Pho So

Ok Downtown El Paso is definitely NOT a foodie destination because options are very limited and there aren’t many restaurants around to begin with. I’m gonna have to say seeing a Vietnamese restaurant right in the Mercado District of Downtown was a welcoming sight. The restaurant is literally across from McDonalds which looked packed through the windows. Since it was freezing cold outside, decided to come here for some warm noodle soup. I was actually surprised how quaint the atmosphere was inside with Asian bamboo decors. There were about 2 – 3 parties there for lunch but they were very quiet and there to enjoy their meal. I got the Bun Bo Hue, their House Special of Spicy Beef Soup consisting of Rice Vermicelli noodles in a Spicy, Sweet, and Tangy Lemongrass Beef Broth. It wasn’t overwhelming with meat like Phở and had a clean taste. I also ordered their Vermicelli Noodles with Egg Roll, Shrimp, and Charcoal Beef thinking the noodle soup instead was not enough. But HOLY MOLY, their portions are DEFINITELY TEXAS SIZE. Food in my opinion was a 3 out of 5. While the sole server working there was very friendly, he forgot to bring me a cup of water, my diet coke was half empty when served, and and never checked on me so that was a downside. Not the best Vietnamese food I’ve had but it works if you’re stuck in downtown El Paso and you’re only options are McDonalds, Burger King, and hole in the wall Mexican eateries

I really wanted to like this place. I’ve been twice now. The first time, service was slow, but the food was decent. It was relatively new, so I chalked the service up to growing pains. I then went again today. I arrived with one other person in my party. We got there before things got crowded, right at noon. We sat about 7 minutes before anyone brought a menu (even though someone greeted us and told us to sit where ever we liked). It was another ten minutes before I finally got up and pointed out that no one had taken our order yet (people arrived after us and their orders were taken). It was still another ten minutes before our drinks were out. By the time we’d waited 35 minutes and our food still had not arrived (people who arrived after us were served before), we left money for the drinks and left. It is unfortunate, because I like the food enough that I was looking forward to it. But there was just no reason, given the time of day and number of people in the restaurant to have waited that long for a simple order of phở.

My mother works down town so I took her to lunch the day before her birthday their. Based on the mostly good reviews my mother and I really wanted to try this place. I love Vietnamese food and it’s very hard to disappoint me. Well my mother gets out for lunch at 12pm I picked her up and it took us to this restaurant. We got there about 12:05 they took our order at about 12:10. It was early in the lunch hour so there may have been only another 4 parties at the restaurant at the time. We ordered two soups, an order of springs rolls and two ice teas. We waited for what seamed an eternity for our food to arrive. To the point that around 12:40 I went and told them our situation, that we where on a right schedule and we needed to get our food ASAP! Finally our spring rolls arrived five minutes later, we ate them, by the time we finished it was 12:50. My mother called in to say she was going to be 30 min late. We waited and waited. By 1:20 I told them to cancel the order. Instead of apologies all we got was close to demands to take the food to go because they had already made it. Since we refused they only charged us for the spring rolls and drinks ($ 11.31) so we left on an empty stomach (had to stop at Micky di’s after I dropped of my mom)
So this place may have some good phở, after sitting there for almost an hour and a half I would not know it. I may have gave them another chance in the future, but the fact that they charged us for a couple of spring rolls and drinks makes me never want to go there again!
Why did I give them two stars instead of one? Because the spring rolls where pretty damn good!

Service was VERY SLOW. It took about 15 minutes just to get water. I came with three people on Sunday and we were the ONLY people in restaurant. Waitress said they had no Bubble Tea tapioca, yet, decided to try it anyway. Bubble Tea was runny! Worst Bubble Tea! Vietnamese sandwiches took too long to be served and mine was burned on top :(Upon my request, waitress replaced it. Sandwiches were very Bland too. Very disappointed :(Will never return here.

I was driving downtown and saw this Phở place. Interior is fine compared to neighborhood environment but servers are terrible. They don’t even understand what you want unless you say the menu number. They have no clue about vietnamise good. Food is just ok. An honest opinion from an Asian guy.

Pretty good food. Service was nice and friendly. They where quick and efficient. My wife and I went for lunch here and ate until we were full and still had some left over.

This place probably served the worst phở I have ever had in my 25 years of phở consuming life. The lukewarm soup was pure MSG with no depth or flavor. The noodles were not your typical rice vermicelli. Instead they were thicker and harder which made it hard to chew and swallow. But the worst part of my experience was not the food. It was the horrible bathroom stench that somehow crept in and expanded through the whole restaurant. It was like eating while seated at the toilet. Yuk.

This restaurant is awesome. Very good phở!
I travel the world for work and love a good phở soup. This place has it going on!

Pretty good spot. I would go again for lunch more so then dinner. They have blue bell ice cream too. Overall the food was pretty good. The prices were decent

I came to this restaurant downtown because all I see are Chinese buffets. I found it to be a little bit higher than the Vietnamese food restaurants I go to in DFW. THere was only one waiter on Sunday and they were out of both green and jasmine tea. The food is good but like I said a little price!

If you have never had Vietnamese food, you should come try it here. And boba
It’s pretty solid.
I like it.

Phở So is definitely the best Phở restaurant in El Paso and I’m really happy to see them expanding to new locations. This new location is their nicest one yet, perfect for the downtown business crowd, and brings some delicious variety to the area.
If you’re like me, and you’re probably not, you don’t crave Phở during hot weather, but luckily for me, and possibly you, Phở So makes very tasty vermicelli bowls, which have just the right amount of fresh veggies to make me feel like I ate a salad. I also really recommend the spring rolls, they’re terrific! I prefer the pork ones, but the shrimp ones are also great. They have the same menu as the other locations, so there’s no reason to believe their Phở isn’t as yummy.
I was really impressed by the interior, it’s casual, but much nice than typical downtown casual, restaurant has ample seating room, but just as impressive is the parking lot, because c’mon, it’s a parking lot for a restaurant downtown. Service is faster than the Montwood location, so that’s also great, and the folks are friendly.
Can’t go wrong having lunch here, highly recommend!