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    Phamous Cafe

    3.9 (341 reviews)
    ModerateVietnamese
    Open 10:30 am - 9:00 pm

    Phamous Cafe Photos

    PHAMOUS CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Phamous Cafe

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    Don't mind the raw meat, it's very thin. So just stir it around and it'll cook quickly
    Emily C.

    Upon walking in, you are hit with the aromatics of pho broth, and that's exactly what you should order here. The service is speedy because the presumed owner here can be seen speed walking with bowls of pho in his hands. After that, you can see that he is also the one taking orders, taking calls, seating people, passing out menus, and checking people out at the register when they're finished eating. You can definitely see the effort he puts in. Parking is easy because it's in a big lot with other businesses. The pho comes out nice and hot of course, with a portion size that hits the spot for the price. Yes it's raw beef, but it's very thin. So just mix things up in the hot soup, and it'll cook quickly. If you're looking for a cozy comfort meal involving pho, this is a pretty decent spot to try out.

    Good to the last drop
    Brad D.

    Pretty quick service Spring roll was refreshing with good sauce Broth was clean and flavorful.

    Salmai C.

    Most mediocre meal ever. Boiled shrimp and basic white rice, a single slice of tomato. The viet iced coffee was super good however! I'll try again and order something else. I don't like to give up on a restaurant so quick. If I don't like I'll probably just keep coming back for the coffee. Service was ok, nothing that stood out for me but I'm here for the food not for chit chat.

    C2 double protein  P2 Pho Tofu Spring Rolls

    We've been coming here for about 9 months and never been disappointed!! Definitely recommend trying, everything we've tried has been amazing from the food to the Thai tea and the coffee is Amazing as well! Service never disappoints, after our second visit we literally just have to nod our heads because he knows our orders.

    Paul C.

    On the way between SLO & Ventura and need lunch? Like pho? Phamous Pho has a menu full of delicious soups at great prices. Fast service. Great menu. Good prices. Cute town to stop in also! A+

    D4. Thai Iced Tea

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    6 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    1 year ago

    amazing pho, owners are so sweet! hard working and quick service even with full restaurant. check it out!!

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    3 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Phamous P.

    Phamous P.

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    4 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Decent food. Rude staff. I witness man yelling at a customer because he wanted to add something else to the order. Ambiance is average.

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    4 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    No-nonsense spot, usually order for takeout, good pho, open on Sundays, would recommend

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    2 years ago

    I ordered the Beef pho and the broth was tasteless, they need to add flavor to their soup

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Happy to see that Phamous Cafe survived the pandemic. Still my favorite Pho in Santa Barbara.

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    5 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Finally tried this place today. Loved it! Amazing flavors and great service. Will definitely be back soon!

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    3 years ago

    Best pho in sb by far. The broth is the most flavorful and the rare steak comes actually rare unlike some places. 10/10!

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    4 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    Page 3 of 9

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    3.7(628 reviews)
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    It was a cold and rainy day, so chicken soup sounded perfect…read more I found this little restaurant close to our hotel. I had the chicken pho. It was full of white meat chicken, yummy rice noodles, and savory broth. Absolutely delicious and warming. Hubby had the shrimp pho. He was very pleased. He had a large bowl and slurped down every drop. Loved this little gem of a restaurant, and hope to return.

    My girlfriend and I visited Noodle City since our regular pho spot was temporarily closed…read more I ordered the pho super bowl with everything except rare steak (flank, tripe, tendon, and meatballs. Personal preference but, I believe it is a crime to not have brisket when serving pho. The only options left were dry, tougher cuts that felt very mediocre. Regarding the broth, it was overwhelmingly bland. It was extremely clear and had minimal fat. Again personal preference but, it seems they had extracted all of the fat after simmering the beef and that left the broth so lackluster. We also got the Thai tea and my girlfriend thought it was delicious. Regarding the ambiance, I think Noodle City tries their best making use of their limited space. However, it wasn't very clean: the spoons were a bit dirty, it seemed like the floor isn't cleaned often, and the utensil/condiment holder on our table was a mess with the chopsticks about to fall off the table. As for the service, they had plenty on their hands tonight as a ~12 top came in shortly after us and they a line out the door until right before we left. They checked in multiple times, however, we did have to mention our thai tea was forgotten and got it AFTER our pho came out. It also seemed like there was an altercation with a male server and the party of 12: orders were confused and he yelled "well figure it out". Overall, I've been to Noodle City for ~3 years and I think they have GREAT rice dishes. However, their pho is pretty mediocre, service is often fast but not friendly, and prices are always CHEAP.

