Wanted to have my friend try this location. We order: Haines boneless chicken over rice, beef pho (small) and a ( large). To share we ordered: butter tofu. I got my friend's thumbs up for food and great service. read more

Best Pho fusion ever! I could eat here everyday! order the fried tofu, and number 22 read more

Giving this 4 stars because I wouldn't say this is a traditional pho spot. I got the pho with rare beef and asked for pickled onions on the side, but they didn't have any or seemed to know what it was. They also didn't serve bean sprouts or Thai basil. They use thicker pho noodles. Not my favorite, but works if your looking for something hearty. My partner ordered the oxtail beef soup. It was like a beef stew with pho noodles. The oxtail was tender and it had carrots. Overall, there was nothing amazing about the meal, but the ambiance and service was nice. read more

Pho Element - 28 - Wine Sauce Oxtail Noodle Soup - - Ph (ui b) 20 - Rare Beef (Filet Mignon) Noodle Soup - - Ph Ti - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

This place is awesome! When we got there they were busy but still were able to seat us in a matter of minutes. The food was delicious and came out in a timely manner! The best part about this place is the workers they are so friendly and nice and prompt and happy to help with anything you need! Definitely will be making this a regular spot for me :) read more

Been to Pho Element many times now, and we always enjoy our meals. Some items we enjoy: 5 spice chicken bun bowl, chicken pho, stir fried garlic vegetables, butter tofu, Element fried rice, and their tofu coconut drink. Service is prompt, and even though Pho Element is always busy, there's usually only a short wait for a table even during peak hours. read more

Friendly people work here which makes picking up some tasty pho to go a pleasant experience and it's even better to dine in. Great place for family or friends to absorb the good flavors and aromas! read more

Consistent quality of food here! We like the pho ga (#18), the bun rieu (#24), anything with 5 spice chicken. Don't skip the appetizers- butter tofu and chicken cabbage salad are excellent too! read more

Hmmm I think I want to try it again for another review. I ordered the chicken pho with giblets, bf ordered short rib plate and we had a side of garlic clams. Garlic clams is NOT worth $24... it was good but not that good. The chicken pho lacked a bit of flavor but I still ate it all cause I was hungry. I loved the noodles they used, it's my favorite. I tried my friends pho dac biet and that lacked flavor as well. Short ribs were good and they give you a good amount. Service was good, servers a bit rushy but he was friendly. Ambiance is nice, big space. read more

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I love this place but now so does everyone else. So, other than "this place rocks", I'd just say to the owners, "have more ox tails" available. It sucks when what I want (and I doubt I'm alone) is NEVER available now. read more

Came here for dinner on a Saturday evening with our friends after a car meet nearby. They were pretty busy but was able to sit 11 of us. Since our party was pretty big I thought they'd sit us at one of the big round tables + a small one nearby but they decided to squish us at the big round table, which wasn't the most comfortable but it was do-able and they were busy. Parking is non existent, there's a lot in the back but you'll most likely need to park on the street off el Camino which can be challenging, esp with big parties with multiple cars. Their service is pretty quick & the workers try their best. My bf and I ordered the 23 brisket/beef ball pho and the 1 imperial rolls. Both are so good. Their pho comes with the fresh rice noodles, not like your usual thin pho noodles. Broth is super good and you can season to your liking with their sauces set on the table. They have fish sauce too. Their imperial rolls is a must get. Super crispy and fresh ingredients. Definitely a good spot to come to if you want a warm/homey noodle soup meal. read more

Pho Element - 1. 01 - Imperial Roll - - Ch Gi - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Kind staff! Love the food. Broth is flavorful and the chicken papaya salad is delicious. Must in the Bay Area

rlly good chicken pho and service was amazing and accommodating! we called ahead to ask if dogs were allowed and they arranged us to be in a table where our dog could be safe and wouldn't disrupt the flow of the restaurant chicken in the pho was tender, soup had good flavor, and this store has wide rice noodles which were a little soft but fine for me in the end read more

