Pho Than Brothers

This is a place of delicious and affordable phở on the Ave.
Hot and rich noodle soup is my type of comfort food, especially on chilly winter nights. I also go here on hot summer days, for a glass of café sua da in addition to tasty phở.
To me, the process of waiting for the coffee dripping through a phin filter, stirring with a thin layer of condensed milk, and pouring it over ice is enjoyable. Not to mention the end product is so delightful.

Went there for lunch The food was good but the waiter was very rude and there was bad service

This place is the holy grail for phở. Especially because of the price. Regular size is $ 5.85 and yes it will fill most people up. The broth is amazing, condiments are pretty decent, and atmosphere is chill and nice on an 84 degree afternoon.
I’d take this over weed anytime.

Than Bros is a consistent chain. Great food at every location you end up at and easily the best phở on the ave. If you’re still a college student this should be your dream place as you get a whole lot of bang for your buck.
As I’ve graduated and entered the real world I’ve come to the realization that phở can get relatively expensive outside of this place. Particularly if you find yourself wandering beyond the west coast.
My go-​to-​phở no-​matter where I go is «phở tai bo viên.» Yeah, that’s not specifically on the menu. Steak and meat balls. That’s how I do. The chili oil they have out adds so much flavor too. If you like spice in your life, it is an absolute must. #Protip
Complimentary cream puffs is a game changer. Vietnamese coffee is always best to round off a big bowl for a Phở-​King as well.
You also shouldn’t come to an Asian restaurant and expect good service especially at these prices, but they aren’t bad. It’s actually really good.
My only teeny tiny gripe here is they could probably use a remodel. The mirrors are an old trick to make the place look larger than life but it also adds to the tackiness along with the paint and everything else. They’re really crowded too so I get that it’s hard to keep the tables clean as there’s a constant rotation of never ending noodle mongering students. But then again who cares? Phở Dat Bich.

If you have a craving for phở, this place will do the trick. $ 10 practically buys me a tub of phở with extra noodles, extra meat, and practically 2 quarts of broth. It tastes great; mind you, I’m no connoisseur of phở or earnestly an form of eastern cooking. Here’s why it’s only three stars: there is no customer service. They seem like nice people, but they just usually point at a table and ask what you want.
Again: good food, but that’s about it.
Well, a small edit: they’re refilling water now, and that’s a good start.

Phở Than Bros phở is my go to place for phở outside my mom’s house. I’ve been a regular here since my early college years. The restaurant itself doesn’t exactly have the best interior, the mirrors make it feel larger then it really is. But when you are here, you should only be here for the phở. My favorite is #9, which is the Phở Chin Sach with brisket and tripe. There are variety of choices for broth (veggie, beef, chicken) and toppings. Yes there is some msg in the broth, but it makes it delicious, people! They give you plenty of greens to add to your phở and help yourself to sriricha, hoisin sauce, and satay sauce (my favorite). It’s a Viet thing to have a side dish with a mixture hoisin sauce and sriracha to dip your meatballs and meat cuts in. If you want some coffee, get the café sua da (Vietnamese coffee), it’ll give you a kick start! Love the complimentary cream puffs at the end of the meal!

If you want phở, here’s the place to go!
Hands down the best phở on the ave, and it’s also the best for your buck. You may be put off by the seating arrangements but it is due to its small space and high volume of people who know how good their phở is.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Don’t get the café Sua da here… $ 3 for a pathetically small amount of coffee with condensed milk. Not worth it. Phở broth was ok at best. Not a lot of flavor to it. Place is cheap though

The food was good until I saw a piece of plastic in my soup ., and right away let the waiter know the issue, but to my surprise he just took the plastic and didn’t say anything at all. And when I asked for the manager she ignored me and walk away from me .
And they didn’t even apologies and charge me full price. I didn’t wanted to get food for free but if I made a mistake I apologize and try fix the issue …
The food can taste good !!
But what would had happens if someone eats or swallow a piece of plastic … ??
Bad customer service and to me customer service is very important.

Solid phở place with free dessert. Got the vegetarian phở which was pretty good it had broccoli, green onions, mushroom, tofu and carrot :). Honestly the portion was good and it was a pretty friendly atmosphere. The speed of service I must say is amazing.

Chicken Phở is really great tasty and I can’t feel MSG flavor a lot so that it was nice to eat all soup. But the counter-​staff is not much nice to customers. It’s a little bit of bad.

