Amazing food! Plus great vibe in the background. Service was excellent! First time coming here recommended by a friend. I love the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant. read more

I was craving something fresh for lunch. When I entered, I was immediately seated and the server handed me a menu and asked if I knew what I wanted. I made a quick decision and enjoyed the grilled pork with rice, egg and some veggies. The shredded carrots in the sweet fish sauce were so crunchy and flavorful. I enjoyed all parts of my meal. Before I left, I asked for a matcha latte and if they'd be able to added strawberry puree, which they were able to accommodate. Very good matcha latte! I came back the next day and tried the pad Thai, but forgot to take a picture. It was tasty and there was no issue with them dividing the check between me and my colleague. The space is on a corner with huge windows the tables are well used. They were very efficient with getting my order and check. I appreciate that I was in and out in less than 30 minutes for my lunch break read more

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I had the fried rice, not the best fried rice I've had but it was good. The restaurant was cute and the service was nice. My friend really enjoyed read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Fried Rice - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Wonderful spot! We were seated right away, our server was thorough and the food was delicious. Good portions, fresh and came out swiftly. Definitely recommend. read more

Service was horrible. Food was mediocre. I do not recommend this place and won't be coming here again.

Pho is great;however, if you decide to door dash this... PLEASEEEEEEEE make sure to order the meat cooked. We ordered beef pho and got a bloody sack of meat. It honestly looked like a heart. The pho is soooooo tasty tho. When they say pho real, the realllyyyyy mean PHO real read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Bloody sack of meat - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Took my 27yr old god-daughter after picking her up from the airport on a Thursday evening. It was her 1st time visiting me here in Des Moines. We shared Pho, Shrimp Spring Rolls and Wonton Soup. The server was friendly, our food took a bit to arrive but it was fresh and delish-plus we were chitchatting. :) Great atmosphere on Court St. read more

We've eaten here twice, spread over 10 months, once for dinner and once for lunch. The bibambap was the saddest we've ever seen: rubbery meat on rice with a few shreds of vegetables. Other dishes were to us, people who've eaten at other Asian restaurants, pretty flavorless. Service was loveless. The name should be Faux Real. Would not go again. read more

Had this again and it was just as good as the first time! Food is so so good! So flavorful and you can adjust how much heat you want to add to it. Service was great as always! If you haven't tried this place yet, what are you waiting for?! You're not going to regret it! read more

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Overall: 4.8/5 (takeout) We ordered on the phone on a Friday night and it took about 20 minutes for our order to be ready. Crispy Chicken Wings ($12.85 for 6 wings): These wings were a lot bigger than we expected and so worth it! We got butter Sriracha since it's such a unique flavor and it did not disappoint. There was so much umami, and it was actually spicy so you definitely need a drink. We didn't eat the wings until at least half an hour later but they were still amazing. They aren't as crispy as Korean fried chicken but they don't need to be. Highly recommend! Purple Limeade ($5.40): We got this drink since it has lychee & lavender, another unique combo we haven't seen in California. It was perfect with the butter Sriracha wings since it was so refreshing. The flavor, sweetness level, & ice level was perfect. read more

Love the beef pho!!! So good and a great serving size! The siracha wings are great as well! Service is amazing and the location is so cute with a great view. read more

I was on work travel and gave this place a try. Absolutely delicious. So good I had to repeat the following day.

4.0* (out of 5) Food: 5* Atmosphere: 3* Value: 4* Service: 4* 02/19/2023 Walked by this place on numerous occasions and finally took the chance to stop for dinner tonight. Nothing super fancy as far as the atmosphere, but the food was top notch and our server (Ethan) was also excellent. We started with a Cafe Sua Cheese Foam hot drink - mostly because we hadn't had one before and wanted to try something different. Boy was it delicious - best way I can describe it is a great cappuccino with a foam that has a wonderful salted caramel flavor to it that feels wonderful in your mouth! If you haven't tried one of these before, I highly recommend that you give it a try. For an appetizer, my wife and I shared a Banh Mi sandwich (see picture) that was one of the best that we've had - I would have been happy to have that for my meal. For our dinner, I ordered the Pho Special (see picture) and my wife ordered the Broken Rice (see picture). We weren't exactly sure what broken rice was, but Ethan described it as rice topped with an egg - and it was every bit as good as his recommendation. As is our standard, we shared our plates and both of us thoroughly enjoyed both dishes. If you are looking for some great Vietnamese Pho or an excellent hot or cold Asian drink in downtown Des Moines, you won't be disappointed with a stop at Pho Real. We definitely won't hesitate to stop by again, even if only for a drink - as there are so many more to try! If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow. Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com read more

