Came here after a workout and got the garlic noodles with shaken beef. The beef is so dang chewy I felt like I had to chew for days. The noodles had a decent garlic flavor and were cooked well. I wish they cooked down the vegetables more. Overall the dish itself needed more flavor.... Perhaps more garlic. I came here on a Thursday around 9pm and it wasn't busy at all. It's in the San Pedro market area and I like that's there's a lot of seating inside. Nice that they have 3 kiosk. I wouldn't go out of my way to get this place unless I'm craving Asian food and already am in the area! It seems to be run by cute elderly folks! read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Inside - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

Phonomenal is one of the many places where you can get food at San Pedro Square. I went for a casual lunch a little past the afternoon and it was quiet. You can purchase food from the tablet on a stand and customize the order as you wish. The pricing is fair. You'll see the food priced between $13-$22 depending on what you want. I bought beef pho and pork wonton. It took about 10-15 minutes for these dishes to get ready. You'll receive a text on your phone when the order is ready. The pho was good. It was filling, and there were lots of noodles. The soup is a tad salty but with lemon, the flavor is good. I personally did not like the pork wontons. They were peppery and bland, a bit dry. I would probably just stick with the main dishes from here. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Beef Pho - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

This place is a major deal, especially during these trying times! For a combo plate that came with grilled shrimp, egg roll, crab wontons, rib and beef skewer, each item is quite solid and it's a major bang for your buck! read more

The business hours on their website say they are closed on Sundays, but when I called to confirm, the guy on the phone emphatically stated that they are open every day, even Easter Sunday in which, sure enough, I was able to enjoy a late lunch here this past weekend. Got the honey walnut shrimp with rice. They deep fry the shrimp in a tasteless batter that makes it somewhat dry, but the quality of the shrimp itself was fine. And the sauce, which is served on the side, was delicious with a balanced flavor, not too sweet. The walnuts added a nice crunch, though nothing special. There was minimal interaction with staff, as I ordered on the kiosk, and when I received the text that it was ready (less than 10 minutes later), my tray was sitting at the front counter for me to pick up for dine-in. San Pedro Square Market has plenty of seating and is a lovely site for having a meal while taking in the casual and inviting atmosphere and live entertainment. I had a good time listening to the sounds of the Hit Collective band performing their music in the outdoor stage on a sunny afternoon. read more

See all

I've eaten here more times than I can count as it's one of the longstanding businesses that have sustained throughout the changes that have come and gone in SPS Market. I've enjoyed every dish I've tried here. Perfect to fulfill a pho craving when you're with friends at San Pedro Square. They also make a delicious and plentiful pork vermicelli bowl. When I'm craving there, they also have Pad Thai as an option. Their spring rolls are also fresh and accompanied by a delicious peanut sauce. The food options seem endless and the food is always fresh and tasty. Hope it continues to be around for a long time. read more

We randomly stumbled upon this place when we decided to explore San Pedro Square after a protest. I was very excited to find a place that looked pretty authentic. This place is super casual and you don't talk to anyone, you need to use a kiosk to make your order (which I always find very impersonal) but it's super casual here so it's expected. lol. On a positive note the environment here is open, social, and they have a lot of open seating available in the table area. I really like how they have photos available for all of the food items so you can get a visual idea of the food you're ordering. I also like how they have a lot of variety in their menu selections. After scrolling through the large menu I decided to order the Shrimp and Chicken Fried Rice and Shrimp Spring Rolls. Overall the experience is pretty basic but I LOVED the Shrimp and Chicken friend rice lol. For this reason I will likely try another food item like Korean ribs next time (but they were sold out when I went.) It's soo TASTY and the portion they give you is HUGE. I've eaten it 4 different times and I still have about one serving left. lol. I definitely need to get their Shrimp and Chicken Fried Rice again. Unfortunately the Shrimp Spring rolls were very disappointing. (Sorry lol.) They only include one tiny piece of shrimp and it takes up less than 10% of the entire spring roll. I felt like I was eating a veggie spring roll because the shrimp is SO SMALL you can't even see it in the photos. lol. The peanut sauce was good but I've definitely had better as well. The food was ready within 15-20 minutes and they provide a tray to take it to the table. I spent about $43 total because of food was around $39 after taxes. Plus I only tipped $4 because there was no human interaction and I have to pick up my own food + take it to the table. I would've tipped more if I could order from a person tbh. I also noticed the staff is very serious and doesn't smile if that matters to you. (I was starving after a protest march so I didn't mind. lol.) Anyway I would still recommend this spot if you love Shrimp and Chicken Fried Rice and a super casual experience with friends. I'm curious to try some more food here (but definitely NOT the spring rolls lol.) read more

