Pho One

They have a tiny sign next to the register that says «$ 10 minimum» which naturally any customer would be unaware of until payment time. They made me buy two bottles of water to increase my payment. For this reason I will never go back.

I should have read a deeper into the reviews, the Phở was terrible. I have visited this location once before and didn’t like the phở, but I decided to give it another chance, since I had business to attend to in the local area, that was a mistake. Upon arrival myself and my best friend were greeted, and left to find our own seat. We seated ourselves and I ordered the regular size bowl of phở gua, and my friend order a ban mi, and phở in the large, with a side of egg rolls and 5 macaroons. We also had 2 Thai Teas.
Everything was ok until the phở came out. Firstly… the «regular» size bowl is really a Small, and the large is really a regular size. I’ve eaten at many phở places, and these bowls are on the small side. Next and most importantly, the broth… it was clear… like pale, pale chicken soup, with almost non of the yummy phở beef flavor that you would expect. This was a HUGE let down. I tasted the broth and was disappointed enough to not even eat any of the soup! To add insult to injury, I had 6 pieces of meat in my bowl :(, sadly floating on top. I drank the tea, and waited on my friend to finish her food. She ate the sandwich and tasted one macaroon. The sandwich was passable at best, and the macaroons were stale (which upon questioning the owner, he claimed they are freshly made daily, I suspect that’s a lie). When she got to her soup, she confirmed and echoed my feelings of dissapointment, but tried «fixing» the soup with the condiments on the table to no avail. As a huge lover of soup, my one rule is that I should not have to «fix» it when it comes out. Condiments are to add a little, little something extra, but the base soup that you receive should be delicious on its own.
After all this, I alerted the owner/​server/​counter person, and kindly told him about my issue with my soup, I also asked him to comp, or discount the price because I didn’t eat it, AND it was obviously bad. He began to loudly exclaim that his soup had been votes the best of the best and pointed to a news paper clipping and magazine… and he told me that next time I should order the rice dish, and not soup… as if there WILL be a next time. Btw… he didn’t bother to come from behind the counter when I motioned to him at the table… so this convo happened loudly across from counter to table, until I got up to go to him… how rude! It’s not like the place was packed… there was two other customers there… I tried explaining to him again, and he told me that I must not know phở, because that’s the way it is supposed to taste. I explained that I have indeed eaten at many different phở shops, and they all had phở that was along similar lines… he adamantly denied this, and told me to pay for the price of the phở and drink.
I’m very dissapointed in the phở here and also with the owners attitude. When I told him that I would not return, he shrugged his shoulder and said «ok, fine». I guess customer don’t matter unless they like the food or silently pay and go away. He cannot take criticism well, and dosent value his customers. How sad

Huge fan of this place. The pork bahn mi with a fried egg on top is my favorite.

I am writing this review mainly to let fellow Unilocalers know it’s still my #1 place to get Phở in Houston. If some place keeps me coming back for years, it deserves to be reviewed again for newcomers who may want to know about consistent good food and service.
The chicken phở here will cure the common cold. No really. I get it for the wife every time she gets the sniffles and bring it home to her. She is up and around the next day.
They don’t use the same broth for the beef and chicken phở. You get chicken broth for the chicken phở and beef for the beef phở. And it has become my most favorite phở in town. Get a regular size unless you can actually eat as much as a small country. The regular for about $ 8 is a large bowl of white meat, noodles and little onions. Mix in your bean sprouts, Thai basil, cilantro, jalapeño and squeeze some lime (ask for extra) into the broth and slurp it down. Just dig in. Pick up the bowl at the end and drink the last of the broth. Heaven.
Get some Thai tea and some of the bbq pork spring rolls. The wife could live on those.
Service is quick. The owners are super friendly.
No alcohol. They take credit and cash. Parking out front is plentiful. I don’t know who thought this place was dirty. But it’s never been dirty or messy when we’ve been there. It’s not fancy. It’s sparse and basic décor. The owners are from France via New Orleans. They speak about 6 languages and have diners who speak all of them when they are in!
Look there’s rice dishes, bahn mi and other phở flavors (don’t get the seafood… it’s kinda odd) but I get the chicken phở. It keeps me full and cures any cold you can catch!

