Pho 43

With great food, a comprehensive menu of which everything is delicious, and the kindest owners I’ve ever met, this is my favorite restaurant in Milwaukee. Absolute comfort food that is still dynamic and complex. Not only my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, but my favorite restaurant overall.

Occasionally, I order this for delivery. Decent phở at a good price! Always suggest adding «more meat» with delivery.

Average at best. I’ve been to their original location that was near Miller Park, which is no longer open, and it was not worth returning.
Since they opened on the eastside, I figured I give them another shot. Overall it has the same vibe, but the atmosphere was a little dark and dingy cause they didn’t turn the lights on and the bowls are still small like their first location.
Spring Rolls were not rolled tightly and only had a small leaf of lettuce with lots of noodle and a little meat. Dipping sauce ratio was more hoisin than peanut sauce.
Combination Phở was small in size and the broth was quite salty and heavily spiced. Not as delicate as some other phở places and the beef was tough.
Vermicelli with grilled pork was decent in flavor, but lacked cucumber and more greens. Many of the noodles were broken and hard to eat at times.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee was the highlight of the meal, which was strong and not bitter.
Overall, phở that’s on the eastside, but I would travel elsewhere to be satisfied.

Boyfriend and I just had dinner. Super friendly staff and we took her recommendation for the combo steak, chicken, and shrimp phở. The past few times we have had phở (at other restaurants) it’s been eh. This was just DELICIOUS and perfect on a cold Milwaukee night! We will definitely be back.

Friendly staff. Great food. I eat here all the time and have never had a complaint. Would recommend to anyone who is looking for a large portion of phở for a reasonable price.

The owners are extremely friendly, down to earth people. They always come by our table to say hi, no matter how busy it is in the restaurant. I can always appreciate an authentic meal more when the people who have prepared it are genuine, value their customers, and treat them like friends.
My go to entrée is the chicken phở and my boyfriend usually orders the brisket phở. It is always delicious and filling. Perfect broth and flavorful sauces! Great portions! Most of the items on the menu you will either like or not due to preference. I’m sure you’ll find a favorite due lots of options! Four stars because it is difficult to find parking and we have had some trouble finding seating in the restaurant during busy hours.

Not really sure how to rate this place. My friend and I ate there the other night and it was an odd experience. She ordered seafood phở and I had the vermicelli and grilled chicken. My dish was quite good, hers was fairly pathetic. The grilled chicken was moist and perfectly cooked. I do wish I had more broth to pour over it. My friend’s seafood phở was pathetic. Yes, it was a large portion but the majority of the seafood was imitation crab and a few shrimp. Imitation. Crab. Now, I like imitation crab and it’s great in some dishes but phở is not one of them.
I also ordered the mozarella sticks. I don’t like wonton wrappers to begin with, but my craving for fried cheese was stronger than my brain and I ordered them anyway. They were poorly cooked, practically burnt on the outside and not melted on the inside.
Additionally the service was shoddy. I think it’s a husband/​wife team. He works in the back, she handles the front. Problem is, she’s not very nice. She ignores you for a long time then runs up yells a question and disappears. When we paid, she took my friend’s bill with cash and didn’t back any change (it was less than $ 15 and she gave a $ 20) when asked to bring back change, she huffed and took 7 minutes to do so even though we were the only ones in there at the time. Anyway, the place was dead and we were made to feel like an inconvenience.
I’m giving it three stars only because my dish was delicious and I’ve been missing a good vermicelli dish since I moved from Baton Rouge nearly 8 years ago.

Had the egg rolls as an appetizer are the best I have had at a restaurant. The Vietnamese Iced Coffee was delicious. Recommend if you like sweet iced coffee drinks. Had the Yang Chau Fried Rice. It was really good, I liked the Vietnamese Sausage in this dish. My wife enjoyed the Phở. The owners were very nice. We’ll definitely go back or stop for take out.

Usual order for my husband and I consists of fresh rolls, a rice noodle vermicelli salad with chicken, and the glass noodle dish. Spring rolls are hit and miss– some a very fresh, other times I feel the rice wrap is dry and may have been sitting out. The chicken on the salad is absolutely my favorite– a limey thai flavor that works so well in the salad with the fish sauce. Saigon glass noodle dish was good, but not as similar to other jap chae dishes I was expecting. Depth of flavor wasn’t all there. Owners are very friendly, and always making sure you are tended to, both dine in and take out !

We had been to Walgreens for passport photo. Thought we will spend the time in between and went to this place. We ordered fried rice with chicken. Food was great, good quantity and costed $ 13 after tax
Would love to return back in leisure and try out more options they have on menu
Not a posh place, if you are looking for one.

