Pho Ben Thanh

Closed! bummer!

With countless Phở restaurants to choose from, Phở Ben Thanh is by far my favorite! The place is clean and has a more modern feel. The staff is friendly. They always refill my water without me having to ask. Everything I have ever eaten here has been delicious!
The one and only time there was a complaint was with my husbands fried rice. It was a bit oily so we sent it back. The chef came out right away and apologized up and down the wall and made a new bowl.
The free ice cream at the end of the meal is a plus! The music selections make me giggle. I love that my husband and I get a friendly hello, welcome, and goodbye every time we visit!

Phở Ben Thanh is on Beach Blvd in the first Asian shopping center north of the 405 freeway. It is tucked in the back corner of the shopping center.
It is a pretty small place just filled with tables and chairs. Looks like they are trying to pack as many people in here as possible. Other than that décor is the usual for these places.
Staff was fine, no issue from me.
When I eat phở, I look for color, taste, oiliness, and saltiness. The phở was pretty good but let me say a lot of these places are melding together. Another thing when I order phở tai (rare beef) is that the meat gets rubbery. Here the meat was still tender. They my have either tenderized it or used a different cut.
The price for 3 people with drinks was about $ 28, so about $ 9 per person. A little higher than usual but within the range.
Overall, using the three little bears analogy. Not the best or the worse but just right.

alright. new update for this place. i haven’t been here for quite awhile… not since… oh crap, not since the lakers were playing in the playoffs. yes i remember that really annoying chick who worked there… claimed to be a lakers fan, but of course, had zero clue about basketball. that is why, i hate lakers fans. because most of you are moronic people who only give two scraps come playoff time, and you still can’t name anyone past the starting lineup. that being said, i think this place changed owners. the phở isn’t as good as i remember it being, theres no more tv, and… NO MORE FREE ICE CREAM! man that blows. i think the prices are slightly more expensive too. i mean the phở was pretty good, not the best. it still hit the spot. service was awesome and its still clean inside. but not the best phở anymore =(

I feel bad for writing this review because the owner was really nice to us. He came over a couple times to ask if everything was alright. We gave him a half smile and reactively answered yes. However, the food was not fine. I ordered the BBQ shrimp rice and, while the presentation was likeable, the sauce lacked the flavor that it should have. The whole time I kept on thinking if only I had my mom’s home-​made sauce this plate would be perfect. The phở broth that my friend ordered was quite salty and … more sour than usual. It was not something I used to where the broth should be light. Probably because it was the end of the day and the broth had been boiled and strained for a long time. Nonetheless, it was not an enjoying experience.

My mom took me here one night, and I keep coming back for more!
Their food is pretty tasty, I was most impressed with the way they presented their appetizers. Even though the place is small, it gives it a modern vibe. Also if you look up, you are able to see two beautiful large circles designing the ceiling.
My absolute favorite part of this restaurant is that it is close to my house, AND they have one very cheery employee that always greets and gives us excellent and friendly service with a smile!

the place is very nice. they had good music playing that reminded me of one of those old school hamburger joints (johnny rockets). i ordered phở ga and my sister ordered fried rice with korean bbq. this is the first place ive been to that actualy serves that and i tried a bit of my sisters food and it was delicous. the phở ga was extremely flavorful and delicous. my waiter was a young boy somewhere in high school (i asked him and he said he was the owners son) and he was extremely friendly and had a nice smile good stuff

Went here last night after attending the Lobster Festival in San Pedro. This was my first time here, only place in the strip mall without a wait. Ordered number 23 which was called Phở Tai Nam Gau, rice noodle soup with rare beef, flank, & brisket for $ 5.50. Was pretty good, wasn’t the best Phở these lips ever touched, but pretty good. My husband ordered the same thing, along side our bowls of soup we both had a bottle of Bud Light. The total for the bill was a little over 17 bucks.

