Pho Citi

For a Vietnamese restaurant that is on Santa Monica Blvd. in WeHo and open 24hrs, the Vietnamese food is decent. The décor is really dark inside with its dim lighting, as though they either wanted to save electricity or extend the club ambiance into this restaurant. I think it is a great place for sobering up after a night of partying.
I ordered Phở Tai and 2 Egg Rolls. The Egg Rolls were a little over fried, but nevertheless decent. The test of a good Phở is really the broth. I thought the broth tasted pretty good along with the noodles and slices of beef.
Unfortunately, if you want to use the restroom, you have to go through the kitchen. Trust me, this is not cool. Whoever conceived the layout of this restaurant should not be designing. Why would someone conceivably go through a kitchen to use the unisex single stall bathroom? If multiple people needed to use the restroom, they conceivably would have to wait in the kitchen? Awkward.
At least I got to see how they made the Phở broth and it looks quite fresh to me as it is brooding in a very large vat.

Vanillin is the main ingredient.
Vietnamese castrated and on public display in West Hollywood for your consumption.

Sorry, but I had good phở with really bad service, but at least the food was good on Phở #1 in Encino. but here they charged me $ 4.00 to add 3 pieces of Tofu, and they forgot the dish for one of my daughters
The manager, said I can not do anything about the charges, plus forgetting one of the dishes of the order and they still charged me when I told them I didn’t wanted any more… How about «sorry?»
Never going back there again… they are lucky I had my to small kids with me, since I did not wanted to cause a scene

Yeah, ok its not the cleanest, buuuuuut it is one of the better tasting Phở Citis around in LA. I guess another flaw about this Phở Citi is that its in WeHo where there no parking on the weekends practically. But Keep in mind this place is excellent for sobering up. It’s open late and its not always crowded. My recommendation is trying the regular Tai Phở, in a super bowl size. Last time I went the service was pretty fair.
Phở Citi is exceptional to go to for a late night craving after a long night of excessive drinking partying and dancing your ass off.

Pretty darn good after a long night in Weho. I don’t exactly remember what I got here, or that I was even here. I just remember being here and sitting by the window and pointing at people walking along the street.
The set up of this place is pretty casual. Walk in, order at the counter. Pay. Find a table. And wait for the food. It’s brought to you. Nice place to go after a bar or dance club. I think I got the spring rolls. And I’m pretty sure I enjoyed them. Either way, this is a decent place. The bathroom was pretty strange. It’s in the kitchen and it smelled like bleach. That’s good right? At least it’s chemically clean.

Granted that I went here after the bars and I got the fried rice rather than the phở, but I thoroughly enjoyed my Tofu Fried Rice ($ 6.45)! The waiter was nice to my friend and I when we had to leave early and we asked him to pack our food to go. My experience was short but I wasn’t turned off by anything. I even managed to sneak in a picture of the fried rice in my slightly buzzed state! I’m pretty proud of myself! ;)
For vegetarians /​vegans, the veggie dishes are mainly tofu and vegetable dishes but hey, it’s better than no veggie dishes!

MEHHHHHH. Only Phở option in the area so what the hell. It’s West Hollywood, I don’t think many Vietnamese people live here so it’s not that authentic.
It’s always dark in here for some reason, they like don’t turn on the lights… Food is decent, just okay. Come here only if you are in dire desire for Vietnamese food but can’t venture out to the San Gabriel Valley or Orange County. It may not satisfy your Vietnamese food craving however, and leave you craving for real Viet food.
People who work here are chill, but sorry brah the phở not good. Vermicelli is okay. Everything is JUST okay.

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY.
I was craving a Banh Mi and against my better judgment I went to Phở Citi which is conveniently located walking distance from my work.
(1) The waitress (Female Asian, working on 7/​28, at 12:45PM) was very rude to the cook and in front of all the customers! I was honestly appalled. And I know it wasn’t just me b/​c customers in line made that «oh, I feel bad for that guy» face because she was yelling at him in front of the customers. AND, from what I could hear, the cook was just telling her that she was writing the orders down incorrectly. The waitress seemed easily frustrated and unfortunately she took it out on the cook.
(2) I was told that my TOGO order would «take 5 minutes». No prob. I figured that was an underestimate and the food would take 10 – 15 and I was ready to wait that long. Nope, the food took 25 minutes. All I ordered was a «Vietnamese sandwich» and vegetarian spring rolls AND they tell me after 20 minutes they are out of spring rolls. If the waitress had better communication with the kitchen staff (i.e., she wasn’t so rude to them), maybe they would’ve informed her sooner that there were no spring rolls. And yes, she did snap at the cook AGAIN this time.
(3) After not getting my full order and waiting for a very long time, when I get back to my office I realize my sandwich was burnt. So basically bad service AND bad food.
I know it’s difficult to work in the service industry, but she honestly shouldn’t have been rude to the cook. Whatever disagreements/​personal problems they might have, they need to keep it AWAY from the dining room floor and AWAY from the customers.
I really hope the owner/​manager reads this and at minimum talks to the waitress about her attitude, but I have a feeling nothing will change. It seems as though this restaurant is a West Hollywood sore.
Oh, and by the way, the waitress had no idea what a banh mi was. I then said the Vietnamese sandwich. She then still asked me what number it was. Really?

