A-1 Chinese & Vietnamese

Convenient if you want Phở AND Sam Woo BBQ style meat — Just not as good as those two would be at individual establishments.

Came in for Phở and was told that the menu changed. No more Vietnamese food? I believe they are now specializing in goat dishes? I was about to walk out but decided to give them a chance. Tried some beef stew concoction with potatoes and it was horrible! The chicken stir fry was Ok but not great. The prices are way too high. Most stir frys in the $ 10 range. I will not return. Sorry.

I arrived in Montebello today from the East Coast and I came here thinking phở. When I looked at the menu I was a little leery. But I took a risk and hot damn this is some of the best food and hospitality I’ve had in a long time. I travel a lot for work and trying different restaurants keeps me sane. If this restaurant was by my home it would be my new favorite. This is the real deal. The food was so good and the people so pleasant that I’m writing this with the prayers for their success.

I’ve only ate twice like this in my life, meaning I’ve only ate food that tastes like it’s been sitting there for weeks, the rice tastes horrible the carrots in the rice tastes like they were expired, the chow mein was pretty much uncooked when it got to my table and was hard, it was not quality chow mein it was more ramen like the only thing I liked here was the nice cup of water, please please don’t come here I felt disgusted

Absolutely terrible. The skimp on the chicken in the orange chicken, its ridiculous. The meets taste like they have freezer burn which begs the question How old is the meat? Spend your hard earned money elsewhere. I suggest happy family. They aren’t the bees knees but the food is hella better than the crap at A1.

I think it’s under new management. They used to have this deep fried rock cod with black bean sauce … and now it’s gone.

First time here and it was a horrible experience. The lights were still turned off when I arrived. The waitress had to be called to take our drink order. The second waitress arrived and parked on the walk path to the restaurant. She however was helpful and brought us out of the dark. Once we ordered our food only one order of soup arrived, without silverware, napkin and straws. The soup was just okay. The egg rolls were beyond fried. I could go on but I won’t. Please don’t disappoint yourself, keep it moving

This place is dying. Don’t eat here. There is a vibrant Chinese restaurant right next door filled with people. But you will notice that this restaurant (A-​1Pho) is empty. There are good reasons for that. The service completely sucks, there is no free Wi-​Fi even though they say so on the door on your way in, and the PHO flavorless. Dishwater is tastier than this stuff.
As soon as I walked in, they cranked up the radio loudly and didn’t even tune it properly so it was just some scratchy rock noise that was highly annoying. I had to ask them to turn it off. They did, since there was no one else in the restaurant. But five minutes later, they turned it on again.
I ordered the PHO and was disappointed to be served a tasteless colorless broth and a side dish of dried up and wilted basil, lemon and bean sprouts that had been in the freezer one day too long. Even the Sriracha bottles were filled with some fake red watery chili substitute.
Once the food arrived you never saw the waitress again. But then, she was quite busy yakking away on her cell phone and could have cared less about me, the one customer in the whole place. Never even got water. Ordering food at this place was a new experience I have to say. I came here to eat the PHO, but the waitress kept insisting that I should order the barbecue pork on rice. She insisted so many times I had to tell her to stop asking.
Don’t bother coming to this place. You will be disappointed with lousy food and lousy service, and no Wi-​Fi. Try the Chinese restaurant next door. It looks like they’re packed.

We were visiting the area and we weren’t impressed with the quality of the food.

Says open on Unilocal right now at 7:43pm. Drove here and it looks like it’s out of business.

Went here on Saturday night. Wanted to get some phở but did not want to drive to Alhambra. They give you free tea. Tea cups and utensils don’t look clean. Tea smells and taste like bleach. Got the phở special and was not good the basil and bean sprouts did not look fresh. Got some beef fry rice and they said that they ran out of beef so we had to get chicken fry rice. Fry rice was kind of hard and chicken looked weird. I will not be coming back.

Worse place I have ever had Phở! The broth was too salty! we weren’t giving vegetables, tea or water. Literally had to ask for everything, the customer service blows! NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN!

