Pho Orchid Uptown

My husband and I come here so often they put our order in when we walk in. We get the same thing every. single. time. Why? Because it’s delicious. Literally every single time we leave so completely contented from our meal. I get the brisket phở and my husband gets the combination phở. We top it off with taro tea and tapioca.
We have definitely ventured out and gotten each type of spring roll and they’re AMAZING but splitting the spring rolls and eating phở is just too much food for two people. But if you’re hungry and you like authentic Vietnamese phở, this is the place to go!

My friends and I stayed down the street from this restaurant and we decided to get some food to go. We came by shortly after they were opened and ordered:
Pork bahn mi
Spring rolls
I think I’m spoiled with a lot of great Vietnamese restaurants in San Diego that I wasn’t satisfied with the food we received here. We got our food 20 minutes after ordering and took it back to our time share. Food was small and just okay. Nothing to really special to write about.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a freak for Phở. It’s probably the most perfect food ever and Phở Orchid is one of the few Phở places I had never been until recently.
Phở Orchid is a pretty laid back place and I was excited to see what they had to offer. I got my usual pork spring rolls appetizer and eye round steak and brisket Phở. The spring rolls were really good. The pork was flavorful and the rolls were a good size. The Phở was okay– it was nothing overly spectacular but I definitely enjoyed it enough to return next time I am looking for lunch in the area.
I think this spot is probably best for «to go» food pick up, because the tables are pretty small and I felt a little cramped. It wasn’t a huge issue, just an observation.

I had phở and the torpedo shrimps an they were really good, got my food in a really good amount of time, i ate before a parade and it was almost full, but they only had a bartender who was the waiter and a server, they need more staff for days like that. I cant complaint about the food

I’ve been here a few times now, each time I’m in town I try to stop here. The food is good and verbally the device is good as well. However, tonight’s visit in was a bit confusing…
I entered the restaurant around 5:45pm, and upon entering there were three people seated inside, a couple in the back corner eating and a lady at the bar eating. Standing there for about 30 seconds or so, unsure if I should wait to be seated or seat myself, a woman in the back of the restaurant started yelling something towards the front of the place. I thought I did something wrong.
She yelled something again and the guy in the corner turned and looked at me and went back to eating, once more she yelled and then he finally got up confused looking and started walking to the woman at the bar… and again the lady in the back yelled, he finally seems to notice me, and as he looked at me, confused, he said «oh?». At this point I looked at him and said: «Just one please». He still seemed confused as to why he was helpin me but told me to just sit anywhere. He followed me to the table and gave me a menu. Then immediately walked away.
A minute or two later he came back to get my drink order, to which I ordered water. When he returned with the drink he sat the water down with the woman at the bar, she said «this isn’t for me, I think that’s his drink.» Pointing at me…
He then smiled and was like «oh yeah.» Picking the drink back up and bringing it to me. He then just stood there, not saying anything — I took this as my queue to order so I pointed to what I wanted and said that I also wants to add an egg roll. Fairly quickly the food came out. Thankfully he not only brought the food to me but he also brought me the right food, with one exception — no egg roll. But after quickly setting it food down he darted outside for about 10’minutes — I believe he was trying to bring in customers who were walking by as he finally returned inside with a small group of people.
At this point he takes care of their order then brings me a check. $ 30 with a soda, beer, and two meals on it, and again goes right back outside before I can even pick the ticket up to look over it. Not in a rush I waited a bit, sipped my water. He returned 6 – 8 minutes later and comes to collect the check. I tell him it’s the wrong check.
He smiles and apologizes and comes back with another check. This time it had the correct meal but also had a $ 2.50 charger for a soft drink, to which I pointed down at my cup of water and told him that I only had a water and that there was a soda charge on the bill. He grabs it back and looks at it for a few seconds and then says he will be right back.
At this point he finally brings the right check, my card was still in my hand but he darted off again before I could hand it back to him. So walked up to the bar, near the register and stood there for about 5 minutes before someone would ring it out. At this point there were two tables with 5 total people and the woman at the bar, not a crazy rush by any standards.
Paid and left… I will definitely think twice about returning, sadly.

