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    Pho Cafe

    3.7 (149 reviews)
    ModerateNoodles, Soup, Vietnamese
    Closed 4:30 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)

    Order Pho Cafe Takeout or Delivery

    Pho Cafe Photos

    PHO CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Casual
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Pho Cafe

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    Cute booths!
    Win L.

    Late night pho?!? Woot woot!! Yes please!! And thank you!! Love having a pho option available until midnight! This is a rarity!! The menu is robust and food was decent. We enjoyed the cute booth area, giving us lots of room to spread out. The portions are also very generous for the price! We did notice the meat may not be as high quality as other restaurants; the pho tai meat had a strange color and texture. I'd also say the pho soup isn't as flavorful as Gao for example but actually tasted quite good after adding all the jalapeños for heat. The large was gigantic and a great value, especially if you're not picky about the meat. Good late night pho option!

    Eugene A.

    We ate here for dinner on the evening of July 4th. It wasn't too busy when we arrived, so we were immediately seated. The ambiance is quite bright with some contrasting colors against the wall. The interior can be mistaken as a karaoke bar, but it's a cozy place to eat some warm pho. I ordered a rare steak pho with meatballs (number 46). The pho orders are available in medium or large bowls. My mom ordered a Pho Ga (Chicken Pho) and we shared an order of imperial rolls. Our food was ready within 10 minutes. The presentation of the pho matched my expectations in flavor. The broth had a therapeutic taste with the sliced onions, green onion and cilantro, while the rare beef slices were tender. The noodles were fresh and the meatballs were spongy, meaty and tasty. The imperial rolls were crispy and not greasy. They go well with the provided noodles and crisp pieces of fresh lettuce. Service wise, don't expect too much. You may always ask the waiters if you need anything else. They do charge 3% more if you use your card and extra cents for to go containers (in case you don't finish). This place was not bad at all. I'll come back for their pho.

    indoor ambiance
    Cielita C.

    I haven't been to this place in a while now. I loveeee how they're open later than other restaurants. Pretty good pho to satisfy cravings late at night. Service is pretty good, but the food took awhile to come out. The restaurant inside is okay, nothing too special with the ambiance.

    outside
    Jeff H.

    Not bad for Daly City. The restaurant was mostly empty on a Monday evening. The menu has a big +$1 price adjustment on top. My Five Spice Chicken garlic noodles $16 tasted OK. The chicken was a bit dry. Luckily they have fish sauce on the side. The pickled vegetables were served on top of leaf lettuce. The garlic noodles had a hint of butter and a mild garlic taste. The disappointing part was that some of the noodles would break apart due to them being flimsy. Service was fine as I received a water refill. I was left a bit hungry still and had to get some popcorn chicken and a Thai iced tea next door. One more thing, Internet service in this plaza is terrible. My suggestion would be for the restaurant to offer WiFi to customers.

    Stephanie X.

    An okay place for pho, the broth has a very strong beef taste if you're into that. I prefer something more light. The portions are definitely very generous and the service is good.

    Grilled Pork & Fried Egg Rice Plate
    Joyce S.

    Right across from classic bowl Friendly staffs and decent food. Easy and quick to order over phone. -1 star they should disclose 3% credit card payment charge. Give your customer the option to bring cash for pick up.

    Inside
    James Y.

    Daly City, the peninsula, gets chilly often. And when it does, you sometimes crave noodle soup! Yum. And what's what we did on a chilly fall day, we went to get pho soup! Located inside a busy, busy strip mall with plenty of parking, Pho Cafe is a small restaurant with some unique seating arrangements and some comforting Vietnamese food. The service was nice, the vibe seemed to be a mix of club mixed with sports bar atmosphere, which was a weird combo, especially given that the color way was very red. Either way, the food was good, the egg rolls were good, just got food all around.

    Pho Bo
    timothy n.

    The bun rieu here has the best crab meat balls, theyre better then vietnam or san jose. Theyre always extremely nice and I rarely finish my food but I literally always finish my bowl here

    Sandwich

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    2 years ago

    Great customer service, right price and reasonable wait time. It is a place that I can go often any evening I don't want to cook.

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    2 years ago

    I ordered the Bun Bo Hue, and my husband ordered Crab Meat Tomato Noodle Soup, both are delicious,

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    Page 3 of 4

    Ask the Community - Pho Cafe

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    I was craving something warm and flavorful, since it's been raining and this little noodle spot…read morereally delivered. They have a menu that goes beyond just your typical noodle soups - items ranging from Malaysian‑style curry laksa, spicy roasted duck ramen, to XO sauce dry noodles! We tried a few things and everything felt fresh and satisfying. The house special curry laksa had a rich, creamy broth with just the right amount of spice, and the duck dishes were especially good with tender meat and savory sauces that clung perfectly to the noodles. The small bites like spring rolls and dumplings were nice starters for our group of 4. The service was friendly and quick, with generous portions - exactly the spot we were looking for! I'll be coming back to try even more off the menu next time.

