This place is good for a quick lunch. The pho is authentic and comes out hot. The service is not bad as well. They're not usually busy and can accommodate large parties without reservations or waiting. read more

Food was very mediocre just like most other pho places but the service was just a little worse, I gave extra star for the good hours.

Pho 54 is my restaurant of choice for pho for the last year or so I think. I used to go to Pho Bac in Irvine religiously, (they knew us there), but I just canNOT justify paying 7-8 dollars for pho! So now I go to Pho 54, and now they know us there too =PIf you are there on a Sat or Sun around 6 there'll be a good chance that I'm there. I really like the flavor of the broth here, and for only 25cents more, you can get a large bowl with more meat and noodles. YUM. Also, their bbq pork dish is HUGE and their vermicelli with the shrimp and bbq pork is also excellent. And all under 6 dollars. Also, I love the fish sauce dipping sauce here, it's not all watered down and overly sweet like other places (pho bac *ahem*) and it's got a nice spicy kick with the chili they add and a lot of the pickled daikon and carrots. Oh, their eggrolls are good too! They are nice and fatty (as in stuffed fulled) and comes with lots of mint and basil and lettuce. The service is always quick and the workers usually try to be helpful even though most of the time they aren't sure what you want unless you speak vietnemese. That means no order modifications for me (although I LUV modifying and customizing my orders), just point to the number on the menu. But I don't expect 4 star service at pho places. read more

I like to go here pretty late after workouts, nights out, in general. The staff I think are all from Asia, but thats ok. The food is good and again they are open late. read more

Another busy Pho spot. It is fairly clean and they have an ATM machine when you walk in, they only take cash. I haven't sat and eaten inside, we have only order to go. The broth seems a little greasier than Hoa Binh. read more

Cash only but they have an ATM located inside and the place is opened til 3am. Free drinks with a meal, Thai tea/soybean milk is watered down, so I usually just get iced tea. read more

This place was not what I thought it was, the place was not that clean looking and the booths had a lot of patches. Also when we got are pho the Large was not even that big also the pho didn't taste that good. The soup didn't Tate good till I put a shit load of Hot sauce and lemon because they don't give you lime. And to top it off they try to take your money !!!! I was so post to get $15 back and they only gave me $8 and when I went back I said I want my receipt and he knew right away and gave me the rest of my money. So check your money because they will take it !!!!! I will never come back ever !!! read more

I love eating pho here because they actually have a different breakdown of what's included, and since I don't like flank, I am able to order a #5, which doesn't include it, at no extra charge. They've been giving a free drink (soda) for at least the past 3 months, and that is an incentive to drive there from Irvine. During each visit, I have never had to wait for a table, and the service is very fast and accurate. In addition, they have extended their hours, which is great for that late night hunger! read more

The food was just average. The service was pretty bad. I would like to think that there was just a little confusion as too who was going to serve us. When we got there we were seated quick. We sat at our table for close to 10 minutes before anyone dropped off menus or took out drink orders. Meanwhile, about 4 or 5 parties are seated and have there orders taken while I was just sitting. Eventually we placed our order and the food came out relatively quickly. We sat with empty glasses for a while and ended up having to flag someone down to have drinks refilled. They never came. Before they brought us the the bill, I saw the table next to us had a plate of sliced oranges. I asked the server if she would bring a plate for our table. She said they don't serve oranges. I pointed at the table next to us and she just shook her head "no" and walked away. I don't think I will be comming back. read more

I like this place they serve good Pho. Have it anyway you like with meatballs or without. They make it in so many ways and I am sure it is all good. I also like their pork chop and rice platter. Prices are great so eating here is convenient when I am in the area. The restaurant is kind of dingy. So get your food eat it and off you go. read more

the pho was good - well, decent/normal. nothing too grand but not bad at all. i ended up trying this place out when craving pho late at night. my boyfriend ordered some kind of beef dish that he said was pretty decent, though again nothing to write home about, necessarily. my reason for the 3 stars was the kinda awful service. i tend to judge service on how well a server pays attention to customers' drinks - especially water. i mean, come on- how hard is it to walk over with a pitcher of h20 so your customer isn't parched?! pho 54 however, doesn't seem to feel the same way. i'm assuming the fact that we were among the only non-asians in the restaurant at this hour, they didn't think anything was wrong with ignoring us. They were more attentive to most other customers. But after we got our food, we never saw the server again. I tried getting his attention for more water - nope. didn't happen. since i was eating pho, the broth was keeping me hydrated... but if i had anything else i would have been even more annoyed. so.. decent pho. bad service. open very late. read more

a good place if you're in the area and craving pho at midnight. i love that the close late, but don't get anything else besides their pho because i don't think anyone else does, [their rice and bbq meats and egg rolls were really old and stale] read more

