Driving through the Northside I suddenly spied a Pho house and as common with me I pulled an illegal U-turn as I suddenly had a taste fir Pho. Pho 5lua is an all window corner shop in a strip mall of other Asian casual diner by spots. Now I'm no Pho expert but I like a nice bowl now and then. I am a soup groupie of sorts and never met a bowl I was afraid of. Upon entering the bright and airy room it was clean, spacious, and had guests at only one other table. I like the peace a quiet of sparse inside afternoon dining. They were very Covid aware here with plenty of all that stuff we have become used to these days. A good sign was the other guests were speaking what a assume was Vietnamese which means if they were eating here it must be legit. I generally don't eat in ethnic restaurants of any type without some clue that their average diner is of the like ethnic persuasion. The lack of is usually a dead giveaway that they are likely at best average. The cool mood music of soft rock was in Vietnamese and a few tunes I recognized. A few of which were what sounded like a Vietnamese Barbara Streisand knocking down some love songs. The server was a very nice, friendly girl who knew her menu and her cuisine. I started with an order of two fresh shrimp spring rolls. They were good size and crunchy as is fresh and refreshing. You can see through the rice paper wrap to know it was fresh lettuce. The sauce a peanut sauce was tasty and not overwhelming. I took on a bowl of Pho Dax Biet (special noodle soup). After ordering the large bowl the server said the cook mistakenly made the small bowl which was in fact a good thing as the small bowl was pretty large. No complaints here. To her credit she could have said nothing and I would not have known the difference. As usual in my stops, I'm just a Johnny come lately and easily convinced, maybe sorta gullible. The Pho special was chock full of sliced rare beef, brisket, flank steak, soft tendon, tripe, meatballs, and oxtail. Quite the order and not for the skinny minnie. The broth was light and very flavorful not weak and bland like many soup broths can be. Which means, an experienced hand in the kitchen. The rice noodles were well done and slightly chewy as opposed to falling apart on your chopsticks. By the way, using chopsticks should mandatory when eating a dish like Pho or many other foods. They are meant to be savored and the flavors fully enjoyed. Not slightly chewed and swallowed whole as too many American dishes are. Why even bother if you're not going to savor and enjoy the flavors? Just stay home and eat cornflakes if that's the case. In this case the flavors were right on. A side dish of sprouts and lime and fresh mint and you're in business. I like to add a dash of chili garlic sauce to the broth to bring up the heat s bit. All in all an enjoyable, flavorful, and filling lunch in a nice relaxing atmosphere. When I am so fortunate to enjoy the foods of another's home of origin I always feel fortunate and grateful and makes me think of how many hard working immigrants from so many wonderful cultures make up this country and of all we would lose, how much less it would be minus any one of them. Everybody adds a bit a flavor to the fabric of what is America. I'll be back for more especially the Barbara tunes in Vietnamese. read more

There was an article recently in the Chicago Tribune rating the BEST Pho restaurant in Chicago and Pho 5lua was picked the number 1 out of 39 restaurants in Chicago. With that endorsement in mind, my wife and I had to give this place a try while on our way to a Chicago Blackhawks game. We started with a couple of Spring Rolls, which were a little on the small side. Inside the rice noodle skin had 3 shrimp, with a romaine lettuce leaf wrapped around rice noodles and a sprig of green onion. Pretty standard sauce. Of course, we have to order our shredded chicken pho. We decided on a couple of small bowls, so we can also try their chicken fried rice. The pho I have to admit, is probably one of the best we've tried. The also had some culantro, along with the standard jalapeno, lime and bean sprouts. The chicken was a little on the dry side, but still savory. But the chicken fried rice as a pleasant surprise. I am not a fan of the newer trend of restaurants putting peas and carrots in their fried rice, but this place makes it work. What their "secret" may be a sauce they bring out with the fried rice which is a chicken broth with sweet onions and chives. When added to the dish, it makes the dish moist and flavorful. We will definitely be returning to try some other dishes soon. read more

Pho Nam Lua - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Best chicken pho I've had! I'm someone that rarely eats chicken pho, I'm usually a Pho Tai Bo Vien type. I was always on the hunt for the best pho since I moved to Chicago. I've tried almost every restaurant in Argyle and they were the worst. This is the only place that is remotely close to my dad's pho, so it felt like home after the first bite. read more