Sad to say we were disappointed this time around. Discovered this gem back when it was Sam woos. Food never changed besides the name. Moved a hour away and was always a treat to drive the distance. We usually drive out once a month but for some reason food this time around just taste bland. Something was missing? Under new ownership perhaps?

We’re from Vegas and got lost driving around lol. The food however was amazing. Their sizzling black pepper beef is really really good. Their spicy chicken wings is good and their phở broth is really tasty. I wish I can drag this place back to Vegas!!! Definitely unexpected n overall a great experience.

Not the same anymore since ownership was changed and Vietnamese twist added to it. They lost customer like me who are purist want only authentic Cantonese. Likewise if I want Phở, I would drive 3 more miles further to Rosemead for an authentic Vietnamese place, not some hybrid fusion Chinese-​Vietnamese BS like this place.

Wow. What an experience. Never coming back.
Like another Unilocaler said, this place is not what it’s used to be.
Owners, changed.
Chefs, changed. (And keep changing!)
Customers…changing~~ at this rate.
So, I ordered the orange chicken and the phở, and holy, it is the WORST PHO and orange chicken I have ever tasted. The soup of the phở was bland as hell… as if they took one container of soup and DILUTED with one container of water. And the orange chicken tasted kind of funky. It did not have long chili pepper and dried orange peel which are essential to this dish. Also, for ~$ 7, it better be the real thing or at least similar. But nope. –_​– very disappointing. However, I should’ve known. The place looks SKETCHY, and there was this male waiter with glasses who kept staring which made me felt uncomfortable. And then, he attempted to speak to me in broken English, which I did not understand and made me felt even more uncomfortable.
It’s true but sad. The only reason why this place is still standing is due to the large amount of Chinese tourists, and not from the businesses from the locals. I felt bad for the tourists because they are blindedly led toward a RIP-​OFF meal. Sad life.
I would give it NEGATIVE stars if there was this option.
I would not come back.
I’d rather go to L.Y.L. Garden in MPK, which is just down the street.

I usually order the kung pao chicken and beef pan fried noodles and it never disappoints. Just like any other chinese restaurant they use a lot of MSG and salt but thats what makes the food taste good. Its located in a shopping complex right off the 60 freeway so its easily accessible. The food itself is fairly priced but the can of soda cost $ 2.25! I usually phone order and its ready when i get there.

First i apologized to the owners wife i came in at 9:45 pm and saw 2 cutomers here and thought the place was open. Turned out it wasnt but they still took my order, i asked them if they wanted, i could take my food to go, but they said is was okay, ever finish a soup in ten minutes??? I didnt want to make them wait long, the food is great and at a reasonable price. its a family owned place with the wife and husband running the kitchen along side their daughter. located next to the old payless foods and some place called «RGI» perpendicular from Ordonez restaurant… and the Ford of Montebello… Enjoy.

A-​ok for A1. They recently remodeled but I normally do takeout here. It’s the closest most convenient Chinese bbq for me and always ample parking. The bbq is good and we normally do chow mein and a rice dish. It’s not the best but it’s good enough for a quick meal for me and the family.

Take-​out counter review:
Convenient.
Orders can be phoned in and they’re pretty fast in getting your food ready for pick-​up.
Food is similar to our usual place, Tin Tin in San Gabriel. Prices are a bit higher but when I consider not having to drive through Monterey Park, deal with their always congested parking lot and crowds, it’s a big plus.
Big parking lot and right off of the 60 freeway (Garfield or Wilcox exit).
The take-​out counter has its own separate entrance. I like that because I’ve always felt uncomfortable having to wait with diners close by.
I’ve posted the current menu & prices in the photo section.
We ordered Schezwan Garlic Eggplant and it was very good!
Minus the spice though because I’m a sissy.
Being that this was a lunch order, a small container of rice and nappa soup was added in.
I appreciated it being made to order.
My husband was eyeing some of the other orders coming out from the kitchen and liked what he saw. Especially a squid dish. He’s already wanting to come back.
There were different sizes of trays displayed with prices for catering.
Prices were very reasonable and I’ll probably come here when in need of dishes for at-​home entertaining or potlucks.
Saw wonton soup on the menu and it’s only $ 5.50.
With the cold spell we’re having lately, you betcha I’ll be coming for some of that!