Been to this restaurant for 5-6years, but the entrees and soup broth have changed completely different as extra sweet. it used to be taste good but lost touch of tastes. read more

This is my favorite Vietnamese place to go to on 8th Ave. I order the same dish 85% of the time because it's just that good here. It's the cold vermicelli noodles over a bed of romaine lettuce, cucumbers, and bean sprouts, all topped with their cut up spring rolls. Sometimes, I'll switch it up and get the sautéed beef on top, instead of the spring rolls. It's just as good but this one comes with this soy sauce based gravy that's really addicting. Takeout is not as good, which is expected, but it's still better than most. It's about $6-7 a for their dishes, which is really cheap. Under $15 for a lunch for two! Tip - don't forget the sriracha! read more

We came here for lunch and had a little wait. Place seems to get busy. We ordered some egg rolls, pho and iced coffee. Egg Rolls - I've never had it like this where you wrap a piece of lettuce around it. It's good. Pho - It was good, but I felt they don't give much here. Usually, I have a hard time finishing one. My niece liked it a lot as she ate quite a bit. Also, my cousin asked for extra onion and they literally gave him like 2 pieces. Ice Coffee - Strong, but wouldn't say it was the best I've had. The bad is that it's cash only! read more

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Service is typical to any other Vietnamese restaurant. I have been dining here since I was a kid and the food is very consistent. The quality and price is awesome and my cravings are always satisfied. read more

This is for a takeout review only. I have been to place many times over the year and I feel their quality has gone down hill. The place has gotten very stingy with noodles and meat that come with the pho bowls. The prices have gone up drastically to met demands which is understandable but the food is just not good. Today's order was a beef stew with noodles which I had at the Resturant before. If was a full bowl of noddles with lots of meat veggies but the takeout order is ridiculously sad. I have never seen such an empty bowl. 2 pieces of carrot and 3 pieces of beef. Never again will I order a takeout from them again especially for what they charge. read more

Gia Lam II - Literally almost no Ingredients. 2 pieces of carrot and 3 pieces of beef. - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Never really had a problem with this place until today. We tipped the waitress $4 and she wouldn't let us go because she wanted 15% tip. Our total was $29.35, so 15% would be $4.40. I gave the 40¢. The waitress came back, counted ONLY the dollar bills while ignoring the coins. She proceeded with "do you guys not know how to calculate? ". Keep in mind there were other customers and they probably heard her say that. She did the calculations in front of our faces and the total came out to be $33.75, which is exactly the amount I gave her. So I told her to count the coins as well. After she did she finally let us go. A tip isn't mandatory, it's voluntary. She shouldn't be able to keep us hostage for missing that 40¢. After humiliating us in front of other people and claiming that we didn't know how to calculate, I shouldn't have even tipped. read more

We ordered take out of the beef rice. This was our usual spot for pho on 8 ave. This is disappointing and saw a whole sticker on the red bell peppers. This is COVID time and this makes me feel they didn't properly sanitize their foods. We called back and they said bring it back for a replacement, but we live 30 mins away by driving. They said will give a free one next time we go. Highly doubt they would remember. read more

Gia Lam II - Sticker on the red pepper - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Would give it zero stars if possible. Definitely horrible service for this place, but you really shouldn't expect much from them. This restaurant has been here for years and I've visited on multiple occasions, however, the last time I visited will be my last. I made the mistake to order my pho in cantonese when I should've used English instead. I wanted the pho with eye of round and brisket, but got the beef stew pho with eye of round instead. I got confused with my order and wanted to know what the brisket was called in cantonese but the waiters just said that it's "beef." No shit Sherlock, we know it's BEEF, but what kind of beef was it? We had to ask 2 different waiters, first one said it's beef, second waiter said it's beef and my brother asked from which part of the cow, and she said "I don't know, it's beef." The waiters were definitely rude and has made my experience horrible. I couldn't even enjoy my meal because of how rude they were to us. Food was mediocre as well. I would go to a different Vietnamese restaurant and stray from this one if I were you. PS. We also ordered the pho dac biet, and it didn't come with any tendons even though it said it would??? Didn't even want to mention it to the waiters because we would get rude service anyway. read more