I had suspicions coming to this place. Everyone always says that it's the "best pho in Chicago" but I've heard that they switched owners since then. I got pho dac biet which was kinda bland but I appreciated that they had an oxtail bone in it and it was a good portion. The bo tai chanh was good and also a huge portion. The bun thit nuong was also good! I will say though that they didn't come by with water often but overall the service was nice and the ambiance was very cute and intimate. read more

TL;DR - this place is always full with local Vietnamese patrons. This place is legit and better than the various hot spots on Argyle that I've tried. I can't believe I haven't written a review about this restaurant after two years of regularly eating here. You have to order the Pho Dac Biet (their "special"/ combination pho). Pho restaurants typically make their delicious broth using ox tail to give it the beefy broth flavor. Rarely however do I ever see the ox tail served in the bowl because it's quite costly to do so, but the pho dac biet at 5 Lua comes with one. This alone should tell you that they do NOT skimp on ingredients. The broth is not only full of flavor but comes out nice and hot. Too many pho restaurants fail to make their broth hot enough. A couple pro tips (or common sense to those who grew up eating pho) to make the broth exactly to your liking. (1) add lime and peppers if broth is too sweet for you. I almost always add a lime wedge or two to my broth to give it some acidity and lessen the sweetness. (2) request your bean sprouts to be steamed!! This will keep your broth from getting cold after putting your bean sprouts into your soup. A few other random things I like: - Generous portions of good quality meat. Beef is usually tough and too lean at most pho places but this one will serve you some tender and fattier pieces of meat. - fresh veggies - price. A "small" is plenty for the average person and costs under $10. read more

Pho Nam Lua - Pho Dac Biet. (Notice the delicious ox tail on the left side of the bowl ) - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Super good food very authentic very fresh, small little place that doesn't look like much but the food is phenomenal read more

Pho Nam Lua - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Best pho hands down. If you're feeling like icky, about to get sick, or you just need a hug in a bowl, this is where you need to go for Pho. The broth is flavorful, and not overly oily, it's just right. Ingredients are fresh and the service is great. The artwork is nice on the walls too. I used to live in the area for about 15 years and I moved away 2 years ago, and if I want pho, I have no problem driving 21 miles to get quality food that will nourish the body and soul. This place is hands down better than pho777 right across from them and 100x better than hoanh long, right around the corner on Lincoln, not to be disrespectful, but having been to all 3 places, I can say that wholeheartedly read more

I was craving Pho and I passed by this place many times, so today to decided to give it a try. 1st thing 1st: food. I ordered a vegetarian Pho. I was truly disappointed. It was the least tasty/seasoned broth i ever tried. I've added a lot of hoisin sauce to give it some taste... Then the veggies in the broth was questionable. The mushrooms were canned (terrible tasting), very little bok choy, a looot of celery stalk instead, and peas-undercooked and just off for this soup. I understand it was a veggie pho, but just throwing vegetables in it randomly doesn't sound appealing nor restaurant worthy. 2nd: it was pricy - $13.5 3rd: service. The ladies seamed nice, but other than taking my order and me walking up the the cashier to pay, no interaction. I really wanted a drink and tried to catch someone's attention but I was walked by many times. Sadly, I'm not coming back here. read more

The food came out quick and everything was very flavorful. We were very impressed by the generous portions. The pho broth was clean and flavorful. The servers took very good care of us. I'd definitely recommend this place. read more

This used to be my go-to place for pho. But, I visited again recently, and the broth seemed to be bit less concentrated and sweeter than the previous times. So hence the rating. Overall, this is a pretty good restaurant. The staff are very nice. And, the portions are huge. For pho, I order the small pho special, and they are really generous with the bean sprouts, basil, rare brisket, meatballs, tripe, and tendons. Their broth stock also incorporates ox tail. My favorite. And the Special comes with an ox tail bone with meat that falls off the bone. And the variety of beef gives a good texture to the dish. What I like about this restaurant is that it doesn't hype up the ox tail and charge differently for the ox tail soup. Here, it's no nonsense. The ox tail is a staple in their base as it should be. read more

My dad has been raving about this place and he comes here almost every weekend so it piqued my interest. I came here with hubby for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and most of the tables were occupied. I ordered the bun bo hue while hubby had the pho dac biet. Although he ordered a large bowl of pho he was given a small bowl instead. When he first flagged down a waitress and told her about the mistake, she merely said "oh" and walked away. We had to tell another waiter about the mix up and he immediately gave my husband a larger bowl of pho. The food was pretty tasty but the service is lacking. read more