NOT even 1 star! They DID NOT EVEN SERVE US! WAITED 1 HOUR… after we ordered our food! They were even out of SHRIMP!
Was out with friends. we decided to have a late dinner @8:30pm, so we ordered our dishes. Noticed when we sat down, that a family with 2 kids ordered before us. they were mad that they havn’t been served yet.
4 different groups ordered after us… after WAITING for 30 mins… STILL NO FOOD…3 of the 4 got their food before us! The family table (STILL WAITING, another table and us asked where our food was… they said it was coming and they said that they messed up with the orders. I said… WELL ITS NOT OUR FAULT AND ANSWER WE WANT TO HEAR!
Finally I went up to the counter and asked for my MONEY BACK at 9:30PM!!!
The female Manager had the nerve to say that the food was finally ready. I said. SORRY LADY… NOT HUNGRY ANYMORE!!! GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK! She was VERY RUDE… at that point I could care less and ignored her.
There were people waiting in line. I was NOT shy to let them know that if they ordered… they would have to wait 1 HOUR for their food-​OUT OF SHRIMP and POOR SERVICE!!!

Food is supposed to be awesome after you’ve been out. This place sucks anytime though. Is the summer roll just iceberg lettuce? Terrible phở.
Don’t even bother.

Really?

Again, this place gets worse by the minute! It was once a decent (2.5 to 3.0) now it’s just disgusting and sad! Surely they will be out of business very soon. We reported our unhappiness to the Manager who was defensive and finally apologetic, after we showed him all the other
Unilocal reviews. He personally remade our food. While his product certainly looked better, the end result was the same. dried up shrimp that was barely unfrozen, a gross tasting mess! McDonald’s would have been much, much cheaper and even tasted better! NEVER AGAIN!

The phở here wasn’t horrible, though it wasn’t near mind blowing either. You walk up to the counter and order and a few minutes later they bring out your order. I went with the beef and brisket combo.
The phở was served with the beef already well cooked in the bowl when it arrived. I’m a fan of the places that bring it on the side and then you have the drop the uncooked cuts in.
The soup was pretty bland in flavor and I needed to add a ton Sriracha and chili to liven it up. I’ve definitely experienced better elsewhere.
Noting the chopsticks, I have to agree with Sam P. — they were pretty weak, literally. These tiny, extra thin, tensile utensils nearly broke in my hand, not mention plenty of splinters from the wood shards that popped up.
Not a horrible option on a cold and rainy night if you need something warm to consume, though if you are hunting for decent phở, skip Phở Citi and head elsewhere.

If you’re ever craving crappy food and crappy service, visit this location and you’ll be served with both to your heart’s content.
After being rudely ushered to the counter at the back to order from the picture menu, I was then ushered to a table to wait for my food which came at a snail’s pace. As soon as it arrived, I literally asked the guy if he was joking. Unfortunately the joke was on me.
After a whiff of the «phở» that was served all four of us got up and left with barely a bite taken. In hindsight, the counter all the way at the back now makes sense; if customers order and pay for their food first, when they receive it and find out how crappy it is they’re free to walk away and we can still get paid, which is exactly what we did.
Next!

I should have know that this placed sucked by how empty it was at lunchtime. Maybe it’s a madhouse late night after the bars close, but I wouldn’t know ’cause I’m not coming back to Phở Citi.
You have to go up to the back cash register and order from a disinterested lady who obviously doesn’t like her job. She’ll give you a number to put on your table so they will bring your food out to you. What is this, Sizzler… Del Taco? Vietnamese food wasn’t meant to be ordered like this. When I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I want to sit down, have a waiter to come to the table, bring me a drink, take my order, and then bring the food. I’ll tell you right now, at such places, I don’t leave a tip, because there was no service to tip. I served myself.
The bored worker-​lady walked by my table three times and asked if everything was alright. She didn’t stop by, she just looked over her shoulder at me as she asked. I said everything was fine the first time, you don’t have to keep asking.
The phở was meh. Nothing special, but not especially bad either. But let me go on about the chop sticks. Phở Citi should go back to the third world shit hole that made those chop sticks and get their pennies back. I felt like I was eating with two wet twigs. They were the cheapest flimsiest chop sticks that I’ve ever used.
And the music in this place. What about lemon grass and fish sauce says gangster rap? Could you change up the Ol’ Dirty Bastard for something more palatable with my meal?
The décor is like Ikea on a budget. If I wanted to eat on plastic furniture, then I’d go to a playhouse. The floor is polished concrete with random paint accents. It makes the gangster rap echo in the place.

