Pho Thu

Best Phở in Tucson hands down! Wasn’t a fan of Phở until I tried it here. No competition.

I grew up in SoCal with many Vietnamese friends in an area where phở restaurants are a dime a dozen, so I like to think I know what a good phở is, and I’ve been looking for some good phở since moving to Tucson. This place is (so far) the best phở restaurant I’ve tried here, and I’ve tried quite a few.
The most important part of phở is the broth, and this place knows how to make a tasty broth, although it’s a bit on the oily side. It’s much better than Miss Saigon where the broth is consistently terribly weak in flavor. I ordered the first one under the phở section, which had basically all the meats minus the tripe because I’m not a tripe fan. When my order came I was actually surprised by how much meat was in my bowl. It was amazing. The meat was thick (except for the raw meat that’s supposed to be thin to cook in the broth), cooked well, and very filling. I could actually see and appreciate the tendon in my soup! Other phở places in town give me «barely there» tendon pieces that make me feel cheated. This place gives huge chunks of the stuff! Definitely worth the $ 9 for the regular bowl.
This place also gives you plenty of sides for your phở like bean sprouts, basil, cilantro and jalapeño. I really hate phở joints that skimp out on these essential ingredients, and they give you quite a lot, which was nice.
The only things I wish they would change is giving Thai Basil rather than Italian Basil and limes instead of lemons. Just minor things that wouldn’t affect my decision to come back.
I also ordered spring rolls and thai tea. A couple of my noodles in my spring roll were rather crunchy/​undercooked, but other than that it was good and larger than other places I’ve been to. I really loved that they added the pickled daikon/​carrot to my peanut sauce. I don’t think I’ve ever had it served that way, and I order spring/​summer rolls in every phở joint I go to as an appetizer. Their Thai tea was just your average Thai tea.
The place is quite clean, though a bit hidden away. It was bigger than I thought it’d be from outside. Service is friendly and fast.
This place is now officially my #1 favorite phở place in town!

This place changed ownership a few years ago. The plates got fancier but food got a little more bland and expensive. I used to love this place. The former family that owned this place was very friendly. They knew all the regulars that came in. It was definitely a college staple for many Asian students! Service is still very friendly under new ownership. The food wasn’t bad, just not anything great either. :) I would give it another try in the future.

Having just returned from a trip to Cleveland (likely not know for amazing Phở) but having had delicious veggie Phở my wife and I were beyond disappointed with the quality of the Phở at Phở Thu. The waiter seemed to have no idea that one order had been chicken broth and the other veggie, and they tasted equally mediocre. Forget about the bare bones ambiance, many awesome jewels abound in less than glamorous settings, but the FOOD has to at least be good and this was NOT. The noodles were old, the tofu dumped in a profusion of cubes and barely warm, with a slightly chlorine like taste to the whole affair.
The WORST issue was after dinner when we realized (OK we were VERY hungry and ate quickly) that the soup must have had a small mountain of MSG, we both felt like we were coming down with lock jaw and had terrible persistent headaches throughout the night from what was a shockingly bad restaurant experience. AVOID Phở Thu at all costs!

Fast and friendly service. Food was fresh and well season. We ordered the fresh spring roll it was good and the dipping sauce was great. We also ordered the Phở #9 special and went with the xtra large. Wish they gave more meat but overall good. Price was fairly priced a little more than I’m use to.

I got takeout. The Fried rice was not good. Shrimp was not properly cleaned and one piece was spoiled. I read the health dept reports on the place to see if there were any violations. I was disappointed to see there were violations. I am not too forgiving about these issues. I will never go near the place again.

I was in Tucson visiting for the weekend and my friend wanted some Phở, so he brought me here. The location is… interesting. Hidden amongst other buildings and I thought for sure he was trying to capture me.
Ok, ok, about the restaurant. The restaurant, from what I could tell was very clean, the staff greeted us immediately as we walked in and we ordered our food very quick. The Phở itself was delicious. I ordered the grilled chicken and rice noodles. Chicken was cooked well and tasted great, along with the noodles.
When I’m in Tucson again and craving Phở, this is the place I would go to.

Went there a couple months ago. It has the décor of a standard hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant. No worries. Just stopped by to try the phở, since this restaurant isn’t terribly far from downtown. And I love Vietnamese food more than life itself.
Waitress didn’t speak English. Far from a dealbreaker, but difficult for purposes of asking questions about the menu. The food was good; pretty standard phở. My limeade was mega-​limey and too sweet. Had to add half a glass of ice water to it to make it palatable. At least they used fresh limes!
The loss of stars is from the difficulties paying. A debit card was proffered. We watched the waitress and the proprietor struggle with the cash register tape for a while, and then we watched them attempt to work the credit card machine. Swipe, push buttons, swipe. What I can only imagine was Vietnamese cursing. Five minutes later the waitress came back and, in some kind of universal credit card language, indicated to us that she’d like us to work the credit card machine for her. We didn’t know how. She was looking at us expectantly, and we were wondering how we were going to pay if they couldn’t work the machine. Finally, I remembered that I had cash, so I paid and we left.
A few days later my friend’s card was charged eleventy million times for that meal. Took some work to get the charges removed, as the credit card company wanted proof that the bill was paid with cash. Uhhhh…
Moral: get a receipt if you pay cash? And just go to Miss Saigon.

