To give you some perspective, I came here at 6:45pm Sunday night. I am not Vietnamese but I have actively sought after good pho where ever I've moved (also, i never use sriracha nor hoisin sauce). It was dead empty except me and one other guy. As soon as I opened the door, a lady immediately showed up and asked "For here or to go?" Inner-monologue, i was like "Damn, that was fast." She had a Viet accent but I think spoke some dialect of Cantonese to her coworkers. I walked in to sit down, got a glass of jasmine tea (different, but whatever, i get more). I open the menu and see that they do mostly chicken pho, which is only slightly unusual. The weird part is they have SNAIL MEAT PHO, LOL. One of these days I have to try that. I chose my usual beer pho instead. ***You have the option of thin or thick noodows*** It came out in a matter of minutes. Only got jalapeno peppers and lime. No basil or mint. That it a no-no because sometimes the pho broth has a "wet dog" smell to it. It may be hard for some of you to believe, but it's not necessarily a bad stench. Anyways, this had a distinct wet dog smell. The lime helped, but mint leaves would be better. Noodle texture good, the taste of the broth was alright but gradually became too salty for me (and i tend to like a little oomf to my pho broth). Beef and beef balls were good. I wish they had tripe.....but hey,.....first world problems. $6.50 for a small pho in SF, it's not too bad (only the ox soup pho was $7.50). Considering I'm local to this place, I would come here once in a while, but I'd have to water down the broth because gradually it gets so damn salty. Try it for yourself if you're local to here. Service is very good. read more

How do you know an Asian restaurant is good? When all the white people complain about the service. You the food is bomb when service blows and people still keep coming back for the food. This place is known for the chicken pho....order that and you have anything to complain about. People constantly rave about Turtletower and I think this place is better. The wait staff don't speak much Engrish well and some not at all. If you can't speak Viet or Canto, just point at the numbers and you'll do fine. The rice plates are also hella bomb. Great cheap place to eat and I go weekly. Look past the servers and enjoy the delicious food and you'll have a great time! read more

They give you the choice of thin or thick noodles when you order pho. The pho comes with the typical garnishes, but doesn't include beansprouts which was surprising to me. I ordered beef pho with a mix of well-done and rare beef and it was just okay to me. I felt really thirsty afterwards, so perhaps the broth was a bit too salty. This pho was nothing amazing, but pho is pho, so I still enjoyed it. Note that this place is cash only. read more

Hard to find a spot that has Chicken and intestine pho so this is my go to if i'm in the area. Service isn't very attentive. But hey! This isn't fine dining. The best hole in the wall asian food with fair pricing will always have the worst customer service. read more

Worth the trip out to a part of town that you've probably never been to for this truly authentic spot. Service was very friendly and considerate. We came with one veggie in the group. They were very accommodating to her needs. I must note that there were no vegetarian items on the menu except the spring rolls and an excellent dessert and drink menu. Make sure to order the papaya salad (w/o fish sauce for the veggie) and the spring rolls were slammin. The Pho was a bit too authentic for much of our group's taste. I ordered the Spicy Beef and Pork Pho. The broth was delicious but I was a bit taken by the choice of Pork parts that was selected. I'll spare you most the details, but mention that I've never before played with pig hoof. Had a good laugh convincing our friend his beef ball soup was a different kind of ball than it was. All in all a good spot and the prices were right. A bit more description on the menu would have been helpful. The fourth star is mostly for making us come to a part of town we've never been to. read more

So terrible. Horrible service with the severs talking about me behind the counter. The mango smoothie I ordered was foul. I took another sip to confirm and the drink was inedible. I immediately asked nicely that i couldn't drink it and the attitude from them was deplorable. My mother had the seafood noodle soup and the seafood(primarily the poop thingy from the shrimp) was not clean!!! DO NOT COME HERE! This place is not clean!! read more