I went to Pho 54 for a Friday night dinner with my parents and sister. This Pho 54 is really close to my house, but surprisingly I don't eat here that often - I wouldn't say that it's my favorite pho restaurant. I ordered the rice with chicken and broccoli in an attempt at trying to eat healthier - although my food came out drenched in sauce so I'm not sure how healthy it actually was. It tasted alright - I love broccoli, but the chicken was not that great. My sister and dad ordered rice with grilled pork chops and fried egg, and my mom ate pho with beef balls. None of us completely finished our food, so that either meant that we were not that hungry or the food was not spectacular. Right now, certain drinks are free at Pho 54, including sodas, iced coffee, and soy milk. My dad got an iced coffee, my mom a soy milk, my sister a Coke, and I a Thai tea (my favorite drink). One good compliment I do have is that I saw quite a few non-Vietnamese customers eating there, and by that I mean entire tables of non-Vietnamese people (I must have seen about 4 tables near ours that were 100% non-Vietnamese). One of my close friends, who is Mexican, actually loves this Pho 54 and I have eaten with her here a couple of times. I must give this Pho 54 props for attracting a wider range of customers. read more

See all

It rained this morning, so Pho was mandatory. I have actually been coming here since I was a child and still see some of the same faces. The big plus is they seem to be open early and late. I would say the Pho was above average but not excellent. They take cash so be prepared or there is an ATM right next to the cashier. They made an effort to be nice and smile. I saw a lot of people eating alone which I always feel is a plus to find places that don't stigmatize solo eaters. Located away but not too far from Little Saigon so parking is easier. read more

I think I visited only once, years ago, but left SUCH an impression. Go for the food, it's amazing. I had a tomato-based seafood pho that I have been unable to find elsewhere & it left me craving it again & again. I also enjoyed their spring rolls with shrimp in rice paper. read more

First let me start off by saying that I've eaten at practically all the "popular" Vietnamese restaurants that serve pho, bun, and the rice dishes and most of them have higher ratings than Pho 54. Second, let me say that I no longer go to any other Vietnamese restaurant for my fix besides Pho 54. Ok so maybe I lied, because I will go to Brodard occasionally for their spring rolls because they are the bomb shizzle. Third, pho is personal preference and you are your own individual so decide for yourself on whether to give this place a whirl. As you enter, they will seat you, give you menus, and then some waiter will appear about 5 seconds later ready and willing to take your order. Chances are if you're new to this place or an old timer like myself, you'll have to tell the waiter that you're not ready to order. And if you're like me and wanting to devour everything on the menu, you'll probably have to tell the poor waiter to go away again because you can't decide what you want to eat. Then when you're finally ready to order they will quickly take your order and your food will be out in less than 7 minutes (No I haven't clocked it, I just estimated). In my opinion their pho is very flavorful and not over oily as some other yelpers have claimed. I always usually order #13 which is $5.25 for the regular bowl and comes with rare flank and well-done steak, possibly the other way around. I don't care for any other pho because their protein counterparts usually consist of things I might see on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (Well maybe not that extravagant). The plate of vegetables they bring out for your pho are usually always nice, green, and fresh and never wilted or poopy colored. The amount of meat they give you with your pho is bigger compared to other Vietnamese restaurants I have been too. The noodles are always perfectly cooked and come in a heaping amount. I personally have a gigantic appetite and I'll be stuffed after just eating the regular bowl, but maybe that's because it's so good I forget to chew. I have tried their fried eggrolls which have improved as of recently, but Brodard still edges them out. Their bun's are about $5.50 and fill me up as well. My favorite bun is the one with the stir-fried beef and is $6.25. I have also tried the bun with the eggrolls and the bun with charbroiled pork and shredded pork. I have yet to be disappointed. Again, the helpings are big. The fish sauce is up to par with other restaurants, just a tad spicier which I enjoy. One of my favorite dishes in the past was the com aka rice with charbroiled pork, shredded pork, and the egg cake which has shrunk in helping size, but maybe it was just on that particular day. Very tasty as well. The bottomline is that the service is standard for any Asian restaurant. They rush to take your order and fill your water up, but never ask how fantastic or crappy your meal is, but the food makes up for it. If you have a big appetite then I recommend you get your butt to Pho 54. read more

So like my other review of pho places, this place has that catchy name...4-54! I don't know if all the rest of the Pho 54s are the same but this one is yuuuummy. They have really good eggroll w/lettuce wraps, jelly dessert drinks (the green one is my fave) and how about that pho! I use to order the large, but man..to enjoy everything else, I had to trim it down to a medium. My baby likes the dry noodles and her babies like beff-n-broccoli. The only downer of this place is that they only take cash. can you say....pay their employees under the table...or maybe tax...nah..I wont say it. Oh this place has tricky parking too, either pull around the back for a spot. or you will have to cut through the median and cross the oncoming traffic lane at a hard angle to make the parking lot. My baby says that's illegal....I say who cares..its pho!! I forgot to add, its across from Dat Seafood Market....which one??? Dat one!!! read more

Honestly pho 54 is a Vietnamese little Saigon staple! This place gives a lot of meat and broth is flavorful. The guys serving here are nice as well read more

Taste is not bad but we will never come back because they don't care about the hygiene enough. We found hair in our Pho....