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I have walked by this place a few times. It is right downtown where the Saturday morning farmers market happens. Its not usually open at the time of the market. It was perfect location for us to hit before a show at the Civic Center. We arrived at about 5 o'clock on a Sunday evening. It is a small establishment that you can see from the outside. There are two windows lined with bar height seating. Two high top tables that can seat 4 and then a few tables for a few more. At first, they seated me to the window for a party of 4. It was busy so I understood. Luckly the table behind me cleared out and the waitress was kind enough to offer and help me over. That was very nice of her. When my group arrived, we did have to flag down our waiter, but that is only because we were worried about making our show. 3 of us at the table wanted Pho. The other individual ordered the Mongolian beef meal. We did want to try the Boba so we put in order for the cheese foam Boba. Unfortunately, the waiter came out and told me that the one i wanted to try was out. So i went a completly different route and got the spring roll with shrimp. My friend had never tried them so she was pleased. I love a simple spring roll with the peanut sauce. The place was busy so the food did take a little to come out. We chatted and looked at the TVs on the wall. When the Pho came out we were quiet as we filled our bellies. I had the special which was rare steak , brisket, and meatballs in the broth. Everyone enjoyed their meals and we were able to get out in time to make it to our show. The staff were all kind and happy to help. There is also a discount to pay in cash so pay attention to that if you can. I think I would be back. Maybe they will open up early enough some time on a farmers market morning for me to get a Boba. read more

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This was my favorite pho place to go to while living in DSM. The portions are huge and the bubble tea is fresh and doesnt have a super syrupy taste. read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Pretty good all around but I didn't really find anything to be standout. I got the pho special and really enjoyed it and would happily get it again. The service was alright and the staff was friendly. The ambiance was fun - it is conveniently right downtown and very lively inside. Also are open pretty late if you need a later night snack especially after going to the bars on Court Avenue. read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Egg rolls - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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Really good! Steamed dumplings, pad Thai and beef short ribs were very good. Will definitely come back again. Service was really good despite how busy it was. read more

Hey guys. Just wanted to come on here for a sec to say that the pho was fine but the service was absolutely atrocious. You might not have the same problem as everyone else seemed to be seated promptly, but beware if you have to seek out your own server, never get a refill on water, she mixes up chicken and beef pho with the kitchen, she also may not know if the nut free peanut sauce will send you into anaphylaxis! Safe to say that the two and a half hour parking meter almost expired for food that we scarfed down in twenty minutes after waiting over an hour. read more

I came here on July 7th 2020 while driving across the country. We made a short stop in Des Moines for some Asian food! I thought it was amazing that there is an Asian restaurant in middle of the States! And this Vietnamese restaurant is actually good and tastes pretty legit (I can only comment on pho). We got extra meat and added veggies in our pho. Bathroom was located in a weird area though, but it was cool to see the interior of the building! I felt obligated to leave a review after reading articles about the ignorant review written by Daniel Q. Shocking because he is from OC where there are tons of Viet restaurants. Don't order pho tai if you don't want raw meat. Geez! At least know what your food is supposed to look like before you place an order. It is like ordering beef tartare and complaining that it is raw or ordering chirashi bowl and complaining that there is raw fish on top of the rice. read more

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Still delicious. Still my favorite. Their vegan pho has the best flavor in town. Mr W likes the pad Thai too. Although spice level cannot be changed. He was ok with that and still enjoyed his dish. Crab Rangoon and masubi were great appetizers we added to our order this time. Service was good. Quick. Efficient. I enjoy visiting Pho Real. I still have not had the chance to try their boba tea. They don't serve it Wednesdays anymore. Love it. Like it. I'm still gonna come out here and eat it. I highly recommend. This is the pho restaurant to come to when you're downtown Des Moines! read more

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Excellent pho and their rangoons are some of the best I have had across the country. The place was packed and our food came out in no time.