Every time I took #82 (Kimball/Homan) bus northbound to Lincolnwood Town Center, I passed by the strip mall next to the defunct cinema on McCormick and Devon. I found Pho Nam Lua on Yelp since I have been craving for Vietnamese food, yet I didn't want travel all the way east to Argyle in Uptown. I didn't expect much, but their dining room was cozy and thoughtfully decorated. I ordered the large pho tai sach (rare steak/tripe soup), and hubby had pho chay (veggie soup). I haven't had pho for a LONG time, so I was pretty excited. I did enjoy my pho tai sach. Although the broth could go a bit easier on sodium, there was no major complaint from this happy girl. On the other hand, hubby was more a pho connoisseur than I was. He did comment on that he preferred the pho chay at the other restaurant by the CTA Kedzie Brown Line station, but he thought the price for the pho here was quite reasonable ($7.50 to $9.00, depending on the size specifications) The service was friendly and polite, so I believe Pho Nam Lua is a solid four (4)-star neighborhood joint if you're running errands in the a North Park/Lincolnwood areas. If you're a vehicle-dependent individual, there's free parking in the strip mall parking lot. read more

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Cheaper compared to other places. And flavor is authentic . My Vietnamese friend recommended me this place. Came a few times, always busy, sometimes need wait for 20-30 min for a table. read more

Very quick service after placing order. Pho tasted excellent. Deep rich broth, tender meat, meatballs, FRESH basil and other veggies.

The food is always great. Service is fast, and they're always nice. It's a little crowded but that's because it's good.

10/10 would recommend to someone looking for good Pho. Service was quick and food was amazing. Other reviews have this broth as a bit sweet. It is but not overwhelming. Great blend. read more

My family and I came as a large group of 11 around noon today since we had out of town visitors. We did not have a great experience due to several incorrect orders and rude service. We ordered two fried chicken wings and instead was given two fried cat fish dishes. In addition, we ordered the seafood egg noodle dish, but was brought out the wrong dish twice. When we confronted our server about all of the wrong orders, she not only was persistent that we ordered what they brought out, but she was also very rude and refused to listen to us. I understand that we are a larger group, but our server made everything so difficult for us. Unfortunately, I will not be returning to this place nor will I be recommending it either. read more

The stars are for the glory that's poured into that bowl of (Everything) Special Pho. That broth is effin' everything. Sometimes I find it a conundrum whether or not to add my mix of Hoisin & Sriracha. So I'll dig in straight, as is. Then as I get into the bowl, a couple sprays of Hoisin, then a couple of Sriracha and mix. Now I'm in that spicy sweet mix that I find enjoyable. My favs so far are bowls of that Special Pho (Pho Dac Biet) and Goi Cuon (spring rolls w/ shrimp and packed with veggies). Haven't had much care to try anything else. I guess because usually I just want to get in and out without much bother. I don't find service to be good or bad. Thing is, they are usually so busy, they don't bother to use forethought in determining what needs their customers may have. Obvious things like refills of water, napkins, needing utensils, etc. Right now, they're the new kid on the block serving bangin' bowls of Pho and Viet favs. (It's wild because Hoanh Long is a few blocks away and business is dead..Wtd) If heading to their website hoping to learn more.. There's not much to know. I can't tell whether the details are about this restaurant or something else they used to or currently, also own downtown. Some of the menu items & details look unfamiliar with this location. Oh well, whatever. read more

I stopped by here with a friend to try it out after numerous recommendations. The service wasn't bad; we definitely didn't experience more than a half an hour wait. We got crab rangoon to start - yum! It comes out on a dinner plate with dividers which was a little meh for me (bad presentation), but the taste was good. It came out hot, fresh, and crispy! The cheese inside was better than other crab rangoon I've had. The appetizer came out quickly and broke up the wait for our food. I ordered the Kobe Beef Noodle Soup (#10); it was delicious! The broth was so good I didn't even add hoisin like I usually do. I'm not a fan of tripe or meat with a lot of fat on it; the beef in the soup was lean and delicious! This is the best pho I've had so far in Chicago - if you have other recommendations, please send them my way :) I love Viet food! The interior is good for groups because they have multiple tables. When it comes to the parking lot out back, the entrance is a bit difficult because it feels narrow with the parked cars. Once you get to the lot in the back it's better. The prices here are great! The food combined with the price is what makes this place so good :). I wish Pho 5lau wasn't so far from where I live in the city because I would come here all the time. Stop by here when you get the chance~! read more