    I was craving noodles and this spot was nearby…read more I ordered the S1 (Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls) and N4 (Roasted Duck Dried Egg Noodles). The spring rolls were really crispy and the sauce that they use on the side adds a nice sweetness to it. My favorite part of my meal however were the noodles. The noodles were flavorful and the duck was tender. I also loved how generous the portions are and the price is very affordable. If you're into affordability, generous portions, high quality noodles, and great service, I highly recommend checking this spot out. Try it out if you like. :)

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    Laowai Noodles

    Laowai Noodles

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    I've never had noodles like this before! They were so good - nutty, garlicky with the perfect…read moreamount of crunch from the toppings. The instructions were extremely clear. I would recommend dusting off some of the flour before tossing into the boiling water. The pickup was straightforward- it was easy to find the location. William threw in a snack along with the order which was highly appreciated! :)

    I was shocked to read about the long waitlist years ago and I never bother to put my name on it…read more Not only I have to wait for years but I also have to cook the noodles myself - thanks but no thanks - especially I spent way too much money on kickstarter for a series of failed projects/scams in the past. But my sister had enough faith in him that she put her name down in the waitlist a couple years ago. A few days before Valentine's day in 2026, my sister got the email asking her to confirm her order quantities and to pick up on Valentine's day. Apparently, my sister completely forgot her order. lol! This guy have more integrity than kickstarter projects and to keep his promise and to fulfill the orders!!! It's my first time having sweet water noodles. I have never visited Cheng Du in China (it's on my bucket list) so I cannot tell how authentic this really is. As a noodle dish, I really love it. I would buy the sauce itself and toss with any other noodles. (Business opportunity there!) The instruction to cook the noodles is super clear and it's a very simple and easy dish to make. If you can boil water in a pot, you can make the noodles based on the instruction with this noodles kit. The rice crispy gave an excellent crunch. (Now I can see why Paik Jong Won added the uncooked instant noodles crumbs from the package to a bowl of instant noodles). The noodles texture is lovely, it has a chewy (or the Taiwanese/Chinese known as "QQ") bite to it. The portion is quite generous too - it's one of those satisfying portions :) I don't think I want to wait for 2 years for this again. But when he opens the store or start selling the sauce, I will be there for sure!!

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    Spicy House

    Spicy House

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    Spicy House is my go-to spot! I come here so often the servers recognize us and already know what…read morewe're going to order. I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEE the dry fried chicken and the Szechuan spicy beef. The chicken is crispy, packed with flavor, and super addictive, while the spicy beef is rich, bold, and has that signature numbing kick from the Sichuan peppercorns. I usually also get the honey walnut shrimp when I want something a little sweeter to balance everything out, but if you're trying this place for the first time, you really can't go wrong with the dry fried chicken and Szechuan spicy beef. Just a heads up, it's not just spicy, it's that numbing heat, so definitely get some rice on the side.

    25 of us came here for lunch at 1:15pm on. Thursday. We ordered a variety of foods. beef chow fun,…read morechow mein noodles, their signature dry fried chicken and fish filet spicy soup, eggplant with pork, green onion pancake appetizer, dried fried string beans with beef, sesame chicken and garlic pork chops. The standout was the spicy fish soup. Had some kind of turmeric taste and the red peppers gave it a nice kick. We probably overwhelmed the staff as there was only one waiter and we noticed the room capacity was 49 patrons which we met. Management was kind enough to give us fried mini sesame balls on the house and fortune cookies too. It was a great luncheon had by all.

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    Kajiken

    Kajiken

    4.4
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    9.8 mi
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    Great chewy noodle texture and very flavourful!! Would definitely come again. There was a line but…read moreshort wait for the outdoor seating. Chill ambience, the space between tables was reasonable but you could clearly hear your neighbor's conversations at very loud volume.. we overheard a very spicy and shocking conversation from the table adjacent to us. At first it seemed like a lot of onions and chives but after mixing it was a good ratio of sauce noodles and toppings. Friend ordered the mozzarella cheese add-on topping and it was literally just a little bowl of the shredded mozzarella cheese you can get at the grocery store... so we joked that next time we can just bring our own cheese (BYOC) I ordered the homura aburasoba (spicy minced pork, green onions, bamboo shoots, seaweed, fish powder, chives with ajitama (soft-boiled eggs marinated in soy sauce, ramen egg)). Highly recommend this place to anyone who likes noodles !!