If you've been on the fence about trying this place out let this be the push you need! They offer Vietnamese, Thai & Korean dishes so there is a really decent selection. I had Korean beef bimibap with a side of chili oil (always ask for this if you're into spicy!). It was delicious & served piping hot, service was fast & friendly. They do a nice lunch crowd & there are lots of window seats for single people eating. I will be back again to try the Pho! read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Korean beef Pho Beef - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Stopped here in a hurry on a weekend. Really nice food. We got a yellow curry with tofu and Mongolian beef. Both of us loved our dishes. Only ding is that the beef was a little on the tough side, but not enough to lose a star. They def have takeout but also full table service. Don't be put off by the hole-in-the-wall appearance. They also have a boba bar if you're looking for that. read more

Visited Iowa for a music event and my friends and I were looking for a late night dinner spot in Des Moines. This place knows how to make good pho, tastes very similar to some spots back home in Orange County, Ca and they most definitely know how to do pho there. I was super surprised because I've had pho in the midwest before and its been disappointing but I definitely enjoyed Pho Real because they gave me a taste of home, usually you wouldn't even get this quality at a late night pho restaurant back home. I got the brisket pho, very tender, broth was great, noodles were chewy, however, my friend's noodles were very under cooked. Downside is that they served us in a plastic to go bowl and the veggies were not very fresh and kind of brown. read more

I don't like to write negative reviews but honestly this experience was really disappointing. I ordered some yellow curry and spring rolls. I also got some Thai tea. My husband ordered bibimbap and jalapeño garlic Rangoon. The yellow curry had a kick to it but didn't have much of a depth of flavor outside of that. The texture of the curry was great but it was otherwise boring. The vegetables in it were extremely undercooked, bordering on raw. The spring rolls were 90% vermicelli, and again pretty flavorless. The "peanut sauce" it came with didn't really taste like peanut sauce, but more like watered down oyster sauce. I tried to order two other drinks, and they were out. They were completely out of boba too. I just got a Thai tea, and I will say the tea was pretty good. The bibimbap was pretty light on the toppings. Again, outside of the drizzled on sriracha it was just really bland and the vegetables were undercooked. Finally, the Rangoon filling had a good texture. It tasted like garlic but not much like jalapeño. The exterior however was extremely chewy, to the point of unpleasantness. Overall, everything we ate was pretty bland, which was unexpected after reading the reviews. Perhaps we caught them on a bad night? Either way, I might return to try their boba, or a specialty drink like the grapefruit lemonade. I don't think I will be eating here again though. read more

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They were out of curry and I ordered something else. Which is fine but then my husband got his order well before mine arrived. No one wants to eat by themselves or what their partner eat. Won't be back. This is a simple problem to fix. They didn't seem to care. Don't go here. read more

Very good! Surprisingly so! We had netted egg rolls and a broken rice plates with grilled pork. The style was casual, easy-access, but the taste was sit-down fine dining that could easily compete with the best I have had in San Jose, San Francisco or Chicago. Bravo! "Serious" sit-down Vietnamese restaurants can really take a bite out of your wallet, so this place was welcomed and tasty adventure. I did not try their pho so I can't comment on it. The only thing I can see they need to improve is their service. When I was there, they had one guy cleaning all the tables and waiting on all the customers, while one guy only greeted and seated and two gals stood around playing on their phones. That is a very bad look. Our server was excellent, great guy. read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

I'm not embarrassed to say...I am too damn old to hang out downtown DSM after dark. I was easily twice the age of everyone trying to party but when you land in DSM at 10pm, it's slim pickins for some decent food options. We tossed around some ideas (Maria's, Eatery A, Station, Abelardos...) but we settled on the Panka rotisserie place by Drake, since their website says open Fri/Sat til 1am. That is not the case...(I was annoyed by this) so we circled around DSM some more, contemplating just going home to bed. Then I remembered hearing of a late night pho place but that I had never been to. So downtown DSM we went, and whoaaaa. what's up with every road being closed around 4-9th St. and whatever that cross street is? And WHY is traffic downtown always one way in the opposite direction I want to go? After about 10min of circling around, we finally got a parking spot. Entering Pho Real Kitchen & Bar was total chaos, people standing around waiting for carry outs and blocking the entrance, most tables and window bar seats filled with diners, a "wait to be seated" sign posted directly by the entrance (but blocked by milling bodies), and just...ok I'm old, I get it and I sound like I'm whining. I'm not, I was just overwhelmed by the realization that I'm too old to be downtown past dark anymore. But whatever, I'll get over my sob story, just bring us some food and leave us be!! Menus came quick with waters. It was their late night menu only, so I couldn't get the spicy noodle soup I saw via their online menu. It took awhile to get someone back to our table, but once we got our order in the food did not take long. Pho Special: great flavor! I ordered with extra steak and brisket, and it was plentiful. Loved this one, sad they only had generic Sriracha but I get there's a shortage. They do have a fabulous hot sauce, if you ask, and that fulfilled the hot sauce need. Combo fried rice was good, nothing to write home about but it was good. Crispy wings: not crispy whatsoever, and nothing like the menu's picture, but they were very plump and the sauce was good. ‍Service: friendly and fun. They were all young and full of energy...so the opposite of me read more