The food was good. The mouse that came out of the kitchen being chased by a kitchen staff member apologizing profusely was cute. It was sad to see him take his last few breaths. No joke. Real story. Today, 7÷24÷2012 5:30pm.

Used to be quite good, but new owners are cutting corners I believe

The Phở broth was pretty beefy, but rather greasy :(
The coffee was premade prior to bringing to the table and had a really weird flavor to it. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was about it, but something was off.
Here is the worst part though. The food tasted decent though. Actually if it was just about the food I would give this place four stars but here’s the thing.
They charged 2 bucks to put the meat on the side. How absolutely ridiculous is that? It was crazy enough that I asked about it and she pointed to the «meat on the side» line item on the menu. Now I can’t know for sure but that’s typically the line item for getting EXTRA meat on the side, not for getting the standard amount of meat on the side instead of in the soup. And in the WEIRD cases where they do so, they charge for a Phở with No meat and then add the cost of meat on the side, not the whole cost of Phở Tai and then add more…
So…Sorry guys, but I’ll never step foot in here again.

I’ve been to a few Vietnamese stores around Tucson and this is definitely at the top of my list thus far. I came here with a few friends and they got some Phở tai which is Phở with beef, but I was in the mood for a rice place so I ordered com dac biet, which is the special rice plate which includes rice, beef, shrimpcake, and some other things. It tasted pretty good for Arizona standards of Asian food. I enjoyed my plate and it was a decent portion. The service here is also pretty good. This place has a wide variety of Vietnamese food for those who are looking for Asian foods other than rice and chicken or phở.

This place is fantastic. The service is always very friendly, and the food is great (it always comes in big, hearty servings, too).
The décor/​atmosphere is pretty hilariously chintzy, but who cares?
Try the wings! They’re amazing, and very hot!
WARNING, Phở Thu didn’t seem to have any Vegan options.

I have such a typical American palette — nondescript oils, salts, and deep fried meats all taste good to me. So I wonder: is there any hope for me actually figuring out which of the many Vietnamese restaurants in Tucson is the best?
Well, I’ll stake a claim and say this phở is the best in town.
I think it’s the broth. Here, it isn’t just the cheap hot, salty water that vaguely tastes of beef. The salt is dialed back and you can taste some very savory flavors, complemented with herbs that definitely focus on wonderful, anise-​rich basil. Pay attention and I think you’ll notice.
The portions of sprouts, basil, cilantro, hot pepper, and lime are very generous as well.
I can’t speak to how it may have improved since changing management; I just moved to town. As for the décor… well, this is Tucson, which I like to think of as a city version of «The Dude» from The Big Lebowski. A celebration of casualness. This place fits right into that, and I love it!

The atmosphere is a little dinky. The service is friendly, but sometimes spotty.
However, the food is great! They have the best Phở in Tucson (probably the best Phở in Arizona and New Mexico). Their duck dish is amazing!
Seriously, you can’t go wrong eating here.

I know I’m late! But three years ago, my family came here to eat, it wasnt crowded… it took them 1 hr to take out three bowl of phở! 1 HR? usually less than 10 min, if crowded and if it’s crowded 15 min! Phở suppose to be all ready and fast! My mom got so mad she didn’t eat her when it came out. I ate mine, it was nasty and cold. Dad didn’t like his either. My mom is a very calm person but this place made her really pissed off, after she even asked them about the food after 30 minutes and a waitress just say she don’t know and that it’s coming out soon.
To me, where I live, Phở comes out really fast even MISS SAIGON food comes out fast when it’s more crowded than here. They had no reason to be so slow and the food taste bad which made it worst.
So 1 star for them.

Phở Thu closed and the restaurant has been rechristened Phở #1. It’s a hubristic title and not entirely accurate, but the restaurant has improved since its change in ownership. Gone are the holes in the carpet, walls, and booths, though the spare décor and dim florescent lights still make the place feel as cheerless as a small-​town senior center. They were blasting Chopin’s Nocturnes from the sound system, which made the empty dining room soothing, creepy, and awesome, all at once.
In terms of flavor, Phở #1 made a fair impression. Their salad rolls were fresh and didn’t skimp on herbs, but they were stuffed with iceberg lettuce. The fried calamari was unexpectedly good, though the salt content replenished more electrolytes than anyone needed. The phở broth was intensely meaty – it wasn’t subtle, but its character was a nice change from most lighter phở broths. The big bowl of phở came packed with brisket, meatballs, tripe, tendon, and even featured a pile of raw flank steak on the side. That alone pushes Phở #1 above a 3. The tofu soup was similarly bountiful and, in both cases, they were generous with the vermicelli. Their spicy broth with thick rice noodles and beef looked promising on the menu, but turned into an understocked and oily disappointment on the table. Two out of three isn’t bad.
The prices are fair. The staff keeps a fairly low profile, but was friendly and attentive. Service was reasonably fast.
Phở #1 isn’t amazing, but it’s pretty good compared to the mediocre competition.