Great fresh spring rolls (goi cuon) and quite possibly the best Phở in Houston. The owners (who are from New Orleans) are some of the sweetest and sincere people I’ve met. The Vietnamese beef stew (bo kho) with noodles and/​or French bread is also a most-​try when coming here. It sucks that they’re closed Sunday but nevertheless I will always come back for more.

— Bánh mì here is the perfect size and heals hunger
— Ph gà here has healed many a sinus infection (coupled with spicy chilis)
Heal yourself here!

Love this place! I love the family that owns this phở restaurant. They always make us feel like family. :)

Over price food, the worst phở i ever eat… meat over cook, noodle so dry, to soup plain

oh my goodness! i ordered everything vegetarian that i could find on the menu and i was not disappointed! this place is so freaking great! the tofu bahn mi was delicious, so was the veggie noodle soup, and the tofu spring rolls. i like how they sliced the tofu in a thin slab so it rolls nice and tight. the soda chanh muoi was on another level of deliciousness my friends! we followed this up with the café sua da and their tasty macaroons. i wish i could eat here everyday!

Worst ever experience in my life! Filthy and dirty!
They barely speak English and the lack of customer service really makes you wonder how can this place still on business.
The Cooks poke their nose and eat their burgers without giving a damn who is around.
Don’t really recommend this place at all.
If you love your family! Please never bring them here!

My experience has been nothing short of sublime.
The folks here took good care of me. Each time I decided to dine here.
I was seated immediately, though it was resembling of a NY deli shop, it was still quaint.
The selection is kept simple, with various phở to choose from, spring rolls and vermicelli salads.
The vegetarian phở soup option was nice, I understand why it was more expensive (smaller batches and special request) but still a convenience I am happy to pay for.
The owner/​manager was a gentleman and offered to convert my Togo order to a seated order when I called it in to dine in even though I told him to go.
The service is why it’s one of the number one phở noodle houses in Houston.

Very good customer services! The vietnamese sandwiches are great! So good I ordered phở to go. My main complaint with sandwiches around Houston is that restaurants tend to have very hard crusty bread that makes my mouth hurt and I fear bleeding, but this place is good and the bread fairly soft.
The staff was very attentive. When they brought our coffee out, they made it very interactive and we were able to stir the thick milk and add our ice. The coffee was tasty!
Overall this little place is cute and a must try :)

One of my favorite lunch spots as I’ve been coming here for a few years now. This is a great place for a solo lunch or with a group. Favorite dishes are Phở Ga, Vermicelli with Pork and eggrolls, and the Spring Rolls.
Food is always fresh and service is always friendly. Be sure to come early with a group as they get pretty busy!

This is hands down the best phở I’ve ever had, period (.)
Not only was I fortunate enough to taste a considerable amount of phở broth and noodles over here AND from Vietnam. Plus my grandma used to own a phở restaurant in Vietnam (she’s no longer with us), so I think I know a thing or two about what to expect when it comes to phở.
The broth here is very light and full of flavors, a very unique flavor that I haven’t discovered from other phở places. Noodles are just noodles so I’ll pass on that. But the ingredients that are being used in the phở are very fresh (I get headache if I eat MSG food and no problem here) I especially like the phở tai with Bo vien with a lot of Jalapeño peppers in the broth! Mhmmmm
I haven’t been here enough to try the whole entire menu but the spring rolls for appetizer is great and com bo luc lac (shaking beef with rice) is awesome as well! I’ll be back soon enough to try other items on the menu but every time I visit I end up getting my phở Bo tai anyways… Boo
Hopefully I’ll be tempted enough to try something new next time!

On the west side of Houston, there is no shortage of places to slurp down some phở. It’s a family run joint that serves up some good grilled shrimp spring rolls but I agree with other posters in that they could spice up their broth a notch or three, or even phour. See what I did there?
If you come here for lunch, come early and put your order in straight away. Mama Bear in the kitchen can only cook up so fast, and when they sit 10 tables at once then be prepared to wait. But if you live or work in Westchase, it’s not a bad option.
Pro Tip: The regular size bowl of phở versus the large bowl seems to be just the physical size of the bowl but not how much phở or meat you actually get, so get the regular bowl and save two bucks.