I’m not quite sure how food can be both Vietnamese and French, but whatever they’re doing at Phở Orchard is pretty tasty. My recommendation: Get the phở! It’s a conglomeration of salty savory broth, meat, and soft noodles cooked to perfection. You can add baby bean sprouts, mint branches, and lime to your liking. Watch out for the jalapeños though, unless you like your phở hotter than hellfire and brimstone, I’d stay away from those jalapeños! What’s not so hot, and the reason for only 4 stars, is the service… It took a lifetime for the check, and another reincarnation for them to return to take my payment. I was tempted to just up and leave while they got their ish together, but food that good needed to be paid for. Phở real!

Got to go bahn mi’s since I had their phở in house before and have eaten at the metairie location. Man, what a disappointment. There was a miniscule amount of meat on our pork bahn mi. And it was very dry with hardly any cumber and too much carrot. I don’t recommend it for to go or if you want a quality bahn mi. Eatwell and Hong Kong market do better and at a better price point. I feel like they put the product they should have put on one sandwich and put it in two.
Not worth the money.

This review is based on the service only and not the food.
Came to Nola for Halloween! Following day, I had a craving for phở. I checked around on Unilocal to see any place close by was open and this one fit our bill. Paid 11 dollars to taxi from my hotel. I arrived at 8:10 and noticed there was a closed sign on the door despite their business hours stating that they open until 9pm. Walked inside and was promptly shooed out. The staffs explanation was that it is a full house and we cannot accommodate Anymore people, even though there was about 5 empty tables and I can see more in the back. Phở is supposed to be quick service so I don’t understand why we couldn’t be served. Waste of my time and money.
TLDR: came in 50 min before closing and wasn’t allowed to dine in regardless of there being a bunch of empty tables. 20 bucks for a round trip taxi for nothing.

Used to be my default because they have vegetarian broth for the phở. Now that my phở is sitting on my floorboard I have decided to stop supporting this place until they figure out how to do a to-​go order, Jazmine is better anyway, the location convenience is not worth the trouble with this place.

Great place to stop for Phở! The servers are very attentive as it is often pretty empty. The food is exactly what you would want when it comes to Phở, and the prices are very reasonable. I’d recommend getting the large phở for $ 1 more, as it easily becomes lunch or dinner for the next day. They have a full bar and TVs, should you want to go in and watch a football game and eat Phở.

AUTHENTIC PHO in NOLA! The restaurant is very clean and service is fast and friendly.
Phở Orchid combination was a little bit of everything. Broth was amazing and was a great cure for the morning after. Pork summer rolls & duck buns (?) — amazing!!! Can’t forget the Vietnamese iced coffee! Prices were reasonable! Make sure to get a large since the small looks kid size.

PLOP PLOP, FIZZ FIZZ, OH WHAT A RELIEF IT IS… GROSS!!! Maybe because «Phở» was in the name I should have ordered that, but come on! Ewwwww I still haven’t eaten a full meal since I ate here, I am finally getting back to solid foods. I got the shrimp fried rice and tofu fresh rolls. I knew when I was eating it that something was «wrong.» The little shrimp in the fried rice that looked like dirt were «Chernobyl» orange in color and tasted bad. I think there was an uncooked one in there somewhere but I just covered it up by the overly dry, horrible tasting rice. The fresh roll tofu was going slightly bad, and the lettuce inside was old and the rice paper was slightly dry and chewy, but I ate them anyway because the rice was so bad and I was starving. I didn’t have full blown food poisioning, but I had a slight version of it that makes me never want to eat Asian food again for a while.
The one star goes to the great staff and clean place. Full bar. Everyone else who has written reviews must have been drunk or the phở is better. Sorry but I am being brutally honest here.