Food was alright (there were very little noodles and the beef slices tasted and looked more like the thick slices of ham you'd use in a sandwich), but waitresses were very rude. They stopped us from leaving the restaurant because we didn't pay enough for tips, they wanted a certain amount and the difference between what I gave and what they wanted was only a dollar. We paid 21 dollars for our meal and they wanted around 20% in tips. They also stopped an elderly couple at the table behind us because they didn't give enough in tips. The cashier in the front also berated us and told us that we didn't pay enough and when we asked how much the tip was, she very rudely told us to calculate it ourselves. Won't be coming back. read more

Unfortunately, the Vietnamese restaurant I usually visit at 59th st has become disappointing, so I decided to come here since I was around. The food here is prepared very quick so you can expect to get your order in 5 minutes or less. The food is good and is worth the price. The only reason I took off one star was because the tables were too small so it was pretty tight to sit with 4 people. But it's still worth the visit here, will be coming here again some time soon. read more

Meh. I've had better (and I've had a lot). Their broth is cloudy and weirdly white -- hardly tasty and their fixings (herbs, bean sprouts, limes, etc) aren't all that fresh. The meat is low quality and their vermicelli bowls are served with tough meat. I'm also not sure what kind of spring roll wrapper they're using for their fried cha gio because it isn't crispy at all which is sort of a bummer. I guess this place would be considered pretty good if you didn't know any better. read more

So great! I have been coming here for over 20 years. The spring rolls are excellent as well as the pho and other dishes

Food was bland, service was disgusting. My friends and I came and they chased us for tip. My friends next to us was short 30 cents for tip and they pulled out a calculator in front of them and said I want 15%. Then they came to our table and said we were missing 5 dollar tips. The food wasn't good, don't recommend. read more

This place is so damn good. I just so happened to drop in as I was walking by and I'm so glad I did. This is some fantastic pho -- something I regularly eat everywhere I go. The broth is very flavorful and the chicken was grilled so deliciously I'm drooling thinking about it now. (I know, everyone wants me to get the pho bo instead.) Oddly, they just drop off the chicken in a single flat slab of meat and you have to cut it up yourself to add to your soup, but I don't mind that. It's kinda fun, and really, everything about this place feels like I sat down in the family dining room to enjoy some legitimately good stuff. (I'm not Vietnamese, so perhaps my perception of authenticity isn't reliable, but whatever.) Aside from my pho, I also got to try a rice dish. Equally fantastic, and everything was slightly better than my previous neighborhood favorite, Pho 60. One big differentiator is that Pho 60 takes a decade to bring your food, while Gia Lam takes literally 3 minutes. It was shockingly fast and still so delicious. read more

CASH ONLY*** For around 10$, you get a banging bowl of pho and you can bring home some change too. Gia Lam has been around for a longgg time - i've been coming since I was like 10. They dont skimp on the portions. I always get the #1 - it has everything (raw beef, tripe, brisket, etc) and the noodle portion is huge. I never finish but i always drink the soup. Their spring rolls are pretty decent, compared to some of the other spots. Great spot for a lowkey family dinner, they have several big tables. Variety on the menu - so its perfect for everyone. Parking can be hard - but then I just do take out. Service is mediocore at best. But don't expect great amazing service from any predominantly owned chinese place, lets be honest, its the quality and price of the food that keeps you returning. My favorite spot for "fake" pho, and will always return on a cold or rainy winter night for my pho fix. read more

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Go for the "Cha Gio" aka Vietnamese Spring Rolls on the menu! I don't think you can ever go wrong with spring rolls for appetizers. I did not have a good experience with the "Bun" aka Rice Vermicelli last time at the other Gia Lam location. Therefore, I stayed away from ordering that. Instead, I decided to try the Grilled Porkchop Sandwich and it turned out being my favorite at Gia Lam. It even beats the PHO! The French Baguette is very soft with a slight crisp. The Grilled Porkchop is nicely marinated, not too bland or salty, and grilled just right, not too burnt. The tomato and lettuce are very fresh. The whole combination is great! The sandwich is huge and so worth the $4.95. I had to give half of it to my boyfriend even though I really did not want to shhhhhhh lol. read more