I order from them quite often becasue it's fast and easy. The food is pretty good. The portions are decent but has shrunk in the past year. Give it a try! read more

Been here twice. Once for chicken pho and another for the beef pho with everything. Chicken pho was pretty good, I'd get it again. Oily but not too greasy. Garlicy but not too potent. Juicy chicken. I like. Beef pho, not so much. had better elsewhere. I don't think they change the broth... gross... Service sucks. They also need to get that door fixed so that it closes when you want! The wind keeps blowing the door open and its been freakin cold! read more

I know there are better pho places in the city but this one is close to my house. And it's pretty damn good. We've tried a lot of different things and so far everything is good. Wayyyy better than Cali pho nia down the street. Remember to bring cash! read more

Be warned my fellow yelpers! If you want mediocre food, poor service, unsanitary waitresses that handle money, clear away dirty dishes then touches your food without washing their hands... then this is the place for you. We live in the area and have eaten there a few times. We are all about supporting local businesses. But today we made it official that we will never step foot inside this restaurant again. My sister, known to be a person that eats anything and never complains, ordered a dish which the meat clearly tasted like it hadn't been handled properly. When we kindly told the waitress immediately, she got defensive and insisted that it was fresh. Then she and the other waitress ganged up on us saying that we didn't know what we were talking about while briskly walking away not showing any interest in what we wanted to say. Since they ignored us again when we called for the check,we requested the manager. We told him that we will pay for everything we had ordered despite of the bad meat and that we were simply telling them to double check the meat so they won't serve it to other customers. Long story short, we paid in full as any kind customer would and left with our still hungry stomachs but without any appetites. So to sum it up, this is not a restaurant anyone should go eat. Clearly they didn't take customer criticisms well. With this kind of attitude, no way they will succeed. No wonder there isn't a pho#2. Service 0/5. Food, let see...just don't dare to defer!! read more

Terrible service. I requested for another cup of tea since mine had things floating in it (looks like dust...and lots of it). Instead of replacing my tea, my server told me that "it's supposed to be like that because it's the tea." Well, my sister's cup of "tea" didn't look like mine. By the way, your cup of tea doesn't even taste like tea. It just tastes like water. The food tasted alright but it was pretty pricey for what it is. On top of that, they charged me $0.75 for one to go box and one to go container. I know we live in SF and we get charged $0.10 for a plastic bag but seriously, $0.75 for two to go items?! That's just bizarre and unheard of. Not happy and will not come back. read more

Love the chicken noodle with chicken meat and gizzards. Soup is a lil salty, but over all the noodles and food are good.

This is not your traditional pho place...the noodles are thicker you get shredded cabbage instead of bean sprouts for the soup. The soup was pretty good but I've had better...service wasn't all that great either. Lastly, it is CASH ONLY! I hate that because I never seem to have cash on me when I need it...haha I don't think I would come back here again unless I happen to be in the area. read more

To be honest and really turned me off this restaurant was the hostess/waitress. I always ordered bun Bo hue when I eat at any Vietnamese restaurants. This restaurant has the worst bun Bo hue I ever experienced. The meat had foul taste and completely disgusted!!, the noodle s were extremely overlooked, if I have no teeth like drinking it. When i told the waitress, she reacted annoyed and gave us rude attitude. The restaurant is not busy at all, half empty on Friday dinner. They don't care, another waitress bought out 3 pieces of meat for us to taste and dump it on our table and asked us to smell it. When we were ready to go, I over heard another complaint from another table with 4 women. One of the decent soft spoken woman wasn't happy with what she had as we'll. We hurry out the door. Now, I experienced diarrhea. This is my first time write a review on yelp. God bless you!! read more

Vegetarian pho in beef broth. Sounds like an oxymoron but it definitely cures the worst of hangovers. Not the best service, but that is expected. Hopefully won't have to go back again due to hangovers. read more

