Pho Y # 1 Beef Noodle House

3.5 rounded up.
Beef was excellent. Tender and of good to decent quality. Lean with just enough fat to keep it from getting all chewy.
Noodle quantity on a takeout order didn’t look like much until everything’s been dumped into a big bowl. It’s plenty much.
Broth has a strange but not entirely unpleasant fishy taste to it. I don’t know if it’s fish sauce or something else they used. Whatever it is was pretty good, but I’m not sure if I would feel like it the next time.

Tried this place on a whim because we were in the area and Unilocal ratings were pretty good. It is pretty good. quality of food is quite good and fresh. meet in the phở is lean and not fatty. broth was «clean» (e.g. not oily)
spring rolls were quite good.
definitely would return to this place if in the area.

This has been my favorite phở place for over a year. My coworkers and I visit this place on the regular. But recently I was disappointed with the shrinking portion sizes and increasingly unfriendly staff. I felt as if I was inconveniencing them by being there. The phở is still very good (4 stars), but please bring back the normal portion sizes… And smile a little :)

Disappointed. I usually go here whenever I visit my grandma who lives pretty close. This place is quite hidden since it is in a commercial area, surrounded by a lot of companies. The food/​service is what you expect from a phở store in SJ, but the portions is what through me off. First off, the prices are a bit steeper than what I am used to ($ 8+/regular, $ 9+/large). But more importantly the portions are so tiny. I ordered a large, and I felt gypped since the amount was less than a regular size. Even worst off, the regular was tiny (half what should be there). I don’t know there reason for giving so little since I’ve been here several times before, but definitely will not be coming back in the future.

I come here cause it up the street from my place. The only thing I ever order here is the Phở, The well-​done brisket and thin sliced steak it decent. I’ve never tried anything else. Most of the time I come here it during the lunch hour, soon as you walk in you’re seated, once you’re seated their there to take your order and your order out and on your table in less then 5 min, once you done you walk up to register tell them your table number Pay and your out the door kind of like a fast food place :)

I don’t know what has been happening to this place, as of late, but it is no longer crave worthy.
The new young waiter is just horrendous and thought would improve by now. Nope. Still jumbling around.
The quality of the broth has gone down and tastes watered down. So disappointed at this location. And, I don’t want to drive all the way to Capitol to eat at their OG location. Will go to KL from now on.

Pretty good phở! A little light on the condiments and such, but I didn’t try to request more. Service was fast and friendly! A nice find off the beaten path. It probably does very well at lunch since its in the middle of a business park area.

Like Phở 1 on Capital expressway this location has a pretty basic menu as Vietnamese food and Phở go yet fresh, great clean food with limited fat in the otherwise thicker dark broth. It’s bigger than the other restaurant mentioned and a bit more cozy somehow. The service is efficient and fast and the food consistant. It’s busy and of course filled with Vietnamese patrons, (always a good sign) and fair price point value. When I’m in this area this would be my choice. The raw meat is clean and fresh as is the condimental vegetables. I’m sure this place is health department approved! A huge plus for an Asian restaurant! Go!

Phở Y?! Damn this place is bomb diggitty! I usually get a large special with extra tendon, and a pearl tea. Spring rolls are also a good addition if you’re hella hungry. Very close to my apartment, in a nice chill, laid back, business type of area. People there are very nice that work there. Haven’t had any other problems with any other people there

PRICE
Food was quite cheap. Their smoothies are a bit on the high side.
SERVICE
They were quite quick at taking our orders and food came out quite promptly. They even brought us water on top of any beverages we ordered without asking which is nice. However a few staff members had a hard time understanding is when asking for a to go container but overall not an issue.
FOOD
We ordered a rice dish, a large bowl of Phở, and some smoothies. The food tasted good but the portions were a bit small. Overall I felt I had to order more to even feel content.
ATMOSPHERE
The place was decent size so there was plenty of room and we didn’t have to wait to get a table. It was a hot day and it was nice they had AC. It was relatively clean.
OVERALL
To be honest I would have ranked this four stars had the food portion been a bit more relative to most Phở restaurants you would eat at but there really isn’t much you can complain about otherwise.