Gia Lam II - Vietnamese Spring Rolls! - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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I wouldn't recommend dinning in at this place. I just dine in today and the people inside was keeping me hostage because I didn't give them enough tips. Tip is voluntary not mandatory and I believe you give them tips base service. When I ask to refill my water they just ignore me like I'm not there. The bill came out to be 40$ so 3$ tips is enough and they are asking for more and not letting me go. I wouldn't recommend this place. read more

Order any of the pho dishes and you're good to go! The viet coffee is strong, aromatic, and flavorful with its components of condensed milk and that slow drip coffee coming into play so don't miss that when you come and are tired of drinking plain ol' water. Because this place can get busy at times, the wait stuff is pretty quick. We got and ate our food in a jiffy, and wanted to sit around and chat while having our teapot refilled 4-5 more times. The waitress rolled her eyes at us despite my friends being a regular here... If you're not expecting phenomenal service and you're down for just a hearty bowl of pho then Gia Lam II aint bad. read more

Viet viet viet viet fooood! This is the place. No other viet place on 8th ave can compare to Gia Lam. I've been going here for years to get my viet food fix and I've never once been disappointed. Seriously, their food is just so good I wouldn't mind eating here every couple of days. Majority of my friends are in love with the #9 pho and that's all they will ever get. I usually get the yummy grilled chicken over rice. Spring and summer rolls are must-haves. I love their red bean slushy. Overall their food is delicious and their service is good. Now I'm craving for some viet... read more

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I'm giving the place 5 stars for consistency throughout the years. They've always been very reasonably priced and I've never been to satisfied with a dish that I've gotten, though dishes aren't too notable. The prices are good, service is off-hands, and the quality of food is good as well. My favorite dishes are: The Gia lam special - pork chop with fried egg and Chinese sausage. This is a very solid rice dish with lots of flavor in the marinated pork chop with the fried egg and the fried Chinese sausage being good add-ons. The #9 beef pho - very solid and consistent and on par with any other Vietnamese restaurants that I've been to. The grilled chicken and grilled pork chop rice dishes and pho dishes are also great for the same reason that I like the Gia lam special. These grilled meats are marinated very well, very flavorful, and not too oily. The curry chicken or curry beef with bread is great. In general, I found that Vietnamese curries are similar then their Malaysian and Indian counterparts, but this one is just as flavorful. Just do not be surprised when the car is a little bit watery, just enjoy it with the toasted French bread that it comes with. Both the spring rolls and summer rolls are good as well. Note that the spring rolls are the fried flavorful ones and the summer rolls are the fresher ones with more vegetables. Both solid options. read more

Gia Lam II - Vietnamese grilled pork chop over rice (gia lam special), beef pho, spring rolls, and mango jelly smoothie - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Gia Lam used to be on 56th street but they moved to 54th street. I always wonder why they moved. There was just so much history at the original location and the very first time I had Vietnamese food. I've eaten here for years and they used to be the only Vietnamese restaurant in the neighborhood until all these new Vietnamese restaurants started popping up. I gave the new spots a try and I always come back to Gia Lam because the food is better. The good news is that the new location looks nicer, better constructed, and the layout looks pretty much the same. I usually order #1 the regular pho and the broth is so good. For those who never eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant you must order #1. It comes with a side of bean sprouts, basil, and lemon. You're to add these extras in the broth to make it ever tastier. I don't want to list the entire menu, since I've eaten here countless amount of time. But I will point out what you should order. For entrée you must order the pho now what else is good? The grill pork chops and grilled chicken over rice or noodles. The meats are well marinated and have a little smoky taste to it. The beef cube fried rice, the fried rice here is good and the beef cubes is just delicious. For appetizer get the summer rolls, it's wrap in shrimp, lettuce, and noodles. It comes with a peanut sauce with chop peanuts that you should dip it in. It's very refreshing and tasty. The regular spring rolls are good too. It comes with lettuce and fish sauce. You're suppose to wrap the spring roll with the lettuce and dip it into the fish sauce, which give it the best taste. read more

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Too much noodles, not enough veggies and toppings! The bun fish sauce felt very lacking in flavor in my last visit. I guess they have watered it down? I never had to use so much Sriracha to flavor up the food. But I do love my chilis. read more

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Known for their great grilled pork dishes and Pho. I come here occasionally to order pho. The flavor of the soup is delicious, but sometimes the soup is a bit too salty. read more