See all

We got the chicken curry with rice and it was exceptional! The soup itself was incredibly flavorful and the chicken was so tender that we were able to split it in pieces using only plastic utensils. They were also very generous with the amount of chicken they put into the dish. My girlfriend said it was the ultimate comfort dish for her and I would have to agree! On top of that, staff were very friendly! read more

Overall loving that there is a Pho restaurant in San Pedro Square that is affordable and delicious I would say they are the most requested Dine-in and take out place in the food court! Lots of options to choose from but I feel they lacked the garnish for mint and probably change the option for larger spoons as I found my noodles kept falling off other than that customers service was friendly. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Pho with meatball and brisket - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

My husband and I visited San Jose for a concert last night and decided to stop into San Pedro Square Market for some dinner. We walked around for a bit to check out the different food options before we decided on PHONOMENAL and it was pretty good. The pricing was fair - I think I paid around $26 not including tip for 2 food items and a drink. The service was a bit odd though, as they only have kiosks that you order at so you really don't interact with the people at PHONOMENAL until your food is ready for pick-up. They have a giant menu that even blocks the kitchen so can't see what they're doing behind the counter. San Pedro Square Market has a ton of seating so we had no trouble finding a table, I like the open food hall concept and it's great for people watching. Not sure if we'll try PHONOMENAL again, but overall, we enjoyed our experience! read more

See all

Overall this place is good and does a lot of business. Orders are done through a kiosk, but keep in mind this place takes PHO-EVER! I waited almost 40 min for my to go order. Broth was still hot which was nice and the overall flavor was good. The location is inside San Pedro Square Market which gives you other things do to and see while waiting. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Pho (Rare Steak, Brisket & Meatballs) Beef Noodles Soup - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

15 minute walk from our car at the Center for Performing Arts. This place is located in the San Pedro food court. Went to the kiosk screen and ordered the $18 pad thai with shrimp/chicken and $21.50 bird nest seafood noodles. Text message on my cell phone confirmed our order. 10 minutes later text message confirmed our orders were ready. Lady at the counter asked my name, and showed me my orders. No table service here. Customers takes orders directly to their table in the food court. The pad thai with chicken/shrimp came with exactly four small shrimp with tails still on. After removing the tails, the shrimp were no more than an inch across the curl. Several pieces of chicken, and wife said the noodles were decent. My bird nest seafood noodles came with four small shrimp also, along with a few squid, several broccoli, but predominately celery, in a nest of overcooked noodles. Had to use a spoon to scoop up the cabbage like juice on the bottom, and pour it over the noodles to add more flavor to the noodles. The celery is probably the cheapest vegetable you can get, and they definitely skimped on the shrimp, which were previously frozen and virtually tasteless. The soup at the bottom was delicious, and I didn't have to worry about splashing it on my shirt, unlike my wife who wore a white sweater last time. I came prepared with a dark shirt. Minimal ambiance, self service, mediocre value for what you get, but passable food. Not sure if it is worth a 30 minute round trip walk. One group had a dog with them in the indoor food court, which is in violation of California law. Only thing phonomenal was watching on the overhead TV the Yankees implode giving up 5 unearned runs in the fifth inning of the fifth game of the world series. read more

See all

pretty avg? in San Pedro, on the more spacious side, lol my default is the shaking beef but it's ehhh? definitely not anywhere close to what you would get at an actual restaurant bottom is chow mein noodles & there's lotsssss of onion & only a little meat big pool of grease at the bottom I never eat the salad on the side bc there's too many flies going around San Pedro for that lol Thai fried rice looked like it only came w two shrimps but there were two more at the bottom really rice-heavy though & the spiciness wasn't mixed very well ordering happens at a kiosk & they text you when it's ready read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Thai fried rice - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