There was nothing wrong with my phở, but it probably took like 15 minutes for our food to come out… It’s a weekend afternoon and it wasn’t even rushed. That’s probably the slowest I’ve ever seen phở come out.
My mom also ordered veggie phở… which may have added to the delay, but vietnamese restaurants usually bring food out as it’s ready, not waiting for everything to be done.
Brother got the banh cuon which was pretty good. Usually we never order banh cuon at any restaurant… but this was surprisingly decent.
My grandma got a bun thit nuong cha goi tom. it was like 90% noodles. even after she dumped half her noodles into another plate, there was still a bunch of noodles and no meats/​vegetables. Disappointment :(.

Loved their combo noodle with extra beef ball and tendon. Ban xeo was nice and spring roll was really good!!!

REAL quality!
Broth is very clean and the meat is filled with taste! Get the #1 with everything in it to enjoy this place. I respect the freshness, cleanliness (like you should feel from real Phở), and traditional approach. No fillers or bullcrap.
Service is welcoming, talkative, and phenomenal.

If you want delicious phở without the ridiculous wait or the rushed service (cough, Phở Kim Long, cough), head on over to Phở Y #1 Beef Noodle House. I’ve actually dined at the one at E. Capital Expressway before, so I was surprised to find one that’s even closer to me!
The restaurant is huge, but possibly because of location, not filled with a lot of people. But I’m not complaining! :) The menu features a bunch of phở dishes. Sorry guys, they don’t have other Vietnamese noodles or soup dishes here!
With tip and tax, each bowl comes out to be around $ 10. Portions are huge and the phở broth is delicious.

Phở Y delivers. Not in the, «bring my food to me so I can eat without moving» kind of delivers, but delivers in the sense of providing great food at a reasonable price, and in a quick fashion.
I’ve had a number of their dishes, but I dig the broth on their phở, and their Vietnamese Coffee is properly done and strong like ox. I come here for lunch all the time, and they get your food to you quickly, keep your water glass filled, and don’t bug you. Everything I want in a lunch meal.
4 Stars

My Co-​worker told me to try Phở Y in san jose! so we drove there this evening after work… but for some reason the Phở Y in central express way was closed, so I looked on Unilocal and this place showed up as a sister phở restaurant.
Hands down! BOMB​.COM!!! we finally found our phở place!!! we tried a couple of phở restaurants is sunnyvale and mountain view, but most of them had a cinnamon/​ginger taste to it…
The broth and meat was spectacular! it did not have the weird cinnamon taste that most of the phos have in sunnyvale and mountain view have. which I personally am not a big fan of. I like the more southern phở style in which this place made perfectly! I would drive to san jose to eat at phở Y any day!
Now when my vietnamese friends visit us from Denver I can take them to phở Y!
I owe my co-​worker a big thank you when I see her at work!!!

Oops I didn’t finish this review!
OK OK sooo I was surprised to see a phở y around this area. And I should’ve known. the boyfriend loooooves his phở you so when he heard about this place. we HAD to try it. At first I was like oh sure since they have vegetarian phở.
Soo I end up ordering the vegetarian phở which tastes like they put veggies in it and add a Lil salt. With some phở noodles. It was somewhat bland. then gets salty when you keep on eating it.
The bf ordered the usual dac biet phở. it tasted different from the one on capitol. but it does look the same.

The quality is just average here. I’ve been here before and had better. So 3 stars for the inconsistency.
On top of that, the amount of beef they put in the bowl for a large is on the skimpy side. I wish these places weight the meat they put in to make sure each bowl is consistent. Are they reducing beef quantity due to the increase in beef prices? I feel there’s a bit of that a work here and the worst way to lose customers.