Gia Lam II - Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Solid Vietnamese restaurant in the neighborhood. They have a cozy atmosphere and serve affordable, good quality food. During our last visit, my bf had the beef cubes with rice while I had lemongrass chicken with rice. I wasn't too fond of the lemongrass sauce but somehow managed to inhale all my food. I was also surprised to find that this place served fast food sides such french fries, chicken wings and onion rings. We ordered a side of fries as well as spring rolls which is a must at any Vietnamese restaurant. The spring rolls were less crispy than other spring rolls I've had but were still very delicious. Definitely left this place feeling satisfied and full. Looking forward to coming back and trying out their pho. read more

Gia Lam II - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Food: 3.0/5.0 Service: 2.5/5.0 Value: 3.0/5.0 Decor: 2.5/5.0 Overall: 3.0/5.0 Typical pho spot with smaller portion sizes but correspondingly lower price points. Not a whole lot more to say. Located on the northern end of the 8th avenue 'Brooklyn Chinatown'. read more

Always delicious as always. The everything pho is my favorite and the fried spring rolls.

Summer rolls are fresh, delicious and come with a nice peanut sauce. The curry chicken with bread comes with potatoes in a broth that is medium spicy and a little sweet, along with a fresh baguette for dipping. The sandwich with grilled pork is super tasty. I bought these three things for $21! The people who work and there are very nice and orders come out quick. It's cash only: there's a Chase bank right across the street if you need to re-up. Definitely check this place out if you need a cheap and tasty lunch to take home or enjoy in the park! read more

I actually really liked this place! I enjoy eating Viet from time to time and it was a really nice place. I got the pork pho for lunch and the pork wasn't charred!!! I always thought it was a thing for the meat to be charred but it was made perfectly here - although the meat came out at a different time from my pho noodles..so that was awks. I prolly waited about 5 to 8 extra minutes before the pork came. The setting of the place is nice, its a cute little slightly rustic homely feel of a place. It's clean, especially for an 8th ave Asian business. A decently priced place, my meal was only $6.95 (excluding tip/tax). Waiters were rather attentive too since my water was refilled without me having to ask. I would def come here again if i'm in the area. P.S. Cash Only. read more

Gia Lam II - Pork with pho! - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I been to this place a couple of times, once 5 years ago and recently last month. Typical chinese owned vietnamese place. Pho is decent, and spring rolls are average. Nothing great about the place; very dark. You have to scream and make noise to get the waiter's attention. read more

For a Americanized Vietnamese restaurant, this is one of my favorites in Brooklyn. Food is cheap and good. I usually get pho and beef cubes and they haven't disappoint. Food has always been consistent. There is nothing special about their interior or service but at least I don't ever have to wait when I go. I must note that they seem cleaner than most Vietnamese restaurants I've been to. read more

Whenever I'm around the area this is one of my go-to spots for lunch. Pros: - #10 beef pho (w/o tendons) is great! - Spring rolls are fried to perfection - Very reasonable prices - Attentive waiters/waitresses - Convenient location - If you don't speak mandarin/Cantonese just say the number of the dish to order Cons: - Coed bathroom isn't the cleanest but it's manageable - They don't have different pho sizes but the amount they give did decrease read more

Great service, great food. This is one of my Vietnamese go to's. I've been coming here since I was a kid. Food is always the same quality everytime. I order more take out from here now since I'm always on the run. read more

My boyfriend & I were trying to find food for dinner and ended up at Gia Lam II. I was surprised at how busy it was on a Wednesday night. The interior restaurant didn't look like most Vietnamese restaurants I've been to, but I guess that's what makes it unique. We got seated right away and knew exactly what we wanted. The servers were friendly and service was up to point. So for our dinner, we ordered my boyfriend's Pho Xe Lua, Vietnamese spring rolls, Grilled chicken over vermicelli, and lemon iced tea. Vietnamese Spring rolls - The spring rolls were sizzling hot when they arrived at our table. Nice, golden brown, but slightly burnt. I almost burned my tongue while trying to eat it, since I didn't wait for it to cool down. The spring rolls were extremely tasty and crispy. Loved it! Pho Xe Lua - My boyfriend always orders this in Viet restaurants. It smelled heavenly and it looked very fresh, tasty, and great pick for a chilly night. He really enjoyed it as always. Hearty, warm, and delish! Grilled Chicken over vermicelli - One of my favorites at Vietnamese restaurants. It was super filling. Grilled chicken were cooked to the right texture. The noodles were a little bland even though the server gave me sauce already. I should have asked for more. Nevertheless, the grilled chicken over vermicelli was good. Great service. Food was great! No complaints. I'm definitely going to return. read more

