Cafe Hoang

I crave their Phở once a week, it is incredible. Service is great, food is reasonable price.

Best Bun Bo Hue I’ve ever had in the States! The taste is really authentic, tho it’s a bit sweet for me. They even have pig blood (don’t sweat guys it’s firm). The bowl is super big too. I really wanted to but couldn’t finish em all.
Also I highly recommend Vietnamese style salad with lotus roots (Goi Ngo Sen) and other salad dishes as well. Very tasty and Vnese xx
Im gonna miss this place badly when I’m back in NY

I wasn’t expecting much already, but was not even good. Their Phở is okay I guess. I didn’t like it, but my friends said theirs was okay. My boyfriend ordered a crab rangoon, which was really greasy for me. I would not go back. I’m sorry to keep it short, but I have nothing good to say about this place.

Step 1) You have a phở craving and you need something to hit the spot, but you are far too lazy to drive to argyle.
Step 2) you Unilocal some place in the west loop/​chinatown and you find café hoang
Step 3) you make it there. it looks like your typical dingy basic phở place. you realize that places like these sometimes really come through and give you a solid meal. you notice tacky christmas lights (the large bulbs), but you chill on that. you are hungry.
Step 4) you sit down at a table. an asian woman approaches the table in a no nonsense manner. she asks you what you want to order – only she doesn’t say anything, she just looks at you. She continues to look at you. You order the phở dac biet. She walks away having not vocalized anything.
Step 5) You eat the phở and notice that the broth flavor is basic ⁶⁄₁₀. Noodles are okay and sometimes break on their own when you lift them up ⁶⁄₁₀. the phở extras are what you would expect ⁸⁄₁₀. The price 8.95 is makes you feel you probably won’t come back again unless you are hung over ⁵⁄₁₀

Bad service ! Bad attitude ! We had two bad experiences there that we could never go back. We traveled to Chicago for a conference. Due to pregnancy, I was dehydrated so I came in to order some drink to go: The lady responded to us that they only sell drink there, they cannot make it togo. They only made coffee togo. That made no sense to me.
The next day before we left, my husband came to the shop. He sat down there for 15 minutes and no one greeted him. A waitress finally came to hand him a menu. He ordered a HOT coffee for now, and food in a little bit. The waitress then replied him with attitude that «We don’t sell HOT Coffee, they only sell ICE coffee.» That is ridiculous, they should know that ice coffee was first made by hot water first then put ice after. In fact, it is about 28*F outside, we needed something warm.
By doing this, they are trying to push customer away with bad experience and bad services.
We will not go back here again !

Fan of Café Hoang’s Arygle location. Not sure if I will be a regular at the Chinatown location. I made the mistake of not ordering Phở but I don’t like to eat Phở unless it’s winter or I have the flu. Order the springs rolls and beef pad Thai. The spring rolls were ok. I laughed at the stingy portion size– one shrimp cut in half and a tiny slice of pork. The Pad Thai was utterly disgusting. The rice noodles had barely any tamarind sauce, carrots, or onions. The noodles tasted like mush. So why three stars? My dad loved his Phở & the Thai iced coffee hit the spot. In sum, only order the phở. UPDATE– must come for the Phở. Will be a regular during the cold winter.

Delicious spring rolls; ours were huge! I’ve seen some other reviews that were bashing on them a little, but ours were larger than the pictures on here. The peanut sauce with them was delicious. Also a big fan of the Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk.
The big star of the night was the stir-​fried pan noodle dish with seafood and veggies. The noodles were perfect: wide, crispy and crunchy at the edges, but tender and soft in the middle. I seriously crave these noodles. Tons of seafood (shrimp, imitation crab, squid, mussels, fish cake) and good veggies as well. Some places skimp on the protein and get veggie-​heavy, but this dish was well-​balanced.
I’d gladly visit again!

If your looking for a quick phở fix without having to drive all the way to argyle, this is the place to be. The broth is good, trimmings are fresh, and staff is friendly. They also have very good spring rolls and the peanut sauce is on point.

We had a table of about 12 and we were hungry! The staff was super friendly and accommodating. Their chicken phở is the best! Hard to find a good Vietnamese phở spot in china town. I would definitely go back when I visit Chicago.

I always like coming to café hoang for phở in Chinatown because they’re cheap and usually really good. But last time I went (after they remodeled) I had the smallest spring rolls with one tiny shrimp in each roll. The best part was my spring roll smelled like dirty socks/​dirty table cloth. When I asked the server about the smell, she told me it was normal for spring rolls to smell like that. Uhm I have tried many spring rolls in my life and none of them smelled like socks. It was such a disappointment. But the phở was good.

My friend and I have been here before and had really good experiences, so when a sudden phở craving overcame us while we were walking around Chinatown, we decided to go here.
We ordered the Spring Rolls after reading good reviews on them, the Bun Bo Hue (because of the reviews again) and the Seafood and Pork with rice noodles.
The Spring Rolls were underwhelming after reading that they were big and fresh. They were small in comparison to the ones served at Tank Noodles and Le’s Phở on Argyle for the price and the ones we were served were not fresh at all. As my friend was about to take a bite, she caught a whiff that was not appetizing at all. It smelled like a wet table cloth. We let the lady at the counter know and she tried to pass it off as the smell of the noodles inside. She was not apologetic at all and said that she didn’t smell anything wrong with it so we just cancelled the item.
The Bun Bo Hue was quite good and decent with the amount of meat. The soup base wasn’t as spicy and had as much depth of flavor as the one at Le’s Phở.
The Seafood and Pork with rice noodles was okay as well. There was a lot of noodles but just a few pieces of seafood and pork.
The lady server was very quick to give us the check after seeing that we were finished. This is the place to go if you really want to get your phở craving satisfied otherwise, I would just go elsewhere.

