Pho Noodle

We came in at lunch on a Tuesday, it was pretty full which is always a good sign. It didn’t take long to realize that there was only a cook and a server per the size of the restaurant it made sense, but you always worry. The server was fantastic. He was kind, generous and very helpful he was running around and it has been quite steady. Most servers in his place are cranky and short. 5 stars on his service. He even boxed up our food! Beyond impressed with the service.
The food was average but still tasty. Generous portions, it is a bit iffy at parts but not bad. I will come again

I just got back into town for business (again) and I wanted some lunch. I’m in the south Reno area and I heard of this donut shop that serves Vietnamese food and phở in the area. That sounds like a weird combo, but I guess not really seeing that most of all the independent donut shops in many cities are Vietnamese owned, just like nail salons. Hard workin people those guys! Plus, they usually make some really tasty donuts! So from a business sense, if you have a donut shop, why not make use of the space for the rest of the day to sell Vietnamese food? Donut sales tend to drop off after 10am. I’ve seen this in a few donut shops in the Bay Area. So, I’m here for lunch, not donuts.
Entering it looks more like restaurant than donut shop. There are nice booths along the walls and plenty of daylight coming in through the windows. There is only a single donut case, most selections are taken by this time of day. I take a booth and look over the menu. Well, for what I thought was a Vietnamese Phở joint, the menu read just like a standard Chinese restaurant with all the usual American Chinese suspects of General Chicken, Honey Walnut Prawns and Mongolian Beef and Chow Fun. There was also the Viet section of Phở and «Vermicelli» (yes, that’s Italian!) mei fun rice noodles dishes. I came for Viet food, so that’s what I got. I went with the #14, ($ 8.95) flame broiled pork and egg roll over thin rice noodles. As I wait, seems pretty quiet in here. A few other lunch diners arrive. Now my lunch bowl arrives! It comes with the small side bowl of dipping sauce (sort of orange colored). One thing I liked here was they offer REAL chopsticks, right there at the table! None of those cheap wooden splinter filled things most places have. All the hot sauces and soy condiments are on the table as well.
As I start poking around in the bowl with chopsticks, I notice the pork look like a healthy portion, but it’s all laid out in almost a single layer, so the amount of meat is not that generous. At least compared to other phở joints in town like that new one Kietzke. Upon placing some of the pork in my mouth, I’m not getting much of the flame broiling flavor at all. The pieces are cut pretty small and seem more dry tasting than other places I’ve been. It’s mostly missing that charbroiled goodness I was looking for. The egg rolls were hot and OK. Under all of the good looking stuff on top, digging down reveals much lettuce and bean sprouts taking up half the bowl below, with the other half fill with rice noodles. I was hoping for more rice noodles and less lettuce (iceberg). OK, I’m here I’m gonna munch away anyways. I’ll have to say, this wasn’t one of the better versions of this common dish. For some reason, I ate what I could, but wasn’t really fill at the end. I don’t know what the Chinese food here would be like, but I most likely won’t return for the Vietnamese food. For the same price, there are so many other options for this dish in town that taste better. Sorry to have to say that, but that’s how it is.

It was not busy. About 2 weeks ago spring rolls specifically brought us to this location. The spring rolls had way to much lettuce in them. They were giant and lumpy, They didn’t taste very good either. Next they forgot about us or took a very long time to bring us the rest of our food. I sat there, dwelling on the not so good spring rolls, looking at the dirty dishes around the dinning room for at least 20 minutes. Finally they brought us our food with our check in the same transaction.
I usually enjoy when someone shares their knowledge with me. But the lady who took our order at the cash register was arguing about what kind of sauce we wanted and didn’t really care what I was actually asking for. I prefer to drive a little far for a much different experience. But maybe it was just a bad day?

Phở Noodle is definitely unique… they’re a Phở Restaurant with «American» Chinese food and donuts in the front!
Seeing as how I work right next door in the mornings… the donuts are hard to beat! And they’re actually very good! $ 6 for six donuts… When the girls and I are having a rough day, a pack of chocolate donuts is our go-​to, a quick fix.
Then there is lunch. They offer a 7.25 $ lunch special which included your choice of an entrée, fried rice, two cream cheese wontons, and either egg drop soup or hot and sour. I opted for Kung Pao Shrimp, and egg drop soup. The shrimp was easily the best Kung Pao shrimp I’ve had. Not to spicy, big shrimp and whole peanuts with the veggies were so good! The rice wasn’t greasy or over cooked, the wontons were a filler but pretty tasty anyway, and the soup was awesome!
I’d have to say from the reviews on their Phở that maybe they have an identity crisis… they’re a quirky donut shop turning out great American style Chinese food trying to stay with the times by offering Phở? I don’t have all the answers people! I just know their lunch special was AWESOME… And their donuts are always awesome!

