Pho Y #1

This phở place is pretty good! It’s kind of like a hole in the wall… The interior isn’t too nice but who cares! The phở is good, pretty clean, and the service is good. I usually order the number 1 which is the special on the menu.

I am so happy to be in San Jose! I can’t explain how grateful I am to be back in the city. As a San Diego native surrounded by delicious Asian foods, it has been extremely difficult to live in a place where Asian food is not good. I was skeptical to find a good phở place in San Jose, especially since my main phở place is in San Diego.
My boyfriend and I decided to give this place a try after craving phở on this cold winter day. It was a Tuesday and the place was actually busy. Busy is a good sign because it usually means the restaurant is good. We were seated immediately after walking in the door. They have a wide variety of phở selections — different types of meats — but we did not see ox tail on the menu. We both ordered the #1, which was delivered to us in less than 10 minutes. The phở smelt great. The broth was authentic, definitely no msg was involved. And the meat was fresh. However, the sight of what was in my phở bowl was slightly saddening. The portion of the phở noodles and meat was very little. Considering it was on the higher cost. My small was more like an extra small and my boyfriends large was more like a medium. I guess I am used to the big portions, but for cheaper in San Diego. Regardless of the portion size, the phở was good. Better than a lot of phở places I’ve had before. Oh, and this place does not have sate, the red pepper chilli with oil.
The service here isn’t great, but that’s to be expected of. At least they took our order quickly after being seated and the staff was pretty nice too. Don’t forget, this place only excepts cash.
I will be back for phở. But I am hoping the portion size increases!

I actually really like the phở here. they only have phở but I guess that’s a good thing because they specialize in phở. I’m a tiny girl so I’m not the type to eat a big portion; however, every time I come here I’d finish my phở. that means the portion is reallyyyyy small. a little too small. But with the cheap price I guess that’s fair.

Their phở is the best in San Jose area.
Interior is boring but I don’t care about interior in Vietnamese restaurant.
Always order rare steak phở which is my favorite.
noodle and soup is so delicious.
Love this place

This is my all time favorite phở place to go to. There are two bowls that I usually order which is Tai Nam Bo Vien or Ga Bo Vien.
I have been coming here for the past 15 years with my parents and this was the first restaurant I ever ate at when I first came to America. After church, I would drive my parents to eat phở because I have to get my phở in least once a week. They do not disappoint because the soup is very flavorful and it is worth the trip. They put in a good amount of both the noodles, meat, and broth. Their chicken meat beats any other places because there isn’t bones attached to it. For me, I’m not a fan of eating things that have too many bones in them.
Even if you don’t like soup, I believe you will be satisfied and maybe it could change your opinion on soup in general! They get a lot of customers throughout the day even if its hot or cold. Their service is very quick which I like and they are nice!
Of all the other places that I have tried, this place always beats it and I highly HIGHLY recommend anyone visiting the bay area to try them out!

Phở is phở, so I don’t think I have to go about describing what everything is on the menu is like. But if your 78 year old grandmother who lived mostly in Vietnam says this is THE phở place to go to in San Jose, then you know it’s 5 star quality.

It was 8:30 at night and we were coming home from Solvang… it was late and we were hungry for some vietnamese food. My sister Unilocal’ed and found THIS place.
We went in and had to put our names since there was a wait AND the place was pretty huge… so I am thinking that it’s pretty good if they are packed with a waiting list.
They only serve PHO NOODLES… No rice, no nothing, only soup. So if you’re looking for other options… there aren’t any. But there are beverages. Ah, if you drink tea, make sure your cup is clean, there were a few specks of stuff in the cup. EHHH.
I ordered a regular size beef ball and i enjoyed it and it was very good. It was the right portion, I wasn’t overly stuffed afterwards either. My dad ordered a large beef special and he said he enjoyed it and it was good as well.
Mom ordered a plain chicken phở soup and it was just ok. ehhh. it could be better!
I would come back if I am in the area and craving for phở soupy only & have cash.
CASH ONLY!!!

This is one of the best phở I have ever had ! This phở place opened long time ago, and it was still pretty crowded when I get there at 8 pm.
One thing that I love about the phở is that it is not oily. When it was put down in from of me by the waiter, I did not see a thick layer of oil which I usually do when I eat at some other phở places.
However, I take down a star because of the service. Every time I wave at them, they just look too pissed. But oh well, I’m here to enjoy a quick dinner. Other than this, I will definitely recommend this to my friends if they come to San Jose for some quick meal!

This was recommended to us by my bf’s co-​worker since we are pretty clueless to good phở in the SJ area. Came here on a Saturday at lunch time so the place was packed but the wait time was very short. People usually eat and leave, not many hang out and chill. Ordered the special, which has everything and I think is an LARGE. The broth was great, the meat was fresh and tasty and the noodles were done just right. I would have loved to try some drinks but we didn’t know it was CASH ONLY and only have enough for 2 bowls and tip.