Pho Element - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Everything was great!! Food is so good. I had pho to cure a hangover and the broth was SO good. Their service was amazing, they checked in on us and refilled our water all the time. Definitely coming back!! read more

Pho Element - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

We have eaten here so many times. The food is great. Simple, fast service, it's always hopping here and it's clear why. The classic Pho is very good, we also love the curry chicken soup. We ordered a special fried chicken -- absolutely delicious. read more

Not sure what all the hype is about but I was very disappointed. The place was busy but we didn't have to wait and you could tell people get seated quickly, the downside, they just want to turn over customers and get you out the door. If I wasn't scarfing my food down, I felt like the workers were just glaring at me for not eating my food in 5 minutes. The server had the absolute worst attitude. You couldn't even hear what she was saying because she was so over it and wouldn't even make eye contact. She just kept saying, "what else?" "ok what else?". When they brought out the soup, it was not even hot...it didn't bother me at first but when I realized my raw slices of meat were NOT cooking in the broth (yes that's how luke warm it was), I was over it. I let my meat sit in and ate the noodles, when I got to the last bite of noodles...the meat was still raw. What a complete disaster! I didn't even want to say anything to the server with that type of attitude she had. For a $16+ small bowl of pho...it should be better than that. C'mon. read more

Pho Element - Rare Beef (Filet Mignon) Noodle Soup - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

The restaurant is called "Pho Element" but they let us know they didn't focus on that after we asked if they had beansprouts, lime, basil and all that goes along with pho! They didn't. Also they used a different kind of rice noodle for their "pho" Update: I now know this is northern style pho. Would be nice if their staff knew to tell customers dining in. Our server provided no explanation. read more

Pho Element - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

One of the best chicken rice around bay area. They also have pho as well. Service is great, sitting area is on the less spacious side and parking is a bit hard on lunch time. read more

people didn't understand us when we were trying to order. never gave coconut water i ordered, and looked confused when we asked for cilantro. gave me a huge stomach ache, "ran out" of pho noodles and gave us vermicelli. no flavor, wasn't even pho. wokeup with severe headache and stomach ache, must have been MSG. read more

My wife and I love coming here. Phó Element is the only place I have found that has an awesome "OX TAIL" Phó. Yes, that's right ... OX TAIL! If you love ox tail then you definitely need to come here to have it. My wife always gets the crab Phó and she loves it. It has good flavor and she like the thinner noodles that it comes with. The Saigon Butter Tofu is EXCELLENT! This dish is best when eaten at the restaurant. We have had it to take home but it looses its crisp when ordered to go. read more

Pho Element - Crab Phó, Oxtail Phó and Saigon tofu - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

I came to Pho Element on El Camino in San Mateo with my visiting relatives, who were staying at a hotel by the San Francisco airport. The restaurant was very crowded, it was past 7 p.m., we had to wait because we had 12 people, and the parking was a little difficult to find in the neighborhood, although the group did manage to find a parking spot for their large rented passenger van. The food was very delicious, on par with the many Vietnamese restaurants in Los Angeles' San Gabriel Valley. The wait staff were very nice, explaining that they could accommodate us if we used two tables, which was fine with us. They had run out of beef stock and had to use chicken stock, because it was really late at night, but that was okay with us. The waiter was nice enough to take our family photo, so I could keep a momento of our dinner; I don't see family that often. I will definitely try to come again to this place for pho, if I'm in this Nor Cal neck of the woods! read more