First time in. Nice clean restaurant. The spring rolls were fresh and tasty. I planned on getting Phở but ended up getting one of the weekly specials which was the scallops with veggies. $ 9.95. The food came out hot and there were good sized scallops and the dark sauce had a fantastic taste with hints of garlic and ginger. This is a great little restaurant and very reasonably priced for a restaurant on St Charles. The staff was friendly, prompt and knowledgeable. We will be back for sure.

Stopped by for an early dinner after work. Service was nice and really fast. Got myself the wonton soup which was amazing ! Fanciest wonton soup I’ve ever had — had shrimp, chicken, beef, onions, and some greens plus the wontons which were very soft and has amazing filling. Shrimp and pork rolls were good too but I wish there was a little more meat and less noodles! Great price too — full dinner for one, plus a drink, for $ 16!

WHAT PHO (FUH)
The other night we were watching Anthony Bourdain’s show as he was having a nostalgic food orgy in Vietnam. We did the same a few years ago. There’s nothing like sitting down at a makeshift table and eating food prepared by a street vendor. If you eat at a restaurant, it’s a special occassion and the diners there are dressed up.
This restaurant would be considered fancy in Vietnam with the all the wood trim and high ceiling crown moulding. Besides being Vietnamese, the English speaking staff is easily idenified wearing their black Phở Orchid t shirts. We sat at a stone top table in the frontroom which includes their bar. There’s another dining room in the back. One painting caught our attention and reminded us of our visit to Halong Bay in North Vietnam.
We decided to order the following for our lunch:
Phở Orchid Combination Large (Phở Dac Biet large bowl) … normally Yu-​go would have difficulties finishing, but here he was «dumpster diving» and for sure was not full.
Grilled Pork with Egg Roll over Vermicelli Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong): fresh lettuce, bean sprouts, cucumbers, and pickled carrots served with special house sauce. Egg Roll was fried crispy perfect with legit filling … this combo plate more than satisfied my hunger.
Hoping in our lifetime that we someday find a stateside Vietnamese restaurant or stand that serves street food just like in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). That would certainly be nostalgic!

I always go to Viet restos wherever we go because I just love Viet food, lol. Phở Orchid did not disappoint… I am surprised by the «meh» reviews.
We took the trolley down, so parking wasn’t a problem for us. We also went in a little before they closed, but they welcomed us.
What I can recall, we ordered:
— Bo Né
— Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio
— Phở
My mom’s Bo Né looked and tasted delicious. It came with beef cubes and onions, sunny-​side-​up eggs, baguette with butter and pâté (OMG, my favorite), and a side salad. My Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio was good and very flavorful. The hubs’ phở was decent, too. I forgot what my pops and cousin ordered, but they enjoyed both dishes much better than Lilly’s and Magasin’s.
I know some people prefer Lilly’s and Magasin’s, but I would definitely recommend Phở Orchid over Lilly’s and Magasin. When we go back to NOLA, we will be back to eat at Phở Orchid. Hope the food tastes just as great!

