I ordered take-out from here a bit ago but it was just so good I had to come back and write a review to support this business because I can't stop thinking about it! I was craving pho and couldn't find a good place that had authentic Vietnamese pho like they do in California until I ordered from here. I ordered the Pho Tai (Rare Beef with Rice Noodle) and it tasted like home and hit the spot! Definitely recommend, can't wait to try the other items on the menu. read more

Don't even want to give any stars at all!! Food was inedible! Chicken looks uncooked, soggy, flavorless, and just nasty. I never leave review unless positive and I am so disappointed and still hungry! Ruined my lunch read more

Pho Cafe - Chicken - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Been coming here regularly since they opened and replaced Cafe Huang. I can say without a doubt that they have the best Bun Bo Hue in Chicago! No matter which Vietnamese restaurant I go to, I always order Bun Bo Hue because I only like to eat spicy foods and this is both spicy and soupy :). Compared to other places in Argyle and Chinatown, I enjoy the depth and flavor in their broth. Like pho, bun bo hue is perfect for the winter time or just as comfort food. When they first opened prices were a bit lower and portions were a lot bigger BUT instead of knocking off a star I've taken some things into consideration. Their bun bo hue is now $10.95 whereas other places have it for a dollar or two cheaper BUT the portion is still big enough to get me full and it is still very flavorful and savory. Many people pay at-least $12-16 on a bowl of Japanese Ramen which portions are way smaller than a bowl of pho or bun bo hue would be so I think paying $10.95 for it is still worth. On a good day, I'll order their spring rolls also which are also my favorite! read more

Pho Cafe - Spicy Hue Style Soup, BuN Bo Hue - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

By far one of the best pho I've had around the city. My friend and I were roaming around Chinatown when we came across this place. Looking through the window, we could see the large and hearty pho portions and were so excited to give it a try. The restaurant itself seems family owned and needs a few upgrades, yet it's still cozy and gives out an authentic feel. Service was somewhat friendly, yet fast and efficient. The menu includes a variety of noodle and rice dishes, but we decided to stick to pho. We were also hesitant to try any appetizers due to the portion sizes, and I'm glad we didn't, those portions were HUGE! I had the chicken with rice noodle pho and my friend had the beef meatball with rice noodle pho. The chicken broth was really good, however, the chicken itself had a weird aftertaste. The beef broth was out of this world good and so were the meatballs. I do suggest however to ask for a ton of water as both broths were extremely salty. Heavy on the sodium, not the best for your health but good for the soul. I would definitely recommend you try this place if you are ever around the Chinatown area! read more

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I'm really disappointed that I have to update this place. Everything was fantastic when they opened, not so much anymore. I don't know if management changed but the staff definitely has. The quality of service dropped, as did the quality of the food, over the past 3 visits. Starting with the spring rolls, and rare beef salad. The salad used to be phenomenal, now it's a smaller portion and the rare beef comes out well done like it was salvaged from a bowl of pho. Flavors were off I didn't end up eating more then one bite. When brought to their attention they didn't offer to remake the dish or remove it from the bill. The house special pho was mediocre at best, not near the quality or care in preparation that was there when they first opened. I didn't want to only give it 2 stars because maybe there is redemption down the road, but what they have going on now is disappointing. I wouldn't recommend going here anymore. Sorry guys read more

Not a lot of people seem to know this place is open for dine-in. When we went inside during dinner time, it was empty, however a lot of people were coming in to pick up takeout delivery. Great food and friendly staff, the lemongrass chicken was flavored perfectly. It was tender and juicy, goes great with rice. The pho was amazing as well, both dish was worth the money. Staff were also super accommodating. I have no complaints. read more

Pho Cafe - 12. Rare Beef Soup with Rice Noodle - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Went here, the food was good. Atmosphere was very calm, but the workers are thieves. I sat, ate, and watched youtube alone. I left and not even 2 minutes after I left, I realized I left my headphones. I quickly ran back to see if they were on the table or on the floor nearby and they were gone. I asked the worker who helped serve me, and he stated he didn't see them at all when he cleaned the table. My phone is telling me that they are still located at the restaurant... WOULD NEVER GO BACK! read more

The food was really great! The house special was comforting on this cold winter day. The appetizer chicken wings and Gyoza are the main reason I'd dine here again! Everything was 10/10 delicious! The service was also great and really fast and efficient. read more

Pho Cafe - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The fried calamari was delicious!!! The service was fast and pleasant. Quiet and cozy.