I like their Potstickers, but I don’t think they practice safe food handling as I get sick more often than not after eating here. My coworker also complained of being sick after eating here. I won’t be going back.

My first Phở experience and I loved it. Been here twice, and enjoyed both the phở and the lemon grass chicken and rice. Would I come here for a date night? Probably not but I can see popping in here during the day for a nice hot bowl of phở… especially when it get colder out side.
Once meal we did order to go and I was a bit disappointment on how they just threw the food in there. I give them a C– for that. But the food was delicious.

stopped here for some soup. It was average in flavor but I liked that it seemed to have more meat than other places. Nice donut selection. My Vietnamese iced coffee arrived after the food but it was tasty. I would eat here again out of convenience but would prefer 777 phở

This place changed ownership. Those who had a bad experience give them 1 more try.

Donuts and Phở at the same place? Yes please! It’s such an odd combination, but I was happy with both my donut and my Phở. We ordered take out. I ordered the #20 and my husband order the #1. While we waited for our food we each ate a glazed donut. The donuts were probably from the morning, but they were still soft and tasty! We didn’t wait very long for our order, which was nice. They give you a lot of food for the price. We were pleased with everything and will definitely go back for take out again.

Based on a called in, take-​out order. Took us a while to decide to try this place out. It is also a donut shop! Really enjoyed the food! Ordered the fresh spring rolls! Very fresh indeed and the peanut sauce was delish — not runny like some other places. Also had the #9 phở ga. Very good — chicken breast was moist, tender, and not grizzly. My sister ordered the #3 phở tai filet. She said the meat was nice cuts without the grizzle and enjoyed it! We will order take-​out again from here!

This place sells donuts and vietnamese and chinese food. Definitely diversified. Service was quick and friendly. My phở was tasty and I definitely had plenty to eat. I was disappointed in how fatty the beef was. My egg rolls were okay. The sweet and sour sauce looked so completely bright pink that I was afraid to eat it. Overall, it was a positive experience, but I wouldn’t be in a rush to retun, unless maybe it was for a donut. I didn’t eat any, but they looked yummy.

Delicious food! Don’t really understand the poor reviews. I tried the house fried rice and the quality was nice.

Hmmm. not sure what to think. I’ve never had phở, so nothing to compare it to. It wasn’t bad. It was better than I thought but wasn’t sure how to prepare it. Guess I’ll have to try some others and update later.

I love this place. I come once a week and always get the number 14 and pot stickers. The pot stickers I get fried. They are crispy on one side and chewy on the other. I really like it. The dipping sauce they come with is great, and I always add siracha which makes it even better.
The 14 is Vietnamese noodles topped with pork, bean sprouts lettuce and cucumber. I always pick off half the lettuce abd bean sprouts because I’m not a fan. It comes with this light colored sauce that I pour over the whole thing. The sauce really makes the dish. Its topped with an egg roll. The egg roll is crispy and different from regular egg roles. Still good though.
The service is prompt, but today when I came in they were busy and it took the food longer to come out. The staff is always friendly.
I have only tried the 14 beacause I fell in love with it. So come, try the 14, and be patient. It will be woRth it.

I work close, so I come for lunch a few times a month. They always remember what I order and are real friendly. The food is good and keeps me coming back

My boyfriend and I were shopping for décor furnitures and got hungry and came to this phở place and first impression was: it’s a small compact restaurant. We both ordered a number one large phở bowl because we thought the large is like every phở restaurants: big bowl of soup with little noodles and beef. When our food came out, the bowl was true to size. There were more noodles and beef in the bowl compared to any other phở restaurants we’ve been to (includes golden flower, asian noodle, etc.) and the soup flavor was okay.
While we were eating, a customer right next to our table had a complaint. He supposedly found something in his com thit nuong. He didn’t have to pay for his meal. His complaint made us aware of what can possibly be in our food. So we were eating and then my boyfriend found a blotch-​like thing with a whole bunch of black hair on it. It was disgusting and we both lost our appetite. We only had to pay for one phở bowl and left.