⁵⁄₅ for phở. The phở here is amazing! Go here! The noodles don’t clump, it’s quick, and the broth is to die for. They’ve locations all around the city, for your convenience.
I give them ²⁄₅ just for service. No, your water cannot be refilled. No, we do not understand your questions. And sometimes not your order.
BUT, all of that’s okay! Because their phở is amazing. Just bring your own drinks.

Lets be honest, if you’re going to school at the University of Washington, you’ll pass by this phở shop countless times without even knowing it. Regardless, this place is PACKED! Its definitely time that I give this little place a solid review.
Its not too noticeable of a place, no flashy décor or BIG ASS signs, but its a simple, humble, and calm place. My experiences have always been great due to how accommodating Than Brothers is to its customers. If you’re eating alone, there’s a large table in the center for solo guests, while on the outside and around the room there are tables for groups. Phở isn’t something you HAVE to eat alone, or eat in a group. It’ll be great either way. The place is held neatly together, and moderately clean (but whose paying attention when you have a steaming hot bowl of love in front of you?)
Before ordering you’re given water automatically, and a plate full of beansprouts (really reminds you of bellsprout if you played pokemon, mint, lime, jalapenos, and two custard filled pastries which compliment your phở immensely. On the table, you’ll have chili oil, hot sauce, seafood sauce, and your average accommodations. There are napkins for you as well. You’re all set, and covered!
AFTER YOU ORDER… and literally within freakin 5min or less, your food comes out. By just checking on your instagram, twitter or even facebook, your order is already out. Warm, delicious broth with a very generous portion of phở noodles and meat. The meat will be slightly raw as it cooks while being given to you. I suggest taking your noodles and spreading them out and covering the meat with them depending on how you like your meat. The complimentary bean sprouts, and mints go very well with phở so i definitely suggest trying it out!
The price is very very reasonable, the food is quick, the food is tasty and the just talking about it makes me hungry. I like their modern approach to customers by using the ipad as their main source of pay when you have your credit card on hand. Its a smooth transaction and you’re always going to be on time. If you’re in a hurry, there will always be time for phở. You get served quick, and you can leave quick! Good day or bad, Than brothers will always be there. The food will always have the same quality — DELICIOUS! By far the best phở place you’ll go to in the Udistrict.

I love Than Bros, but this is my least favorite location. The only reason why I came here recently is because I drove to another location at 1030am just to find out that they weren’t open yet. Unilocal told me that the Ave location was open so this is where I ended up. I swear EVERY time I come here, at least one person’s drink has something in it. This time, 2 out of 4 people in my party received waters with crap in it. Unsanitary much? As for the phở, it tastes good and it’s one of the cheapest! The service is also fast. If you’re a fan of Than Bros and have only been to this location, check out their other spots! It will probably be much cleaner.

Good food. This is the spot for me and many college friends. I have many fond memories. Its quick, tasty and cheap! Great for in between classes and a reward after a test.
My Personal Restaurant Rating Key
One star: the food was bad and I had a negative experience.
Two star: I had a more negative experience and would not come here again but the food was good so I may.
Three store: Everything is good except one thing. Example-​the food is good, the price is more reasonable but the atmosphere is lacking class. Or the food is good, the atmosphere is good, but they over charged us. These three stars are actually my favorite types of restaurants to go eat at if the reason is due to the atmosphere because they are usually delicious and reasonably priced.
Four stars: Everything is great, food and experience. However the price is definitely on the upper end. I would not recommend this first to Obama unless he didn’t like my five stars. These are restaurants you can take your boss or your mother-​in-​laws to impress them, however they still don’t fit into the five star category. A bit fancier than my three stars, hence I don’t often eat here unless there is an occasion for it or there is a groupon that gives me a bit of a discount!
Five stars: I would recommend this to Obama. The price may be on the upper end but the experience and the taste is so exquisite, it is actually worth every nickel and dime.