Best pho place in Chinatown!! I order the House Special every time I have a pho craving here.

I love Pho Cafe! And it's not just my favorite but my entire family's favorite. A big bowl of shrimp pho on a cold day, I could never pass up. They have the best Pho on the southside. Enjoy Chinatown while you're there. read more

Solid place for pho, not the best pho I've had but it's still pretty good and good value.

(12. Rare Beef Soup with Rice Noodle) That soup is life. It's perfectly seasoned, nice and hot, perfect for cold days, and very photogenic! read more

Pho Cafe - 12. Rare Beef Soup with Rice Noodle - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

not sure if this place is Chinese Vietnamese (as in Chinese who actually lived in Vietnam) owned or just Chinese, but this "Vietnamese" experience was quite different from any Vietnamese experience I had in Saigon or even Little Saigon in Orange County, california. the pho here is decent. Definitely not the worst I had. The bowls are gigantic, but when you get down to it, the serving is not overfilling. I detected something was different about this place by the mini soup ladles that you might see for Japanese udon or sometimes ramen soup. Not the typical flatter Chinese soup spoons. Whatevs, not a big deal. Tried the egg rolls, and they were disgusting. definitely tasted freezer burn. notwithstanding the freezer burn, the egg rolls did not taste remotely close to a conventional cha gio with an overpowering taste of sesame oil and weird meat. the worst imitation of a Vietnamese egg roll or any type of egg roll I ever had. I took two small bites and didn't finish half of it. Terrible. that being said, I'd come back for a pho craving as the broth wasn't too greasy and had a mild, pleasant taste. and, after all, it is Chicago where I can't hold Asian food to the same standard as LA or nyc. generally, I'm not a fan of ethnic food being prepared by members not a part of that ethnic group (see Korean sushi, Korean pho, or Chinese pho in this case). the rare steak and tendon were pretty good. however, I'd be hesitant to order almost anything else on the menu with the terrible egg rolls experiences here. pics of the spring rolls here with luncheon meat don't inspire any confidence in authenticity or taste of anything else. hopefully, they up the Vietnamese spirit or authenticity of their other menu items as they make a passable pho. Service was ok and was fittingly capped with a "xie xie" when we settled the bill. read more

A hot bowl of pho on a chilly night is my idea of perfection. Everything was good enough to satisfy my noodle craving for the night with a standard delivery time, fresh spring rolls and a warm bowl of meatball pho. read more

Fool me once. Turns out I ordered from this place before and forgot, but the food brought me right back. I was really looking forward to those fresh, multi-layered Vietnamese flavors but what I got was blaaaaand pho with weird, spongy, puffy white chicken. (What even happened to that chicken?!) The spring roll had absolutely no herby oomph to it; it was just...neutral and a bit limp. The crab rangoon -- judge away -- was fine, of course, because cream cheese + fry will pretty much always be fine. This was a sad meal. Noted. read more

Absolutely terrible service! If you want disrespected and undervalued run to this restaurant right now! I am so shocked at their behavior and their carelessness to fix it. I pulled my money out to show them I have the total for my bill because they kept bringing up that I had to pay extra for hot tea or extra for basil and jalapeños. It was ridiculous. Please don't waste your time going here if you want to have a nice dine in. read more

Delicious service and food! Food portion was huge, service was quick and ambience was sweet!

