I was served quite an amazing bowl of pho today. I wanted to try the pho at Golden Era for a while now, but never made it there until today due to various reasons. Since I had to get my watch fixed across the street from the restaurant at Gold Rush Jewelry today, I had decided to do my foodie thing and see if I have been missing out. My review here is strictly related to the pho that I had today. As long as the restaurant location was clean (and it certainly was), the food makes no difference to me whether I was served at the restaurant or the WH with the whole place painted in gold. Also I do make my own pho broth (aka liquid gold) at home, so I am all about searching for a different impressive interpretation. Back to the food, I took a picture of my bowl of pho as soon as it was served at my table, and I immediately tasted the soup before anything else was added to it. The soup was perfectly balanced both spices and seasoning wise and the temperature was just right. Then I added basil, bean sprouts, and a squeeze of lemon juice to my pho, as nothing else was needed to alter or masking the original taste of the slowly simmered broth. There was no need to insult the broth (or the broth chef) by adding hoisin sauce and fake stuff to it. I truly enjoy the style of the beef served. The beef pieces are very tender, not like the rare beef slices that most Vietnamese restaurants offer. Also I cannot say enough good things about the ribs that came with my pho order. Overall it was a very satisfying bowl of pho to me. There are many Vietnamese restaurants out there with their own interpretations of pho broth in terms if the use if spices, seasonings, and bone to water ratios in make the all day all night long slow simmering broth. Also, northern style and southern style pho are quite different from each other by taste and composition. There is nothing wrong with most of these other Vietnamese restaurants and their own interpretations , however I found the pho that I had today at Golden Era very agreeable with what I am looking for in terms of "balance". Some spices might smell great if a lot of it is used, but could create a noticeable unpleasant taste and even an irritation reaction to the throat. This is why I believe Golden Era is a winner with the pho game. I have a photo of a fully finished bowl to proof it. I will definitely return to Golden Era again. Will see if their quality control is consistent enough to build a regular customer base. Other factors to consider: they do have a clean and tidy looking kitchen, but from the front end of the restaurant to the kitchen is about 30 plus steps; the restaurant was operated by a grandma and grandpa only when I was there at 11:30 am, they were very nice and doing the best that they could... please be kind to these folks. read more

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We had shrimp fried rice, beef rib pho and short ribs. Favor was great! Their sauce was amazing.

Ambiance is very unwelcoming, had to shout into the restaurant to get someone to come to the front of house- the place was a ghost town and you could hear a pin drop on a Friday evening. There's a fridge at the front with glass doors, and inside you could see a container of rice noodles that had a distinct green spot. Still ended up getting take out and ended up not being able to finish it as it was very oily and not strained at all (lots of bits and trimmings). I love pho, I could eat it every day and it broke my heart to not finish it but it had to be done, so many things stacked against it. read more

Both broths taste very clean. The beef stew with rice was tasty and I finished it all. Beef stew had very generous amount of tendon, beef shank, and bone marrow. The meat for the beef pho was very basic, but soup was good. It cost $42 for us with tip. read more

Golden Era 1 - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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For years I could not find a really good pho restaurant in San Rafael, CA. Don't know how I missed Golden Era 1 and perhaps it is because the restaurant itself seems dark and is not the most inviting. However, their food is consistently excellent and their staff is very friendly and humble. I have had pho (take out) from there about 10 times now and I have sampled other Vietnamese places looking for good pho and this is the BEST I have found in the area. I highly recommend Golden Era 1 restaurant if you want to get your pho groove on. read more

Walked past this spot as I was wondering around San Rafael. Decided to stop in around 1p on a Friday. Ordered the beef combo pho. What a great choice! The pho was delicious as is but with a little chili oil it was really good. Service was great, everyone sitting for lunch told me how delicious this place was and that they were weekly regulars. I definitely recommend and will be back. read more

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Come here. Get this. Ignore the lighting. The sweetest people. Great food. 85 characters why? For once just wanted to keep it short n sweet. this was just for the character minimum read more

Cozy mom and pop place with excellent food. Chicken wings and shrimp fried rice were amazing. Even my picky eater teen son said the chicken wings were the best he's ever had. read more

The pho was amazing! A nice hearty broth with perfectly al dente noodles. My wife had the vegetarian option and it was vegetarian down to the broth which is rather rare. Usually they would use a chicken or beef broth, but this was truly vegetarian. The staff was very friendly as well. Will definitely be back for more. read more

