Pho 533

OMG this place is fantastic!!! Can’t wait to go back. The food was fresh and the flavors were so bright. We had a sampler platter, the vermicelli with pork & spring rolls and the banh mi sandwich. Everything was delicious, and the service was fast and super friendly.

First time here & it was amazing! Was not sure what to expect. They staff waas great and our servers took time to explain everything. That helped us to each make really good choices for our entrees.

Overpriced, overrated, slow service and food is not tasty.
Had a mini vacation with friends for holiday weekend. Give this place a try because of Unilocal rating. It was pretty crowded when we were there.
Phở is one of my favorite noodle. I ordered chicken phở. My husband ordered shaken beef and my friend ordered Saigon noodle. My phở soup is very sweet and they give onion and noodle in the same portion. Imagine each bite with mouthful of onion. It was $ 13!!! I’m a little Asian lady and I wasn’t even full. My husband’s shaken beef was a little piece of meat which cost $ 24. The seasoning was okay, nothing so great about it. My friend was also complaining about her noodle that was so salty.
Bill for 3 plates came out almost $ 100 for Vietnamese food!!! So disappointed!

Holy shit balls!!! So fucking good! And the portions are amazing for an excellent price! Best spring rolls I’ve had in. EVER! The new owners know what they are fucking doing! Can’t wait to see how the cocktail lounge turns out

Horrible attitude from the host. With 8 un-​sat tables we were curtly told it would be more than an hour wait.
We gladly will take out business else where for the evening.
In response: it was all in the delivery with the snotty and uppity attitude that was given as to why we high-​tailed it out of there.

I don’t understand all these good reviews but the food here is terrible! First off, we were told we couldn’t order anything that was fried because their fryer is broken.
When we got our drinks, the Vietnamese coffee tasted nothing like the authentic stuff. It was so milky and watered down!
Their menu is definitely Viet «fusion», but the food was honestly so disappointing! I ordered vermicelli with grilled chicken and when it arrived the server spilled the fish sauce on my lap. They didn’t even try to help clean up the spill and just apologized and walked away. The fish sauce was too salty and didn’t have the right veggie to noodle ratio. I also tried my friend’s phở and the broth tastes like instant phở. Even the noodles itself was disappointing and overcooked! Also they add gratuity on top, but if given the choice I would not leave them a tip.

I don’t know why this place has some negative comments. Yes, I could make some minor suggestions, by overall I was impressed. As my sweetie is overseas, I am limited to how much I can order. But I still got too much. I love imperial rolls, so I started with them here. They are good egg rolls. They do not, however, come with nuoc mam. Instead, they are cut in half and served in a very delicious soy based sauce. The only problem is that if you do not eat them immediately, they become soggy. Serving the dip on the side may work better. I could not decide between the bun bo hue or the phở tai. The server recommended the former. It was very flavorful and came with all the usual phở accompaniments: basil, jalopeños, lime, and bean sprouts. The brisket was incredibly tender.
The favorite, though, was the Bo Luc Lac (shaking beef). Probably the second best I ever had. Despite not being served with a side of lime, salt, and paper dip, it was flavored superbly, with the caramelized onions on top of the traditional watercress. Way to go!
The service was very attentive and friendly. By noon on a Sunday, lots of tables were occupied, mostly by young Asians. The host was also a very nice gentleman, pleasant on the eyes.
For Palm Springs, this is a great find!

The only thing that keeps me from one star is that the food was decent. The service was horrible. The place was nearly empty and the sever spent most of his time talking to a woman who came in for takeout. Never asked if we wanted another glass of wine. Had to ask the host for hot sauce as it was never offered. Very few veggies to add. Got the chicken lemongrass meatball phở that had about 4 meatballs. Clean ambience.
Would never go back.

I really like the vibe here and their menu has a lot of unique options and almost everything is gluten free! Recommended!

Nice place, a little hidden but cute. I had wonton soup and Saigon noodles. Both were a little disappointing. I really want to like this place but I think the cook needs to brush up on his/​her noodle-​type techniques. The wonton wrap was too thick to qualify as wonton, it was about the thickness of Chinese dumpling wraps. Gyoza wraps are thinner, so naturally, the parts where the wraps overlapped didn’t cook properly, so it was not even al dente. The noodles for the Saigon noodles were in the opposite — it was over-​cooked and a little mushy.
The service was excellent, it’s unfortunate that the food was not on par with the service. I hope their Phở is better.

I haven’t eaten inside the restaurant but the food we’ve gotten to go has been fabulous.
The chicken pa nang is the best I’ve ever had. Considering I’ve had this dish all over the country, that’s saying a lot! The ginger-​soy marinated chicken with cargo red rice is a new favorite. The food is a little over what you’d normally pay for these size dishes, but worth it.
The phở is a little bland. If you compare it to the phở restaurant in Palm Desert you’ll know what I mean instantly. I recommend this place anyway.

Blegh! Probably the worst «Vietnamese» food I’ve ever had. While it was edible, it was completely lacking in flavor and the vermicilli noodle dish I ordered was put together with spagetti like noodles resembling no noodle bowl I’ve ever seen. I’m from Portland, OR and was in Palm Springs for my birthday. All I wanted was some tasty Vietnamese food for my birthday dinner and instead I got overpriced bland food with a weird EDM soundtrack in the background. Our server was exceptionally rude which I would usually never bring up since I am a server myself and am understanding, but it needed to be mentioned. The only good part about this place was the host. He was lovely.
Not Vietnamese! If you want bland hoity toity trendy Palm Springs food, I guess this is your place. I can’t wait to get back to Portland where Vietnamese food tastes like it’s supposed to!

