Pho Real Vietnamese Restaurant and Bar

I come here pretty often since I live so close. Service and food has been good to me. Since then, I’ve been back 3 times this past month and service has been terrible. It takes a little over 5 mins for a server to greet us and 10 mins to finally get our drinks. Food takes twice as long to get out than normal, our server only comes back once the entire meal. Never checks up with how we’re doing, I have to keep flagging them down to bring me what I need. It’s so aggravating and it keeps happening on all three occasions I’ve been here. Also I feel like their preparation on the food is not proper because someone keeps getting sick every time we come in.

This place was on point. Cant go wrong with Phở. My meal was so good and tasted fresh. Will visit this place again.

Everything is good from appetizer to dessert. I always get the Phở with beef combination and my kids loved their fried rice.

Had a great experience. Customer service was great. Server checked on us often to see if we needed anything and everything we ordered was brought to us in a timely manner.

Woah, this is my FAVORITE restaurant and I haven’t written a review yet? Crazy! Let me tell you guys, Phở Real is a gift. The phở is perfect. So flavorful and full of veggies! Onions, zucchini, cauliflower. So yummy and creative! The entrees are excellent, I’ve tried many. And their summer rolls, wow. Try them with chicken instead of shrimp, you’ll love it. Their fried tofu is super yummy as well. And the avocado milkshakes, oh man. Icing on the cake.
Customer service is great. However, I will say, the food does take a while to get to you. I usually eat here for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. The larger your group the longer the wait. Once I ate here for two hours, lol! But the food is always super so I do not mind.

Phở Real is among the top Phở I’ve eaten. I’ve had Phở from over 20 places, so that is saying something. Broth is perfectly balanced, and the portion sizes are on point. I highly recommend this restaurant!
Side Note: I am convinced that Phở Soup will heal you if you are feeling sick. Every time I’m sick I come get Phở from here, and I feel 100% better!

Excellent food. My wife and I go here a few times a month. I get the phở and she usually gets the fried rice. I’m new to Vietnamese food and this place made me fall in love with it. The staff is great, very helpful and kind. It would be a mistake to not try this place.

My coworker and I both developed food poisoning after eating at this restaurant for lunch on ¹²⁄₂₂. Both of us had the chicken and pork vermicelli dish. I’ve never felt so awful in my life. I did call the manager and was offered an apology as well as two free meals. (Ha!) I will not be back… ever. Be cautious about eating here… They have some work to do to clean up their kitchen. I contacted the health dept. as well.

Fast service and food is tasty for a reasonably good price if on a budget. Located in University Place of Charlotte. Phở broth on point. Environment is a little roomy and well lit with a bar. Great place for lunch or dinner with a big or a small group. Definitely consider stopping for some phở in this area!

The last time I dined in at Phở Real was 5 years ago and I had a very bad experience. Never ate there since, but I wanted a vermicelli bowl and asked friends online to see where I can get the best vermicelli in Charlotte and they recommend Phở Real.
I ordered to-​go that time though.
But a few days ago, my little family decided to dine-​in during lunch, it was just the same as it was 5 years ago. Phở was bland, the combination soup was really bland and the papaya salad is not the one you would think it is (soy sauce vinaigrette and beef jerky? Yup!) The only good dish was still the vermicelli with grilled pork and egg rolls. Oh, their Thai Tea was bomb too!
I would only go back for their vermicelli. Try it, you’ll be in love! The only downside is that, I wish they put the vermicelli in a bowl instead of a plate. It would be easier to mix all ingredients.

I eat here very often. Very good Vietnamese food and phở. Consistent service and food preparation. Great place for dates, girls nights, or co-​worker outings. Depending how busy it’s usually very little wait time to be seated and they get the food out fast and piping hot. My faves are the vermicelli dish, eggrolls, spring rolls, the crab and asparagus soup, bubble tea (think of a fruity milkshake) and of course their phở soups. I’ve never had anything badly prepared in the last 5 years.

Yes! Someone does it right in CLT area. Food was great and good prices.
The atmosphere is great the service was great. A lot of professionals at lunch

Great food and the service is great quick and fresh! I love the fried quail. Also the fried rice in a bed of egg is amazing!
Cold beer also!

Pretty darn good Vietnamese food. Nice appetizers including fresh rolls and fried rolls. Soup options include beef broth phở and mixed broth hu tieu. Broken rice dishes with pork chops, roast pork, grilled chicken, grilled shrimp.
And now they have added some healthy options which I enjoy and encourage you to try:
Zucchini noodles as alternative to rice or wheat noodles
and
Cauliflower «rice» as alternative to Vietnamese broken rice.

