One of my fave pho places ever, the coconut lemongrass one is my fave. Everything is fresh and delicious, one of my go to spots!

The food is good as is the service but the restaurant is absolutely freezing! I've been here around 5-7 times and my friends and I freeze. They say it's some issue with the heater which is located on the second floor of the restaurant (which they don't seat customers in) but it feels like they're just not turning it on. It literally feels like you're sitting outside in 45 degree weather. We told them last night that we're sorry but we can no longer dine here until the summer comes. Bring your winter gear!! read more

I was craving pho and wanted to try a new place. Holy Basil Pho was pretty close and they had bo bun hue with pig's blood to boot. We ordered several dishes including pho with rare beef and meatballs, bun with shrimp and imperial rolls, and bo bun hue. My husband liked the bo bun hue but I didn't get to try it. I did note that the pig's blood looked less gelatinous than what I typically order from other places. With the pho, I was a bit surprised to see the raw beef was grey instead of pink. Further, the broth in the pho was ok- light but a tad on the salty side. The most confusing dish was the bun, which stated that it came with rice vermicelli. What I received looked like lo mein: thick flour noodles. The roll was soggy from being chopped up and stirred into the noodles (better to pack it separately for takeout), and the shrimp were also soggy, disintegrating when cut into. We ended up not finishing the soups but we did make a great stir-fry with the leftover lo mein :) read more

Holy Basil Pho - This was the rice vermicelli bun dish. The thick wheat-based noodles were not at all what I had expected. - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

I rarely write reviews. But I felt compelled to write one for this restaurant. My boyfriend and I went there for the first time this last Thursday night. I was struck by the decor and overall space. There were a couple people seated at the full bar and 4 to 5 tables of diners with an average of 3 parties per table. Pretty quiet from what I'm used to at a Pho place. One server who was very sweet and attentive. Here's how I would break it all down - Service: Very sweet server and very attentive. When we asked what was in their vegetarian spring rolls, she wasn't very sure and told us what she thought was in it. She was pretty busy managing all of the guests. Where things can improve is better knowledge of what's in the food. Food: My BF had the Beef Combo which was delicious. And I had the Beef Stew pho which was also delicious. Food alone, I would highly recommend this place. It's worth it. And is now my favorite Pho place and even over PPQ in SF. Ambiance/Decor: It's a beautiful space. But it doesn't match the kind of food being served. The decor suggests white table cloths and napkins, while the food is comfort casual with the chopsticks being right there in a canister on the table. Its' Vietnamese street food being served in the Four Seasons. The curtains don't match the drapes. If you like Pho, I would highly recommend checking this place out. It's not perfect. But the food makes it worth the trip. read more

If you're super hungry, I wouldn't suggest coming here for lunch. Arrived as a table of 3 around 1:20PM on a Sunday. We sat down, ordered our food and waited for half an hour before we got our food. It wasn't super busy for a Sunday with around 5 tables, but our wait was super long. Ordered the Bun Bo Hue and holy disappointment! The broth tasted like hot basil water with something else. It's almost flavorless. The pork blood has a weird taste to it, I thought it tasted like coconut while my friend thought it tasted bad. Some of my noodles we're stuck together and was hard too. Don't be fooled by the nice looking pictures. It's not worth it. I did notice some other review said that the garlic noodle was good. Probably can give that a try, but stay away from that Bun Bo Hue. read more

Holy Basil Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

Not quite as good as Restaurant Chu which it replaced. Flavor balances were off on several dishes. All Chu's lovely dumplings, including the unique oxtail, are gone, replaced by soups. Unfortunately we're not pho lovers, so this rvw looks at other dishes on the menu. Poached Shrimp & Pork Spring Roll: very good. Minimum of beansprouts, served with satay sauce although a nuoc leo would be a lot better. Pork Wonton Soup with Seafood: my HK-born spouse loves a good wonton soup, but this wasn't it. Wontons were salty, scallops were tasteless, broth was weak. Basil Lime Chili Wings: The lime is unsweetened, which would be fine if the chicken wings hadn't been left overlong in marinating. The wings just tasted sour, although nicely spicy. Unfortunately the wings were badly overcooked; the drummettes especially dried-out. We wouldn't order this again. Garlic Noodle Bowl, chose Chili Pork Belly as protein: Excellent noodles but really objected to oversweet nuoc cham in a savory dish. Pork Belly still has tough rind on it, an Asian habit I don't care for; no interesting flavors just tossed with a bit of chile paste. Next time I'd try another protein, and ask the nuoc cham NOT be added. Mango panna cotta: on the firm side and a little too sweet, but acceptable. Good service, but overall there are other Vietnamese restaurants we prefer. read more