Not bad... the delivery experience wasn't great, so that may be coloring my opinion. It eased a craving, but wasn't impressive enough to not try another place next time. Fresh rolls are ok, peanut sauce is a little funky but tolerable. Not much flavoring aside from the shrimp. I've had way worse, but I've had better too. Ragoons are huge... you get 4 of them and the filling is generous. Texture is chewy and more filling than crispy wonton. They come with some kind of funky orange sauce which is what I think really turned me off of them. They weren't quite good enough stand alone either. They are unique though, so probably worth ordering once to see if they align with your preference. The vermicelli entree was ok. Pork chop had a decent thickness and was tender. Sauce was ok. Portion was decent. Egg roll that comes with it was soggy in the middle and kind of gross. I would just avoid that next time. TL:DR Everything was ok, but nothing impressive. read more

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Can I start by saying there's quite a limited selection of Vietnamese food out in Chicago. Needless to say, Chicago isn't exactly known for its wide variety of Vietnamese restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon Pho Cafe right in the heart of Chinatown. With an intense craving for Viet food, I tentatively ventured into Pho Cafe. As a vegetarian, the options are quite limited on a menu full of beef stocks and grilled meats. However, the owner was extremely accommodating and offered to customize one of the grilled dishes with tofu. I ordered the Bun Cha gio. I can say with confidence, this was one of the best bun cha gio I have ever eaten in my life. It was fresh, light and flavourful everything you would want in a meal. The portions are HUGE making the prices extremely competitive. I wouldn't personally recommend the pho but their other soup dishes (Bun Bo Hue) are not bad though. I would absolutely come back for their bun cha gio. One of the better vietnamese places in chinatown, stop by for some fresh, cheap eats! read more

Pho Cafe - Bun cha gio - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The pho here is just really bad Super sweet I love pho, but I'd rather not have it if this is my option... Servers are very kind though! And the restaurant has a fun vibe. No criticism at all for anything besides the taste. read more

Finally a legit Pho place in Chinatown! Right smack dab in the middle of new Chinatown and old Chinatown, this place satisfies my Vietnamese cravings! The portions here are abnormally large, even in comparison to other Vietnamese restaurants. Their pho broth came piping hot (as it should be), was clean, flavorful, and came packed with tons of noodles and meats. Their summer rolls are some of the best I've ever had. They came slightly warm and tasted like they had just been freshly rolled in the kitchen! Definitely got me excited to come as the winter months come in and I start craving pho more and more! Pro tip - take the leftover broth home!!!!!!! So good as leftovers! read more

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This place replaced Cafe Hoang for the better. I'm here probably once a week. Prior to this place opening I never really dined Vietnamnese in Chicago's Chinatown; I always preferred Arygle even though its 30 minutes away. The Food - The Pho house special is huge, probably 2x the serving of other Pho restaurants. Broth flavor is there, you also have the option of switching the house special Pho broth with Bun Bo Hue broth. My go to if I'm not in the mood for Pho is the Pork Chop + Chinese Sausage + Egg rice plate; ya can't go wrong. If you like spicy definitely try their house made thai chili pepper fish sauce. If for some reason your fish sauce doesn't have any peppers in it, it is because I ate it all. SO GOOD SO FIRE. Parking - Plenty of street parking available, you can also park in the Chinatown parking 3 hours for $2 with ticket validation. The price - Competitive pricing with other Pho establishments I've been to. Pho runs around $10 a bowl. You get your money's worth. Meat entree plates are around $11. Appetizers are around $4-$6. Service - There have been a handful of times where service has been HORRIBLE here. Every now and then the kitchen gets the order wrong but they make it right. Usually if an establishment has bad service I never go again. But for some reason, some odd reason, I come back. Only explanation is .... the food compensates. Overall - Highly recommended, better than Cafe Hoang, service is meh. read more

Pho Cafe - House special Pho. - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Never trust a non-viet/laos to make pho. It was lacking so much flavor. The pho broth literally tasted like water broth. Really felt like I got cheated out of my money. The portion is big I give them that but what is the point if it tasted horrible. I tried to enjoy it as best as I can because that bowl was like $12 much more pricier compared to pho you can get in argyle. I would not step foot in this place every again... And I recommend you do the same if you are looking for some good eats because this place was surely lacking flavor. I still had so much left over after eating what I felt like so much that I already ate. I didn't even want to take it with me but my boyfriend insisted that he will eat it. When I packed it home, he didn't even eat and we just toss it away. We also got spring roll as an appetizer and I mean you how hard is it to wrap veggies & protein into a rice paper wrapper. To my astonishment, they didn't even wrap pork belly with shrimp it was a pork luncheon meat, which is not the same. So disappointed. read more

