Pho Saigon - Houston

A couple of decades ago, Midtown was one of the few neighborhoods in Houston that truly represented an Asian ethnic enclave. Fast forward to today, there are...

This has been my favorite pho place for over a decade. I love the consistent quality, and the broth is incredibly comforting and brings back wonderful memories for me. The...

This is my favorite spot for comforting Pho. I've visited at least six times in the past few months, and the consistency, portion sizes, and overall value have been excellent.

I waited 15 to 20 minutes for the egg rolls to arrive, and when they finally did, they were lukewarm. It seemed like the staff was too busy chatting and laughing among themselves to pay attention to the food sitting ready to be served. While the flavor was decent, it didn’t make up for the lackluster service. After another 25 minutes of waiting for my pho, I was starting to get frustrated. Typically, a dish like this doesn’t take that long, and I noticed multiple tables being served before me, even though the restaurant wasn’t particularly busy. I must have looked irritated, because the waiter finally approached me after delivering my condiments, assuring me that my pho was still on its way. When my bowl finally arrived, it was brought to me by someone from the kitchen, rather than a server, and he seemed to be in quite a rush. Now, just because my experience was frustrating doesn’t mean I'm going to give the food an unfair rating; truthfully, the broth was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. However, my bowl was lacking in meat—despite having ordered the largest size—and the noodles became mushy within the first couple of minutes. The quality just didn’t meet my expectations. What really frustrated me was the last five minutes of my visit. I watched another customer come in and receive his pho bowl in under five minutes, along with a water refill. The waiter looked right at my nearly empty water cup while holding a pitcher, but then just walked away without attending to me. It's really disappointing. While the broth was delicious, it’s not worth enduring this kind of experience again. And while I won't jump to conclusions about possible biases, I can't help but feel that my experience could have been very different. (P.S. I apologize for any grammatical errors in this review; my emotions are running high and I'm not focused on perfecting it right now.)

The restaurant is clean and offers ample seating. It's situated in a decent location. The food was just okay for me. I ordered the bun bo nuong sa, but the meat resembled beef jerky in taste and appearance rather than properly cooked beef. Overall, I would rate the food a 3 out of 5.