I mean, I figured since I practically live here, it’s about time I wrote a review for this place!
This is the best phở place on the Ave. It may not be the prettiest or the cleanest, but the service is quick and nice, and the phở is tasty! I come here at least once a week. *at least*! This is the only place on the ave that I can go to with only 20 minutes before work/​class and still be on time.
This restaurant is extremely accommodating for hungry, single diners. There’s a huge communal table in the middle (they put it there for me, I know it) that you can just plop right down at. No need to wait to be seated here, seat yourself and they’ll be out with a glass of water and plate of veggies and a cream puff within one minute!
The prices are reasonable and I love that they use an iPad as their cash register. It makes it so much easier and smoother to pay than paying at places that don’t have it.
Whatever the weather, no matter the day, I know that Than Broz always have my back. #realrecognizereal

The service is pretty good here. We got our orders quick which was a plus.
The phở is good. In my opinion, the soup/​broth isn’t as sweet or «meaty» as I like my phở broth to be. It just needs a more meaty taste but it didn’t really bother me that much. When I added the sauces into the phở, I could hardly taste it. I had to add a lot to even get a tiny hint of the sauce taste. I don’t really mind this because I like a lot of Sauce in my phở.
I like how the phở here comes in more then two sizes. I usually get the small and that’s enough to make me super full! And this place gives out free custard cream puff as a dessert and it taste so amazing!
The phở prices here is cheaper compared to some phở places down in South Seattle which is awesome cause I’m a poor student. Haha.

Who doesn’t love phở on a rainy day?
This is personally my favorite phở restaurant on the Ave. Than brothers serves the tastiest phở and their service is so quick! My only problem is… this place is kind of dirty.
It’s ok though. Just wipe down the utensils and sauce containers before you use it. Haha. That’s the best advice I can give.
Overall though, I always get a medium number one and it always fills me up and keeps me cozy.
Maaaybe 3 stars b/​c of their lack of attention when it’s comes to cleanliness… But when it comes to the food, I have no complaints.

I like Than Brothers a lot. So much in fact, that sometimes I find myself eating at one of their locations multiple times a week. But what I don’t like is their blatant disregard for cleanliness and the spread of disease. Several weeks ago, I witnessed one of the employees — obviously very ill — walk around the kitchen, blowing his nose on paper towels and then leaving them, piled, on a countertop near where food is prepared. He then went into the bathroom and did not leave for the entire duration of my stay at the restaurant.
Now, I know Than Brothers are filthy and that hygiene and other kinds of common sense don’t really take much priority there. But allowing a sick employee to come to work and start building a mountain of mucus-​soiled tissues in the kitchen is shocking. It’s damn insulting that they would so casually risk my health and the health of their customers. And for what exactly? One less soup carrier?
So, keep in mind. As much as you might enjoy this particular location, they certainly don’t give a «phở» about you.

This is my go-​to phở place. I’ve been there in sickness and in health. I’ve even obnoxiously played the cup song there with a group of friends and instead of telling us to keep it down, the staff decided to play it over the speakers! The love here is mutual and unconditional.
As for the food, I can’t say that it’s phenomenal but it’s consistently good. I’ve been here more times than my digits could count.
But the factor that ante’d it up for me? The toilet paper in the bathroom. They’ve got some double-​ply-​Charmin-​ultra-​plush-​next-​level shit going on. Mad respect.
What can I say? Phở Than bros fo lyfe!

How I heard of this place: Before moving to Seattle, over eight years ago, I had never heard of a dish called phở, let alone knew that hundreds of phở establishments existed in the area. My friend Sadiq first introduced me to the the glorious, warm and surprisingly satisfying dish soon after my arrival and settling down in the University District. The complimentary Banh Choux a la cream or custard puffs, to start have kept me coming back, year after year, to one of their numerous Seattle locations.
Type of cuisine: Phở, Vietnamese soup.
Ambiance: Warm inside the fluorescent light lit square seating area, the windows steamy and packed, Than Bros in the U-​District is where it’s at when it comes to phở. One large table in the middle of the restaurant for large parties or lone diners, booths on both sides next to mirrors that line two walls and a small kitchen in the back make up the entire space. Green metal chairs with squishy, faux leather cushions are placed next to tables with white linen, and menus and newspaper articles topped with glass.
What I ordered: While it used to be the small Chicken Phở, which is still a favorite of many of my friends, my staple: a small vegetarian phở ($ 4.95; $ 5.45 as of October 2014), which is served with rice noodles, tofu and mushrooms.
As with every phở dish ordered, a plate of lime wedges, sprouts, Thai basil and jalapenos is offered to enhance and personalize your meal. There were nine of us dining at Than Bros for this birthday celebration and I only happened to catch what the dining companion to my left ordered (also a veggie phở).
What I loved: The food is served quickly, hot and ready to eat! The ease and simplicity of the meal is perfect and the flavors, as you add Sriracha, a Thai hot sauce (also known as rooster sauce), plum sauce, or sweet chili sauce. And cream puffs! Cream. Puffs.
Why I loved it: The service is quick, when you are able to be seated, the establishment is always bustling, full and busy, but the food served and enjoyed so quickly that you are seated without a long wait.
Cost: Low ($ 4.95-$ 6.95 for small to x-​large sized bowls of phở)

