i Heart Pho

Best phở in Austin! Or Texas. I love the chicken phở. I see lots of things on the menu that I’d love to try, and have sampled the vermicelli bowl, which was delicious, but the chicken phở is what I got the first time, and I just haven’t had any reason to choose anything else so far. It’s that good. The flavors are perfect and I like that they use dark meat, and there is a lot of meat in it. The employees there are awesome and remember specific things, like which sauce I prefer. I go here whenever I can!

I love the #11 caramelized pork ribs. My favorite dish there I hey or every time I eat there!

This place is like a food court, but I like I Heart Phở the most by far. The food is great and very cheap and the workers are very nice and friendly! Also, no msg!

Probably the only No-​MSG phở I’ve ever had and it taste heavenly! I got a large bowl with meatballs and eye round steak! (apparently you can add all the meats you want for the same price, WHAT?!) tip. The large is HUGE. I figured I would share it with my sister and then get something else from another shop and share. We definitely took more than half of the phở Togo. You have been warned. The portions are generous, the broth is amazing! The fixings are fresh, what more could you ask for?

Honest and objective:
Wow! I Heart Phở is so amazingly talented with their recipes and food. Everyone must try this place.
Pros: The food here is INCREDIBLE. The phở is nothing short of amazing. So savory, with just the right amounts of smokey and aromatics. And they’re no one trick pony, either. My lunch companion had the curry chicken and that was hands down the best curry I can ever remember having. Clearly, they are serious about food here. Also, it is very affordable here. The prices are average compared to their phở places I’ve been to. So in terms of value, it’s even better. It tastes better than anything else out there, and there’s more of it (the large phở portion was huuuge).
Cons: the only con is that it’s in a food court type setting. But the food is more than worth it, so that shouldn’t affect your decision to eat here. And it’s not trying to be anything else other than a food court, so who cares?
Overall, I look forward to coming back here. The food was beyond delicious. The phở I had was so incredibly delicious, it’s raised the bar for every other phở I have after it. Thanks, guys!

I am so happy to find a good Vietnamese restaurant in Austin! Who knew it would be a small restaurant in the food court of a Korean grocery store?
This is the place you go if you just want to eat food. It’s casual! It’s a food court so you just go up to the counter, order your food, get a number, and enjoy.
I had the Ca Ri Ga (chicken curry). You choose whether you want to eat it with rice, vermicelli, or a baguette. People think curries are supposed to be eaten with rice, but let me tell ya, Viet curry is supposed to be eaten with vermicelli (what I got) or with a baguette! Trust me.
I love Vietnamese curry because it’s not spicy, there’s a hint of sweetness (especially from the sweet potatoes), yet there is a spice to it. The chicken was not dry and that’s always a plus! The portion was huge, and I think it was a good value for the price ($ 9).
My boyfriend got the Bun Bo Hue, and their bun bo hue’s broth is a bit sweeter than the one at Saigon Noodle House. It was also a very generous portion. Instead of the usual pork foot that comes with bun bo hue, his came with a huge chunk of marrow bone! It wasn’t too spicy but there were condiments at the counter. Meat lovers and noodle lovers, order the bun bo hue! :)
I am definitely coming back to try their other dishes…
Other notes:
— They accept credit card!
— At the counter they have garnishes like red onions, green onions, cilantro, and lime wedges. Very Vietnamese and I love me some cilantro.
— Whoever wrote the menu has cute handwriting.

We went to this place on a Saturday night and it was fairly quick service. We got the pork ban mi and it was good. The meat was tasty and the pickled vegetables were crunchy and fresh. All in all, it was a pretty solid ban mi, though still not the best I’ve ever had. Les Giverals in Houston is still my favorite ban mi in Texas.

I so heart this phở place, which is not just a phở restaurant! What’s agonizing about coming here is deciding what one entrée to get — there are several great choices! You gotta get their Shaken Beef (Bo Luc Lac), which comes out on a gigantic plate with rice and veggies on the side. Come back again and get the Cu Ri Ga (Chicken curry) with either bread, rice, or vermicelli noodles. It is SO good; I don’t think I can get it anywhere else like this. If you get the curry, get a small bowl to mix with lime, salt and pepper to dip your chicken in– it’s the Vietnamese way! Their phở has changed overtime portion speaking. I went today and ordered a regular with moist brisket, steak, and meatballs. My husband got a large, and both of us could barely finish! The broth has no MSG, and YES, it’s legit beef broth! Reminds me of home!

Came here because of the No MSG. A little pricier than other places, but it’s worth the No MSG. Tastes much like places I use to go to in LA, pretty authentic. Will be coming around again.

This is definitely the yummiest phở broth in Austin. So thick and clear and flavorful. There’s also a nice little garnish station with onion, cilantro, and jalapeño that you can load into your phở at will. There is absolutely no atmosphere (it’s in the food court of a large asian market, it’s quite strange), but that doesn’t stop the food from being delicious.
I will say, I went to have phở the other day during their posted operating hours and they were closed without explanation. Perhaps they decided to close early? That’s a terrible business practice and makes me hesitate to drive all the way up to Parmer again without calling to be sure they are open.