The restaurant that was here before will be missed, but Pho Cafe has been a great replacement! The menu is simple but with all of the main dishes, something to please everyone's tastes. Ordered the House Special Pho, the Beef and Shrimp Vermicelli salad, and the Fresh Spring Rolls. First off, everything was incredibly fresh and the portion sizes for the entrees were huge! The House Special Pho has a very delicious broth, not bland or overly salty at all. The different meats here were plentiful! There was plenty of soup and noodles and left us very full! The Vermicelli Salad was full of fresh vegetables, a perfectly fried egg roll, beef skewers and shrimp skewers. The fish sauce on the side covered every noodle and made each bite just so perfect. The beef skewer was a little tough but the marinade on the beef was very good. The shrimp skewer has three pieces in it. The Spring Roll was definitely very fresh, the rice wrapper was still warm as well as the noodles inside. The shrimp and pork gave a nice saltiness to everything. The peanut sauce was also the perfect compliment! read more

Order here fairly regularly for pho. It's ok, sometimes hit, sometimes miss. Seems to be better with dine in. Last few times of carry out, the broth seemed a little watery. Egg roll apps were fantastic. read more

Do NOT order food for delivery from here. I tried ordering on their website which has a $20 min and a $3 delivery charge. It was just me for lunch, but I ordered leftovers to meet the minimum. My order was placed at 12:15pm and showed a delivery of 1pm (the website also says it's 45 min for delivery). I live 1.5 miles/6min driving from this restaurant so thought 45 min was plenty of time. At 1:20pm I called the restaurant since no food had arrived. They said it would be 5 min or less as the driver was on the way. At 1:33pm I called again and asked for the driver's cell number since still nothing and I needed to leave at 1:45pm; they passed me around multiple times, but basically just told me to wait for the food. I let them know I'd be leaving and disputing it on my credit card. My front door buzzed at 1:41pm and I tried to decline the food as I was literally walking out the door, but the driver said he just picked it up 5 min ago and then just left it on the floor and took off. Lesson learned: not a place I'll spend money at again. read more

I've been coming here since it was transformed from Cafe Hoang. The interior is brighter and less cluttered. It's consistently busy on Sunday afternoons. The bowls are surprisingly large but still good. We haven't tried a wide variety of their menu but the pho is good enough for the area without needing to trek up to Argyle. Servers are pretty decent considering the post church crowd on Sundays. read more

I had previously been to this viet restaurant under its last name/management but wasn't a huge fan, but when I saw that it was now a new pho place I had to give it another go. The pho was HUGE (there is only a single size to choose) and the broth was far tastier than before. When the giant bowl arrived I asked the waitress "does anyone ever finish all of this?" she replied "big men" lol... but that said I ended up surprisingly being able to eat it all except about 1/3 of the broth! Great value only $9 and service was very friendly. At the end of the meal the waitress asked if it was our first time and then asked us if we had any feedback as she was happy to hear if she could improve anything.... to which we said it was all good, and that we'll definately be back! read more

Pho Cafe - Pho Tai... me for size comparison... servings are huge! - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The rare beef pho was pretty good, the broth a bit less flavorful than most long cooked pho broths - wasn't bad just lacked the depth of flavor expected, the portion was generous and service was prompt. read more

My favorite bowl of pho in the city. Very quick service, and the soup is delicious every time.

