Pho #1

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! So sooo happy that I live super close. I come here every single time I have a hangover lol! I recommend their phở ga (chicken phở). Let me start off by saying how flavorful their broth is! The only thing I add in the broth is just pepper. I really really like how they use flat noodles instead of the regular phở noodles too. The portions are pretty big, they usually give tons of noodles but they don’t skimp out on the meat either. I’ve had their bun bo hue (spicy beef noodles) before and it was decent. I’m looking forward to trying their rice dishes next time!

I was wanting to give the other two vietnamese cafes here a try. But I will as truly surprised at how lame the Phở was here.
First off, the beef Phở only had flank, brisket and tendon ball. No tripe or tendon options. Next, they brought out a lime wedge and sliced jalapeño. No bean sprouts or basil. The serving was large, and they had a fine or broader rice noodle option. The meat was alright. But the broth was deplorable.
The taste was upfront, one dimensional and flat. No aromas of cinnamon, star anise or charred onion in the broth. As I suspected, they used msg to enrich the thin broth and made my tongue pucker in a bad reaction.
Now that I read the reviews carefully, I realize this is not a HCMC style South Viet Phở joint. In fact, the Phở specialties in the North like Hanoi features chicken – so I should have tried the Phở Ga with broad noodles. That seems to be what is good here. However, I make a pretty mean chicken a Phở, so no thanks. In consolation the garlic chili was really good from the tub.
Service was cash only. I left sorely disappointed.

I loooooooooove this place!!! It’s my favorite restaurant of Vietnamese food! They have the best chicken phở! Try it!!!

I have now been to many, many different phở places, and none have come close to dethroning this place as my very favorite phở place. Phở ga (chicken) is my staple, and this place hasn’t come close to being beat as far as how tasty it is. This place tends to infuse Chinese influences into their Vietnamese dishes, so it’s mainly served northern style, though they will bring sprouts and basil if you ask. You can get a few variants of the ga, with slightly different broth (one version has more shallots and onion-​y taste), and different noodles. I tend to get their standard phở ga, which has a mix of white and dark meat (probably mostly dark though), and the wide, flat rice noodles. DELISH.
The ambiance leaves something to be desired, and it isn’t terribly fancy inside whatsoever, but it’s clean, well run, and they are pretty organized and handle large parties capably. Note that this is one of those Asian restaurants that frequented mostly by Asians, which is generally a good sign that the food is legit. You see the occasional anglo, latino, or Af American, but mostly, it’s straight up Asian. Beware that it’s cash only, and depending on time of day, the street parking can be a pain. Dinner time, once the meters expire, actually is a better time to come, regardless of day of the week, since a lot of the businesses on San Bruno close for the day at dinnertime (meaning less competition for meters and street parking in general).

The food may be OK for San Bruno Avenue, which isn’t saying a lot. But, I draw the line at disgusting kitchens and food preparers. I’m sitting there about the get my food, but wondering why it smells like an ashtray inside, then realize some guy is right outside the door smoking. He turns, flings the cigarette into the street (charming, as he had been leaning against a trash can) and I see the apron. Yep — walks right back into the kitchen, and gets back to work. I know this street well enough that I wanted to confirm, and followed him back back far enough to see — sure enough, right back at the counter, handling dishes and food. I told the waiter what I thought, and he clearly saw this as perfectly acceptable.
Never again.

Bad service. Unhelpful people. We went in 30 mins before closing to get something to go but they told us we need to go get cash. They told us a bank two blocks down. We said we will be right back. We got cash, paid an extra $ 3 fee to get the money and came back to see that they have locked their doors 20 mins early. If they didn’t want to serve us then they should have told us they are closed down for the night. I will never come back. If they are this rude then I don’t want to be served by them.

Nice and supper clean kitchen. Great selection with decent prices!

Love the chicken noodle with chicken meat and gizzards. Soup is a lil salty, but over all the noodles and food are good.

Very good phở. I like the phở here better than what I had at the famous Turtle Tower from my point of view. Good price good service neighborhood place

They’re clean and they’re attentive enough, but the food is really bland. I had the bun Bo hue. The meat was way too overcooked; it just melted in mouth. That’s not how you want to enjoy your meat. It was also very under seasoned. The broth was watered down. On top of all that, the side of fresh cabbage, cilantro, and stuff wasn’t fresh at all. It was clearly wilted, but passable enough for me to not make a fuss about.
I don’t think I will come back. At least not for the bun Bo hue. If I do come back, I’ll give the chicken a try. I highly doubt it though.

Super impressed with how this place turned out. I lived nearby so It is overdue to try the restaurants on San Bruno. I just love how big the portion is and the bun rieu I got was delicious!
My bf got the beef broth with meat phở soup and he loved it too. They give lots of noodles!
I cant wait to be back! And its CASH ONLY!

Phở #1 is a fairly good place.
Chicken phở is fairly good. It definitely hits the spot for when the cravings come along and getting to your favorite spot isn’t an option. It’s fairly priced and it tastes good. My critiques would include: 1. msg soup base (but i don’t care too much because what place isn’t going to add some of that, just letting you know if you’re sensitive and used to the good home made stuff) 2. very little chicken :(i order a large take out and only received five pieces of chicken for my entire bowl. definitely a skimpy amount. that’s about all the complaint that i have. i wouldn’t necessarily recommend this place but i would go on my own if it was something that i really wanted and had to stay close by.
Also, a note on the beef phở. it’s traditionally served with rice stick noodles that have a slightly tougher texture. The only noodle that they offer is the flat noodles. Personal preference, i enjoy the rice stick with beef phở.