Really solid and tasty chicken wings and pho. Flavorful and a terrific chili sauce that was a fantastic addition to the meat from the pho. I loved everything BUT the noodle portions were too small. I'm used to having a crap ton of noodles in my pho dishes so it was noticeable. read more

Still love this place, I crave their rice and spring rolls w/ fish sauce so much like at least once a month. This place is pretty good, seems like business is picking up. As good as this place is, they still have some areas of improvement which would make them even better! I def feel like they need more staff that can watch front of house while the owner is cooking in the back. Today she had to run up from the back to ring us up for our food. I also feel like being short staffed can play into ppl wanting to return, just bc there can be a long wait most of the time. I personally don't mind, because if reassures me that the food is fresh and though out but think in long run for business it could help to have others. I would love to see this place filled with customers & see it become more lively. Again this place is so good and I love that it's authentic/ woman owned! read more

Golden Era 1 - Shrimp spring roll - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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One of the BEST Pho we have ever had!! *(See empty bowl of Pho photo lol). I personally didn't mind that half of the restaurant was pitch dark with no lights towards the back of the restaurant. But my advice to the owner is to keep the entire dining area lit. It was a bit strange at first and not very welcoming to walk in and see darkness towards the back of the restaurant. Everyone was set so close up front, it was awkward and hard to have small conversations with your party. The food is delicious but for my selfish reasons, I would recommend they make the room lively and inviting to cater to more people. Unfortunately, not all will be okay with how depressing it felt to eat there with it feeling like they were going out of business. I would encourage them to also get additional help on weekends . We waited for a while to have someone take our order. Again, worth it, but I can see it being off putting to the masses. We will definitely be back, keeping in mind the ambiance doesn't match the excellent food read more

Golden Era 1 - Pho - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

Combo Pho and fried rice was delicious. We were craving for fried tofu with mam nem dipping sauce and they did it. Korean BBQ meat was a little tough and too much sauce in it so I would not recommend. Stick to Pho. It took awhile for food to come out. Overall experience is good . read more

dont know why but i knew it was going to be amazing. best pho ive had (aside from my mother in laws) meat fell right off the bone, yup. just the right amount of salt in the broth, they took a little bit with the pho thats how you know they make it fresh. no soggy noodles for us. will be back !! read more

Came during their grand opening (Sign outside) Decor was nice but had a stage which was interesting, but pretty spacious seating areas Staff were friendly, and accommodating to our large party without any reservations. Food was solid. Their chicken fried rice and egg rolls were good. Pho was good. Solid 4/5 stars. Unfortunately they were pretty short staffed, and food came out very slowly, and one or two at a time. From the first person's meal served to the last, there was a good 25min wait. Our egg roll appetizer also came out last (after all the meals). I would give here another try as probably still working out the kinks. However food was pretty good overall, just service was something more to be desired. read more

Golden Era 1 - Lunch Menu - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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I'm always thrilled to see a new Vietnamese restaurant in Marin. They brought water to the table in metal cups which are pretty cold against your lips. Glassware would be better. The inside still looks like George's nightclub which has since closed its business. Disco ball lights are a fun touch but feel a little out of place. My daughter said "This place has a very interesting aesthetic. It's like modernist and then brick walls." Soft jazz playing on the speakers was nice. It does feel a bit empty when the one or two staff go into the back. I was surprised to see Korean Beef on the menu. It's otherwise a pretty standard menu with pho, banh mi, rice & noodle dishes as well as seafood. There are two dishes with tofu so not a lot of obvious vegetarian options. I asked for something not on the menu: grilled pork over white rice. They were accommodating. The pork was thinly sliced and a little chewy. It was fine but didn't have a lot of flavor, more like a light teriyaki sauce. It's better when it's browned more and gets crispy edges. It also would have been nice if it was cut into smaller pieces but I was able to cut it with my spoon. The plate came with a small green salad with a strong vinaigrette which didn't pair so well with the pork. Something slightly sweeter would have been better or even sliced cucumber instead of the greens. The pho has a good flavor but it's light instead of a deeply flavorful broth. It's peppery and has a nice star anise accent. The rare beef slices were lean and tasty. They have hoisin and sriracha on the table and chili paste when requested. They have Thai Iced tea which is good but tastes like a bottled version. The fresh version is much tastier. But at least they offer that; we Americans are so fond of Thai iced tea and come to expect it at Vietnamese restaurants which is a bit odd. They have a few things to work on. The green onions in the pho were either too long or not cut through all the way. But that's being nit-picky. Service is a little slow and they are still figuring some things out when asked about various dishes (they said the curry would take 20 minutes). They brought the dishes out at different times and didn't come to our table after bringing the food. But they JUST opened so I'm optimistic about this place. They have party trays on the menu so it seems like they are offering catering as well. 3.5 stars read more