Love this Phở place. id pick this place over Jazen Tea allllll day.
They only accept cash though so keep in mind but i guarantee you, its worth the drive to the ATM.
They don’t have rice plates and stuff but thats totally fine. bc it beats the purpose of it being a number 1 phở place anyway right? hahaha. told my parents and my sister about this place and now they bring people to eat there with. the greatness continues.

Cheap, fast, filling, and most importantly, deee-​Licious! — the epitome of great East Side Viet food. I have no complaints for places like this that only intend to serve great food. The ambiance is nothing special, but that’s not the point here. It’s a larger place, so you and your party will usually get seated immediately. I feel like the staff has always been pretty friendly to me. And another plus — the restaurant opens as early as 9AM! Is that unusual here in California? If it isn’t, then y’all are so lucky for these places… I had a craving for breakfast phở one day, and whaddaya know, I didn’t have to wait till lunch time to eat it! Hallelujah. Love you Phở Y, don’t ever change.

I love this place!
Phở here is the best I have had. I recently came back here to eat after trying out different phở places, but no other places could beat this one. The broth here is just deliciously fatty and beefy. It hits the spot every single time!
Portion is just right.
Service is nice and fast.
Interior decors can be a little outdated, but who cares. In the words of Andrew Zimmerman, «if it [tastes] good, eat it!»

#1 Phở!
Down home good olé phở, can’t go wrong with that. We had that early morning phở craving everyone gets and had to get some. My girlfriend told me about this little spot and sure enough they had amazing PHO, reasonably priced, good portions, and perfect for colder days and being sick! Get the phở special, when you can’t decide on one just go with the everything special! My PHOvirite place in East San Jose!

Im usually not a big fan of phở besides my moms. I was feeling slightly under the weather and oddly was craving phở. Bowl came out piping hot, w/​CLEAR broth. I love places that have clear broth. A LOT of meat I must say. They don’t jip you w/​meat. Broth didn’t taste like they used a lot of flavoring to «falsely» give it a phở taste. Decently crowded place w/​many families and singles eating!

This is my go to phở spot in San Jose. I’ve yet to find a phở place that’s better than Phở Y #1. After being disappointed at numerous other phở places in San Jose, I always stick to Phở Y #1. I’m wholeheartedly devoted to this place. It always hits the spot when I’m craving phở and is the best hangover cure!
This place has gotten more popular over the last 2 years and now on weekends there’s a line out the door. You never have to wait more than 15 minutes for a table though since service is pretty fast. Some of the waiters don’t speak English very well, but in that case, they will call over another waiter for you.
I always order a small #4 with fresh noodles. Ever since my Vietnamese friend introduced me to fresh noodles, I’ve never gone back to the regular thin noodles. Fresh noodles are the wide rice noodles and they are really good in phở.
The broth here is very flavorful and they put a generous portion of meat in your phở. The thai ice tea here is good too, but I would recommend skipping the pearls.
All in all, this is one of the best phở joints in San Jose! So deserving of the hype!

Despite the fact SF has more than its fair share of Vietnamese restaurants, nearly all of them pale in comparison to what you can find in San Jose. What’s more, as a whole, the difference is pretty significant, even with something as plentiful as phở. San Jose just has it so much better!
The first time I came here, it was purely by chance — my friends and I had just finished our round at Los Lagos across the freeway and Phở Y #1 was perfect for a quite, hassle-​free lunch. The second time? It wasn’t our explicit destination after our drive from SF, but it was one of two contenders for lunch.
Obviously the name is a hint, but as you look over the menu, it doesn’t take long to realize that Phở Y #1 is all about the phở. Literally. Not only is there nothing else on the menu (save for drinks), but the entire back page is devoted to an algorithm of how to make and enjoy phở (
),
As (relatively) limited as the menu might be (no imperial rolls?!), it’s nice how you can choose any mix of goodies you’d like in your bowl. Or, in my case, my favorite combo — a large (#1) TAI, NAM, GAU, GAN — Eye of Round Steak, Well-​done Flank, Fat Brisket, and Soft Tendon with Beef Balls added ($ 7.85 + $ 0.85). Not only was the portion sizable (especially for the price), but it was quite tasty too. The noodles were cooked perfectly and there was plenty of goodies. However, the broth was the star — rich and flavorful, yet not too salty or oily (
).
While I’m obviously a fan of the food here, I will say that the phở didn’t seem as amazing the second time around. I’m not sure which of my experiences is more indicative of how the food usually is, but it seems like the second might be (four stars) if the other reviews here are any indication. Then again, there is a lot of praise on here too. So maybe the first (five stars)? I guess a third trip might be in order…
FOUR AND A HALF STARS rounded down… for now.
CASH ONLY.

3.5 STARS for above average phở. Around 6ish for a small (it’s pretty tiny) and 7ish for a large. The broth was nice and salty, the bean sprouts and basil fresh, but the toppings were stingy.
I agree with my local SJ friends who say Phở Y #1 is pretty good but overrated.