The bun bo hue here is delicious! We have come here several times specifically for this soup, and it has always been good except for the last time when the broth seemed watered-​down and oily. I’m hoping that this was just a one –time issue and that it gets back to the norm, because where else in all of Chicago will I be able to find a bun bo hue broth this good? We have also had the phở here but to be honest their specialty is the bun bo hue and so I stick to it.

This is my go-​to place for lunch when I am in the city, a quick Red Line ride from the loop (and only a single fare if you return in less than two hours).
Certainly start with the spring rolls. Have the spicy lemon rare beef salad. That’s plenty for one person. With others, add another dish. Today we had the lemon grass chicken stir fry.
It’s reasonable just to order several things off the appetizer menu. In addition to the spring rolls and the beef salad, try the Vietnamese pancake (surprise, not what you’re expecting).
On a cold wintry day, the phở of course.
The owners are delightful people who take a genuine interest in their customers.

It’s really hard to make it over to Argyle for phở every time. That’s why I am so happy to have Café Hoang in Chinatown.
I would stick to their phở and salads. Their beef phở is spot on. The broth is light and beefy. The noodles are usually nice and chewy but other times a bit too soft. The beed they serve in the phở is also good. Not too fatty but still flavorful with the right texture. It’s no frills because they give you just sprouts, lime, and basil. But it’s all you really need when the phở itself is good.
I always get the spicy pork and shrimp salad. It is so fresh! A real nice texture and flavor to get your appetite going. Also, you feel good about eating salad before eating all those carbs and fats in phở.

It’s the only Vietnamese place within a reasonable driving distance. Their Vietnamese food is great. The restaurant are Northern Vietnamese, so dishes like Bun Bo Hue are more their specialty. Southern Vietnamese dishes like Bun Rieu are not as good. I always get their spring rolls because their big, fresh, and healthy as my appetizer. Café Hoang also offer Thai food. I’ve tried their Pad Thai and I didn’t like it that much. I’m sticking with only the Vietnamese food.
This is very popular too, but it seems like people are always coming in and out. So don’t worry; you should have a table available when you arrive. There is a $ 10 minimum to use credit card, but order Bun Bo Hue and a drink, and you’ll go over $ 10 just fine.

I love Chinatown! I love that you can go into just about any restaurant in Chinatown and get an amazing meal for not a lot of money. Café Hoang was delicious, inexpensive, and fun.
My 9 year old son picked this place out because he liked the pictures of the food in the window :) We walked in, and got seated immediately. Our waitress couldn’t speak a lick of English, but she was so sweet and nice it didn’t really matter. I learned that you just point to the menu to tell her what we wanted. My son thought this was so cool, it was like being in a foreign country.
We ended up getting an order of egg rolls, Pad See Ew with Chicken, chicken satay skewers, and some steamed rice. The food was just delicious. The pad see ew was fresh, and definitely one of the best I’ve ever tried. The satay skewers were perfectly cooked and had a delicious seasoning on them. Egg rolls were perfect– not too greasy, yet packed with delicious fillings and fried perfectly.
I’ve never had a bad meal in Chinatown, and today’s was no exception. I saw these guys have BYOB, so feel free to bring your own if you want. The menu is in Thai, Vietnamese, and English, so ordering is a breeze. Ambience is average, but the quality of the dishes makes up for anything it might be lacking. Overall I’d highly recommend if you want some Vietnamese or Thai while in Chinatown.

This place gets props for being a Phở place in Chinatown to help out with the severe imbalance that is Argyle.
The phở here doesn’t stand out at all. If you asked me to describe how it may be different from other places I can’t really tell you. I’ve been here multiple times and I still don’t know. It’s warm. It’s decent. It’s really convenient to get to.
Mainly because this place is so close to where I’m living right now I’ll be coming here more often and try their other dishes like bun buo nuong and bo luc lac as well as the softshell crab that they keep touting.

My favorite Vietamese spot in Chinatown. This quaint family run business is a must try. For Chinatown to have multiple Chinese places this spot is the only one I go to for home cooked Vietamese food. My usual is the beef phở and shrimp rolls. Everything is served hot and ready! If you love authentic phở it’s a must try!
Eat on!

I like this place. The waiters are typically unfriendly but the food is consistently great. I’ve tried multiple dishes here but my default is #012 the sliced beef phở. The broth is refreshing and really hits the spot. Esp when your throat is sore or you’re feeling stuffy, this broth will clear all that up. I frequently order the Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk, which is also good. Spring rolls and the Vietnamese pancakes are also good as well.
I came here once like 10 minutes before closing time, and thought they would definitely turn us away (but i wanted to try anyway bc I was craving phở). Surprisingly they welcomed us in and served us with the same service as usual.
Some may say the best phở is in Viet town in argyle. and yea maybe that’s true. but if you don’t live near argyle (like me) and want quality phở, this is the place I turn to.
They get 4 stars for the consistency of food quality :)

Out of ALL the PHO places in Chinatown (Not the Arygle Chinatown), I vote here. Service is not great here at all but as far as phở, this is the best in Chinatown (I mean, I’m in Chinatown. My standards as far as customer service lowers instantly. It’s all about the food!). I love the Bun Bo Hue and Bun Rieu. Plus, this place is run by Vietnamese people.
Since I live very close to Chinatown I go here for my phở. If I were in Argyle, maybe I’ll give elsewhere a shot but in Chinatown, here… definitely.
I’ve tried other places that serve phở: The Noodles, Hing Kee (rather have their fresh homemade hand pulled noodles) and Joy Yees (rather have their 1001 other food items on their menu)…and none of them were as good as here.