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PhoReal does the job when craving for pho in Des Moines, it's one of a couple of options. Located right in downtown it's quite busy for lunch, there is a few tables and seating along the window. The menu is extensive in that it goes beyond traditional Vietnamese but includes Korean and Thai dishes. There is also a fantastic selection of boba. We opted to try the pho, spring rolls and boba. The pho was decent- okay portions, luke warm and good flavor. To my disappointment our pho veggies were lacking, I would've appreciated more than 2 leaves of basil. Spring rolls were good. I enjoyed by boba- Cafe Sua Matcha. I'm a big fan of both matcha and Vietnamese coffee, the flavors really worked well together. Highly recommend. Service was slow but understandable with how busy the restaurant was at the time. read more

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Service was excellent! Prices very reasonable. Have a separate alcohol drink menu that you might have to ask for if you want beer or wine. Had the bibimbap and was very good. Will return for sure read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Bibimbap - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Yummy food and boba drinks! The service was fast and the young man serving us was attentive and professional. We enjoyed our time there. Highly recommend! read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

My cousin brought me to this great pho place located downtown Des Moines. Service is great they saw I came in with my toddler son and they right away assisted in bringing him a high chair which is so helpful. I ordered the Iced Thai tea to start and the shrimp spring rolls. Both were tasty and fresh. I asked if their pho is gluten free since I have a allergy and they assured their phos are made gf already without having to request it. Made my day. The pho was made to perfection and I now have a favorite pho place that I can confidently order knowing it's already gluten free. Definitely recommend to all this place feels like home the moment you sit down. read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Pho Beef and Thai iced tea - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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First time here and I was extremely impressed! This has been my favorite place to get boba so far. The 50% sweetness level is perfect and they have tons of flavors to choose from. I only got the tofu and avocado spring rolls but I can't wait to go back for pho! Street parking can be a challenge but the ramps usually have room. This is probably a better place to get takeout from instead of eating in. We will definitely be back! read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Blueberry Oolong Milk Tea with honey pearls - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

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My first time here and my first time trying pho. It was amazing! This is my picture before I dressed it up with lime, cilantro, jalapeños, sriracha, bean sprouts and Thai basil. We also had some great crab rangoons. The staff was really nice. I will definitely be back! read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Pho Beef - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

Excellent flavored pho and spring rolls. This is authentic. So happy! Coming from the west coast with lots of Asian restaurants, this hits the mark! And it's open late. The bubble teas were awesome too. read more

This place was ok. The taste was ok but not good...It will take forever to bring the food on the table...They charged us for extra parsley, jalapeño & lemon. The first time they brought lil bit of it which it wasnt for two person. Also, we ordered their special and it wasnt like the other pho places with right amount of food. I'll be honest that it was too little...Our complaint is about the amount of the food that they offered and longest wait time ever... read more

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It was pretty good pho! The service was a little slow and they didn't have boba on Wednesdays but it was still pretty good. The place was small and cute. The servers were nice too! read more

Pho Real Kitchen & Bar - Pho Beef - Asian Fusion Near Me - Des Moines, Iowa

I only got take out but the inside looked so cute. It had a nice little boba bar and plenty of seating around the edge of the restaurant to people watch while you eat. I was very happy with the house pho. Normally I am not a fan of the meatballs but I would definitely take the ones from here again. I was worried that having it to go would affect the portion sizes but they were still very generous with the amount of food. I would love to come back for dine in. read more

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great Pho! love the egg rolls n spring roll. great customer service . nice ambience. easy to talk!

When I first came here the original owners were terrific! Then they sold the shop and I only experienced terrible things from here. To start off, the service wasn't great. Nothing was available on the menu and I was also given the wrong menu that took forever to look through because the options I wanted were sold out or just no ingredients to make. It wasn't crowded but it definitely took a long time to have anything prepared and there was no boba for the teas which I get they're not a boba shop but what DID they have available? Drunk crowds were coming in and I honestly told them that it's not worth it and they thanked me. Didn't finish the meal. Didn't pack it up. Not worth the price either. read more