Tried another Pho restaurant as Monster was closed. Would never do again. I actually can't comment on whether or not the food is good. We never got it. 50 minutes of sitting in a practically empty restaurant, we got spring rolls and a glass of water and a beer with a lot of prompting. Then when we asked about our food they said it was on pause and would be 2 minutes, or would we like to cancel. We cancelled. 3 couples walked out without having their orders taken. I understand the world is understaffed but this was just to much. Just bad business. read more

I recommend Holy Basil for their great cocktails (I had the Boulevardier) and their veggie pho. Just be sure to get tofu added--it's extra. The soup has three different kinds of mushrooms, lots of green veggies, and cauliflower. Very filling and interesting. Service is great. Bring a sweater, it's not super cozy. Interior is quite attractive. read more

We just had Caviar deliver this and the food was gross! Shrimp smelled really bad and the pork had a weird flavor. But here's the strange thing...I got takeout from here last weekend and it was good. Not sure what happened. New chef? Different chef for Caviar? Anyways, definitely not going back. read more

I love this place. Great space, friendly and prompt service, and really nice variety of dishes. I'm a huge noodle soup fan and their spicy lamb curry soup is one of the my favorite noodle soup dishes in the Bay. Not too spicy or heavy. Really perfect. The calamari and the chicken pho are also favorites. Highly recommended. read more

Wanted to get some pho on a windy day with my fiancé after a long hike and decided to let yelp guides us to satisfy our cravings. Found the holy basil pho with great reviews and decided this was the place for us. Walking in, great decor, and cool atmosphere. Was quite surprised to see that it had a full bar. There were about seven tables occupied but didn't see any of my fellow Asians eating there. Should of been the first warning sign...I'm from LA and I usually avoid taco places that I don't see other natives eating there. Just saying... We ordered an pork and shrimp egg rolls, house special combo pho for $15 and my fiancé ordered the oxtail pho for $19. There were many vegan options also but it's pho... so when we got our food, wow, it was pretty bad. Very salty and my fiancé's pho which had the oxtail was worse. The meat was very hard to chew and dry. Also my fiancé was saying that he thinks they added some kind of beef seasoning because he was able to feel it on the bottom of the bowl as it didn't dissolved yet. Seems like they added beef bullions to their vegan broth and the meat frozen and thawed to order. My combo pho was salty and meat very bland. The total bill was $55 and not worth close to it. We love food and I do hope they will read this review and make sure to put as much thought into their food as they did to their decor. I'll just stick to the pho with the number in the front any day. read more

Easy and convenient for my PHo fix , because of Covid I haven't actually had a chance to dine in but the space looks great for happy hour or lunch/dinner . Def will be back read more

The food is GREAT and we love coming here but it is FREEZING inside every single time. You will literally be shivering so I recommend bringing a jacket. Management, PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE. read more

Been coming here weekly for the past 6 months. I love the beef noodle soup especially during the cold days. The rich broth really hits the spot for me. Occasionally I'll feel like eating rice and then I'll get the sriracha chicken wings extra sauce on the side. Finger lickin good. read more

Service was incredible and the food was delightful - I ordered the rice bowl and it was smashing !! - would certainly come back with a good group !! read more

Local Vietnamese joint. They make fresh and natural pho and noodles. My two gotos: large pho which is rich and warm with a great broth and noodles with jalapeño friend tofu which has an amazing mix of veggies. They use mint, cilantro, and basil in all dishes well. read more

Holy Basil Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

We love Alameda, but we've been on an Oakland spree!! (If it were up to the hubs, he would be on a Texas BBQ spree.) What can I say, old habits die hard and we miss our old stomping grounds. Holy Basil Pho is a surprising, relatively quiet find in Rockridge. The decor is high end and tasteful, with exposed wood walls, candle sconces, tasteful lighting, a back patio with couches, and an upstairs space for large parties. We tried a number of dishes, including the beef pho (of course), the fried Imperial Rolls, and a big bowl of rice vermicelli that came with salad and herbs, peanuts, Bean Sprouts, Cucumber, Green Onions, Cilantro, Mint, Pickled carrots and daikon, and Nuoc Cham Sauce. Prices are steep at $14 for a bowl of noodle soup, but service was great and the food was tasty. This location tends to have bad luck, but we hope they stay! read more