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Being a person that eats pho regularly, I simply can't recommend this restaurant. I grew up eating pho, from homemade to instant. This pho restaurant is subpar at the best. The noodles are the wrong noodles and extremely mushy. The soup is bland and tasteless. The spring rolls and sauce are poorly made. Maybe this place is not known for their pho, but their pho is certainly not the greatest. The service was not great. Other than coming by to refill water, the service was not there. The servers stood at the back counter, chatting with each other and were generally hard to flag down. The overall store seems to be relatively busy for a weekday, but for what reason, I don't know. It's loud, cramped, and borderline claustrophobic. My bill in total came out to an absurd amount. 3 bowls of pho and 2 spring roll orders came out to over $100! I'm avoiding this pho restaurant from now on. Take some time and drive out to San Jose for good pho. read more

Don't let the store front fool you... this place is great! It definitely has a unique menu to offer and I will be back to try the rest of the dishes. Since it's been raining, you know you crave pho, but when I got there...mannn. Their unique dishes were too good to pass up. We tried Satay Beef Noodle Soup and pork/crab meatball with vermicelli. Can't forget the Spring Rolls! The portions are big, brought half of it home! The crab flavor in the soup was spot on...if you love crab, give this soup a try. There were about two waitresses that came to take our order and check on us. Timely, non-obnoxious, and really nice! They saw that my bf had dropped his napkin (without us knowing) and gave us a stack. This place is a casual Vietnamese restaurant and I'm coming back! read more

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I read a whole bunch of reviews, and landed on one that mentioned Northern pho vs Southern pho. After doing some quick Googling, my research (lol) showed that the pho we're used to with the bean sprouts, thin vermicelli noodles, rich broth, and variety of meats is Southern. People were saying that this location is Chinese pho, but more accurately, it's Northern pho. Knowing this changed my expectations for this restaurant, and the entire experience with all my food was wonderful! Parking: back alley (you can enter through the back door) or on the street Menu: not your traditional (southern) pho. I love the beef carpaccio, and they had that as a menu item! They also have pho with wine broths and chicken broths. Food Beef Carpaccio: usually, it's super thinly sliced and you hardly feel like you're getting good meat. The cuts are slightly thicker, and it was a decent amount of meat! Fried rice: I loved this fried rice, but then I realized I loved it because it was so salty. Regardless, flavor is there, and I took some home, reheated it the next day for lunch, and it was just as good! Chicken pho (no meat, just broth and noodles): broth is so light, doesn't feel super oily, and the wide noodles weren't chewy, but it wasn't stuck together or over cooked. Happy with this especially because it came meatless. I tend not to eat the pho meat, so this is a wonderful alternative where I get the full flavor of chicken without having to eat the chicken. Wine sauce ox tail noodle soup: so special! Never heard of this before, and we ordered the last bowl before they sold out. Really unique, rich flavor. Almost like a really hearty veggie soup in my opinion. Ox tail wasn't over cooked, their meat portion was decent. Worth a try! Tofu app: tofu is so crispy on the outside, really hot and silken soft on the inside! Definitely a must. This pho tasted so clean, and even though I was super full after, I didn't feel nasty and heavy the way I usually do. -- Services: I don't usually comment on service, but this Pho Element's service is noteworthy! we came in and the owner/manager came up to us, asking if it was our first time here. We said it was, and he asked if we wanted a breakdown of the menu, what was popular, and what they specialize in. Insightful, but not pushy. Really knowledgeable and friendly. I really appreciate the time he took to explain the menu--it seems like he knows his customers might get confused that their pho is different than the "traditional" kind you'd see anywhere else. Love this place, a bit far, but yearning to go back :) read more

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Food - noodles are just the right texture; toppings are generous; broth is good. The starter egg rolls were excellent in that, they're not oily nor heavy but light while crispy on the outside chewy on the inside. It was Wednesday night and the restaurant was full. We waited 10 min for a table of four. It's wise to place yourself on waitlist via Yelp asap. Service: the service was prompt efficient and friendly. Ambience - it's a very family friendly cozy casual restaurant. We saw quite a few kids as this place makes for a good family outing with regular and booth seating. I'm not a fan of screens while eating but I can see some people like having entertainment such as sports etc on the wall during meals. Hopefully though it's more a place to gather and slurp pho. For me it's a nice neighborhood eatery to share conversation and laughter along with delicious bowls of pho and rice and veggie plates. read more