I am very impressed by this restaurant's take out pho. Take out pho is usually a mess because you typically get a styrofoam container of bean sprouts and jalapeno and whatnot, a plastic container stuffed full of noodles and meat and stuff and a plastic container of soup. It's usually not packaged well and the soup sloshes all over the place and you have a dripping wet mess on your hands. Furthermore, you don't have a third container to combine the soup and the meat together in, and the soup is often too cold by the time you get home to actually cook the meat and so you end up having to pour everything together in a pot and cook it over a stove or pour everything together in a Tupperware container and microwave it. Which kind of defeats the purpose of take out all together because now you have just cooked dinner. /rant Pho Cafe did an amazing job with our take out pho. The bean sprouts were packaged in a nice, neat ziplock bag. The meat and stuff comes in a nice large plastic bowl with a lid, and there is enough air space around the meat and stuff that you could pour the soup over it without needing a third container. The soup was still piping hot and everything was packed nice and tightly in a bag that wasn't falling over on the car ride home and making a mess. I am thoroughly impressed. The pho tasted pretty good too. Soup had good flavor to me, noodles were cooked right and not too al dente. We'll definitely order take out from here again. read more

I've long since been a fan of this place. The Viet food is one of the few authentic Vietnamese restaurants in Chicago (Tank Noodle being one of the least authentic) and the bun bo hue and bun rieu are two of the best dishes! The restaurant came under new management end of 2017 but the same great recipes still remain intact. Pho Cafe pho life! read more

Pho Cafe - Delivery was sheer perfection. Everything was packaged with extreme care and just as I ordered! - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I am basing this review solely on our drink order and the customer service we received. This restaurant is not in the super busy area of Chinatown but it is easily accessible and a 2 minute walk from the main intersection of Cermak. Five of us walked in on a super hot Saturday, and all looking for a cold drink. We were immediately greeted and asked what they would get for us. We ordered 2 Thai Teas, 1 Thai Coffee, 1 Vietnamese Coffee & one Orange Crush lol. We had teenagers with us and they changed how they wanted their drink a few times. We asked for extra cream, extra sugar, less cream, etc. and the staff was so friendly and so accommodating. The restaurant had a good smell of pho and if we hadn't just eaten we would have had some soup. We plan on going in the very near future and hope the Pho is as good as the drinks and the service. read more

Pho Cafe - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here around 8ish for dinner on a Thursday and was seated right away. My wife ordered the Pho Dac Biet and I ordered the Bun Bo Hue. Food came out within 5 minutes. My Bun Bo Hue was mediocre. My wife did not like her pho at all. She said it was very bland. That was the first time she didn't finish her bowl of pho. read more

I think I won't go there any more . How to make a serving of noodles with only this little bit ？ read more

Pho Cafe - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place fill my Viet food needs as it's 5 minutes away from me. I think the same family also owns Cafe Huang in Argyle too. I always get the bun bo hue (BBH), aka spicy beef noodle soup. Huge in portion, decent in flavor, and gives you all the accompaniments expected in a BBH with some nice pieces of sliced beef and tendon. The pho is a little bland but I think it still hits the spot. Staff is friendly to give you more of any extras if you ask for it. This past time we got the bone marrow soup which some out in a big presentation. The bone broth is good, very rich. The bone marrow is nice and fatty and although there's a lot of fatty pieces, the tendon pieces are really soft. I agree with other that they could step up their spring roll game, but I appreciate that they serve it with peanut sauce than fish sauce. Needs less noodles, larger slices of shrimp and pork, and more greens - even beansprouts and more of the other garnishes would be nice! read more

Best pho ever!!!! I cannot have enough of this heavenly broth! They give out large portion and it does not cost as much as other restaurants! Meat and noodle are evenly in the bowl! The owner was really nice and he came to our table to check on us. They open at 11, but the owner said he comes in at 8 to start the soup base. No wonder the soup is so flavorful! We went to Pho Cafe in a group of 12 for dinner. The waitresses were very accommodating and quickly got the tables set up for us. Service was friendly! We ordered spring rolls, 5 different types of phos, honeymoon soup, 3 different types of dry vermicelli noodle dishes and 2 rice entrees. My family didn't mind me picking at their foods so I got to try them all and they were all good! I am very pleased and I am so glad I don't have to go all the way to argyle to get a bowl of good pho. I will sure be back! read more

Food was very bad, we got Crab Rangoons and it gave me and my boyfriend food poisoning. I could give it half a star I would.

Super good pho!!! Service was fast and food was good for the price :) the place is super cute too. will be coming back!