May’s Vietnamese Restaurant

Ordered a #36 since I wasn’t feeling well and found a bug in my phở after I was almost done eating. So grossed out right now, check your food for bugs.

The phở is great here and I would recommend to anyone.
I had the number 36 rare beef, which was exceptional.

Ugh! Last time I eat here. Food quality is poor. Soup is luke warm! Who wants Luke warm soup?! I want HOT soup! And it just tastes stale, old and no flavor. My sons dish had a live bug crawling on it!!! Yuck, no more!

Just got a pork Bahn Mi sandwich to go. It was a good sandwich… not the best Bahn Mi I’ve ever had, but solid, and a great value for the money. I look forward to trying their other offerings.

May’s Vietnamese Restaurant is just another disappointing phở place in a long line of disappointing Redwood City phở places.
I’ve been here a handful of times and it seems the quality of their phở continually deteriorates. The biggest offense for people who enjoy phở is a weak or tasteless broth.
The broth here is unexciting. A couple spoons of hoisin or sriracha will not save this beef water. At a good phở place I will leave the bowl empty slurping up every last drop of broth. For this broth I will try my hardest to avoid it. Without a good broth the noodles have nothing to go off of. Eating the noodles is like slurping a mouthful of wet string it is so flavorless.
The meat in the phở is also another let down. The beef is extremely tough and stringy. If I think hard enough I can still feel the meat getting stuck in between my teeth as I desperately try to chew through this rubbery boiled to death excuse of a meat. The tendon, tripe, and meatballs are acceptable but definitely not enough to rescue this dish.
If you are desperate for phở then sure by all means come get phở here otherwise you’re better off driving out of Redwood City for anything that will actually satisfy that craving.

Closes at 8:30 on A Friday night?!
Might be good food — if they actually stayed open long enough to serve.
Go away …

My husband and I have been to this place so many times that I’ve lost count now. There is nothing out of the world about this place but some days that’s exactly what one wants — simple, fresh, and comforting food. They have it all. And it doesn’t hurt that the people here are very friendly and welcoming.
#72 on the menu — the vegetarian phở is our go-​to. We also enjoy the clay pot and the fresh spring rolls. And I’m a sucker for vietnamese iced coffee.

Best imperial rolls I’ve ever had! Favorite Vietnamese place hands down. Cheap food, friendly service, can sometimes be a little busy during the weekends and rush hour. Their five spice flavored chicken is also really good if you’re in the mood for something other than phở.

3.5 stars for decent, cheap, convenient bun — not a destination eatery but I would come back.
Pros:
— noodles tasted fresh
— generous amount of fresh tasting shrimp
— crunchy satisfying imperial rolls
— no line for lunch on a Saturday, food comes fast
Cons:
— fish sauce was pretty good but a little too salty
— same with the beef phở broth
— noodles on bed of never before seen low quality lettuce
— skimpy on pork

I can always count on this place to offer me food that warms up from the inside. :)
My go to used to be the regular phở and papaya salad. But everything changed after discovering the amazing #29, thanks to my Vietnamese coworker. She also offered me an extra tip of ordering this salty purpley fish sauce on the side. Oh boy, is it amazing or what!
I would recommend to be there before 12noon or after 1pm for lunch though. The line can be long.

What do you do when you’re head is pounding and your stomach is icky from drinking way too much the night before? Get some phở in your system ASAP. Since I hadn’t tried this place yet and I was in the area, I decided to drag my friend with me to cure the ills of a nasty hangover. Chicken phở is the only way to go for me… and an iced coffee. The broth was clear and tasty, but not too salty. The noodles were perfect and there was a good amount of shredded white chicken. This place is definitely on my radar to cure any upcoming hangovers in my future.

This has become our favorite Vietnamese restaurant from downtown San Mateo to Redwood City. My husband and I come here almost every week, often for lunch on weekends after a movie since it’s right down the street from the theater. They’ve got phở, they’ve got rice plates, they’ve got bun rieu and bun bo hue, they’ve even got vietnamese sandwiches, which I’ve only rarely seen in this area.
My personal favorite item is the beef stew with bread, confusingly listed at the bottom of the sandwich section. Trust me, it’s not a sandwich, but a small shallow bowl of beef stew served alongside an amazing steaming hot baguette that’s crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The beef stew itself has a distinct curry flavor to it, with slow-​cooked beef and carrots with some fried garlic and cilantro sprinkled on top. Break the bread into chunks and dip it in the stew — so delicious!