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PLEASE SUPPORT THIS DELICIOUS FAMILY-RUN PHO RESTAURANT! [PHOTOS OF FEB 2025 MENU ATTACHED] We moved to Mill Valley from San Francisco 12 years ago, where we used to go very regularly to (wonderful!) Pho Ha Tien, on Ocean Avenue---it is *still* as wonderful now, in 2025. Ever since moving to Marin, we have been trying every pho restaurant that we could find, always in search of that previous perfection, but without success...till NOW! The key to good pho is, of course, the *broth*. Here the broth is light, natural, and delicious. In agreement with another reviewer, I *do* wish it had at least a hint of traditional pho-broth spices, such as cinnamon and cloves. That said, THIS IS THE BEST PHO BROTH I HAVE EVER FOUND IN MARIN! I had the combo beef pho, which comes with a giant beef bone, with a lot of tender and flavourful meat still attached, though it falls off the bone easily. The meatballs and the rare beef slices were also excellent. And the noodles were also perfectly al dente. 10/10 and I think it will be hard for me to try anything other than this on future visits, of which I hope there will be many! The cold shrimp spring rolls and the chicken wings were also excellent appetizers, both of which my group agreed we would happily order again on a future visit. I do worry that on Saturday night there were only THREE tables occupied for most of the time. I really hope that fellow pho enthusiasts will soon discover that this is a TRUE HIDDEN GEM, and that then their business will pick up, at least enough to keep them going. It really seemed to be a small, family-run business. PLEASE SUPPORT THEM AND AT LEAST TRY IT! I promise you will be glad you did. The owners are not helping themselves by being CLOSED on W, Th, *and* FRIDAY?! Surely, Friday would be one of their busiest nights, if only they were open. I've no idea if the somewhat elderly owners look at Yelp, but, if so, I do have a few more (I hope constructive) suggestions for improving business, which I hope they may read and consider implementing: 1) Please consider getting rid of the harsh neon-white Christmas lights, that are wrapped around some of the beams! These make the restaurant feel much less classy than is merited by the delicious food that your chef produces here. 2) The space itself is quite nice, but it feels rather clinical and uninviting because of the LIGHTING: please consider replacing ALL of the light bulbs with WARM white lights, say, 2200K --- 2500K. 3) Please consider adding some more traditional pho spices to your delicious, natural broth. 4) Even if it's expensive to do so, please WARM the restaurant during these cold winter nights: all of us kept our winter jackets on at dinner, but were *still* cold. 5) As I mentioned earlier, if you *must* be closed for 3 straight days each week, then make them T-W-Th, and STAY OPEN ON FRIDAY NIGHTS. 6) Once business picks up, I really hope that they will consider adding more types of beef to the combo pho. The *traditional* "#1" combo on a typical Vietnamese pho menu would include not only beef balls and rare beef [included in the Golden Era combo], but *also* all of the following, which I missed having here: --flank --brisket --tendon --tripe If only for the selfish reason of wanting to be able to return here as a *regular* customer, I wish this family-owned restaurant great success going forward. BEST OF BRITISH LUCK! read more

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I had a heavy meaty diet for a whole week so I decided something more veggies and earthy so I came to this restaurant. I ordered Spring Roll and a Special Pho bowl The Spring Roll is actually very good with a lot of veggies and herb. I noticed their sauce is thick and more enjoyable than other places because I feel im my moutg that they might stir-fry their sauce instead of just mixing the hot water with peanut butter. Their Pho, in my opinion, not authentic but good in their way. The bowl has less Pho spices which is better for people who don't like them. I think the way they make it is more in Northen style which is harder to find in the US Service is friendly and warm because this is a small family business. I hope in the future this restaurant will become better. read more