TL;dr — The $ 0.75 fresh noodle option in the phở is worth it. Broth is flavorful, but has some MSG
The Goi Cuon have an unexpected crunch from a tube of fried egg-​roll wrapper typically seen in Nem Nuong Cuon.
— — — — — — —
This is the 2^nd location of Phở Y #1 after the original on E. Capital Expressway and with ~900 reviews between them, you’ve got to think they’re doing something right. It was pretty dead when I was there, but it was Monday night and they are in a strip mall in an office park type area so presumably are getting good lunch traffic. They are on the corner of the building so have good light from two sides.
As their name suggests, Phở is the main item here and is over half the menu with about 18 beef options plus a Phở Ga, Seafood and Vegetarian options along one with no meat (

). Handful of appetizers, rice plates, and one Bun item round out the offerings (

)
Fresh noodles or egg noodles are extra price options for the phở (
). Regular is a reasonable $ 6.35 and Large $ 7.35. Take-​out phở is $ 7.85 (
) and the Dac Biet is $ 8.50 (
)
I got the Goi Cuon (summer rolls) and Regular #3 (tai, chin gau, gan) with steak on the side (+$ 0.35) and fresh noodles (+$ 0.75)
The bowl is topped with green and white onions (
) and has a typical condiment plate of basil, sprouts, jalapeño, and lemon wedge (
).
Beefy broth and some msg (cotton tongue) and silky, fresh noodles (
). Five small slices of rare steak, but plenty of the cooked meats. Fatty brisket (gau) made me feel guilty and the tendon was melt in your mouth tender (
)
The Goi Cuon come with a peanut based dipping sauce with crushed peanuts and a squiggle of hot sauce on top (
) Unique to me, they have a crunchy tube of fried eggroll wrapper (
) which I’ve only seen before in Nem Nuong Cuon, which added an unexpected textural treat.

I’ve actually been to the Capitol Expressway location of Phở Y1 countless times. It’s my pick for the best Southern-​style Vietnamese phở that is the predominant phở type in the United States. Phở Y1’s version is always marked by consistent broth, great quality beef, and nicely cooked noodles.
While Phở Y1 has never been my #1 pick in the Bay Area, it’s always been among the top. I guess I’m more partial to the less commonly seen Northern Vietnamese style of phở that features such novelties as wide noodles, oxtail, filet mignon, or minced flank steak and ginger tinged broth of the now closed Phở Ha Noi.
This was my first visit to this Concourse location, but as I was visiting the new location of Tai Kee, it seemed like I could get two birds with one stone. I couldn’t help but notice that the spelling is different between the two locations (Phở Y1 vs. Phở Y # 1) but multiple people have seemed to confirm they’re two branches of the same family.
Despite comments about the nicer interior of this Concourse location, I found it largely the same as the Capitol Expressway spot. Plain and functional but clean with multiple tables and simple chairs throughout.
Service is quick and my order was ready quickly.
Phở Y # 1 special — large only. I ordered it with beef on the side and the slices were only partially thawed, perhaps a reflection of the lower volume here compared to Capitol Expressway. Broth was hot but noticeably darker and a touch saltier than I remember from my visits at their other location. (Compared my photos of the two location’s broths and this one is definitely darker) If I had to guess I’d say there was more fish sauce in this broth. Noodles and beef toppings were fine with the high quality tender tendon reminding me most of the other Phở Y1.
Overall, I’d say I had a decent bowl of phở here. It’s definitely not as good as the Capitol Expressway location and the broth was the biggest difference. Whereas the broth at Phở Y1 is one of the few I consistently drink to the last drop, I didn’t find the flavor and savoriness the same here. That’s too bad as I was hoping I’d have two compelling reasons to head this way with Tai Kee Won Ton.
Phở Y # 1, unlike its sister restaurant, accepts credit cards, including American Express via Square.