Stopping by Huntington Beach, my friend was craving phở, so we scouted around for a good Vietnamese restaurant nearby. Someone suggested we try Phở Ben Thanh, so we drove over to check it out.
I was a bit leery at first, because the place was nearly empty when we got there. There was only one other couple there, sitting at a table. We sat down, took a quick look at the menu, and ordered our phở, along with some egg rolls and spring rolls.
The spring and egg rolls were very tasty, so I was happy with those. When they brought out the phở, it was okay, but nothing too great about it. The cuts of meat were a bit on the poor side, but the broth and noodles were fine. I was a little disappointed with the basil/​peppers/​lime/​etc. that they bring out with the phở — the basil looked sort of old, and the sprouts weren’t too good either.
Still, for the convenience and speed, along with the free ice cream at the end of the meal (your choice between green tea, strawberry, or vanilla), I give this place 3 stars. It was good enough that although we had it for dinner one night, we returned again for lunch the next day.

I’ve seen this place several times while shopping at the huge grocery store in the same strip mall. I’ve been reluctant to try Phở Ben Thanh simply due to the fact that I’ve never seen anyone inside here every time I’ve walked past it and I keep forgetting to check on here for reviews.
Anyway, so I finally managed to read the reviews and the next time, while grocery shopping, I decided that I was going to grab some lunch here.
Once again, on the day of our visit, there was no one inside. Their menu is rather huge so unless you’re hankering for one thing or another, you might find it really difficult to choose. I ended up ordering the bun rieu simply because I was craving something soupy and the last bun rieu I had was disgusting.
Hubby ordered the com tam (broken rice) with everything on it – except he chose the red rice instead of the broken rice. The good thing here is that they let you choose the type of rice you want regardless of what rice dish you order.
I thought my bun rieu wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the best I’ve had either. The com tam was just so-​so — this definitely wasn’t a place that specialized in the various items which comes with com tam. I’d say, if you were craving com tam, go to the com tam restaurants, don’t have it here.
So for convenience sake I would come back here if I was absolutely famished and couldn’t be bothered to drive somewhere else for food. However, I wouldn’t make a special trip just to eat here. It was just okay.

although they offer a large selection of vietnamese dishes, i had to get the phở. after all, it’s in the name, it’s gotta be good right? not quite. the broth was bland, like they either didn’t cook it long enough or it was watered down. surprisingly, the vegetarian pan fried noodles the bf got were quite tasty. crunchy noodles are topped with a stir fry of bok choy, broccoli and tofu in a brown sauce with hints of sesame.
i’d go back if i happened to be shopping next door and was starving, but i wouldn’t get the phở.

Excellent Vietnamese food with quite the variety of options– many of which are vegetarian. The menu ranges from breakfast, to combination meals to a huge selection of noodles soups. The drink options are also abundant with many different fruit drinks and sodas.
We started with the spring rolls which were served with warmed peanut sauce which is new to me. Perhaps I have been in the dark, for I have never had the sauce served hot. Regardless the contrast of the cold refreshing rolls with the rich warm sauce was spectacular. The rolls were precisely traditional. I had the vegetable and tofu Phở and my boyfriend had the mixed beef Phở. Both soups were enormous and incredibly fresh and flavorful.
The service was excellent aside from the language barrier– when I ordered a water I somehow got a lemonade. Beyond that misunderstanding, our server was very kind and attentive. To top everything off they offer free ice cream after your meal. We were way to full but maybe next time, for we will certainly be back.

Awesome food, one of the best Vietnamese food place I know. Not only their rice noodles are good, but their other selection are awesome too. Specially on a cold day, try their rice porridge, nicely lemony, the way I like it. What can I say, great place to go if you are within the area. Price is very good, specially for the quality they serve.

The best restaurant ever! the service is amazing! you get free ice cream after your meal. The phở broth is on point! The thai tea is the best i’ve had around. I come here at least two times a week!

For a Phở place the selection of food is crazy. If you try something that isn’t phở try the korean bbq fried rice shit is bananas. Service is awesome and the people are real chill.
PS get the free green tee ice cream.

Cash only phở place. Clean, bright restaurant. However, the phở was just okay… the broth lacked a little body.