Golden Era 1 - Special Pho - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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Right after we enter there was this strong smell but got used to later. We ordered Pho, shrimp Fried rice and Korean beef bbq omg food was horrible. I was super hungry and read review and expected something but had to leave the food.fried rice was too salty and lots of msg. Korean bbq had too much sauce as if like they dipped and plated. Pho was little ok only but people seems nice. read more

Golden Era 1 - Korean beef bbq m. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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Wow! This is hands down the best pho in Marin County. The beef pho was incredibly delicious, with a generous amount of tender meat and a broth that was so flavorful.. I left no crumbs. The meat was tender and came off the bone easily. The staff were friendly and welcoming . I'm so glad I decided to try this place, and it will definitely be my go-to Pho spot when I'm in the area. read more

Golden Era 1 - Beef pho - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

Ambience and service not great, but soup is delicious. Pass on the eggroll, edges cooked but middle was still frozen.

We discovered this place on a spontaneous day trip up to San Rafael. I ordered the pho ga (chicken pho) and girlfriend ordered beef pho. It tasted like a home cooked meal! A lot of the time pho in restaurants seems a little too high in sodium but this bowl of pho was lighter and made with love. I could eat this every day! Server was very kind. We came on a 3pm on Sunday, so we were the only ones in the restaurant, which made the atmosphere very relaxed and quiet which i appreciated. read more

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This is my favorite Vietnamese place in marin. The pho is absolutely delicious. The owners are very sweet and hospitable. Our food came out quickly and we enjoyed the britain's got talent playing on the TV. Crazy that this place is not more popular and busy. read more

Golden Era 1 - Korean Beef Barbecue - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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0/0 Ambiance: 0/5 Decor was confusing. Waiter yelled at their mom in Vietnamese (which I speak, so I understood) to go away and stop bothering them/us the customers when she as doing nothing wrong?!?! Service: 0/5 No other customer in the restaurant yet took them forever to take our order. Food: 0/5 25-30minutes for our appetizer of eggrolls. Which were all burnt so they gave us an extra which was also burnt . They flipped burnt side down like we were not going to notice when we picked them up to eat? They did not taste good at all. Another 20 minutes went by before our entree of pho and beef stew was served. We asked for extra bread for the beef stew and they gave us extra rice. The beef stew had no flavor and was watery. All I tasted was the extra extra pepper they sprinkle on top. Beef stew usually comes with other cuts up beef like tripe and tendon but there was none to be found. Pho was tasteless had no aroma of pho seasoning whatsoever and was overly peppered. I'm not sure if the pepper is suppose to make up for the lack of flavor in the dishes, it really did not help in my opinion. Payed around $50 for inedible food. Overall 0/5 I really don't understand all the good reviews. Avoid here at all cost if you enjoy real Vietnamese food. read more

I can't recommend this Vietnamese restaurant enough. The ingredients were incredibly fresh and the food was delicious. Family owned and run business. Mom does all the cooking. read more

Very weird vibe. Loved it. Great bahn mi. Greater prices. Especially for the area. Always will support family owned lil shops

The pho tai was pretty good, but the veggie pho was outstanding. The service takes a while, so utilize the time to socialize with your companions. read more

Initially, I was hesitant to try this restaurant because of the ambiance. It's fairly dark and very bare-bones. Hand washing the front windows might help. We were the only people in the restaurant at 2 pm on a Saturday. The food is another story. It was quite good and made to order. We had the chicken fried rice and the Pho which were both delicious. It did take a bit of time, so don't go if you're in a hurry. The portions are generous and I ended up taking half of mine home. read more

Generous portions, yummy fried rice and combo beef pho (with a big beef bone)! Will be back

Wow! The food was incredible and the family who runs it was so sweet. The beef rib pho was so delicious and flavorful. The meat was super tender and the seasoning was out of this world! I cannot recommend this place enough. Service was great and the restaurant was very clean. Great Vietnamese food! read more

I'm sad to say my second experience with this place did not live up to my initial review. I ordered on a different night, and it was a different cook. The broth wasn't as rich, and the meat and vegetable portions not as generous. read more

Came here around 9 PM on a Saturday night and everyone was so nice. The food was so good. We got the pho and bahn mi and wow I cannot stop thinking about it. Will come back again! read more