    Located in San Mateo I would rate this place a 3/5…read more Interior design is nice an beautiful. Service was okay most likely due to the large amount of customers coming in and out. A lot of the workers are busy so you have to flag them down and they rarely come check in on you Homura ABURASOBA 7/10 Chicken Marage 7/10 The food here definitely is packed with flavor but the portion sizing is significantly smaller than Elk Grove location. JD Big Back tip: if you get seated near the door you may be interested in bringing a jacket because it does get very windy and cold. Also if you want a spoon you will have to go to the front to request for one.

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    Long overdue. Open spaced with an abundance of selections! Dangerously filled the cart without any…read morereservations. "Assorted Sushi" was the one thing that left a lasting impression. Fairly priced. Perfect amount of rice with excellent texture and seasoning. Skipped the restaurants for the evening and had a feast right at home. Wasn't settling for less either. Don't feel like cooking and dining out sound unappealing? Jagalchi is the answer! With all the new Asian grocery stores popping all over the bay, it's up there on my list. If only we had more locations and that's no joke.

    Went back to the time warp that is Jalgalchi…read more My friend and I spent lots of time at the new beauty collection. The purity rep was super patient - going over the different products with us and even gifting us with a little gift set and out with purchase. Michelle helped us with figuring out concealer color and breaking the tie in lip color. We ended up getting two drawings because of our purchase. On to the rest of the store. We got lunch boxes and they were meh. I like the banchan and the quantity of food, but the protein dishes were lacking in freshness - the eel was better than the kalbi, which was just lackluster at best. Will go for the sushi next time. I did score black rice and toasted black sesame seeds along with rice paper. And the gluten free baked goods of course. Until next time!

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    Needed a lunch spot that wasn't a three hour wait (lol Whisper) - and this place seemed to call to…read moreus. Upon entering, I noticed that it is a sister restaurant to the Lazhou Noodles but before we could change our minds, the hostess sat us (lol). I went with the main beef noodle soup, and we also tried the dry noodles with spicy beef. I was expecting the food to be very similar to their sister restaurant - BUT the food here was so much better I was SO surprised. The broth tasted better, the noodles were higher quality, and the beef was also much more tender and had less gristle. it made me wonder if it was a fluke or if this location was just that much better as this restaurant was also much more crowded versus the other locations. I can't wait to come back and bring friends, and though San Mateo is parking is not as friendly, the food experience definitely makes up for it!

    I've been to this place before and although it didn't make me a solid fan that I'd want to visit…read moreevery so often it did leave an impression that it's ok for a quick bite. I recently went back since I was in the area. The food is just as I remembered. The sauce is slightly overdone but the noodles are good enough. They did offer slightly more variety than I'd expect from this kind of restaurants. I think it's alright but probably not worth paying for parking in San Mateo for this. What I mean is that if you happen to be in the area then it's fine to dine here but probably not worth coming here just for the restaurants as there are alternatives outside of San Mateo where you don't have pay for parking. However the reason I gave 4 stars is that they give you enough meat on the noodle to make it slightly better deal even though everything in the Bay Area is overpriced. The service is really efficient and friendly enough. The restaurant is small and long) do I wouldn't suggest larger parties.

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    Simmer Huang Miao Grill

    4.1
    (367 reviews)
    1.3 mi

    We ordered the beef short rib pot, friend rice, and noodle soup. They all taste very good.read more

    Came here specifically for the Dry Pot, a brothless version of hot pot where everything gets stir…read morefried and simmered together. Noodles, meats, veggies, chiles, aromatics. No water, just pure concentrated flavor. The restaurant gets its name from simmering, one of the essential Chinese cooking techniques, and you can taste that philosophy across the whole menu. The Dry Pot lived up to the hype, but the real surprise was the skewers. Beef, lamb, and chicken, intensely flavorful and rich. I can't stop thinking about them. The potstickers were also way better than expected. Usually a throwaway order at most places, but here they were juicy and packed with flavor. The beef pancakes were fantastic. Golden and crispy on the outside, juicy flavor bomb on thes inside. Both crunchy and a little chewy (in the good way). Came back a few weeks later with friends and ordered the whole grilled fish, which I'd been eyeing since my first visit. It looked magnificent, but it didn't really pop the way the other dishes did. If you love fish it's worth trying, but the dry pot, skewers, beef pancakes, and dumplings are the stars here. We also got a few veggie dishes which were all great accompaniments...but nobody is here for the veggies. A few practical notes. They have a beer tap but it doesn't work, so if you're into beer, they've got a few options by the bottle. Parking is easy since it's in the Serramonte Center, and you can combine it with a trip to Jagalchi, Target, or whatever else you need. Both times I came there was plenty of seating. I'll be back soon, and next time I'm getting the dry pot with their handmade noodles.

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    Pho Cafe - noodles - Updated June 2026

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