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    UCen Soup Guy

    UCen Soup Guy

    4.3(3 reviews)
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    UPDATE: Soup guy now runs the whole kitchen. Soup quality still good…read more The University Center has many food offerings. Now they are offering the Soup Guy and his soups. M-F, he makes two soups every day. He tweets about them so we can all learn in advance what soups are being made. The large soup comes to less than five bucks and it is very filling and healthy. The UCSB soup guy is one of the great new things about UCSB. Follow is twitter and instagram accounts for updates on the soups of the day.

    Great flavorful soups with different varieties every week. Favorite food on campus…read more -- Large soup is $4.50, smaller soup is $4.10; you can ask for samples. There are two soups available very day-- one vegan and one non-vegan option. I first tried some of his soup during a cooking demo hosted by the Food, Nutrition, and Basic Skills program. He had made chicken noodle and butternut squash then. Sooooooo good. I bought a large soup and tried the artichoke shrimp bisque (with Asiago cheese) and it was amazing (available in Romaine's Salad Bar and Coral Tree Café). Wish I had discovered the Soup Guy earlier. Hope to try all the soups on the menu eventually. -- I've now also tried the chili con carne, mac and cheese with ham, vegan pho, and split pea soups. Chili con carne is so good. I normally don't like peppers but it tastes great in the soup. Not bitter/spicy at all, almost sweet. Mac and cheese with ham is like slightly more soupy mac and cheese with lots of salty ham. Vegan pho tastes different from the pho you might get in a Vietnamese restaurant but it's really flavorful (with broccoli and tofu as interesting additions, I think it's a more Japanese broth flavor though). Split pea soups: they're good for split pea soups. I hate peas but somehow managed to eat most of a cup. Even the soup guy can't redeem peas for me.

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    Woodstock's Pizza Isla Vista

    4.0(666 reviews)
    1.6 mi
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    If I could give this place 10 stars, I would. However, it wasn't necessarily the establishment but…read morerather who works behind the scenes. I just wanted to write this review for an absolute work tank called Erick. I was having a bad day, came in pretty late after Soltopia had ended and right away Erick noticed something wasn't quite alright with me. Couple minutes go by and Erick comes with appetizers as well as a pitcher of Beer, says it's on him and to think of it as a "pick me up." He sits down and asks me what's been going on, I build up the courage to tell him and he's just there, listening, which is really all I needed at the time. Well time goes by and before I knew it I was smiling and laughing, I had temporarily forgotten the reason why I had came in looking so sad. I'm personally a firm believer of it isn't what's in the establishment, but more so WHO's in the establishment which is why I went out of my way to write this. Woodstocks is so lucky to have such a high calibre of an employee working for them!

    I've always heard great things about Woodstocks so I had to give it a try! I ordered their Lethal…read moreWeapon pizza which came with jalapeños, pepperoni, and sausage on thin crust. I was surprised by their take on how they develop their crust. It's folded over the slice making for an interesting texture profile. Each bite was packed with flavor and the crust was great enough on its own! I'm also a big ranch with pizza guy and their ranch is phenomenal. Big kudos to Woodstocks for absolutely crushing it!

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    Woodstock's Pizza Isla Vista - From our seat

    From our seat

    Woodstock's Pizza Isla Vista
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    Phamous Cafe - vietnamese - Updated May 2026

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