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I've been here before but the service has gotten worse. We sat down and we're immediately asked what we wanted to order. We asked for a few minutes and the server was annoyed and came back a minute later. We felt pressured and picked two items quickly. Chicken Noodle Soup - shredded chicken didn't have much flavor but the broth had flavor. It's light and was only lukewarm. Beef Brisket Noodle Soup - beef brisket was decent. The broth was very mild and not as rich as other pho spots. The broth was only lukewarm. read more

Pho Element - 18 - Chicken Noodle Soup - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Whenever I have craving for Vietnamese food but don't want to drive all the way to San Jose. This is the place. You can signed up on Yelp waitlist ahead before arriving to save time when it gets busy. But the staff are always so efficient and friendly so no worries! I didn't love the hainese chicken rice (but that's also because I was spoilt to try really great Singaporean/Malaysian style). I do love their spring rolls, rice vermicelli with bbq pork. Their pho is also pretty good. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. read more

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Visited here on our way to the Shoreline amphitheater and wanted to try a new pho place which is how we stumbled upon Pho Element. The inside is clean and updated comparing to traditional pho places. We got the chicken pho and the beef pho special (dac biet) and an appetizer: fried egg rolls. First thing that jumped out was how tasty both broths were! The chicken and beef toppings were tender and the egg rolls were crunchy and well flavored (came with 6 pieces). Few things that would make it perfect...Wasn't a fan of the silky flat thin noodles, they did not hold up aka breaks apart and too soft. The egg rolls didn't come with enough lettuce for you to wrap, and there was no basil for your pho (ok, I did read that this is northern style but that's just my preference) overall good experience and glad we tried. Quality: 4/5 stars Service: 5/5 stars Value: 3/5 stars read more

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I've eaten plenty of Pho, but I'm also very simple, rare steak, every time. Honestly I would come back just for the amount of meat in my soup. The meat just kept coming. Broth was super flavorful. read more

Pho Element's pho is good, warm and comforting, but their Hainanese chicken with rice is the bomb. Both the white meat and dark meat were so tender and juicy and full of flavors. One order could easily feed two. The checkin pho is also very good. Rare beef options are also super good because you get to be the one to decide how rare/cooked the slices will be. If you order to go, they wrap everything in separate bags so the noodle doesn't get soggy with the broth. Rare beef slices are also packed separately - you can reheat the broth and pot over the slices to enjoy read more

Pretty good North style pho with thick noodles, which I personally prefer. The broth is flavorful and tastes 'clean.' I also had their summer rolls, which I felt were a bit smaller than other places. read more

Pho Element - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

A solid bowl of pho. I ordered the fillet and brisket pho. Here's my 2 cents. I appreciate that they don't skimp on the protein portions. Plentiful, and the meat was tasty. However, I've had more succulent and tender, especially with fillets. The broth was fresh, light, and tasteful. I didn't get the feel that this was grandma's authentic recipe, and that the broth has been intentionally simmering for the past 48 hours. It's quality, but definitely made to serve multiple bowls throughout the day. I did enjoy the wider noodles - very soft and comforting! It's hard to find exceptional pho in the peninsula. Pho Element is one of the best in the area. But you can find better in San Francisco. That said, I still left full and satisfied! read more

Pho Element - 21 - Rare Beef Filet, and Beef Brisket Noodle Soup - / - Ph Ti Chn - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Honestly I thought it was pretty good. I think it's partly my fault not LOVING the crab as much as I want to since I should have looked at the pics. We got a few things and they were the raw beef, beef pho, chicken pho, saigon butter tofu, and the house crab. So if I looked more thoroughly and saw the crab was drenched in sauce, i would have went with the other sauce(the one like the butter tofu). The crab itself was very fresh and it has noodles on the bottom, but I just love the dried style crab a lot more than one that is drenched with a sauce. It still was good but seeing how amazing the garlic butter tofu was(my favorite dish), I regretted even more. The beef capraccio was good, and it came with a lot. Didnt try the beef pho, but the chicken pho was good. I always like the norcal pho a lot more cause of their noodles. I thought the chicken could be seasoned a little more but i think it might have just all went in to the broth. AS mentioned, the fried tofu is my favorite, it does come as a shock to me but it really was hands down my favorite fried tofu. I wouldnt mind coming back even though I don't live in norcal. read more