So the 3 reasons of the 3 stars I’ve given
1. The broth in the soup was not horrible but it was plain jane. (got the chicken noodle)
2. Cleanliness– a pretty clean and we’ll kept retaurant. Nothing that stood out. But cleanliness is definitely a plus.
3. Gave a half point to each of the two topics I’ve already mentioned.
What lacked my 4 or 5 star rating is the broth and the noodles of the phở was pretty bland. Something I feel would Come out of a packaged box and all you had to do was heat. Also, the service… as most Asian restaurants are. I had questions and tried flagging someone down but no cigar. I was ignored. Checking my water or needs at least once after being here 45 min would be nice. But again, no one responded and they weren’t really busy…
It’s a place to go to if you’re starving and need sustenance but if your looking for flavor and customer service you’re better off going two blocks down.

I don’t know why there are so many mediocre reviews for this restaurant. It’s one of the better Viet restaurants on San Bruno Ave (There’s another called Cali Phở but it’s awful). If you want something top notch, then you’re better off driving to sunset, TL, or even SJ.
The rice and vermicelli plates are pretty good. I always get the bun rieu every time I go and that’s almost every week.
Oh yeah, their hot sauce is soooo good!!! It goes super well with the vermicelli dishes.

It’s hard to find a place that serves up good «Bo Kho» aka Vietnamese Beef Stew. Sometimes the broth is either too fatty, lacking in flavor, or they don’t serve enough meat. A good bowl of «Bo Kho» would have a perfect balance of meat, broth, seasonings, & veggies.
Phở # 1 has a dish called «Oxtails with Wine Sauce». Basically its «Bo Kho» (beef stew) with oxtails instead of beef chunks. Man did this blow my mind! I don’t know whether I was just hungry or was it really one of the best beef stews I’ve ever had!
They give you a good amount of oxtails w/​lots of meat. And I would have to say that the oxtails were extemely tender! Fall of the bone but still remained intact. Perfectly cooked! The broth was well seasoned and very flavorful. It was also served with carrots stewed in the broth, which was the perfect balance to the richness of the broth.
I wasn’t expecting much but they totally exceeded my expectations. The chef knows what they’re doing here. Make sure you spoon the broth over rice. Don’t waste even one small bit of the sauce… you’ll regret it.

Phở #1 is an okay place to get a bowl of Phở but it probably would not be my first choice.
Coming from the South Bay, I’ve been to my fair share of phở joints and I can say that deviation of the broth flavor should be pretty small across all good phở places. That being said, the broth at Phở #1 is non-​standard. It’s not what you have come to love and expect from a quality bowl of phở and that is its downfall. That and the fact that they did not bother to cut their spring rolls so we just ended up getting two super long rolls.
That in itself is not a big issue but on top of the decidedly off-​target broth, it’s evident that Phở #1 is sort of a love it or hate it kind of place. You either love their taste and what they have or, like me, you go to a phở place for a very specific flavor profile supported by the countless phở restaurants in San Jose. Phở #1 is outside that profile by a significant margin.
The search for SF Phở continues.

The quality has gone down, and it is sad. For the most part it is now average to good Vietnamese. I think they changed cooks. Almost has that organized crime front to it. It’s still the best place around San Bruno Ave for Vietnamese though.

Service is average. Cleanliness is average. Can’t expect much from restaurants on San Bruno Ave. This place is WAY better than CaliPHOnia a couple blocks down.
Came with the bf 30 minutes before closing. The place was fairly empty on a Friday night. After reading some Unilocal reviews, we decided to go with the Phở Ga. Of course the broth is nothing compared to Turtle Tower, but it’s decent. They aren’t too generous with the chicken meat here!
CASH ONLY. They made it clear right after we ordered.
Ill probably be back on the days I’m too lazy to drive out to Sunset or Richmond to get my phở fix.

Why does this place get 5 stars? Only because of their CHICKEN PHO (Phở Ga). I haven’t tried turtle tower so I can’t compare. And I’ve only tried the chicken phở. I haven’t been able to try anything else here.
It looks like your typical viet restaurant with mediocre service. It’s located on San Bruno ave so it’s all street parking and metered. So parking can be a pain when it’s busy.
Now what’s so special about the chicken phở? The broth is very rich and flavorful. They also give you decent sized shredded pieces of chicken, you can ask for white dark or a mix of both meats. It also comes with chicken gizzards, just let them know if you don’t like them. I always get mine with ho fun too, the thick rice noodles. And make sure you ask for the ginger and green onion sauce to dip your chicken in. Delicious!
Price is cheap $ 8 for a bowl. How can you say no now?
My go-​to spot when I’m craving some chicken phở.

3.5 stars (rounding to 4) for the chicken phở and spring rolls. My regular craving for phở rolled around, so my friend and I decided to come here. The chicken phở here is pretty good, and the spring rolls are made really fresh! Phở portions are big and potentially food coma inducing. I ordered a small, and in my opinion, it could have passed for a medium or a large. My friend ordered a large, and he said he should have ordered a small. By the end of the meal, he was almost falling asleep. Zzz. Overall, good quality, big portions, and friendly service. I would come back again for the chicken phở and spring rolls. I don’t know if I’d be brave enough to try anything new based off of other reviews!