I used to be on a phở craze and ate phở almost every day so I have many experiences to compare to.
Phở than brothers is probably the most popular phở place in the u-​district. The service is fast and efficient, and the food is pretty decent. But personally I prefer Phở Tran (nearby) a bit better than this place.
I ordered a veggie phở, and it came with tofu, mushrooms, rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, cilantro and onions. A side dish of bean sprouts, basil leaves, lime, and cream muffins was also provided. I love the hoisin sauce on the table.
The con is that it’s always really busy, and sometimes there’s not enough space to eat. It’s sanitation is also questionable. But the pro is that they provide quick service so there’s fast turn around, and they also provide huge personal tables for people so there’s plenty of room to make a mess! :-)

My friends tell me that this is supposedly the best phở restaurant on the Ave. Even though they’re Vietnamese, I’m really questioning their judgment…
I don’t even like phở that much but I can tell when phở sucks. The broth was pretty tasteless. I had to add a bunch of sauce to make it taste like something and that still didn’t help. The noodles weren’t the freshest and I felt like some of it clumped together, but by that point I didn’t really care because I wasn’t enjoying my bowl too much.
I was pretty disappointed in this place, and it made me feel like San Diego had better phở than this. However, I will say that this place is pretty cheap. The small is only $ 5.75 so that’s pretty cheap. Great size for a small person like me. And the people here work hard and the service isn’t bad. So I don’t think this place deserves a 1 star because of those reasons, but the phở was pretty bad here. Maybe it was just today, but… not sure if I’d be willing to take the chance again.

2.5 stars
Phở: I had the one with round steak, brisket and tendon — the meat was tender, not too overcooked and tough. They offer different sizes from small to extra large and the prices are cheap. Phở broth was nothing special, but the chili sauce, Thai basil and lemon added good flavor to it. Very cheap price!
Service: very fast, very fast that the server already asked us what we wanted not even having seated for a minute. Are you serious? Have not even looked at the menu and he was ready to take our order.
One things that got into me was the cashier/​owner, whoever she is. She had a bad frown all night long and seemed so irritable. When we came in, she signaled for us to sit by the window. We wanted to sit more inside but she seemed irritated when we asked so we did not push the issue. Then when I ordered more meat, she did not even come close to listen to what I wanted. As a result, she gave us an extra plate of bean sprouts! Umm madam, we wanted extra meat, not bean sprouts. If you just had the proper attitude of coming close to listen to your customers, you would have known.
To pay, you have to go to the counter and pay. Nothing new, still with her frowning face. What in the world happened to her that day for her to be in a bad mood all night, I did not want to know. The place is small so it was kinda irritating to be eating and seeing her frowning face all the time.
The free cream puff was just okay. The bread tasted old and soggy. I hope they do not claim this to be their specialty.
Food was good but nothing special. Cheap and fast. Come here if you can get over a grumpy owner for an affordable phở.

A lot of my friends told me to come to Phở Than Brothers because they deemed it as the best phở place on the ave. However, there are quite a few phở places on the ave that are available.
A lot of people on Unilocal complain about the service here but I found my service experience here to be alright. I was seated promptly and they came to us right when were ready to order. We ordered quickly and they took in our orders. We didn’t even wait for 5 minutes. The food just came out piping hot and ready to go.
I’m not very biased about phở places since phở tastes generally the same to me. The noodles were fully cooked, and the broth was still pretty flavorful. There was a lot of meat, more meat than I usually receive in phở. I was having some pretty strong phở cravings so I was really happy to just have some phở.
The unique thing about this phở place is that it has size options about small, medium, large and extra large. Typically phở places don’t offer a medium size, but I actually like this because I always eat more than a small and less than a large when I’m really hungry. So the fact that this phở place has a larger spectrum of sizes is really nice.
Overall, it’s a typical phở place to me. Nothing too amazing but not bad or horrible. I don’t have anything to complain about this place and so I would come back here if I ever had any phở cravings. However, I have yet to find an outstanding phở place.
I also like how they give you the complimentary cream puff here. Most of the phở places on the ave do, but it’s always a nice way to end the meal.