We called to place a take out order and got a recorded message that they couldn't answer the phone. Then tried the website. It didn't work. Tried each again and gave up. We really wanted to support a new local business and, from the photos and reviews, it looked promising, but we'll give it one more chance to see if we can get take out another day. BTW, we called at 5:30 on a Wednesday. Maybe they are closed on Wednesday? Don't open before 5::30? But with no working website?? read more

Delicious, authentic Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of downtown San Rafael. I just had the very best bowl of pho ever! The broth tastes amazing - I suspect that their pho broth is homemade. Golden Era looks unassuming from the outside, and I have been reluctant to try it, but this is now my absolute favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Marin. I had the chicken wings and beef rib pho. The chicken wings were generously sized, crispy and fully cooked, yet juicy and tender. I realize I've become accustomed to freezer burnt undersized wings at other local Vietnamese restaurants. The beef rib pho had a huge tender, cooked to perfection rib, AND several large pieces of incredibly tender sliced beef (prime rib? so good!). I'm blown away by the broth! Every other Vietnamese restaurant I've ever been to has the same powdered, tastes like gym socks buillion broth. Okay, maybe Slanted Door and Golden Era 1 have housemade broth. This is the tasty, high quality comfort Asian/Asian fusion food you've been looking for. And at such good prices! The menu is on the small side, but I think that's a good thing, so they can focus on their delicious dishes. Family run, these folks try super hard to make delicious food for their customers. read more

This was my first official visit to golden era. The first one was when they had recently opened and my daughter and I went to check them out but they were still closed 30 minutes after their published open hours on the door. I placed an order for pick up, the beef combo and spring rolls. First thing I always do is taste the broth to get a sense of how much I need to pump it up if needed. It wasn't bad but I did add plum sauce, sriracha and a bit of white vinegar. That may sound weird but that's my taste. They also give you a lemon wedge instead of a lime. Not sure of that so thankfully I always have limes at home. The rare beef was a generous portion and was really tender in the broth. The beef rib also really tender but rather bland. The meatballs, I mean cmon they only gave me 2 of them. Shrimp spring rolls were huge! The fattest ones I've ever had at a restaurant and very fresh. The downside to them is that the peanut sauce didn't really have much flavor going on. Thankfully again, I always have peanut sauce so I combined theirs with mine and tweaked it so it had some flavor. Overall in my opinion the Pho is average. It would have me come back when I have a craving again. I live only 4 blocks away so it's convenient. My last thought on this, when I walked in it was freezing inside. I'm glad I got it to go! It was empty and I found it kind of odd that they had a picture oh Georges the old club that it was hanging on the wall. Not sure how to describe its decor but there are a few pics I took. read more

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New spot on 4th street! We ordered egg rolls, pho, and chicken fried rice. The staff are sweet and attentive, and everything is made to order. I can't wait to come back and try their blended drinks. read more

Golden Era 1 - Chicken fried rice - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

I highly advise the banh mi or pho, really amazing. The inside is a little quirky but this place is definitely worth it, be patient and stick with them, they're great. Very cheap wine and beer too! read more

The beef combo pho is amazing! Found this place by mistake and was blown away by quality of pho broth and overall dish. I've never seen beef pho served with a a delicious and perfectly cooked beef rib and it's over the top good! This place is new and deserves our support. Come check it out - you will not be disappointed :) read more

Golden Era 1 - It WAS Beef pho - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Rafael, California

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New Vietnamese restaurant in Marin so I don't expect to have a lot of their menu yet. My partner and I ordered from there and my partner got the banh mi and I got the beef rib pho. For starters, Banh Mi don't come in a hoagie bread which this one did. It's usually a baguette.. we were surprised to get a hoagie instead of a baguette. It was ok. The beef rib pho was ok. The smell of the pho broth was there, but the flavor was lacking. When you do to go they do give you that beef rib and it was big! The staff was friendly and I appreciate that they gave me uncooked pho noodles so I can cook it at home. Some places don't do that and the noodles get cold and it's not the same once you get home.. I know it's still new, so I hope they add more items to their menu and fix something's around. read more

We love the broth for the pho here, it is rich and flavorful. Do not order the ribs unless you are looking for "American style" ribs. We were super disappointed by them when we got them home. Overall, great home style Vietnamese flavors. read more