My family was here in Summer. The restaurant is kinda small. But their soups are really good and service are superb. Nextime , I'll try their other noodles.We'll go back here again and bring my friends & family. Thank you read more

Does the job if you're in the burbs. Otherwise, the broth is too heavy with MSG. Listen, I have no issues with MSG, but they went ham with it. If they lessened it and perhaps uses more stock, the broth wouldn't taste super thin. Their spring rolls were also freezing cold. They don't make it fresh. I would avoid that at the very least. read more

Went here with hubby. He irdered pho soup and I ordered bbq pork and egg roll over vermicelli noodles. It also has pickled carrots and bean sprouts. I like it because it's not too sweet. The restaurant is cleanand almost full on a Friday. The servers are nice. read more

Pho Nam Lua - Shrimp roll (Goi Cuon Tom) - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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It's ok. Not bad, but the meals are from starter kits so you can't pick what you would like in their noodle dishes Nice people though read more

Great food over all, definitely worth visiting at least once for the pho (I'm sure the other food is good too but I wouldn't know, I've only tried the pho). The flavor is good, the portion is what you'd expect from a similar restaurant, and all-in-all it's a solid. But, with that said, I think the service could have been better, there could be more meat with the dish (especially compared to what other establishments in the city offer), and the flavors are good but not amazingly outstanding (again, compared to the other places we have). I think if you've got a pho craving, this place will more than satisfy it. I think you're in the area you should definitely go. I think there are many reasons to go to 5lua but... if you have a strong pho craving and live closer to Chicago, it may well be worth going to Argyle instead. read more

I am obsessed with both the vibe and food at this spot!! First of all on a Saturday afternoon it was bumpin so my guess is prepare for a wait. I got pho with meatball and steak and my boyfriend got bun bo hue and both broths were so flavorful and aromatic!! They included a ton of meat and noodles in both and I loved how the plate of basil included some cabbage and other veggies I'd never tried before. The iced coffee was so sweet but delicious and flavorful! I will definitely go back to try the stir fried noodles which seemed popular. read more

Pho Nam Lua - Beautiful colorful ! Multiple different types of veggies - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I'm always down to support a small business but 5lua makes it a little hard for me to give them anymore more than 3 stars. Always busy whenever I come in and the service is never good. Every time I've been here I've waited for my food for more than half an hour, which is just annoying when you're hungry. The pho is on the sweeter side for me and when I ordered the barbecue with rice and eggs my meat had a lot of fat on it :( If you come here I would recommend sticking with the staple item and order some pho. read more

Pho Nam Lua - Beef short rib with an egg and rice - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Tried this place for the first time tonight. The food is good. I had the pan fried egg noodles with chicken. Also my friend had the vegetarian pho. They have a small vegetarian menu and I was relieved that the pho was good too. It's a fairly small place that feels comfortable inside. I like the art on the walls, gives it a bit of character. read more

The broth was flavorful, the amount of meat was generous, and there were plenty of vegetables to add to my kobe beef pho. Even the small portion was plenty large enough for a big guy like me. read more

Terrible service. The waiter(a young man) completely ignore us after we stood there over 5 minutes. Will NEVER return!!! The whole place was greasy and dirty and overall just gross!! read more

Some of the best pho in the city. And the vermicelli noodles with pork and egg role were spectacular.

There was no wait we were led to our seat two minutes after we stepped into the restaurant. The waitress gave us a moment to look over the menu before taking our order. She was kind and answered all of our questions and made some suggestions. Our food came out steaming hot about seven to ten minutes afterwards. The Crab Rangoon are these cream cheese triangle stuffed appetizers which my companion enjoyed. We ordered a small Pho rice noodle bowl which is massive feeds two if we'd ordered the large we would have been taking home leftovers. The dish is very flavorful we both enjoyed each bite & slurp :-). I ordered combination fried rice so good I could only eat a cup of the rice we took it home. We enjoyed our experience & we'll be back! read more

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BF & I were in the mood for Pho, and our Vietnamese friend recommended Pho5lua. Worth the drive from his place in Lakeview for a very no frills location, we left extremely satisfied after undertaking two big bowls of pho. Apparently Pho5lua was voted best place to get pho in the city - now I can't exactly attest to that as I live in Florida, but I can tell you our orders of Kobe Beef pho was a flavorful experience. The beef was very tender and the broth was hot with well blended flavors. You'll get the standard runny nose while digging into their big bowls of pho, but that's typical! We also started off with the Shrimp Spring Rolls which came with a peanut/caramel dipping sauce - yum. The service was decent and the place was packed on a Friday evening. I would come here again. read more