Tried phenomenal for the first time and it was pho-ntastic (ha ha). I got the chicken Bahn mi which had a lot of toppings and was very tasty. I took a star off because I asked the person at the front if it comes with fried chicken (since it just says chicken bahn mi on the menu) and he said yes but it ended up being grilled chicken. I wanted something light so it ended up being okay for me but they should really update their menu with more descriptions. I appreciate the pictures they have up but the appearance of the their food stall is not very inviting. Maybe they can update their decor and pics a bit. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - BBQ Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

Found hair in my food. The pho was alright and I feel this is more on the expensive side considering it is a food court

San Jose downtown food court vibes. The food court is pretty clean and well maintained in the mornings. Phonomenal Vietnamese foods look and tastes pretty decent to me, or at least the delicious $15.95 chicken salad and $7.14 jasmine milk tea that I just had coming back into town. There was an affordable $14.95 chicken curry with rice on the menu too. Good tasting Vietnamese foods. Portions were huge! I don't remember ever eating a $15.95 salad with good grilled chicken at this size. It was enough to satisfy two people, but I finished it. The vinaigrette was perfectly made. Veggies were fresh. I got my order within 5-6 minutes after ordering from one of the three kiosks. First time eating here. Good impression so far. Lady in black dress was doing a great job with phone orders and getting orders ready for customers. Senior staffers are cooking inside the hot kitchen. Looks popular around here. I'll probably revisit next time. They do get a lot of local customers and students buying foods around here. read more

See all

With friends for the afternoon and we decided to stop into San Pedro square for lunch! This place looked really interested so we stopped by They have kiosks you can order at which makes it easy to browse the menu and place your order. I went the fried rice for my entree and me and a friend split the fried shrimp spring roll thing! Overall, I think food was fine! It took about 10 minutes for everything to came out and in my opinion it was just okay! Maybe I didn't order the right thing but yeah. Would def go back to try other things on the menu read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Fried Rice - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

I used to come to this place all the time when I lived in downtown. Hadn't been in a while, but was nearby and craving my tried and true Wonton Soup that I've previously left a review about. I was also with 3 friends and we spent about $80 total. After receiving my soup, it did lack all the flavor it used to have. No big deal. Just wanted a couple srirachas to liven it up a bit. I went to the front counter and asked for five sriracha packets as we had four items that could all use a little spice. The man straight up just said no. And so I said, ok, can I have three? He refused citing that sriracha is expensive. And i said sir, can I please have a couple? I like my food spicy and none of the dishes are spicy. He just refused. He gave me one sriracha packet which me and friends had to split amongst $80 worth of food. I looked up the sriracha packet online and it's 6¢ a packet. So if you want to charge 10¢ I'd happily pay it. I like my food spicy. Really turned off with lack of customer service and being told how much sriracha I can or cannot have. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Their "expensive" sriracha that you are not allowed to have more than one of even if you are with 3 people and ordered $80 worth of food. - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

I ordered 3 spam musubi from the menu and they came out quickly, but the rice had hard, undercooked pieces and tasted old. They were also stingy with the sauce. Really disappointing, especially since musubi isn't hard to get right. I basically paid $13.32 for three slices of spam, not cool. I bought a to go order and discover it while I was in the Uber ride. I won't be coming back. read more

See all

I door dashed this restaurant. They must think they are delivering to oompa loompas. Everything came in miniture sizes. The 4 spring rolls? Were really 2 cut up in tiny pieces and was wrapped in plastic wrap which made it difficult to unwrap and eat. Tiny cups of broth and small packages of noodles and chicken. They are really trying to cut costs..lol never again. read more

See all

I love their Katsu chicken. You order via a kiosk which I actually like. It's in food court in San Pedro square. Pricing is average, around $18-$22 for average plate. read more

My friend ordered the combo appetizer for the table to share. It's a great choice for when you're not sure what meat you would like. It had different meats, shrimp, egg rolls, and the crab wontons. The pork was delicious. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Combo Appetizer - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