I’ve been here SO many time and have always gotten great service and never have had less than amazing food!
Other than the phở (which is honestly the best I’ve had personally as of yet) I definitely recommend starting off with the stuffed chicken wings and/​or egg rolls and getting the Royal fried rice with the pineapple. I’ve heard good things about other items they have and have tried other things since I mooch off my friends every once in a while, but other than a nice hot steaming ‘just right’ bowl of combination phở with extra noodles those are my personal go-​tos.

If you are a novice phở eater this place is fine, but if you know what quality is, go somewhere else.
Unfortunately at Phở Real they don’t have real phở. I would have to say that the quality was that of a fast food restaurant. I was worried about that when I went in and it was very nice and hip! That’s usually a tell-​tale sign that it’s more style than substance.
The broth was pretty weak, and that’s what it comes down to. Meat was fine, noodles were ok, portion size was a so so. The ambiance and service were great!
We also ordered spring roles. Very bland.

This place isn’t Saigon Bay. The Phở isn’t nearly as flavorful as at Saigon Bay. I did an experiment where I went to Saigon Bay, then Phở Real, and then back to Saigon Bay — each time accompanied by my brother. He had been a long time attendee of Phở Real and he preferred Saigon Bay.
The difference is real. The prices here are lower than Saigon Bay but the portions are smaller and the flavor isn’t to my liking. Both have competent waitstaff and plenty of parking.
I usually don’t write a review and name drop a competing restaurant but these two are so close together. I can’t think of a single reason I would ever go to Phở Real. Even if Saigon Bay closed down I would search somewhere else for that level of flavor and enjoyment.

Great phở, great service, quick delivery of food. The broth was quite tasty, especially when I added lime, basil, and jalapeños to my liking. My only critique is that the veggies should be cut smaller. It’s impossible to cut through an entire head of bok choy with a spoon.

My first experience almost made me not want to come back. Serious. But my man liked it and so back we came and then they won me over.
My first experience here I thought the phở was lacking flavor and the spring rolls were just okay. I don’t order the spring rolls much but I have become a fan.
The papaya salad at this location is amazing. I crave this salad. It is light, refreshing, crispy and fresh. The papaya salad is covered with thin shreds of dried beef that offer some meatiness and has this bright soy dressing that is the perfect balance of all flavors. I normally prefer my papaya salad Thai or Laos style but Phở Real has converted me. I love this papaya salad and will have to get some now that I am thinking about it.
The bun bo hue is good here. Good solid flavor and not oily. I was expecting a piece of pork trotter so I was surprised to see it just pieces of pork trotter in it. I would like more of that. One of the favorite parts of bun bo hue is the pig foot and gelatinous skin and meat on it. The noodles were perfect, the meat was tender and really it was on point.
The phở the last few times has been better and definitely on point. One of the things I always look for in phở is the coloring of the meat. I have seen phở where the rare meat once it gets cooked gets a tinge of metallic coloring to it and I haven’t seen that here. Which means their sh&t is fresh. Can’t be mad at that. Their soups come in different sizes which is awesome sauce to me. Perfect sizes for everyone in our family.
Get a shake here with the popping bubbles. We were very excited to find this because after moving from Las Vegas, where popping bubbles are available everywhere we hadn’t seen it so much in Charlotte. They also offer different flavors for the popping bubbles.
Overall, I really like this place. They have good solid eats.

I’ve been to Phở Real a couple times and it’s been the only place that I’ve eaten phở so, hopefully, this year I’ll be able to expand my experience from just one place. However, judging by my four star rating for Phở Real, I’m obviously OK with it.
Phở Real is located at the top floor of the shopping center located off of Harris Blvd that has Total Wine and Ashley Furniture. It’s not a big restaurant by any means but I like the cozy feel. There is a long bar area in the back where you can pull up a seat or place your to-​go order.
Every time I’ve visited Phở Real, the service has always been super friendly and accommodating. The waitstaff is willing to explain any menu items and make any needed dietary adjustments.
For my experience, I’ve had the chicken, veggie (tofu), and beef phở. There are about four different sizes of phở bowls that you can order. I always order the ‘little’ size and it’s more than enough for me. However, they will bring you out a bowl big enough if you have a killer hankerin’ for phở. The broth is delicious. Not overpowering but definitely very soothing. They bring out a plethora of phở ‘fixins’ so you can make your bowl your own.
If on a cold day (or any day, really) you find yourself in the mood for something a little bit different than your typical bowl of soup, make a stop at Phở Real!