Pho So 1

Phở So 1 has not closed, they’ve simply changed their name.

Perfect. Super friendly, super tasty, and they have plenty of options to spice up your Phở (including Thai chilis!). My new place for Phở in D-​town.

Hands down the best Phở on Federal Blvd. The Hiu tieu nam vang is incredibly delicious. Beef, beef heart, pork, shrimp and quail eggs in a rich chicken broth with bits of chicarone to flavor it. Get the clear noodles as opposed to the vermicelli. The pork chop with an over easy egg topping steamed rice served with a bowl of clove scented soup with green onions is to die for as well. Ask for the bowl of marinated garlic that comes as a side condiment and thai chilis (if you dare) to heat your meal into oblivion. The staff is professional, friendly and helpful although sometimes it’s hard to get past a small language barrier. If I had one wish it would be that they carried coke products instead of Pepsi and had it on fountain instead of cans. Otherwise just outstanding Vietnamese food.

Not the best broth I have ever had, but by no way the worst (see London reviews!). Still very tasty just seemed to be missing something. After I spiced it up though and started happily slurping away it was pretty delicious. My 2 year old went crazy for the meat balls here. I had to order a second side of them. Our first bowls didn’t come as we ordered but they were quick to correct the problem. It was for sure good food, just not incredible like some of the other places close by on Federal.

I went with a group of friends the other night that were regulars. They had a good relationship with the server even though we were all ridiculously loud and seemed to clear out the place. The appetizers that various people ordered came out quickly and they accommodated the late arrival by bringing their meal with the rest of ours which I thought was very nice. The menu was easy to understand which I always like :)
I am not used to the rare steak being served in the bowl so that was the first surprise and the broth was completely different tasting and smelling to me than other places I have been. Did not pack the punch I expected. I did not really care for it honestly.
They split the check between 10 of us which was helpful.
The bathrooms were kinda meh… very soapy soap… if that makes any sense… lol
It was OK… I would go back maybe…

I called this morning to see if they were open on Easter — yes they were! We were worried since a lot of places close for the day.
One small phở bo vien #1 for the ball-​n-​chain and one small phở tai gan #4 for me (meatball and tendon respectively).
Super prompt service — very, very nice all male staff of servers, lots of water refills. Is it just me or are the jalapenos at Asian places about a 150 times hotter than the ones at Mexican joints? I swear, I am in happy– face-​pain-​Hell with every bowl of phở I slurped down. Maybe it isn’t crack in the broth, just endorphins in my head exploding.
The steak was nice and rare when it arrived. We smelled the phở before we saw the phở. It was a potpourri of smells with a very, very heavy hand on the cinnamon. The ball-​n-​chain was not a fan of the bigger chunks of white onions, they tasted off somehow to him.
There were lots of steak and tendon but not a lot of noodles. I love my tendon but this had absorbed so much broth *maybe they cooked it in it* that was like a warm, soft, jello soaked cinnamon sticks. I left most of it. Shut up. I know.
Maybe it was trying to recreate the smells of Christmas because there was a fully decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the place. No lie.
I wish I could have half a star because it was really a bit more than A-​OK.

If ever I’ve wished Unilocal allowed a half star, now is the time. Phở So serves up some really good phở, but I just cannot award it the same 5 star rating as my other phở favorites.
Décor: A little cheesy, but at least they’re trying to make the place nice. The restaurant itself was really clean, although the bathrooms could do with a little work (I wasn’t too keen on the crushed sucker on the ladies’ floor. And, srsly, what’s with the dish soap in the hand soap dispenser?!).
Menu: Small. Mostly phở plus a few noodle and dumpling dishes. Totally inexpensive — nothing over $ 7.
Food: I ordered a small #10 (steak, brisket, tendon, tripe; $ 5.75) with extra meatball ($ 1). The meat was a bit skimpy and wasn’t the greatest quality, and the broth was lacking the rich beefy meaty fragrant omgness I crave from phở, but there was nothing really complain-​worthy about it. He opted for a medium #6 (steak and brisket; $ 5.95) with extra noodles ($ 1). Ditto.
Service: We didn’t get a water refill but I really appreciated the fact that our server made conversation with us (about their aquarium), even though his English wasn’t that great. A warm smile counts for a lot, in my book.
So no, this isn’t as good as it gets (imo), but I would recommend Phở So to anyone. 4.5 stars!

I happen to work on Federal, and have been on an extended phở crawl for awhile now. I would in no way consider myself a phở expert, as I have only been exposed to it for maybe 7 months now. But I most definitely am a huge fan of it. So did the phở duy thing, and headed south.
Décor (as in most of these fed. phở joints) left something to be desired, but this place DOES have a big screen tv. Need to catch the big game but craving for some phở? Phở So 1 is the place to go. I actually really like the broth here, for some reason it really appeals to my taste buds.
Other than the TV, dum dums upon payment, great tasting broth, I don’t have too much to say about this place. I would say its worth checking out if your curiosity can ever bring you past the kickass plaza that contains J’s Noodles and Phở Duy.

The Vietnamese Egg Rolls were a hit as with the perfectly blended dipping sauce but was not impressed with their phở. The broth was good, not exceptional and I did pick up hints of cinnamon which I’m not a big fan of (esp. in my phở broth). The noodles a bit tough. Even after they sat in my broth for a good 20 minutes they were a little too al dente.
Unfortunately, they don’t serve beer bur I’m getting used to this at small establishments located on Federal. BYOB?