My friends and I wanted to grab food around downtown SJ, so we stopped by San Pedro square since there's plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. I was hoping to get something warm since it was pretty chilly outside! Unfortunately, the pho at this place somewhat missed the mark...I got the chicken pho for $17 and it came with only a few pieces of chicken (half of it was chicken skin) and the broth was pretty watery. I selected "dine in" instead of "take out" option, and although it was in a glass bowl it also came with a plastic spoon and plastic bags for the bean sprouts. For $17, I was expecting bigger portions and way more protein in my pho at least the service was okay and didn't take TOO long to get our food! read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Chicken pho - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

Location, service and quality of food is top notch at Phonomenal. The world is your oyster when you come here with an appetite because they have a massive rolodex of tasty selections to choose from. I would highly recommend if you're looking for authentic vietnamese food! read more

Buyers be aware of food here. I bought two disk for family. Tofu sauce with tomatoes and the bitter melon soup. The tofu is old you can tell by smell and try to eat they are so hard and dry. The bitter melon is rotten and they still cook with meat and sell for customers to eat. The people who ever sell this food is not honest and disgusting. Thức ăn hư mà vẫn bán cho người ăn . That's bad business! Stay away from this store. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Rotten bitter melon! Only found out when get home too far to bring back but it disgusting! Should not sell to customers! - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

Phonomenal has been a San Pedro staple for quite some time! My go to orders are the Pho and the Pad Thai. Both of them don't disappoint. I always try to branch out and try new places at San Pedro Square Market, but always go back to the San Pedro staple. The service is quick, the staff is friendly and the portions are generous. read more

The Bay Area is full of incredible Vietnamese restaurants. I love spring and summer rolls, and there's no shortage of places that make great rolls. Couple weeks ago I was thinking how would I rate them, most are pretty similar with some small nuances. But a recent visit to Phonomenal clarified things for me. The shrimp and BBQ pork Summer rolls come in 4s rather than the usual 2. It was twice the food, but not twice the usual price so they are a great value IMO. And what made these stand out? The rolls were very fresh, and of note, the BBQ pork was freshly grilled, with a little bit of that charcoal gas flavor like they just came from the Backyard BBQ not just a slice of cold pork. It really made a difference, and made it easy for me to rank these at #1. I will continue my search with an open mind, but at this point, these are definitely the standard I will judge the others by. And the people that work there are pretty friendly! One of the better options at San Pedro Square market. read more

I've ordered from phenomenal many times. I usually order through a delivery platform but sometimes for pick up. I'm going to be very honest. In the beginning there were generous portions of beef in their beef pho bowls. I love the rich stock and sides they send to garnish like fresh line, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce, spicy sauce, and cilantro. However, more recently they have cut way back on the meat and it's disappointing. One of the things I loved about this place is the generosity of portions. Let's be honest... pho at $16-20 a bowl is not cheap. I genuinely feel more meat needs to be in these bowls. If I were at a restaurant paying that price for beef tacos or some other beef plate... there would be generous portions. I have loved phenomenal but im not feeling the same way I did. read more

When you have few alternative options around, you end up at establishments like this one. The dish I got was cold expensive and tasted like it was heated up from the night before. It's unfortunate, San Jose's downtown has turned into a food desert, but thats the reality. BB read more

This shop is okay. The food and service is okay. It's located in the San Pedro square market which has drinks and different restaurants. This is good for some fast Vietnamese and Thai food. We got the shrimp pad Thai and pho shrimp and chicken pad Thai was good it was saucy and flavorful. The pho was okay it was not amazing great. read more

See all

Ordered the vermicelli bowl and I will tell you this. Portions are small, barely any meat, shrimp wasn't deveined and had the poop chute still on, and worst of all, there was the lady worker's strand of hair inside... Like please that's sad and terrible to be paying $20 for a mid tasting bowl, and be insulted with hair which I almost ingested. They need to be wearing food nets or tie up their hair because that shouldn't be the case. Definitely won't be coming back as that's just poor food handling. read more

We came here on a weekday evening for dinner. It is located indoors in a small plaza. The ambiance in the plaza was warm and lively. The ordering is done through the kiosk and you pick up the food once you get a text. There was no line and we were able to order and get our food pretty quickly. I ordered the BBQ Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich. It was okay - there was just way too much bread and too little ingredients and fillings. I felt like I was just eating mostly bread and couldn't get much of the fillings. Price-wise, it was $10 for the entire sandwich which was good given the big portion size. Overall, while the ambiance and the service was good, the food was okay - the price and portion were good, but I could only mostly taste the bread and not really the fillings. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - BBQ Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

