea.
Crispy Spring rolls — very disappointing. They were like pencil thin with hardly any filling. I’d like to challenge someone to take a bunch of chopsticks and see how many it would take to equal a roll.
Thai iced tea — super duper sweet. Any sweeter and you’d be sucking on a lollipop. Think of it as tea flavored syrup.
Phở — pretty decent taste and the large did not disappoint.
Vermicelli — not bad, but not fab. Again… skip the spring roll topped bowl and just go all meat.

Had dinner here last night with the family.
Décor– Nice, clean and modern.
Service– attentive and quick.
Food–
Phở: decent, lacking the authentic aroma.
Bun Bo Hue: decent, again lacking authentic aroma
Crispy noodle: presentation was appealing and taste was good
Not sure if the chef is vietnamese– since some of the dishes were lacking the authenticity aroma and taste. Overall, good enough to come back for another try if I’m in the area.

3.6511 Stars
I’ve been here twice and both visits were a success. I like the room the have tables in the storefront where the bar resides. There are booths on the long part of the L shaped room, these are more intimate. I like the layout better than the Worcester store but the bar in Worcester is better.
The Phở:
The soup base is pretty good I’ve had better but not this far from the DOT and Boston. Watch the portions, because a medium is enough for me especially if you have appetizers. They don’t have the small, medium, large and extra large are the sizes. One thing that irks me in many Phở Joints is the skimping on meat portions, none of that here (I get the Special-​Dac Biet, all-​in «Rare-​Steak, Flank, Brisket, Tendon, and Tripe». They give jalapeño peppers, I prefer the thai green chilies but so many places don’t give peppers at all. I also am a big fan of sprouts and there have been fresh and abundant.
Both visits were off hours but the service was good and the food came out in a timely fashion. It’s a little more clean than the Worcester location.
* The female bartender is professional, very good service.
* H Tiu Xào Chay (stir fried flat noodles)
* Prefer the Summer Rolls over the Spring Rolls.
* The quail is pretty good.
* Parking in back but, if you are heading west you have to make an awkward turn:
On busy days the traffic is dense the city does not allow the left turn onto Kendall St, even when there is light traffic. It’s better to approach from the east, Concord St. is also route 126. Because of the traffic I would not park on Concord, and spots are hard to come by.

Moved during the first blizzard of the year, and nothing takes away the frantic stress away like a bowl of hot phở.
The goi cuon was appetizer was warm and soft, it was a nice small size wrap with lots of veggies and meats, and a perfect amount of vermicelli. The peanut dip that came with it was outstanding, the crunchiness of the peanut complemented by a warm savory sauce. Even found bo kho dish here, a delicious beef and vegetable stew that’s so savory and warms the heart. The beef tips are half tendon, half lean giving the perfect balance in texture for every bite.
The atmosphere is classy but casual. Can’t wait to come back!