Pho Gabo

Found it by accident while doing grocery shopping & SO glad we walked in.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside — it’s a strip mall after all but the food is the BEST!
We had a couple of their tofu rolls to start & the peanut sauce was hands down the best one I’ve had in my 30 something years of eating ;)
The vermicelli bowls are delicious — large portions and the sauce is definitely where it’s at! Our 3 yr old was more than happy to eat a bit of everything & also really liked her fruit «smoothie» — kiddo stamp of approval!
My husband got their weekend special & was equally impressed.
This place has quickly become our take out favorite!

This place is decent, I’ve had much better back in AZ and HI. I ordered the egg roll/​lemon grass chicken vermicelli and the chicken was good but the egg rolls lacked flavor. The portion was pretty huge which made up for the increased price point compared to the other Vietnamese restaurants. My daughter had the kids phở and the broth wasn’t anything special.

Decent Phở, vegetables were skimpy with the Tofu/​Vegetable phở. Broth for both the vegetarian and beef options were adequate but not mind-​blowing. The upside to Phở Gabo is its customer service. Very attentive and quick with the drink refill — an issue with many of the Vietnamese restaurants in west Portland. One further comment is about pricing: prices are a touch higher than expected and was made apparent when there was a multi-​dollar charge for adding vegetables (again, skimpy) to beef Phở.

This place really hits the spot on a cold, chilly day!
Food:
1) Phở special: The portions are decent and the flavor isn’t bad. The phở even comes with a raw egg served separately in a small bowl with beef broth soup. At first I thought it was excessive to serve extra soup with phở, but then I realized it’s just a vessel to serve the raw egg. You can mix in the raw egg into your phở and it makes the soup a little thicker and more flavorful. This is the only place that has served phở like this before, it’s interesting!
2) Grilled lemongrass chicken/​grilled lemongrass pork rice: The grilled chicken and pork both look and taste about the same to me, but both were delicious! The portions are also pretty good!
3) FREE dessert, flan: Comes in a small plastic sauce cup! It’s a nice sweet finish to your meal!
Service:
Has always been very nice and friendly. The food comes pretty fast too, not too long of a wait.
Ambiance:
The dining area is just an open space, it’s not too heavily decorated, but it’s very clean and new. Since it’s just an open space dining area though, every time someone opens the door, a huge gust of cold wind chills the entire dining area. But otherwise, I’ve always been very comfortable dining here.
Price:
A little pricey for vietnamese food, but I think that is the going rate around here. And since it does seem to be the best phở place in the area, so at least it’s worth it. The phở special is around $ 10.95, I forget how much the rice dishes are.
Overall:
When I’m craving something soupy on a cold winter day/​night, this place really hits the spot! The food, service and ambiance aren’t bad, so it’s quickly becoming my favorite place!

I go here every time I’m hungover! I take my friends here all the time and they loveeeeee it. And you know how you go to other phở places and you don’t get enough noodles? They give you A LOT. I’m so stuffed every time. The staff is so sweet and I always get the best SERVICE. This restaurant needs to be 5 stars; I eat a lot of phở in my life but I always come here. You get your food QUICK, and they always make sure you’re comfortable. And they probably have the best broth too. Very delicious food, great service, cute little place. LOVE, love LOVE!

First time here today! I was quite impressed because when I checked Unilocal,their reviews weren’t the best. I’m Vietnamese and I’m pretty picky when it comes to Vietnamese food, but everything I had was above average and was better than most Phở restaurants in Portland! The service is impeccable! The servers are very sweet and friendly! Food came out quickly!
My friends and I ordered: fried tofu, egg rolls, salad rolls. Everything was delicious! I ordered their Weekend Special: Bun Mang Vit (Duck Noodle Soup) absolutely amazing and big portions for the price! Duck was meaty and broth was perfectly seasoned. They’re definitely not stingy on the noodles! By the end of our meal, there was no food left over on our bowls or plates! That’s how good everything was! And best part yet, they give you free flan dessert after your meal! I’m sad it’s so far from Vancouver, but definitely my GO TO when I’m in this area!
I was so happy! Best experience at a Phở restaurant!

Tough reviews here. Maybe I just got lucky? I had a 3 item phở and it was good. It wasn’t the best broth I’ve had, but it’s the best in this part of town. Phở Van and Tan Tan in Beaverton are still my favorite on the west side. Salad rolls were delicious and above average. Peanut sauce was lumpy and slightly off. The free dessert was a nice touch and it was good.
I would go here again. Nice diverse menu with phở, appetizers, rice plates, and vermicelli bowls. They have Vietnamese coffee, Thai tea, smoothies, and boba drinks.

Best phở on the west side. Phở tai is tender and broth is good. Nice people and good service.

Excellent find! Glad we stumbled onto this place! Unassuming place in a strip mall but so good! Daughter had vegetarian phở and LOVED it! I have the vermicelli bowl so excellent and tasty. Other daughter had chicken noodle and loved the flavor. None of us could finish we were so full! Excellent salad rolls to start and the best bubble
Tea ever! All topped off with free flan for dessert! Highly recommend!

Don’t sit on the right side of it’s cold out, every time the door opens we are blasted with frigid air.
The chicken in the Phở Ga is tough and dry. The noodle portions are skimpy. Service is inattentive.
We spilled broth trying to share with my daughter and no one brought extra napkins.