Came here after 8 on a Friday night. I was craving flat rice noodles and this place popped up. It was super close and closed at 9 or 10 so we decided to give it a try. We found parking right out front (woo hoo!). There was basically no one there lol. I got the chicken pho and my bf got the flank steak. We shared imperial rolls as an appetizer. I love places that serve the rolls with lettuce and noodles and this place did ! They were great! Our stoops came soon after. Great as well! I'm going to be honest and say that I didn't even sample the broth alone before adding oyster sauce and sriracha -_-, it's just a bad habit of mine. But I thought everything was great! I will definitely be back- considering , we are right up the hill ! Thanks Yelp ! read more

Not bad but definitely not "#1". The chicken pho is the most popular here, and it's actually not bad. If you don't want a noodle soup, get the Hainan chicken rice platr and make sure you get the chicken thigh. read more

Bring a big jacket when you come here. I swear I got up like 5 times to close their stupid brokenass door. So cold... :( The service is WEAK!.. It took longer to get the check and pay than to eat the f'n Pho. We were a minute away from dashing. haha lol.. when the waiter came flying out the back like Usain Bolt when we got up to leave. Probably to check the cash. -__-. Where the f were you before?? The Pho: is not even Pho. The noodles. WTF. It was some thick rice noodle. :( No bean sprouts, mint leaves? I asked her why.. she said this place is not Vietnamese. bahaha. The soup base was good though. :) Their Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk was :D. Too bad it was such a small portion. Is this place Pho real? read more

My dad and i come here a lot because it's close enough to our home where we don't have to trek too far. Many restaurants on San Bruno aren't even close to being a Favorite, but it is mediocre enough for me to come back to. This place isn't too bad but I just dislike that their broth is a bit greasy. I like to get the #14 small ($5.95) with is pho with rare beef, cooked beef, and meatballs. It's northern style here, so no basil or bean sprouts! My dad really likes their ox tail noodle soup, but just by looking at it, it was greasy looking and not something I appreciate :( The rest of their food here is just okay. I believe they are CASH ONLY, but there is a nearby Bank of America nearby. read more

I'm quite obsessed with their seafood pho because they have bits of fried onions in the soup. I know it's super weird because it overpowers the seafood taste, but i really dig that fried onion taste in my soup, lol. The small is quite large in my opinion, and every time I finish the whole thing, I look as if im pregnant, lol. Try to avoid sitting in the back because they have this blender that's as loud as a jackhammer. It gets really annoying after a while. And it gets super annoying when people keep ordering drinks that requires that stinking machine. Of course there's better pho elsewhere, but I'm hooked on that fried onion stuff in my seafood pho. -_- read more

Clean environment with decent servings. Really customer friendly, I would highly recommend this place if you are hungry for pho!

In my wife and I's never ending search for the best Pho Ga in SF this is just ok. The chicken was tender but they use the flat noodles (I prefer the round ones) and they were already very soft when they hit the table. I prefer the places where the noodles have clearly just been placed in the broth and you have to wait a couple minutes while they soften up. The Imperial Rolls were light and crispy. Service was very quick but think that is due to them having the pho all ready to go with noodles in it - it was on our table inside two minutes. Also no side of basil. read more

Bad service. Unhelpful people. We went in 30 mins before closing to get something to go but they told us we need to go get cash. They told us a bank two blocks down. We said we will be right back. We got cash, paid an extra $3 fee to get the money and came back to see that they have locked their doors 20 mins early. If they didn't want to serve us then they should have told us they are closed down for the night. I will never come back. If they are this rude then I don't want to be served by them. read more

This place was freakin disgusting! Hecka peed off cuz I ordered Bun Bo Hua over the phone. I should have went in. How the heck is there a small fruit fly in my soup? and the couple bites I did take before I seen the nasty bug it tasted like my meat was rancid. Totally ended up eating my boyfriends tacos! The people working at this place were Chinese.. I'm not at all discriminating, but if your Chinese and your cooking "VIETNAMESE" food.. at least learn the culture and the dish! I regretted not going to CaliPhoNia down the block. Never again. read more