It was one of the worst pho ever had. Idk how they got 4 start probably friends and family gave them 5 stars. Do go in there it was really bad wasn't fresh at all. read more

Our favorite Pho restaurant was closed so we opted to try a new one. We sat down and we're able to immediately order. It then took 45 min for the 1 beer, 2 waters and spring rolls . Another 15 min passed before we got a chance to even ask about our food coming out. At which point it was 5 more min. So we left. Absolutely the slowest service. Would not recommend read more

This is my new favorite Pho restaurant. The food is delicious and the portions are generous. An added plus is that they have a separate vegan menu! read more

Holy Basil Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

I love the ambiance of this place. Gorgeous space. The food is excellent! The pho here is equally as good as Monster Pho but I much prefer coming here. I've been here multiple times and everything my husband and I had was delicious - the portions are generous and the ingredients are fresh and of high quality. They just released a new vegan menu!! We've had a vegan dish and it was full of flavors!! I highly recommend this place. This place is so much better than Xyclo. I think the location is not as favorable since it is on the quiet end of College Ave. One of my favorite noodle dishes here is Chili Coconut Peanut Noodle Soup - OMG. Love. read more

Holy Basil Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

Took the family here. Food was fantastic. We had the garlic noodles with sausage and shrimp, duck pho, and pork with vermicelli noodles. Very generous portions. Ambiance was nice. Modern Asian Fusion decor. The food and price are all good, it's a shame the restaurant wasn't more packed. read more

My beef pho was a little bland. Though they provide lime slices and pepper flakes, no amount of added spices could change the broth. Good portion of meat (I got tripe, tendon, and steak), but light on the noodles for the cost. read more

Holy Basil Pho - Beef pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

The staff are so sweet! They were so kind and welcoming. They even gave us a free dessert since our spring rolls came out a little late. We didn't even mind that they weren't out yet. The gesture showed how important customer service is to them. The space is really cutely decorated, you kinda feel like you're in Asia. We had the beef pho and curry soup. We'll def be back for more! Next time I wanna try the chicken or veggie pho. read more

Me and my daughter went here and we were pleasantly surprised. The food was amazing and had a lot of vegan options, plus our server was very kind. She went above and beyond to explain the different dish recommendations and backstory of the restaurant. The vegan menu was robust, and had a variety of options, including Bao buns, rolls, Pho, and build your own bowls. We are very greatful we came here, and definitely will be back. read more

Chicken pho came out lukewarm. I mentioned this to the person that walked by asking how is everything? She said it's a cold day, that's why. I just got the soup less than 5 minutes ago. Nobody came by to refill our empty water glasses. read more

I've only had their takeout due to the covid shutdown and it's now one of my go-to places. I usually get the vermicelli bowl with garlic pepper chili prawns, but the garlic noodles are great too. The portions are very generous and the food is fresh and flavorful. Happy to support this awesome local business! read more

I LOVE this restaurant!! They catered my wedding in April and were so accommodating and generous! The food was RAVED about by all the guests and luckily we had extra to take home after. Dana the owner is incredible! She treats her customers like family and was amazing to work with. I highly recommend eating in the restaurant or getting their food catered. read more

In the past I usually visited this place at least 2-3x within 2-3 weeks period. I don't like to give bad review because if I may chose to revisit this place if staffs remember me from review eventhough they might not saying anything I would fell awkward in my opinion. This time I think it lost its magic on me. I ordered lemongrass vermicelli without peanuts and add a egg for extra charge (I don't mind paying $2) eventhough is hefty consider you can buy a whole carton with additional $5 top in market) but for the convenience. I specifically asked for medium running so I can mixed with noodle would be a yummy treat. I later kindly asked the waiter for his original notes from my order it did clearly stated so it was the kitchen how they interpreted. I tried to be grateful and take it as it was (consider what happening around the world) but can't help was slightly disappointed. The vermicelli lack of favour and I also order salmon n avocado roll the kitchen staffs messed that up as well which I later found out when other staff dropped off on my table. To be fair at the time I was visiting wasn't busy at all and to mess up with a person simple order like this is hard to wrap my head around. Also the whole time the atmosphere wasn't pleasant either the group of staffs or friends chatting the whole time either was discussing the business tactics or procedure or training staffs etc list goes on n on..I tried not to glance over once in awhile because might be inappropriate or detectable by staffs but was quite challenging to say the least. And the lady I think she either the owner or person in charge wasn't friendly at all in my own opinion unless I read non-verbal language total off. Overall I still gave a reasonable amount of tip in the end because again try to be grateful and restaurant job isn't easy plus I tried to put myself in their shoes to put into perspective. read more