Phở 43 is a small Vietnamese restaurant in Milwaukee. It seems like good Asian food (aside from sushi and ramen) is kind of hard to come across in Milwaukee; and since this is place is right across the street from me, I had to give it a try on a cold, autumn night.
The restaurant is relatively small. When you walk in, there is «bar» seating with an open kitchen. Then you walk through a side door, and there is actual restaurant seating. The restaurant is relatively small with the ability to seat maybe 30 — 40 people. I suspect that many people order takeout.
On my most recent, and first visit, I ordered the Phở Steak, equivalent of Phở Tai for those who are familiar with Phở restaurants, as well as an order of spring rolls. Given that there were not many people, the server was very attentive. She often came by to make sure that everything was okay and I was satisfied.
The spring rolls were probably a ²⁄₅. I would not order these again. The skin was tough and dry — making me suspect that they had been sitting out for awhile. The usual hoisin peanut sauce had pickled carrots/​daikon in it. It was weird. This is something you generally find in the sauce for bun. The charsiu tasted old as well. Also, the rolls were super skinny — not the usual packed spring rolls that I am used to in Atlanta.
The phở is a sold ³⁄₅. Unilocal’s «A-​OK» describes it perfectly. It satisfies a phở craving, but is definitely not the best phở I’ve ever had. For one, the broth is not that rich. I should be dying of thirst after drinking phở broth. HELLLLO MSG. Pho43’s broth is a little too sweet for me. Other than the broth, there is plenty of meat and noodles. As usual, phở comes with a side of lime, and bean sprouts. I do like it when there is the option of getting steamed bean sprouts so I will have to ask for that next time.

Staff was very nice and the food was very delicious and fresh. I requested no noodles in my soup (no carbs) and normally that short circuits Asian soup places. There was no issue and everything came out wonderful. I’ll definitely be going back.
Some people said the soup portions were small, but you have to upgrade ($ 3) for the big bowl. Everything else that seemed to come out of the kitchen that wasn’t soup also seemed like large portions.
Also, they’re open till 11pm! Nice.

Best Springrolls on the east side, with great sauces (a necessity) such as the cravable homemade roasted chilli oil. The spices in the phở are different than we are accustomed to, but we are told it is a regional difference in flavor. Owners/​workers are super friendly (especially when you get to know them), and they deliver! Everything we look for when we need a late night springroll fix.

What else is there to say. This place is amazing and the family who runs it are wonderful people. I’m glad I discovered this place. It’s close tothe office and they deliver in less than 20 min… Everything is fresh… Their Vietnamese iced coffee is #fantabulous

Absolutely fantastic veggie phở & spring rolls. Reasonable prices and generous portions.

Re-​rating after realizing there is a sitting area on the other side. I thought this place was just the «bar».
Today I tried the brisket Phó and the chrysanthemum tea. The Phó was «regular» size and is a pretty big bowl. The broth was great, the noodles were tasty and the side plate had basil from the owners garden. Very cool. I of course devoured the Phó to the last drip. The tea. Oh the tea. She said it was her favorite and I can see why. Very good and not too sweet. The added radness is that she put a chrysanthemum bulb in the tea cup! I thought about eating that to but changed my mind as I didn’t want to be the weird guy eating flowers at the bar.
I will be back again. And again. And again.

This place is all about the food:) and what good food it is! We stopped on a whim after a walk down Brady brought us to Farewell Ave. From the street it doesn’t look like much but it’s actually a nice sized restaurant with bar seating in one room and a double dining room on the other side. The waitress had us seat ourselves and gave us time to take a look at the menu. The menu is huge! I had the lemon grass tofu dish with rice. Flavorful and a nice sized portion. The chrysanthemum tea was amazing. We will be back to try more dishes. So good.

My mom and I were making a trip out to Wisconsin and decided to give the Phở here a shot (we are on a food conquest). I think it was the best choice ever!
Phở with 3 meats was really good! Broth was flavorful and didn’t need anything added.
Spring rolls were so good that I ordered an additional set for a snack later.
My mom had a noodle dish with shrimp, noodles, bean sprouts, and fish. She said it was good with just the right amount of spice.
Customer service was amazing as well. They were very nice people.
If we are ever back in Wisconsin, we will stop in:)

Fragrant flavors. Clean. Filling.
I’ve frequented many phở restaurants. In LA and Milwaukee. While this may not be the best, it’s still pretty good! The owner (tiny asian lady) is always sweet and welcoming. I like that the food tastes really fresh. Although they don’t give as much toppings as other phở places, I love how the noodles dont clump when you pick them up. The price is comparable to regular phở places. Not sure what other people are griping about. Anyway def happy there’s one downtown and close to work. I don’t even mind eating alone. It’s a special time between me and the bowl of phở.

I do not learn do I? Apparently I am the «le duke» of Phở 43 at the time of this review. In my defense, I have a phở problem and I am hopelessly hopeful when I have a taste for phở. I NEED TO GET MY PHO PHIX IN! I was so excited that a phở shop opened up near me. As «le duke,» I have tried their phở several times and suspect their broth to be some form of instant cup ramen. Yes, every phở place has a unique broth, here, I am not a fan of their instant phở noodles. My phở phix cannot be satisfied here.
I saw a another review complaining about their steep prices and I totally agree. I still would not come here for my phở fix even if this was priced lower. I simply need to satisfy that phở phix elsewhere.
I am a bit ticked off by their service as well. My father DOES NOT eat beef and ordered the chicken phở specifying he wanted chicken broth. Of course, the chicken phở was served with beef broth. Oh, and they charge extra for chicken broth.
TLDR: faux phở, go elsewhere for your phở phix

Noo, I had such high hopes.
The portions were on the smaller size (in terms of phở) for the price. Like $ 10+ for a large bowl? Phở should never be $ 10!
Their broth is… unique. I won’t say it was bad but it had a very fragrant quality to it compared to some other places. I can totally see how someone might think its «chemically»…but still, it’s not bad. It’s not great.
My other gripes were that they use a cheap supermarket brand of hoisin, no small sauce dishes, no vermicelli bowls on the menu, and probably the worst offender — NO CILANTRO IN THE PHO?! That ain’t right.
At least the bathrooms were clean.