Any who I would not let a Unilocal review stop me from eating somewhere… I have to try it for myself!!! All of our mouths are different.
Long story short… don’t always trust what you read… try it for yourself… just because you are ELITE doesn’t make you the best!

Attempting to rate this place is difficult since it’s essentially a tug of war between quality, quantity, and price. And conflicting sides will both dominate.
My first impression coming to this place was that I wanted to try something new, cheap, fast, and good. Well you can’t go wrong with phở and there’s no MSG! Definitely had to come give it a try. In fact, everyone should try all three small restaurants in Hana World Market at least once.
Let’s start with the egg rolls. Their menu online via their Facebook page lists it as $ 3.99 for three egg rolls. Their actual menu lists it as $ 3.99 for two. For $ 2 per egg roll, these better be the best egg rolls I’ll ever have! It actually was better than other egg rolls I’ve had in larger, established Phở restaurants. Mainly, they were perfectly crispy without much oil coating the exterior. My fingers barely glistened after holding the egg rolls. They were pretty fat too. The quality itself can justify these egg rolls as being a bit more pricey than average, but unless there’s beef tenderloin stuffed in there, no egg roll should cost $ 2 a piece.
I ordered my phở with eye round steak, moist brisket, and beef tendon. The broth is clear and delicious. The noodles were also pretty tasty. However, the meat was a bit lacking in that it felt overcooked and not very tender. Overall an excellent bowl of phở. Now the quantity. I got the regular sized bowl and the amount of meat and noodles in it was disappointing. I was expecting the average bowl I get from other Phở restaurants, and I ended up with half the amount of noodles and meat, if that. Although I was full at the end of the meal, I attribute that to the soup itself and even as I’m writing this review, I can feel myself getting hungry again.
So at the end, the quality is excellent, but it lacked the quantity and price that I had in mind. I really want to give this place 3 stars, but I can see myself coming back for their other entrees as well.

After shopping at the market for Asian specific ingredients, I was hungry. That’s when I remembered there are small food booths inside the market.
I was craving something to go. So a Banh Mi sounded right. Unfortunately no shrimp on the menu so I went with a seasoned pork banh mi. They were making in fresh so I had to wait.
Next to me was a table with an older gentleman, a woman and a small girl. While sitting at my table I was looking at the jar of Hoisin I purchased. The older gentleman came over and in his broken English said that was his favorite brand of hoisin. We chatted about food a while to kill the time. The little girl now came over and told me her father makes the best sandwiches. It was at this time a man delivered my banh mi. The little girl ran to hug him, calling out daddy. So I was talking with the owner’s family.
Thirty minutes later I am home with my lunch. Unwrapping the sandwich, I removed the three large slices of jalapeño. The slices left enough of a burn without me eating them. The bread was crunchy and fresh. The pork was delicious and left me wanting more. The only down side to me, not enough vegetables. It seemed like a pinch of veggies and I could go for a hand full.
This was a solid Banh Mi, not the best I have had but very good. The prices were reasonable.

Anyone can google PHO and pretend to be a PHO aficionado. We all know that standard broth for PHO is beef. Veggie broth can be found, but you gotta do some digging. Such has been my experience anyway. These guys are another addition to Hana’s Court. (I kinda like the sound of that). They are a friendly lot and are quick to tell you they don’t add MSG to their food. PHO ”K YEAH!
When I was ordering my PHO, the guy taking my order was just spilling information about the process they go through to make the PHO. Seriously, I didn’t have to pump this dude for any info at all. It was like I had a sign above my head that said «Tell me everything». Apparently they cook the broth for 10 hours, etc. I was excited.
PHO comes. First thing I do is taste the broth. Ummm. I taste it again. Again. Ummmm. Yeah, just Ummmm. No way you can convince me that this was beef broth. There was no beef flavor at all. It tasted more like a veggie broth to me. Not what I was hoping for. Maybe they are cooking the broth too long? You know, the longer you cook, the more you gotta cut. Right? I dunno. The PHO is doable, just not one I will go out of my way for.
As for the Banh Mi it was good. Not my favorite. Tam Deli really has me spoiled when it comes to Phở and Banh Mi. I added a fried egg to my Thit Nuong Banh Mi. Instead of putting it on top of the bread they placed it on the very top of all the ingredients. I had to mash the egg down into the sandwich which didn’t work well. I lost the yolk/​bread experience. Overall it was still a good sandwich. The pork was delicious and the pickled carrots and daikon were winners. A little heavy on the jalapenos, but, something I would do again. For $ 5 (includes the $ 1 egg charge) you can’t go wrong.
Egg rolls were good and crispy and not greasy. As for the entrees that were coming out of the kitchen (chicken and pork with rice) they looked really good and were of good portions. They also have a salmon steak over watercress for $ 10.99 (most expensive thing on the menu) that I can’t wait to try. No these guys are no great Vietnamese kitchen, but, for being a cheap little kitchen in a Korean food court I think they offer up. A satisfying meal for less than $ 10 minus the MSG.