Holy Basil Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

The Imperial Rolls are just the way I like it. Made with rice paper. Had the Oxtail Pho and the noodles were good and thin. Lots of Oxtail. Daddy had Lemongrass Beef Noodles and he said it was good, too. read more

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Best Pho in town. I stopped going to my other Pho restaurant when I tried this place. I've tried the Vegetable Pho with coconut peanut soup and the Chicken Vegan Gumbo. Both were delicious! You won't be disappointed! The chef in the kitchen deserves a raise. They get it right every time. They definitely know how to season food!! So food is amazing every time but they could use a little help on service. Service is not rude or anything like that but just a little disorganized and maybe under staffed. This could be due to pandemic and difficulty in finding adequate servers but as long as they keep the same chef in the kitchen, I'll still come back. read more

Nice establishment & clean. Menu clearly identifies the GLUTEN FREE items. The appetizers were tasty- imperial rolls were flavorful & crisp. Wings were tasty too. However 2 out of 3 entrees we're not so impressive. The pho!? of all things, was sadly only slightly edible: the lamb and chicken was so dry and unpleasantly over cooked: the noodles were too soggy- as if they had sat in broth all day boiling over- it didn't taste fresh. In fact it was very unappetizing that we left the bowls virtually full after primarily sipping broth and picking some meat out. We really wanted to enjoy the food here since there were so many gluten free options for me. If we were in the area and had no other choice, I'd go back just for the appetizers. read more

Just came here for the second time the other day and I am blown away by their vegan options! Their vegan beef vermicelli bowl was so good and probably the best I've ever had. I'll definitely be coming back very soon. Only thing is that the vegan option is pretty pricey for a vermicelli bowl and I wish it was cheaper. read more

Holy Basil Pho - Vegan Beef Vermicelli Bowl - Vietnamese Near Me - Oakland, California

The beef pho, as well as the spicy beef lemongrass, is very very bland. It's like they watered down the broth. For a 15$ bowl of pho, it should be amazing. read more

Seafood in soup definitely NOT fresh. Was tough and tasteless. Broth was delicious. Service excellent

Got takeout from here for the first time last night - just what we were looking for, and really really good. There were four us - we got beef rice bowl with brown rice, pork rice bowl with white (both excellent although I would skip the egg for takeout, they just don't travel all that well. Next time I'd fry an egg up at home and put it on top.) Vermicelli noodle bowl with the pork was super tasty. Lastly, the chicken pho had delicious flavorful broth and lots of shredded chicken. Needed more mint to top it with but otherwise great! Also ordered both fresh and fried rolls, thumbs up to those too. We'll be working this place into our regular rotation. read more

Came in around 4:12 for some Pho time and was quite disappointed. It seemed like they were just opening and maybe that's the reason why, but the broth barely had taste. I ordered the Holy Basil Pho and there was nothing that really stood out. My one pet leave was the beef. It looked thick and juicy but was dry as heck. It was certainly overcooked. Noodles were also overcooked. Would have to try again. read more

Yum yum yum! I'm so glad there is a delicious Vietnamese option in Rockridge! We needed a quick bite and came across Holy Basil on Yelp, the menu enticed us to give it a try. We loved all the spring roll options! We decided to go with the pork. They were so fresh and the flavor combinations were perfect. For our main course we had a chicken Pho and a chicken vermicelli (Bun). Again, everything was fresh and delicious. I did not find the Pho overly salty as others have commented. Not to mention the portions were HUGE! Go here when you're super hungry (or if you want leftovers!). The servers were all friendly, which added to the positive food experience! We will definitely be back. read more

I usually frequent Monster, but tried this new spot today. We ordered 2 chicken pho to go. I love that they put some ginger paste in their pho and their broth is VERY flavorful. The rice noodles are square and it took awhile for them to soften in the broth. After awhile they got nice and soft but I would have preferred them to be softer from the beginning. I wonder if it would be different for dine in since the broth would be hotter?... Super yummy chicken pho, definitely recommend to check it out. read more

Very tasty food and amazing vegan options which I really appreciate! Ordered take out and it was ready to go when they said, packaged well, and delicious. Will come again read more