Yes I’m a Fan
My husband loves phở (pronounced Fa) and since moving we haven’t found a great place locally. So naturally while Unilocaling one day I came across May’s. I have to admit I was sort of skeptical of good phở in RWC but i was pleasantly surprised.
We arrived arrived around 8:15pm the restaurant didn’t close until 9pm. The waitresses were eating at one table near the kitchen and there were a few customers as well. My husband already knew what he wanted, shrimp phở, but me bring a woman I needed options. I decided to order what my husband chose and love it. We also ordered friend shrimp egg rolls and they were the bomb. We will definitely be back

My first time having May’s and they’re pretty solid. I only did takeout so not sure how good the service and others dishes may be. I got the grilled pork vermicelli with imperial rolls. The dish as a whole had a lot flavor & the imperial rolls were my favorite!
Great place for takeout during lunch. They had my order ready within 10 minutes.

I wanted some phở after a movie and that it was kind of chilly outside. A friend said, May’s! I’m like okay sure. When we got there, not one single soul volunteered to go in but us! I’m like, meh sure okay… we’re here, so let’s make this quick.
The food was not bad, I had the rice noodles with bbq pork and the imperial rolls. The rolls were actually really tasty and crunchy just like other Unilocalers has mentioned. My friend couldn’t finish his bowl of phở, not sure what’s the deal.
Not a place I would recommend, but if you want phở and this is the only one, go.

I come here often to take-​out food for lunch during work.
Prices and the portions are decent.
I’ve tried their vermacelli bowl, chicken phở, fresh spring rolls, and their beef vietnamese sandwich.
Out of everything, I liked their sandwich the best. It was less than $ 5 and was very filling. My colleague is Vietnamese and she said that this place wasn’t authentic and the quality wasn’t good. But the place is always bustling especially during lunch hours.

This is a pretty solid lunch option! I’m not a huge fan of phở so I usually go for the rice plates so I got the chicken curry. My mom loves vermicelli noodles so she got those with beef and spring rolls. Everything was fairly flavorful and the servers were friendly. If I wanted a quick lunch then I would come back.

May’s is a decent Vietnamese restaurant located in downtown Redwood City. I can’t seem to find a lot of good phở in the Bay Area so I was hoping…
This phở is okay. I thought the portion size was good. I thought the soup base was a bit watery but still palatable. Noodles were very abundant. I find that the meat they put in the soup is good with Sriracha sauce since by itself there is not that much flavor.

I was very pleased with the service and food at this restaurant. My friend and I were looking for a quick place to on Friday night and everything in this area was closed. We caught this restaurant 5 minutes before it closed and so we were worried that it wouldn’t serve us because of this.
I was surprised however that the waiter was very happy to serve us. He quickly took our order. I’m really sad that we didn’t get to try the PHO but the food we did order was delicious. Sadly I ordered a beef dish and got the chicken version instead but alas, it was so good and the waiter was apologetic and friendly that I was pleased.

When my BFF mention that there is a Vietnamese restaurant that he wanted me to try, I was skeptical. I mean he recommended me this other spot a few years back and I must say, definitely a spot I would want to return. However, because it’s been a few years since, so I’m counting on his taste buds to matured. And it has.
LOCATION
Almost a hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant (I say almost because it’s actually cleaner than your average hole-​in-​the-​wall), it’s located off a busy street. If you weren’t walking on foot, I’m confident that you will miss it.
PARKING
Like all Downtowns, parking doesn’t come easy. Especially during lunch and dinner time. So plan your commute and cushion time accordingly.
INTERIOR
Small but clean. I don’t think you can fit more than 25 people (comfortably). A few indoor plants that makes it feel like a Vietnamese home. Perfect environment for a bowl of phở or (my favorite) bun bo hue.
SERVICE
The waiter and waitress is polite and professional. Although they lack (and often underestimate the power of a smile), they make-​up in promptness of their order and food.
FOOD
I have to admit, I was incredibly skeptical when my BFF said they served the best bowl of noodle soup. So when my taste buds received the dash of the soup, beef and noodles, holy moly. I am truly impressed. They had me at a bowl of Bun Bo Hue.
VERDICT
I don’t think I want to have Vietnamese food anywhere else in Redwood City.