My boyfriend had never had banh mi before and wasn’t as much of a phở fan as I, despite my many attempts. We love to browse the Hannah World Market though, and on one fortunate hungry day, he suggested we try out their food court. Nestled in the back corner of this, lets be honest, ordinary looking food court is iHeartPho. Quaint and quiet, and eager to impress it sits there in the corner just begging you to order up and dig in. Not sure how big the portions would be at these very low prices, we ordered two chicken banh mi s and an order of fried rice. It was all sorts of delicious, although we couldn’t finish our fried rice we were so full! Unfortunately, we had placed an order of egg rolls as well, and they had forgotten to bring them out. We told them of the mistake and they quickly got them together for us. It all worked out and we took the mini egg rolls home for a late night snack.
I loved it, don’t get me wrong… but it was my boyfriend that came out a changed foodie. I think he probably went back 3 times that week and it has become high on his list of lunch stops. He regularly orders the bbq pork banh mi plain. I have done pork and chicken banh mi, always with an egg, and love their café sua da. My boyfriend said their phở was on point as well… just not in those exact words. The guys that work their are awesome, but very different in personality. One of the guys is always chatting us up and providing us with a smile and his gratitude, the other (one of the cooks) gives off his own unique charm that might come across as stand-​offish, but I promise, he is good at what he does.
Long story short, I think this is the best banh mi I’ve had in Austin. I’ve been to Dang, I’ve tried Elizabeth street, I’ve ordered it at my usual phở or pan asian places and none of them come close to this. I can’t wait to venture further into their menu. Don’t be disappointed if one of their items is out of stock when you get there, there is plenty to try!

I definitely recommend IheartPho. I tried this place because I was craving Tofu Bun and they had it. It’s fresh made and plentiful. They add a cut up eggroll to the bowl and its delicious. Afterwards I saw that they served Bahn Mi as well so I had to go back and try it.
Now I’ve had the Bahn Mi Tofu (twice) and it’s so good! I’ve had a lot of Bahn Mi around town from Elizabeth Street Café to Tam Deli and I would say that the bamn mi here is definitely up there as one of the best. Both dishes that I’ve had were very fresh and I like the type of tofu that they use.

You gotta come and try them out! They have the best grilled salmon that I have had in Texas for the past 6 years I lived here… Good amount of grilled with juicy salmon oil left in the fish (the owner told me this is only available on Fri, Sat n Sun).
Shakken Beef is another must order plate, we have been eating this plate for the past three days.

Well, I’m not going to say I’m in love with «i Heart Phò,» but I have feelings for them. It occurs to me a dog could unconditionally love a restaurant, but a cat would think, «Cool story, Bro, where’s my food?» Whatevs.
Remember you’re dealing with a food court in a Korean supermarket here, so think «Enclosed Trailer Syndrome.» All the hipsters will be congregating two stalls down at Kin & Comfort, so iHeart should be easily accessible. This is a good thing.
And if you know anything about Casey Kasem, think «Vietnam’s Top Forty,» and you’ve got the menu. It’s all about Phó & Banh Mì & meat on rice or Bún, and sometimes, that’s all you need. My kid-​sized bowl of Tái Phò was good & enough, my Thit Nuóng over rice was good & more than enough, and they have a killer iced Sūa Dá. There’s also a half-​dozen apps and tofu variants of everything.
Since I pretty much grew up on MSG before it became a tool of the Antichrist, I’m kind of oblivious to it, but true believers will rejoice in its total un-​presence here. Cool. I haven’t tried their Bahn Mì yet. All things considered, you want a quick & convenient Asian crawl one day? Okay, it’s me and you and a dog named Boo, traveling and living off Parmerland. We’ll be doing i Heart Phò and Teapioca Lounge. But then we’re back on the road again.

I don’t «heart» this food. The owner is very nice, but there is much better phở and banh mi minutes away.
The phở broth is fragrant, but tastes like it came from a starter, rather than beef bones. The charbroiled pork had a lot of fatty pieces. I don’t mind pork fat, but it has to be cooked correctly. Here, the pork fat is not rendered enough so it just tastes tough. Overall, my Banh mi was pretty bland.
Not good enough for the prices and not good enough to go out of the way for. Some people may like it, but it’s not for me.

It is open and we tried it today. The menu consist of phở, com dishes, and banh mi. I ordered the thit nuong banh mi and my friend ordered the ga banh mi. Both were good in that the baguette was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The meat portions were decent but needed more cilantro, cucumbers, and veggie pickles to balance the meat. If you are a big eater, I recommend ordering two or getting a side from the other food stations or adding a fried egg.
The counter service person was helpful, friendly and attentive, which is a plus.
We will be back try the phở.