I haven't been here in a few years but I knew there food was amazing and that I like coming here for rice plates as I'd been here for my first time when I tried it years ago. Today I went back hoping the food was still great. In fact it was . It was as delicious as I remember it but unfortunately my service sucked . I had to go look for someone to take my order just so she can send me back to the door to order at the door to go. No welcome in nothing made me feel uncomfortable. It's sad because I remember them being so friendly to everyone that came in. The wait wasn't bad. I hope on my next experience it will be better . read more

I am just a white girl who loves ethnic food. I have no idea of the authenticity level of the food they serve at Pho# 1. All I can say, is the grilled barbecue beef with noodles, #30 on the menu, is so good! It is such a nice alternative to fast food. For under $7.00, you get delicious barbecue beef over noodles, with fresh mint, bean sprouts and cucumbers. The meat is so good, with no fat, that is the best part. The food is fresh and tasty, not greasy. I would love to see a little more meat on my plate, this is why the 4 star rating. Other than that, this place is delicious. I order it to go, as the restaurant is not the most cozy. I would rather curl up at my house to enjoy. read more

The GayZ visited this restaurant on a Thursday night with his husbear and immediately noticed that they did not have goi cuon (spring rolls) on the menu. "No problem," I thought. "They must have just forgotten to put it on the menu. I'll ask." When I did, I got a blank stare and had to repeat myself. The waitress who must have been the owner's wife said that they didn't have them. "That's fine," I thought. "Deny me my spring rolls. I'll just try something else!" So I did. I ordered a large seafood pho and a chicken salad to share. Husbear had the large beef pho. The chicken salad came first and was excellent - shredded thin and piled high with cabbage, carrots, mint, crushed peanuts and really fresh tasting chicken with crispy garlic on top. Mmmm mmm. Then came the pho - without bean sprouts or herbs. Just limes and jalepenos. Husbear asked for sprouts and the lady just said "Um, this is a Vietnamese restaurant. We don't have bean sprouts. I have basil. I bring you that." When she left both me and cubby were like, "Ooohhh ahn ahhh!!!" (general sound of disbelief) I could not believe the bitch said "this is a Vietnamese restaurant." Bitch, I could have told you that!! How you gonna tell me that this is a Vietnamese restaurant and then tell me you don't have goi cuon or bean sprouts?? Whatever. They had Teresa Tang playing on the stereo when we came in, this place is Chinese!!! Anyway, the pho was alright at best. Both soups had good flavor, but the wide rice noodles were WAY over cooked, to the point that they were just falling apart and gloppy. What's more, all of my seafood was overcooked, everything from the unseasoned squid to the shrimp and the imitation crab. Just about the only seafood that was good was the fish cake. I might go back to try the Bun Cha (vermicelli bowl) or have the salad again, but this is definitely not the place for pho. I'll stick with Them Ky in the Trenderloin for that. three stars for english speaking waitress and one star for yummy chicken salad, but minus one star for overcooked noodles and no goi cuon. read more

the classic chicken pho is really good especially the soup! read more

Pho #1 - Vietnamese Near Me - San Francisco, California

went there with friends for lunch cuz i saw some pretty pictures of it in a friend's facebook page.. thought it would be good but was disappointed. the Pho was not like all the other Pho's I've eaten, with a bold tasting beef broth.. it was just like a chicken soup.. and did not come with the "usual" basil, lime, bean sprouts dish to be put in the Pho. this left the bowl of noodles real lacking in ingredient. the menu said "3 meats" but none of it was beef.. there was chicken, processed lunch meat slices, and something else that was not real identifiable. it was the big size order but other than the bowl, the noodle soup could have fit in a smaller bowl. we also had a bbq pork rice plate. the pork was sliced thin (like pork jerky) and in square shapes, there was no char on the pieces like other bbq's and it had a "springy" texture, reminiscent of being treated with baking soda,, that also interferes with it getting a char. altogether it was disappointing and not compelling to come back to try other things. sorry read more