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Was in the area & decided to for Pho. Found this on Yelp. The service was great and fast. Food was good too

The restaurant was very busy but we quickly got seated. We tried the Hainanese Chicken with Rice and Pho Bo Dac Biet with chicken soup instead of beef soup since they ran out of the beef soup. The noodles in the pho were a thicker rice noodle (northern style), not the typical skinny noodles (southern style). To my surprise, pho in a chicken soup base was still pretty good! For the Hainanese Chicken, the flavor, the sauces and the seasoned rice were good. However, the chicken was cold. It would've taste a lot better if the chicken was at least warm. Usually Hainanese Chicken is warm, but not sure why this one was cold. The service was pretty good, given how busy they were. The server checks in on you. They don't just seat you, hand you your food and bill like some other restaurants. Overall, I would still come back and try other dishes. read more

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Love this place! Can never go wrong with some beef pho. Servers were very quick to getting us our food and helping us. We came at a good time for a Friday evening before it got crowded so if you're trying to beat the line, probably suggest coming before it gets dark. The only thing that might seem tricky is finding parking, but we were lucky to park close by. Still hella good and definitely coming back read more

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I was really disappointed that normally they use all white meat and I was given mix meat. They forgot all the sauces hoisin sauce hot sauce, so I just had my plain pho read more

Pho Element - my order was missing the hoisin sauce, the hot sauce, and also normally it always has white me and this time it was mix meat. - Vietnamese Near Me - San Mateo, California

Pho Element was recommended by a trusted yelper. I should say this is a different kind of pho. They dont have bean sprouts and basil on the side. The broth tasted CLEAN. They use wider noodle than the regular thin rice noodle. The 3 holy grail condiment is also different. Instead of the coarse garlic chili, they are using some kind of I'm guessing homemade chili. Just nit picking, because that change the taste of the bowl. Usually, I'm pretty open to changes, but I'm on the fence with Pho Element's Pho Tai. Maybe I need to come back again. I left with more longing for my usual "Dirty" bowl of Pho Tai. LOL. read more

One of our go-to spots for comfort food! The Hainanese chicken is our favorite -- super tasty and goes great with rice or noodle soup. I recently tried the coconut sauce with shrimp and clams from the seasonal menu, and it was delicious -- really fresh and full of flavor. We're actually heading back there again tonight! read more

First time tried today. Their Hainan chicken rice is like "iced Hainan chicken rice". The rice is warm, but the chicken is like cold as ice. Seems like just got it out of the fridge. Not a good experience. read more

Quick take: Northern Vietnamese stye Pho My go to order at this place is the Pho Ga #18. Northern style pho is a little bit different from the Southern style pho. Flat wider rice noodles are used instead of the typical thin rice noodles from many of the Southern stye pho restaurants. Also, orders do not come with all the sides (bean sprouts, basil, and mint). There's nothing more comforting than a hot bowl of chicken broth with tender chicken, onions/green onions and rice noodles. I haven't tried the beef pho yet. One of these days I will change it up. I've phoned in an order once. Ordered at the door a couple of times and the order is ready in no time. Very quick service. The parking situation is a bit sticky. The storefront faces El Camino with a few spots in front of the restaurant. More parking spots in the neighborhood behind the building. It's a bummer their dine-in option isn't available at the moment. Eating it at the restaurant is always taking it to go. It just taste better freshly made out of the kitchen. read more