Always delicious. Had the lemon basil spritzer and it was super refreshing and yummy, just like the server suggested. I have been here many times and I am never disappointed.

Please read my full review prior to making an opinion of Phở 533. Let’s start with the positives.
This is by far the cleanest, fanciest, and best looking Phở shop I’ve ever been to. (That’s saying a lot I’ve been to almost every single one in the IE). Service was amazing as well. My server was quick and friendly. The presentation of the food was very nice. Almost felt like a fine dining experience. Also there is no funky smell in here like other Phở shops. These things alone earned them the 3 star review.
Now for the negatives. Although the food was OK it really lacked authenticity. Definitely didn’t taste like it was made by an Asian person. Almost tasted like white washed Asian food. (Sorry couldn’t think of a simpler way to explain it) Also they don’t have the spices and seasoning most Phở restaurants have.
If you’re looking for Phở without the crazy smells and strong taste this would be the place for you.

This restaurant is tucked away and is the last location on the very end of a large strip mall with plenty of free parking. The interior is very casual with comfortable plastic seats.
This was our 1^st time having Vietnamese food and I was pleasantly surprised how tasty everything was. Manigee, our server was very helpful in explaining the menu. But whatever you order, be sure to save room for the lime/​coconut flan as this desert was a total delight.

Maybe I’m spoiled because the best phở I’ve had was made by my Vietnamese mother-​in-​law or maybe because I was introduced to phở in the SF Bay Area where there is an abundance of Vietnamese people who run hole-​in-​the-​wall phở restaurants that taste legit… but this place was disappointing.
First of all, the noodle to broth ratio was off. Too much noodle! And did someone cut up the noodle into tiny pieces before serving it? Secondly, there were no dipping dishes for the hoisin and sriracha. Everybody knows you dip your meats in the sauces. Thirdly, they don’t serve hot tea. I know this is the desert, but how do you serve Asian cuisine without hot tea?
The broth was more ginger-​y than I’d like and super mild in flavor. I mean, it wasn’t disgusting but it wasn’t the best phở I’ve ever had. And then, we found a BAY LEAF (oh wait, TWO) in one of our bowls. I cook many broths with bay leaves and I NEVER serve it. Yes, it adds flavor but you don’t eat the bay leaf; you remove it from the broth before serving.
We also had the wonton noodle soup which was the worst decision we made. The wontons were UNDERCOOKED and the egg noodles were in one giant CLUMP. We didn’t even finish it.
Too expensive for phở. Oh yeah, did I mention they gave away our table that we made a reservation for after being a few minutes late? And then we waited forever for our phở. Never have I ever waited that long for a bowl of phở…
Servers were nice. Ambiance is cute. That’s probably it… this is not authentic phở, definitely «fusion»…fusion with what, I don’t know.

Excellent service here. Very attentive.
Had an order of vegetarian egg rolls (Ch giò) and the Bún bò Hu, a Central Vietnamese noodle soup that is spicy, sour and savory. It’s normally made with beef brisket, pork blood cubes, ox tail and pig trotters. The version served here is not that hardcore, just with brisket, and a side of raw lime, bean sprouts, Vietnamese coriander. To get the sour notes of the dish, you must squeeze the lime juice onto the soup. The version here has a nice lemongrass notes and quite a spicy bite. Quite a hearty meal.
The egg rolls were served cut in half in a vessel filled with a soy based sauce. It’ crunchy and quite tasty. However, I would prefer if the sauce was served on the side so that one can dip to taste. Served sitting in the sauce may make it a bit too salty, and definitely soggy if you wait too long to eat them.

Excellent Vietnamese food served by the friendliest wait pro
In Palm Springs. Manigee made our dinner an experience because of her positive energy and expertise about the menu and ingredients. Try the Thai basil lemonaid when you go.

I had their beef of brisket phở and it was decent. It was a nice treat to have something warm when it was raining this past Sunday. I definitely enjoyed the music they played;soft and soothing. Staff was great!
They just didn’t have some items you’d expect from a «Vietnamese» restaurant like Ché desserts or even hot tea, but whatevz.
I thought the price was a bit high but I doubt I’d ever go back… maybe after Coachella next year?
$$ for banh mi! I didn’t order it but it better be the best banh mi on earth for $ 11

Phở in the middle of the desert run by non-​Vietnamese people? Whatever, we rented a house around the corner for coachella and I wanted some phở and Vietnamese food, thanks to Unilocal we found 533.
Questions we asked ourselves when we walked in:
–Q: where are are the Vietnamese people?
Made up answer (MA): probably cooking the food in the back
–Q: where are the ghetto fans on the ceiling?
MA: wtf is this AC thing?
–Q: where are the flies?
MA: taking a break
–Q: why is our phở taking more than 5 minutes to prepare?!
MA: they are probably actually making it
–Q: why is a bowl of phở $ 10?
MA: bc its meant for white people
So many questions… That formulated into Vietnamese thoughts in our head…
All in all, the Phở and food here wasn’t bad! I actually enjoyed it better than a real Vietnamese phở place because it felt cleaner here. I got the chicken phở and I must say the broth actually had flavor. My friend got the bun bo hue she said it was spicy but had flavor. I also tried their rice and grilled chicken and loved it. One star off because my friend got the beef phở and the broth was lukewarm. That one must be sitting out. Other than that everything went well for a day after day #2 of coachella.