I used to go here for pho often maybe 10+ years ago and then stopped when better places opened up. Gave it another try recently, because I had family who wanted to go. Pros: prompt, polite service, large portions, lean and moist meat in the chicken pho (ordered white meat, no extra oil added to the broth), free drinks Cons: flavors. That's a big con. The broth was really bland. It lacked the flavors of the pho spices, and it lacked salt. I added more hoisin sauce than I usually do, and I couldn't fix it. I also ordered soda chanh (lemon soda), and it too was tasteless. Um, it's just soda water, lime, and sugar, folks. I really hate having to fix basic seasoning/flavoring when I dine out. Isn't that what I'm paying for? I remember this place being good a decade ago and now, I definitely won't be returning. read more

Not a fan of this place. They did not have any chili garlic such a bummer because my spring rolls would have definitely been amazing with it. And they did not have any soy sauce either! super bummed. The service was exceptionally terrible here I mean when we go to pho we expect shitty service but the servers here wont even look at you even when you try to flag them down. It was definitely a little ridiculous. Also you get the tiniest glass of soda with no refills even though its a fountain soda.... huh?! That doesn't even make sense! As far as the actual pho it was pretty good to be honest my broth was super flavorful and the noodles had a good texture but the bad definitely outweighs the bad in this situation. read more

I love PHO. My go to place for Pho for sure, service is great and they're open late, which is a plus. I have nothing bad to say about this place. read more

Best pho place in bolsa, been going here since early 90's with my parents at a kid. The broth still taste the same as day one.

I USED to love going to this Pho restaurant. I only live down the street from it and it's right by my high school. However, on my previous visit earlier this month (March 2009), my girlfriend and I had one of the worst dinners there. I ordered my regular Pho tai chin and she got the Pho tai. For our free drinks were the Thai iced tea and soy milk. All was good until halfway through my meal, I FOUND PIECES OF PLASTIC IN MY PHO!!! What the heck? I stopped eating and decided, ok, no big deal. I work in the food industry and mistakes like this happen. Judging by the size and feel of the plastic, it was probably what they use to wrap the beef with and had accidentally ran it through the deli slicer. Then I took a sip of the soy milk, and the SOY MILK WAS WATERED DOWN!!!! It tasted like a cup of ice water splashed with soy milk. Has the economy gotten so bad that they can't afford to serve 100% soy milk? You got to be kidding me! I then tried my girlfriend's Thai iced tea and it was watered down too!!! After concluding that this meal was crap, I went to the cashier and showed him the plastic and complained about the food. Standing at about 5'8", skinny, Vietnamese with relatively short slicked back hair and minor facial hair, he told me sorry and charged me for the full meal. Come on now! These guys make bank off this 'cash only' business and couldn't even afford to give me a free meal when THEY WERE CARELESS ENOUGH TO LEAVE PLASTIC TRASH IN MY SOUP!? AND SERVE WATERED DOWN SOY MILK!? AND WATERED DOWN THAI ICED TEA!?! I decided I'm not going back there. WHO WANTS TO EAT PLASTIC TRASH IN THEIR PHO AND DRINK WATERED DOWN BEVERAGES!? read more

Friends introduced us to this place a few months back. I like the fact that they're open until wee hours of the night. I've only been to this place 3x and within those 3 visits, the experience has always been the same..which is a good thing. The soup was excellent. Spring rolls...I've had better ones. FREE drink with every order...try the young coconut juice. Its yummy! Prepare to pay CASH. read more

pho is pretty solid for the amazingly reasonable price... but one time we came in at 2:40am and they did not serve us... thought it closed at 3am????? all the little asian men were sitting down watching tv like zombies, wtf? they'd deserve that extra star if they kept true to their store hours.... UPDATE: Swung by here this morning at 2:35am, guess what? CLOSED! Almost even passed the place cause there were no lights on and damn it looks so non existent when it's like that. But it's okay, get back on Brookhurst and continue to go N and make a left on Bolsa and hit up Pho Thang Long coming up on your left hand side (there's another one right across the street that's cheaper).. that place didn't fail and actually stays open til 3. read more

This is my go to spot for Pho. I have not had many, but I have not had better than Pho 54. The broth is flavorful and that's why I love it so much. The service and staff are not charismatic at all, but who cares, they'll bring your order in no time at all. read more