I got served undercooked chicken. It's pricey, portions are smaller than usual. The older guy in the front gets annoyed if you ask him anything. He gave us a grumpy look but we were excited for food. But the food disappointed us as well. Will not recommend. read more

This restaurant is located in the food court at San Pedro Sq. The ordering process was easy with a kiosk. While waiting for my food, I observed the cook in the back wearing a face mask around her chin and latex gloves. While preparing food for the customer in front of me, I observed her place food into her mouth from the area that she was using to prepare the food. I also noticed that the posted health department inspection report was expired. The spring rolls that I ordered had a good flavor and the portion size was large for $15. I would not return for the observed unsafe food prep conditions. read more

So many options at this food market in San Jose. I got the garlic noodles because you really can't go wrong with garlic. Wasn't a huge fan of the seafood so if I come again I'd swap it with another meat. They have live music 6 nights a week and east street parking. There's also a paid parking garage next door. read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Garlic Noodles - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

Orange chicken has virtually no chicken in it. It's about 90% dough. And little orange flavor. It's pretty terrible! I'm very surprised they are still in business in this San Jose hotspot. I would not recommend them to anyone. Avoid! read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Slightly orange flavored dough balls with a sliver of chicken. - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

Food is ok, service is nothing. Order at a kiosk, no people. Delivered on a try and you are paged. This isn't going out, its just quick food at exorbitant prices. Turn around and wait for it at the beer bar behind you, enjoy conversation with real people and go get your little better that cafe food with they page you are you aren't worth their time.. Nope, not going back. Is this the new restaurant? I'm not having it. No real service, no people, no atmosphere, no ambiance, food only OK. Nothing special and no reason to go back. WAY to expensive! read more

I ordered garlic noodles and chicken chow fun. No human interaction. You order from a tablet and receive your receipt via text. The problem is they never text you to pick up your food. It just so happened that I went to check my order and I saw this lady bring the bag out and leave it on the counter. I walk over and saw my name on it. If I had waited for a text then that food would be cold. Food is plentiful but pedestrian. Garlic noodles had no garlic flavor. Not worth the price. read more

The Pad Thai here is honestly SO good!! I make a beeline for this place every time I am in San Pedro. The Pad Thai is flavorful with shrimp, chicken and tofu. The meat is perfectly cooked & incorporated into the noodles -- no rubbery texture. For me, the real star is the fried tofu. They also include a small side of peanuts and top the dish with bean sprouts & jalapeños. Food is served hot, but sometimes it's a bit of a wait based on crowd. Also, wish I could customize spice level! read more

Phonomenal - Vietnamese Cuisine - Pad Thai - Vietnamese Near Me - San Jose, California

So devastated because I really loved this place for how PHONOMENAL their food was, but unfortunately, the quality has gone drastically down in the last few months. I understand that businesses are struggling during this time, but the drop in quality over a few weeks is actually so surprising and sad to see, considering how much potential this place has. Pho: used to be loaded with tons of beef meatballs, rare brisket, steak, and fresh rice noodles. The soup was amazingly flavorful (and one of my favorites in San Jose, which says something), but now the quality is unspeakably worse. The broth is now quite diluted/dull, and they barely give you a few scraps of beef and toppings, as well as an insultingly small portion. Pad Thai: was pleasantly surprised to find authentic pad Thai in a Vietnamese restaurant, and I loved how loaded it was with toppings such as shrimp! Garlic noodles: used to be loaded with toppings such as pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, and perfectly fried onions and noodles, but now this dish is just a lackluster, greasy shell of its former self. read more

See all

First time here! I liked how we order from the kiosk and get a text when our food is ready. There was no service interaction. I just got a small snack of the spring rolls. They tasted fresh and good! I liked how each roll was individually wrapped. The shrimp and meat tasted fresh too I did not like the peanut sauce! It was sooooo so watery. Because it was watery, it didnt have that good flavor to it. Price point: I think it's a tad on the expensive part tbh it is down town in San Pedro's so I guess it's fine Will try the other food items! read more

See all