**DECENT LATE NIGHT PHO IN WEHO**
Craving carbs, we drove by, saw the sign *PHO* and did an immediate U-​turn.
OF COURSE, this wasn’t the best phở ever, but for what it was. . a 2AM late night phở call, it was DECENT.
LIKES:
*24 hours
*Served within 5 minutes
*Cute gay guys everywhere
*Broth was better than the noodles, but hey, not bad
*Reasonably cheap
*Friendly staff
DISLIKES:
*Noodles were not that great
*Straight guy (s) hitting on me (I know, WTF)
Like I said, it was DECENT.
Not sure if I would return since there were plenty of other late-​night options.

UPDATE: from previous review! Added two stars!
This place turned out great!
It seems like it got off to a rocky start but the phở with everything in it is soooo tasty. Great flavor in the broth.
Plenty of sides for the soup and a friendly staff ready to help.
This place rocks. Great turn around on my second visit.
ENJOY!

«So, did you hear there’s a new, 24-​hour phở-​staurant open in West Holly?»
«Really? Where, exactly?»
«Right next to Millions of Milkshakes.»
«Oh – the parking will probably suck then.»
«Yeah, if you live close by, you can walk, though.»
«Cool. So, what are the prices like?»
«Well, it costs a little more than Absolutely Phobulous, but less than 9021-​Phở. You can go a long way with maybe fifteen bucks.»
«Oh, so it costs a bit more than average, right?»
«Definitely, but the menu is pretty much what you come to expect from places like this — average.»
«Ha – I’ll bet the décor looks like sh**.»
«Mostly, but who goes to phở places for ambiance?
„Not me. Anyway, what’s the service like?“
„Well, you know how the food choices are the same as every other phở joint? Let’s just say the service fits the food.“
„I don’t know what you mean.“
„You know how at some places, you’ll ask for a refill of a soda, and they’ll ask you for, like, fifty cents?“
„Oh, say no more. So it’s like that.“
„Yeah, except they don’t even have a fountain. Only cans. LUKEWARM.“
„Damn. Well, despite all that, you know, it’s so nice to have yet another phở restaurant open in this city — even if they don’t stand out too far from the crowd, the fact that they’re open ²⁴⁄₇ is definitely a point in their favor.“
„Uh-​huh…“
“So, well yeah then. Should we go?»
«No.»
“Why?”
“Because Phở City sucks gigantic, steaming balls.”
«You’re so sexy when you talk that way.»
«You too. Wanna do it on that futon?»
«Honey, we’re still in the store…»
«Okaaaay, senator…»

Their phở is certainly not going to make you pause and gasp at its deliciousness, but it gets the job done. Let’s face it, good phở is hard to find in this part of town.
Absolutely Phobulous on La Cienega is marginally better in my opinion, just FYI.

I was verklemmt when I saw that a phở place was opening two blocks from where I live. When I realized that it was 24 hours, I almost literally cried. Then I started hearing the buzz. Never in my life have I heard such universally negative commentary about a restaurant. When I’d mention to people that I wanted to try it, they were actually passionate about warning me off. «Don’t do it!» «It’s SO bad!» «Don’t say I didn’t warn you!».
So tonight I reminded myself that I’m not the type of person to allow popular opinion to sway me. I don’t necessarily follow the pack. I’m a free thinker. I’m an independent. I’m a gay democrat, dammit, I can make up my own damn mind without listening to the vote.
We went in, admittedly apprehensive. Sat and waited. And waited. Finally the waitress said «Oh, you can go up front and order.» Really? Hmmm. Been in about 100 phở restaurants in my life, that’s a first. Went up to the register, ordered and paid. They were out of Diet Coke but had Coke Zero. Whatever. That’s fine. Then the guy at the register just pointed to the cooler and asked me to get it myself since they were busy. Um. Okay. I grabbed it, went back to my seat, and realized that they’d spilled something on the can and there was NO WAY I was putting my lips on that thing. So I returned it, swapped it out for one of the few clean ones in the cooler.
The food came out before the utensils or sauces. So we waited. FINALLY we had everything. Except that the vegetables/​garnishes that came with the phở were wilted and old. The sauces were in tiny little dishes, not adequate servings. They had the chili sauce in little foil packets like Taco Bell’s fire sauce. Really? Hmm.
Everything was truly as substandard as the other reviews claim. The spring rolls and eggrolls were okay but just like the supermarket versions, as were the pot stickers. Definitely something you could do from your grocer’s freezer. The phở broth was weak, the noodles tough, the chicken I had… I don’t know where to start. Tough and flavorless.
We left unsatisfied and disappointed that everything we read was true. As we walked home we both felt slight stomach upset; maybe in our heads, maybe the somatization of our failed attempts to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe e coli. Hard to say.
Needless to say, there won’t be a next time. Thai Town is 15 minutes away and worth the drive.