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The food my sister and I ordered for dinner was your standard Vietnamese restaurant eats. I ordered the #1. "FO CHE TAO" which translates to a huge bowl of pho with the regular beef fixins. My sister got a chicken chop over rice. Both entrees tasted good, I liked the chicken with rice a bit more than the pho dish. I dont think the soup was as dynamic in taste as I'd liked it to be. You know when you eat a good bowl of pho and the soup is equally just as delicious as the ingredients in the bowl? yeah I didn't get that experience here with the pho, however the price was just right. So overall no complaints. read more

Gia Lam II - Chicken chop with rice - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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There is nothing about this restaurant stand out more than any other Viet restaurants, but they satisfied my craving for Pho and summer rolls and I have no complaints. I ordered the grilled chicken pho and it was warm and made me happy. The noodles were cooked well, the grilled chicken was huge, the soup base and broth was flavorful alone, without me adding a whole bunch of Sriracha sauce. No complaints here, the staff brought the food quickly and didn't motion for me and my friend to leave quickly even if we lingered in the restaurant for a while. read more

Went here again today and the service was excellent. I was welcomed in right away and my order was taken quickly. I ordered the pho as it was raining and I wanted something that I thought would be satisfying. The pho was refreshing and tasty. One of the female servers even invited me to stay as long as I wanted until the rain subsided. They had a steady stream of takeout orders but it wasn't that busy for dine-in service due to the rain. When there was some downtime, I saw the staff sweeping and mopping to keep the area clean. I really appreciated the great service and look forward to giving the spring rolls another chance. I saw someone ordered grilled pork chops with their pho and it looked amazing too. read more

Since childhood, Gia Lam has been the primarily location to get Vietnamese cuisine whenever I come to 8th Ave. Of course, there are a lot of other Vietnamese restaurants that erected nearby, but none of them overall are better than Gia Lam. Pros (+): -More of a family-style restaurant -Cozy atmosphere -Portions aren't bad, compared to the price. -Pho & Spring Rolls (comes w/ lettuce) are pretty good. Crispy Mhmhm. -Quick service: attentive and helpful -Neat Presentation Cons (-): -Bathrooms conditions can definitely can be better -No Pho Sizes. One standard price read more

Gia Lam II - Summer Rolls w/ Peanut Sauce - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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Bootleg Báhn mi sandwich- made with lettuce and tomato! Bread was falling apart! Hell no. Super disappointed such a simple dish, not authentic Vietnamese cuisine. read more

Today I was really craving Vietnamese food. So, after I ate a banh mi from Thanh Da Inc II, I was still hungry and wanted goi cuon and pho tai. I decided to mosey on over here and stuff my face some more. It was nice to see that they weren't cheap with their shrimp like some places are, but they didn't have any mint in their goi cuon. Their sauce was also just ok. It just didn't satisfy my goi cuon craving. I also decided to be a fatty and order their cha gio. I was also disappointed. Oh well, at least it was less than $4 each. Then, my pho tai came out. I love that they loaded my bowl with meat and noodles. They were definitely not skimpy, which surprised me because it was only $5. I will definitely return for their pho and to try other entrees. My verdict: This is a pretty good and cheap spot to satisfy your Vietnamese food cravings. read more

Gia Lam II - Vietnamese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The last time I was in Brooklyn looking for a good pho place, I was so disappointed, but now all is well again. After ordering, my brother and I debated on the legitimacy of this place and I joked that if they serve bean sprouts, mint, and lime, it's legit. T'was legit lol I got my usual pho with grilled chicken and my brother got grilled chicken over rice. The grilled chicken was on point, loved it! And the pho had all the right flavors. I was sweating when I finished, but it was worth it. The prices were cheaper than Flushing, which I appreciate; 2 bowls of pho and a rice dish came to ~$21. read more