The place is well lit, but a bit dingy as far as cleanliness for a restaurant. Close to home and pretty good pho ga for those cold foggy san francisco nights. Service is hit or miss. read more

Even though it is listed as "pho", it is not the typical pho you would expect. This is the chicken pho, which means the noodle is a bit different. So don't be surprise if its not what you expect. Flavor of the food is actually not too bad, but I can't give more than 2 stars because the food is SO OILY!!! When the soup got to my table, you see an entire layer of oil, not soup. Yuck! Definitely had better. read more

Not the most original name for a Pho restaurant but they are named aptly. Their Pho with flank and meatball is really good; served with ho fun (wide rice noodles) noddles & tasty broth, $6.95 for large. Service was a bit off, the waitress forgot the lime and peppers and our drinks..the place is clean and new looking. Good grub, good prices, definitely coming back soon.. read more

My pho place to go to when I'm in the Portola. The service is attentive and friendly. The place is bright, spacious and clean. The bowls of pho are big and prices cheap. I usually cheat and get the chicken pho-delicious on a cold afternoon. read more

My husband came home with two types of pho tonight, the Chicken and the Raw beef pho, both were very good. The broth was delicious. I split the large Chicken Pho with my 3yr old son and we both had plenty to eat. Even though both Pho's were good my husband had issues trying to get the Pho. Our order was taken through Eat 24 and when he went to pick-up they had no idea what his order was. The gentle man said the boss only works days and she has access to those orders on her email. I thought that was really strange but my husband still placed the order. As he was walking out to move his double parked car he thought it strange that there were no other customers. He also made a remark about the door being sticky. In my head I just pictured a restaurant under poor management. The food was good so I'll still give them 3 stars. read more

This place specializes in chicken pho and is a little different from the usual pho place. First of all, if you are a bean sprout fan just like I am, you might not like it here because they claim they are some regional vietnamese food that bean sprouts and the usual herbs are not suppose to be eaten with the noodles. The kind of noodles they use are also different. It is softer and wider. Some might like it but I prefer the regular pho noodles that has a chew to it. The broth actually tasted good and was flavorful. read more

Whenever I don't get tempted by the thought of roast pork at Wing Sing across the street, I come here for pho and the warm soup. I particularly like the conch noodle soup. My taste buds love the tomato broth soup it comes in. read more

I went to this restaurant for some pho yesterday with my friend and ordered the beef stew. And let me tell you, it was delicious. Although, it took a while to get the food, and the service was decent. It was really busy and the workers were nice. I give this restaurant Okay. read more

Good food, i always try to eat family style here with my younger sister but i want everything for myself. I get so full! The beef noodle soup is good and always keeps me coming back:) Only thing that sucks is they only accept cash. read more

The chicken noodle soup is delicious. The chicken is smooth and tender . The noodles were nice and slippery ... very yummy !! I also had a side order of rare steak which was very good .... the quality of the meat is good and the meat is not too thin or thick . I've had the bun rieu in the past and it did not impress me . Their soy milk tastes kind of weird . It's not sweet at all and does not taste very fresh . Just come for the chicken noodle soup. Skip everything else. read more

I came here for a family dinner one night and the overall customer service and food was great. Their price and portion was reasonable. But I came here two days ago to order some food togo. I ordered for 6 orders and this one waitress she was extremely rude and disturbing, I was not ready and she kept rushing me, while I was on the phone asking exactly what my friends wanted, she kept disturbing me with what I wanted. I found that extremely rude because she kept rushing me when I was on the phone, and there wasn't even anyone waiting to order or to be seated. SHE is one of the asian waitress with black framed glasses, kinda skinny, tall extremely rude!! read more