Love this place... The #1 is always on point. Great broth and overall my favorite pho spot. And they are open really late. Always good after a night of drinking or if you aren'tfeeling good. Get a coconut juice while your at it. read more

My first impression of this place was not that great. The place was empty and didnt have a lot of people in there. The food came out quickly but the soup base was salty. The pho prices itself were decent. The portions were large. But there happen to be an incident. There was a bug in the soup. The bug was pretty huge. It looks like a mosqito that was growing. They stated that it was part if thw basil seed but that was incorrect. Later the agreed that it was a bug but still wasnt the greatest experience. Also it cash only. They gave a atm machine but charge 2.50. I rather go to pho.lu which it 1 mins away. They accept credit cards when it is over 20. Less than that is is cash only. read more

Great service and good. I recommend the Pho, chicken or beef if you are looking for a quick dinner. The place is very well maintained clean. Great place for a group as well. read more

Pho 54 is good but not the best. With that much meat The price is amazingly low Worker there are fun, and lovely to talk to It open until 1 Am so that a big + for some one that usually hangout late at night read more

Awesome food. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. I do not feel comfortable in this restaurant, because they do not treat you as a valued guest. They sit at a table in the middle of the restaurant and stare you down and the moment you scoot your chair out, they run over and begin cleaning it...sometimes before we even move away from the table. If the food weren't as good as it is, I would never return here. Expect good food and horrible service. read more

We wanted to try a new pho place and hear this place was good. We were seated right away and ordered 2 rare pho soups and chicken fried rice. The soups came out quickly but unlike every other pho place I have been to that serves you the rare steak on a plate so you they just put in in the soup already. Didn't make sense to me I wanted the steak to come out rare which is why I ordered it that way so I could see the quality of the steak before put it in. Plus I ordered the large pho and by many other pho place standards what came out would barely quality as a small serving so I was disappointed with the quantity for the price. The soup and chicken fried rice were just ok nothing special. I wouldn't go back. read more

Their pho broth taste like oiled water with a hint of salt. enough said.

I was a pho virgin-but pho 54 has now turned me out!!! Went here on Christmas Day in the afternoon with my boyfriend and his sisters (OC natives.) We sat in a booth and I ordered the regular sized shrimp noodle bowl-still wary of the traditional beef pho- we also ordered egg rolls and a chicken and rice plate to share. Within minutes after having placed our order plates of mint leaves, bean sprouts and other leafy greens were brought to our table, close behind....our hot pho!!! After getting the 411 on what to add from my bf and his sisters, I squeezed 2 limes, 3 Siracha pumps and 1 pump of sweet in my shrimp bowl. I then added bean sprouts mint, leafies and mixed it all up. With chopsticks and spoon in hands I dove into the broth...flavor explosion!!! Wow! Sooo Sooo good! Spicy, citrusy-sweet broth heaven. As I ate the delicious shrimp and noodles my bf signaled to try the egg rolls. Reluctantly leaving my delicious broth- I grabbed an egg roll- I can honestly say the egg rolls I've eaten in the past never tasted like this- like someone's grandmother is in the back making these especially for you to enjoy! "Here you go, the tastiest egg roll, eat up" Crispy outside, savory chicken N vegetable goodness inside and that dipping sauce! Oh no!!! I must return! Thank you pho 54 for poppin my Pho cherry....call me? read more

I loooove their pho. Great flavor. And it comes with a free soda. Like most authentic pho places I've been, it has really bad customer service. But honestly I don't care. The pho is great and a great price. Just don't expect any refills on your drink or extra anything. I walked in once and they handed us our menu and pointed to an empty table across the room! Lol read more

Pretty good pho, I had the rare steak and I would recommend it. Broth is delicious. Definitely a good late night spot

i was attracted to pho 54 because of those damn firework lights. They got me. The pho here is not very good to me. I've definitely had better. The broth is so oily... and so are the egg rolls! They are literally soaked in oil. So gross. read more

Pho is Pho and has always tasted the same no matter where I went. But that's probably because my mom always chose the place and knows where to find good pho. It says a lot when I can't even finish half my bowl because it was just that bad. I came here at 1:30AM so I'm just gonna blame it on the wrong time of night that I came but wow was their pho bland! I really believe that they were running low on broth so they decided to double up by adding lots of water to make it last til closing. read more

Mmm... my mouth waters thinking of sitting with a bowl of pho with rare steak, brisket, and tendon. I always make my pho super spicy with lots of bean sprouts and enjoy every bit of my regular sized bowl. Normally I'm used to trying to save enough meat to last the whole bowl, but not here. And can I say this, I never really got rare steak before this place, but now I understand why its popular. Unlike other places where the steak is dry and unpleasant, here its tender and chewy. Pho 54, I love you and you are the only place that satisfies my craving when I want some pho. read more