They have spruced the place up a bit. It is cleaner and new upholstery since last time I was here. I find this place just okay. I usually get the bun which is a good portion and the phở is a very good portion too. Fewer noodles than most places, but the price is cheaper. The broth for the phở is pretty good. I really like the crushed pepper sauce in the little plastic container. It may not be housemade, but it is totally necessary if you like spice. I also love their nuoc cham. It’s the little things.
One thing that interests me is that this place draws in a heavily Hispanic crowd (at least more than most phở places in town). It makes me wonder if this restaurant tailors their flavors to a Hispanic audience in the same way American Chinese restaurants tailor the food to white-​people palates. What would a Mexican-​Vietnamese hybrid taste like? Just something to think about while you are downing your ridiculously large bowl of phở.

The worst phở I ever had (*BUT SEE NOTE BELOW*).
I ordered phở with rare beef and tendon. $ 9. Too expensive! — and it’s not like you’re paying extra for gorgeous location and ambiance, now is it? Large phở is $ 7.25 at Miss Saigon. Tasteless watery broth, like dish water. Beef wasn’t so bad, the non-​gristly part anyway, but there was hardly any of it. Lots and lots of tendon — they must have dumped all the old crap they had lying around in the kitchen into it. I normally like tendon, but this tendon was rubbery and inedible — like trying to eat rubber bands. I also ordered spring rolls because a reviewer below said they were great. They consisted almost entirely of shredded lettuce and rice.
Tucson has some really bad Asian restaurants, and I seem to be running into all of them lately.
July 2011 note:
This place apparently changed ownership and name and judging by the reviews it is much better than it used to be under the former owners — so why not give them a break and give them a new listing under their own name instead of besmirching them with the bad reviews from the past, mine included? I have not been back here since my bad experience at the previous place so i am not making any judgement, but what’s fair is fair.

I am a phở king…
In case you haven’t taken a gander at my photo, I am indeed Asian, Chinese to be precise; not the import kind or fresh off the boat kind, mind you. I am a domestic model, born and bred right here in Tucson. Accordingly, I sometimes consider myself more Mexican than Asian. But seriously people, Asians don’t mess around when it comes to their noodle soups. The Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese all have their own versions of noodle soups, and it’s a staple of their diet.
Phở, in my opinion, is in a class of its own compared to the other dishes of its neighbors. It’s essentially a soup made of a seasoned broth with rice noodles and a choice of meat or meats. It is accompanied with an assortment of garnishes that include lime, bean sprouts, cilantro, basil leaves, and peppers. You can also add hoisin sauce or hot/​chili sauce to sweeten or spice up the broth according to your particular tastes.
Okay, does this make me an expert of all things phở, the phở king, or perhaps a phở king expert? No, but it’s hard to argue that I don’t have a naturally-​born Asian palate since I am one. And I have eaten it plenty of times from places ranging from Los Angeles to Phoenix to Cambodia.
After all of that stupid, useless and personal exposition, let me say this about the phở at Phở Thu: it’s pretty damn good. You can tell that the soup base took an extraordinary amount of time. Just like with chicken stock, a good broth requires serious time to fully extract the flavors of its ingredients. In case of the phở here, you can detect elements of star anise, coriander, ginger and other subtle, but flavorful spices. The whole marriage of ingredients, condiments, spices, and garnishes make for an extremely fulfilling soup. In some ways, I think the phở has medicinal properties, as I always leave seemingly cleansed.
Now as other reviewers have posted, the environment, for a lack of a better word, is pretty ghetto, both outside and inside. I find it kind of odd that the physical address of Phở Thu is listed as North Stone Ave because the entrance faces a residential street; I’m not sure which it is. And when I say residential, that’s misleading in a way because the area feels like an industrial zone. Across the street is a motorcycle dealership, while an auto mechanic conducts business next door.
On the inside, it does feel like the furnishings haven’t been touched since the Carter Administration. And that includes the ginormous 500 pound TV set mounted in the wall. Hey, that’s cool with me as I eat there solo more often than not. All of these otherwise negative observations actually add to, rather than detract from, the overall dining experience at Phở Thu. I always feel a level of genuine comfort when I step in through the doors. More importantly, while the place may be ghetto, it certainly is not a dump. It has always been Spic and Span clean the numerous times I have frequented the joint.
Do yourself a favor, dear reader, and check this place out on lazy Saturday afternoon. Don’t be afraid of the sketchy area or the throngs of Asians inside slurping down their noodles. Sit down in the decrepit looking booth underneath the behemoth, monolithic television set and order a steaming bowl of phở. Your taste buds will be glad you did.
If Mel Brooks was Vietnamese, I think he might say, «It’s good to be the phở king…»