«They get a star just for existing and being open on Sunday. First, they got our order wrong. They got a bum outside begging for money and harassing people. They don’t even give us f**** sprouts or anything!!! The peanut sauce sucks, spring rolls tasted like they’ve been sitting there for days, the meatballs are disgusting, tasted like a chewy sponge, a moldy sponge. Actually, forget the bum, he’s irrelevant. If you’re gunna own a restaurant, do it right or don’t do it at all.»
These are some of the words my boyfriend is spouting off as he is very displeased at the to-​go meal we just had (and didn’t really eat at all).
We ordered takeout from this place, as it’s close to our house and I’ve read good reviews. When I called to order, I double checked to make sure they got the order right: a brisket phở, a chicken phở, and spring rolls. He repeated it and all was correct. Get home to find we had a meatball phở instead of the chicken. Strike one. I ordered a milk tea with tapioca balls while I waited, which was probably my favorite part of this whole «ordeal.»
The place seemed pretty busy and there were maybe only two people working the front of house. The food looked pretty good. I feel like sometimes you need to sit down and have a bowl of phở in the actual restaurant instead of taking it to go, in order to get the full experience. I had high hopes. I noticed that they charged me for large soups, even though I wasn’t asked if I wanted small or large when I ordered. This isn’t a big deal, except when I get home and the portion seems pretty small to me. Definitely not worth the 9 $.
Spring rolls were bland and obviously not fresh, peanut sauce tasted like it was cheap store-​bought stuff. The broth was nothing special, just kind of salty water. Even the noodles weren’t cooked right. They give you a small bag with a measly spring of basil and a couple jalapenos. I like getting sprouts and a little bit more basil. My boyfriend couldn’t even eat the meatballs. The brisket in my soup was okay.
Overall, this was just not a good experience. I am hoping they were just having an off night. The location is great, right on St. Charles, and they had a nice big bar in the front with 2 big screen TVs. The lady who helped me was very nice, but unfortunately that’s not enough for me to make a return visit soon. Sad :(

So I’m not sure why this place has uptown in the name when it’s clearly in the Garden District. But that’s just me being picky.
I stopped in during the 1^st weekend of carnival season and they were serving a limited menu and all orders were handled at the bar. No problem.
I ordered a couple of bahn mis for me & my family and they came out quickly. Both sandwiches (grilled shrimp and tofu) were delicious and huge!
Staff was very nice and gave me a huge glass of ice water which was much needed on that warm first Sunday.
4 stars for life-​giving food during carnival. Now I’ll just have to get back over there for a meal when they have regular service.

To celebrate the Vietnamese New Year, and this awfully cold water, I decided to order some phở to go.
It’s not the fault of these great restaurants that I’m inept at my attempts to eat phở and the confusion as to whether I should be using a fork or a spoon, or a spork. So my only option with phở is to usually eat it at home… and alone so no one sees me looking like Dr. Zoidberg of Futurama or Davy Jones of «The Pirates of the Caribbean», but enough about me, let’s talk phở!
I placed my order, and it was ready when I got there. While $ 20 does seem a little pricey for one person, my order of a largo combo phở and Korean beef tacos (4 mini tacos to an order) could’ve been easily split into two mini meals if I wasn’t hoggin’ out.
Ok, for those that aren’t savvy in the dishes of a spot like Phở Orchid (and totally new to Vietnamese) Bun Vermicelli doesn’t refer to those delicious fluffy buns you see in pics. That may have happened to «a friend» once who was utterly confused… If you want those fluffy buns with just the right amount of sweetness, it’s the tacos and my favorite, thus far, are the Korean beef that have a nice crunch with carrot and cucumber, some slivers of tasty beef, and fresh with cilantro.
Their phở has a great cinnamon-​y smell and I like how well it’s all packaged. I want to say the combo has a little bit of everything for the indecisive type (right here). If fresh jalapeño makes you flinch a little in fear of heart burn, chop those puppies up before mixing it into your phở with the fresh basil, sprouts, and squeeze of lime.
For my dinner of one, I usually have sriracha and ponzu sauce on hand because sriracha goes great with nearly everything, and ponzu gives just a little bit more kick to the phở.
In terms of to go, Phở Orchid is pretty great even if you got to put on your flashers for a hot second and park illegally!

This is a convenient location for me as it is near my home. They have some of the most flavorful chicken meat in their chicken phở here. Generally the food here is decent to good but it doesn’t seem to always be as good as their other two locations in terms of service and consistency of food. In this area I generally prefer Phở Cam Ly, Lilly’s and Mint Modern over this place but you can certainly satisfy your Vietnamese cravings here. They don’t seem to stay open late here usually and tend to close right at 10pm or earlier.