We knew that going to a restaurant on opening day in Rockford wouldn't go too well, but we took the risk & made the mistake anyways.
We went with a bunch of friends around dinner time. I'd say around 6ish. Upon arrival, I noticed some friends there eating & a few empty tables. I believe it was one of the owners, but he approached us & I let him know we were waiting for 1 more friend, so they didn't have to seat us right away.
I was getting a big nervous waiting for my friend to come, because more & more people kept coming & the seats started to fill up quickly. As we waited, the first thing I noticed was their nice modern decor. It is clean & presentable. The second thing I noticed was that it was so humid/hot in there! I'm not sure what was going on with their AC system, or was it because the kitchen area is open to the main area, or was it because a majority of the customers were eating hot pho in the middle of summer. Another thought that came across me while waiting, was that it would be nice if they had a bench or just chairs up by the entrance so we could sit while waiting.
When we finally got seated, we ordered our apps & main dishes. We were told by our server the apps would take around 30 mins & the main dishes, about an hour. Much longer than I expected to wait, but at least they gave us the courtesy & let us know before hand. The menu is limited, but I'm sure after some time, they will add more to it to see what sells.
Overall, the chicken appetizers were good, the presentation threw me off because it had 2 pieces of part of the head lettuce. The Spring rolls were good & I had a bite of an egg roll, which I wasn't really a fan of.
For my main dish, I ordered the combination pho with the round eye steak on the side as I didn't want it overdone. The pho broth was delicious! It was flavorful & tasted even better when I added other seasonings to it.
The reason for the 3 star was the environment we were in was uncomfortable due to the heat, the wait time for food, we also had to keep asking our server for more water, rather than her just noticing & refilling it herself, & we also had to ask her for napkins. I get it was opening day, but each server had their own sections to serve, which was doable. Again, food was great & I would be back. I'll be happy to update my review then to reflect my most recent visit.
I am just hoping by my next visit, these minor hiccups will be fixed. The owners did great for bringing this to the community. You can definitely catch me back there on the weekend. read more