We went there very close to their closing time and appreciated how they didn’t rush us out. Service was good as so was the food.
Vegetarian phở was alright. Could have added more veggies to make it worth it. Their fresh spring rolls were awesome though and loved the peanut sauce with it!
Good proton size as well!
Will continue looking for a good phở place with a good vegetarian phở! :)

Extraordinarily mediocre. Notably uninspired. Enormously average.
Flavors were acceptable. Yep, it’s Vietnamese food alright. The sauce for the vermicelli bowl was spot on. But oh those deflated textures– soggy egg rolls, dry chicken.

Legit.
I didnt hesitate because my viet friends approved. Lolllll. First time here and i was not disappointed.
Checklist:
broth was nice and hot (temp.)
bun bo hue flavors were spot on
veggies were nice and fresh
Service… Meh. Could be better but we are at an asian restaurant. Didnt bother me so much.
And yes you get a small container of deliciousness at the end of ur meal. A++

When the weather starts getting rainy and cold, I crave phở. Decided to try this phở place to satisfy my craving. Soooo good! I got the phở gabo special and it was delicious, also they give you a cute little cup of a flan type dessert at the end… Or custard not sure what it is but pretty good. Also, the staff is super friendly and the atmosphere is nice! Will definitely be going back the next time I want phở.

Was here on a Monday night. New place on 185^th in trader joe plaza. Pretty big and modern looking. good phở, only available in one size, plenty of options to choose from and portion was pretty huge. Service was good too. Comes with free custard pudding dessert.

Tonight was the best experience ever at Phở Gabo. I’ve been there a half dozen times since they opened, and each time gets better and better. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and so delicious, service was great (Angela was very nice and was great about beverage refills), and it was really clean and nice inside. I was impressed, please and very satisfied. Really looking forward to returning.

We decided to try Phở Gabo for lunch today as there was recent hype.
While waiting for our food, we shared salad rolls and grilled pork rolls. Both were pretty tasty (especially the grilled pork). You can’t go wrong with the grilled pork, veggies, noodles and rice paper.
I ordered the vermicelli bowl with 2 items (lemon grass shrimp and lemon grass beef) for $ 8.95. The lemon grass shrimp is tasty. Mind you that beef is an additional $ 1.50 which is a turn off. I ordered it just to try it and it wasn’t worth the extra charge. Customers can also order one item for $ 8.95 but why when 2 items is the same price. If you are super hungry or just want leftovers, order 3 items for only $ 10.95. I personally thought the noodles were slightly over cooked. This particular entrée was okay but not great. There wasn’t anything that stood out for me other than the shrimp.
Every meal comes with a free dessert (flan).
I must say the flan is good and it was the highlight of my visit.
The establishment is clean (probably because it opened in June) but the bathroom décor is random. One of the restrooms had a green sea foam paint on one wall and a large canvas of a bridge (either NY, SF or PDX) hanging. The paper towel dispenser is near the trash (away from the sink) which I didn’t care for.
The other thing I didn’t care for is any take out is an additional $.75 (most likely to cover containers). I get it there are costs to cover but there should be other ways to incorporate it with the food prices.
The service was okay (nothing special). I has to ask for to go boxes twice as they forgot about it.
Overall, today’s visit was okay. Though, I really enjoyed the grilled pork salad rolls, lemon grass shrimp and flan. I would return to try other dishes but no more of the vermicelli bowls. I’ve had better else where.

I am a picky eater. Fussy. I rarely order anything without asking for it to be altered. I recognize this.
This also usually means I can’t eat at many Vietnamese restaurants, because when you ask for just the noodles and meat and nothing more in your phở, you’re lucky if they just say no or act confused.
Not here. I adore Phở Gabo. The phở is by far the best I’ve had, and the special requests are met with a smile.
Portions border on obscene. And I’ve yet to have anything that gave the impression of being prepackaged.
My markdown to 4 stars chimes only from the fact that they serve their drinks in the can, and speed providing cups for them.

My daughter brought me here for lunch since I like Asian soups.
Located in the strip mall on 185^th where it is always busy so come early or later after the main lunch rush if you are limited on time. Not because of the service but parking.
Since my daughter had to get to work I was worry arriving at noon but Phở Gabo had a family of about 7 and just a couple of other tables of two. Surprised they did not have more customers.
We were greeted by a young man who let us pick our table. He was very attentive and courteous.
My daughter ordered a vermicelli bowl and I had the ‘mixed’ beef soup. Our food arrived in a timely manner and we had enough to take home for another meal.
I am sure the lease is quite high in this area but over $ 10 for my soup was quite steep and I have had better for less. I understand the bottom line and this area you have to do some volume but for the price of our lunch I rather go to another local business that offers better food with better presentation (yes even for the soup). I am not saying the dishes are not up to par because what we had was good… but nothing more.
I hope they will stay afloat in the competitive business especially in this area. I have four stars because our service was excellent..

Pretty good. We had the spring rolls, which I was convinced said it came with peanut sauce, but in actuality came with hoisin.
The veggie phở was good. Not the best ever, and I’m not a fan of cauliflower in phở. Eh. We might come back again. Only time will tell.