Went for Phở, not donuts this time. The noodle soup was good. I was less than impressed with my barely warm broiled pork/​vermicelli dish and I’ve had better egg rolls out of the frozen section at the grocery store.
Phở would get 2 stars, Donuts 3. Can’t give a 2 ½. Just stick to donuts or soup when you go. Service was effecient and friendly. They also had fresh lemonade.

So, the Donut Bistro serves Asian food in addition to a standard line-​up of American fried dough items. Can good phở & doughnuts co-​exist? The answer is still unknown to me, because the phở at this place is possibly the worst I’ve had in Reno. The broth had none of the yummy flavors present in a good bowl of Phở Dac Biet, and the aroma was less than appetizing. Think bland dishwater.
Still, I’m keen to try most things, so after sipping the broth as-​is, I doctored the anemic bowl with hoisin, soy, sriracha, etc. and dove in. Very little meat was included, and what was present had little to no flavor. The most plentiful item other than noodles was the quartered meat balls, which were gumball chewy. Seriously, I’ve had overcooked squid that was easier to chew.
In an effort to give these folks a proper evaluation, I thought I’d try the spring rolls in addition to that sad bowl of disappointment. The rolls were actually fine, if not amazing, but the peanut sauce was ICK. A good peanut sauce for spring rolls is usually served either warmed up (just shy of hot) or at room temperature, but this joint served it up ICE cold. Plus, it was clearly just peanut butter that had been thinned out with who knows what, and there was absolutely no other flavor than Creamy Jif going on.
The one positive thing I can say is the service was very prompt and friendly. The service was so good, it makes me really sad to give them a negative review. But honestly, I wouldn’t eat here again even if it was free.
The menu includes a bunch of typical Chinese-​American fare, but I won’t be back to find out what it’s like. I thought about trying a doughnut on my way out, but frankly, my appetite had already been slaughtered by lunch. One can only hope the baked goods at the Donut Bistro/​Phở Noodle are better than the phở.
Eat here only if every other phở place closes and you’ve been the victim of a freak accident that rendered your sense of taste and smell non-​functional.

oooh! A Phở place close to home! Maybe we wont have to go all the way across town to Golden Flower or SK Noodle for tasty Phở?! Uh no. Not here. It was too bland. Missing that flavor layer that I expect from my beef phở. Also, interesting that they serve a different cut of meat than I am used to. It said «Filet Mignon» but it seemed more along the lines of the beef and broccoli beef. Oh well. In a pinch this place will do. I did like my daughters «americanized» sweet and sour chicken. My wife got the noodle bowl and it seemed tasty enough.
We probably wont be going back with all of the other choices in the area for Chinese. However… I may find myself walking here for Phở some evening seeing that it’s within 2 miles of the house. And they actually put cucumber in the rice noodle dish!

Stopped in here on Tuesday, after hearing that Donut Bistro was now serving phở.
The day before, my co-​worker and I had driven past here on South Meadows, and saw the street side banner advertising Phở Noodle, and were wondering where they were serving Phở — definitely would not have guessed it was in Donut Bistro, but Tuesday morning, a co-​worker brought donuts in to the office, and the menu for the phở, so we went and checked it out.
Bit of a contrast when you come in — the counter area looks like a standard donut place — a refrigerated display case, coffee making equipment, and a counter to order from. The other ²⁄₃ of the front of the house is standard Chinese restaurant seating — used, worn wood chairs with that dark red lacquered finish, with a standard mix of booths, two tops, and four tops.
I had the bun bo hue — which surprisingly comes in a small and a large — I had a small for 7 or 8 bucks. Lemon grass wasn’t too prominent in the broth, but it did include Vietnamese sausage, blood cubes, and beef — no pig knuckle though, and was definitely a very mild broth.
I think this is probably the worst BBH I’ve had in Reno, but it’s still okay.
It’s less than a mile from the office, and definitely is a nice new option to have.
I’m curious to try some of their Chinese options to see how they are — in any case, a nice addition to the restaurants in that part of town, and should mix up my lunch choices a bit.