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I've been here 4 times and do feel the service is adequate, nor stellar but the quality of their pho makes up for it! It's always busy when we come but we haven't had to wait on a Sunday evening. It definitely is my go-to spot when I'm in the mood for pho since Argyle is such a trek for me. I love the beef combination pho #11 and the small portion is huge! I've tried the bun bo hue (the spicy egg noodle soup) but it's not as good as Cafe Hoang which has the absolute best. I decided to try the spicy fried chicken wings but they were over cooked and a little salty. I'll stick with the shrimp spring rolls next time. read more

Pho Nam Lua - #11 beef combination pho - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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*Please note, regardless of its placement on their menu & Yelp, www.5lua.com is not a correct website. The menu is totally incorrect, as are phone #'s. I've picked up from this restaurant about 10 times in the year and a half since it opened. The ambience is casual and bright because of two walls of windows. The decent volume of customers from the outset, and my having read that the operation had some link to New Asia (Lawrence), were strong signs from the outset. I ordered their pho 2-3 times early on, and found it just okay/meh (Hoanh Long preferred strictly judging pho). This ended up being a great thing since I switched to two other fantastic soups: 1) Mi Ga Xe Sate, spicy broth, chicken w/ egg noodle; 2) Bun Bo Hue, spicy beef broth w/ rice noodle. I prefer both of these to any pho. The Goi Ga (chicken cabbage salad) is excellent, as are the Spicy Chicken Wings (similar/same to/as spicy lemongrass sauce). I recently branched out to the Fried Quail and Curry Goat which have both been well flavored and textured. Last point is their availability to vegetarians. About 5 of my orders were meatless and the vegetarian egg noodles and ong choy (water spinach) dishes came through. Convenient location, good value and hours, big flavor. Recommended. read more

Pho Nam Lua - Early NYE ambience - Vietnamese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is dirty. They served water and the glass has lipstick. Their utensils are not properly cleaned. With Covid right now they have to sanitize their glass and utensils read more

This place is an attraction for the locals around town and for people like us who want a restaurant where the locals go to for Pho. Our family lives to eat pho and so this place was a great spot to check out in a snowy stormy night. We accidentally found this place we were looking for a different pho place but ended up here. Pleasantly surprised with extensive menu of pho and other Vietnamese dishes. We ordered 3 bowls of pho and I had their grilled pork (Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Vermicelli). Everything was delicious and filling. My bowl of Pork and Vermicelli bowl was filled with pork, egg roll and veggies and warm noodles. There was plenty of fish sauce to go around and they offer to give me more if I wanted it which was always a bonus in my book. To offer me more fish sauce when I always want more was speaking my mind! Their pho broth was beautiful and clear and full body flavored. They included an oxtail or two in the bowls which is another bonus. The service is very family friend oriented. I can tell the locals love it there even on a snowy cold night. They seem to get a lot of take our orders as well which is a good sign people love this place winter, rainy or sunny weather. I would come back this place if I was in the area with the family. We like that we stumbled upon this place it was really good and hope we come back to visit again. I would recommend this to anybody who lives in this area to try it out it's delicious and you won't be disappointed. read more

This u a e to be my spot but not their Pho broth looks like do do brown. It's so dark and not clean tasting. I have stop coming here.

i have been coming to this place more than dozen times. One of the better Pho places in the Chicago land area. Their service is fast compared to other places. I always get the special, the amount of goodies you get in the bowl is lot. One thing i don't like about this place is that they don't have Bahn Mi sandwiches, love having bhan mi with my soup. Overall great place, i go once a month for sure. read more

My lady friend and I have been in here about maybe three times to pick up food. We were in here once last november. Then I think we were in here around New years and then another time. Like Valentine's or something. This place has the best pho that you'll ever get. This foe is just real real good! It's just top quality. The people are nice in here. I know it's during all the pandemic time. But back when we were there we had good service. You know we couldn't eat it in there but they got it to us real fast after we called it in to pick it up. So this is just real good foe. It's fresh made every day. And you're not going to beat it. And just as a quick side note get the large because it's $1 more than the small order. The large you get a whole lot and it's worth spending the extra dollar. read more

Very tasty pho broth. Spring rolls were tasteless, not enough herbs inside. I would go back to try some different menu items.