Phở One uses only the freshest ingredients to prepare the tastiest spring rolls, bun and phở. The limeade is light and refreshing. The homemade French macaroons available in 15 natural flavors and flan made according to a French recipe are both excellent. Orders are taken at the table and customers pay at the register when finished dining. The owners are more than happy to explain the menu’s dishes or make suggestions for any guests not familiar with Vietnamese food, The establishment is reasonably priced with good service.
I have had the pleasure of dining at Phở One on several occasions and have never been disappointed. The menu includes several types of Phở, rice and noodle dishes and Vietnamese style sandwiches. On my most recent visit, I enjoyed char-​grilled pork strips on steamed rice with nuoc mam sauce. The rice was perfect, the pork had a great grilled flavor and the nuoc mam added a nice tangy sweetness.
The Vu family, owners of this family restaurant are very friendly and often seen serving customers. Kim Oanh Vu comes from a famous phở family, who owned one of the most famous noodle shops in Saigon in the 1960s called Phở Tau Bay. Vu’s father ran the equally successful chain of Phở Tau Bay restaurants in New Orleans before Katrina hit. When the family relocated to Houston afterward, they brought all of their phở-​making skills with them to Phở One. New Orleans loss is Houston’s gain. Exquisite.

Little family owned phở place that was really close to me and I was hungover. Noodle soups always taste so good after a night of drinking, esp phở!
So the reviews were right. The broth was very light and more on the bland side, but I liked it. Don’t need a ton of msg to make food taste good because people generally cover it with Sriracha and hoisin sauce anyways.
People were complaining about how they have a $ 10 cc limit purchase. There are a lot of places like this. Get over it and understand that they’re a small business and how hard it is to run a business. The use of cc can do a lot of damage. Also, I’m used to it cause a lot of places in bellaire have a limit too.
They only provide hoisin sauce, probably because they assume everyone has Sriracha in their cabinets. Also, they didn’t give me any silverware. Wonder if they would give it if I was not asian myself hahaha.
Overall, I would come back for some quick phở. I’m not upset about those little things. I enjoyed my phở. They’re just doing little things to help lower their own cost. Give them a break.

I really do not know why I even bother eating at this restaurant. The phở here really should not even be called this. The phở broth is severely lacking in seasonings, aromatics, and most importantly the beef broth. What you get is a tasteless broth.
The restaurant is family run and they offer great service and you can tell they maintain the cleanliness of the place.
But I did not appreciate the father trying to up sell me the menu.
The prices are also a little steep for it being a noodle restaurant.
Look else where Unilocalers for phở, I would not waste your hard earned money here.

I stopped in here for phở to go since I was already going by Eatwell next door. I ordered a regular sized phở with rare beef, fatty brisket, and tendon. This is my go-​to order when trying phở places. Also got a half order of eggrolls. Service was very friendly and prices decent.
The phở broth was too thin, very light in color and flavor. In the to go bag they only give you hoisin sauce and no sriracha, and only half a lime wedge. The rare beef was fine, the fatty brisket was tough, tendon was good. The eggrolls were small and just ok. The fish sauce also seemed light and had none of the pickled veg or chili flakes that I’m accustomed to. I wouldn’t order either of these items here again, but might give them another shot on banh mi or a rice plate.

I’m on a Phở kick. I can’t get enough and I’m obsessed. This place is literally right around the corner from me and I finally went. It took me long enough. I came for a solo lunch. I started off with the Shrimp and Pork Spring Roll, then ordered the regular combination phở that had medium rare and well done beef, brisket fat and beef flank. Spring Rolls were good but I felt they were a little chewier than I’m used too. Phở was good. Tasty broth, good noodles, enough meat. Another great phở in my belly.
Service was quick and friendly. Just like other Asian places. Can’t have too high expectations. As long as they get the order night, food comes out hot then we’re all good. I finished my lunch and went to the coutner to pay. The older man at the counter suckered me into an assortment of french macaroons. I took them to go and ate them at home. They were all very good.
I’m so glad that this place is so close by and now I know it’s yum so I’ll have a place I can go to.