Pho Ca Dao Restaurant

I’ve been eating at this place for a really long time and I can say that this restaurant has always been a great place to go to for really good food. I know people usually go here for the phở, but lucky for me I have my mom to make delicious homemade phở whenever I’m craving for it; however, what I do go here for is the broken rice dishes and fruit smoothies with boba.
Today my boyfriend, son, and I ate here for a late breakfast even though it was already lunch time. We were seated immediately when we walked in and since families and children usually eat here our waiter was kind enough to acknowledge that my son was better off drinking iced water from a styrofoam cup rather than using the other cups they serve water in, and he also provided my son with his own bowl with a plastic spoon and fork. I’m stating this because usually at other places that we eat at we usually have to ask for these kind of things. Moving on to our orders we ordered the 2 broken rice dishes one with marinated pork and the other with marinated chicken. We also ordered a mango smoothie and a Thai tea smoothie both with boba.
The broken rice dishes are always delicious! The meat is seasoned and cooked perfectly so is the rice and the side of sliced tomato, cucumbers, and lettuce gives a nice refreshing bite to the dish. The smoothies are really good as well. The smoothies always goes well with whatever meal you order from here. &yes I have ordered other dishes from this restaurant so trust me on this. The broken rice dish is comfort food to me because it reminds me of home. They also serve this broth like thing in a small separate bowl I honestly never know what to do with this, but probably like any other person would do I just eat it like soup and it reminds me of phở broth, so the taste is good. The total came out to be $ 23 and some change and that is a really good price for a good meal.
The service is fast and efficient so you don’t have to worry about having to wait a long time to get your order.
Their food is delicious and I will be coming back like I have been all the other years (:

When I describe my phở game I like to say I’m a spoiled brat. And even your beloved PCD, Phuong Trang and Hoa don’t quite stack up to GG, FV and Westminster.
PCD has been around forever, it’s an OG Vietnamese place along with Phuong Trang, Hoa so it rightfully should garner your respect. Age has weight in the game. A well build reputation cannot be bought or changed without a conscious effort. It’s not perfect, no one is stating it is, it has shortcomings, but always makes up for it in good food. It’s the only place besides OB Noodle House (phft) that has multiple locations.
Personally I hate the parking lot, it’s a mess, needing serious restriping and cleaning. The inside décor is aging and the floors are usually dirty. The tables are clean, they have things thing about their water being full. The slight language barrier is really not that bad, but despite having number tables still bring food to wrong tables. The prices are ok because they give large portions. Their menu’s are aging, but give you a good intro into how to customize your orders. Most places will not offer the lighter stock offering and rightfully so here as their basic broth is a tad on the fattier side. Noodles are fresh, not brick like and the staff does not practice the «thumb in soup» delivery method. They do not skimp on the accoutrements and even offer the somewhat rare sawtooth, saw leaf. It’s expensive as it’s a slow growing herb if used is usually conservative. Their dishes offering plenty of meat, regardless of your order. The tables do not offer fresh chili paste or oil, just sriracha and hoisin. The broth is pretty good both fatty and lighter, though it’s not that super white congealed kind. Combo does not include meat balls.
Spring rolls are large, dense and use full strands of noodles which help keep it from breaking apart and collapsing. The peanut dipping sauce is light on the fish sauce and the egg rolls which although are rolled and fried perfectly need some more umph on seasoning.
The broken rice dishes are something worth getting even if you are a phở only person. They actually are pretty known for their char broiled chicken (spring roll offering). It’s well marinated and flavorful.
It’s a family friendly place which is actually quite loud because of this. Any given time will have 10% or more of parties with kids, so if you need boosters/​high chairs ask them first.
This is a neighborhood phở place, I think Hoa is just a tad nicer overall.

This place easily has some of the best phở around. It may be in need of a remodel, but rest assured, the quality of food is definitely worth sitting in the outdated restaurant. You can take your order to go as well if you don’t want to spend time there. Honestly, it’s not all that bad and the food definitely makes up for it! Love this place and will recommend to anyone!

Hmmm… as much as I was hoping this place would be, at minimum, okay to good (3 to 4 stars), I ended up having a subpar experience here.
Our experience started off good, but after we placed our order, my wife changed her mind about the dessert (three color dessert aka «che ba mau»). We called our server back within 20 seconds to cancel, but she told us we couldn’t cancel it because they had already made it. Really? It wasn’t a big deal, but it just sounded a little suspect.
So our food arrived in a timely manner. For my plate, the chicken breast wasn’t seasoned well at all and appeared overcooked. It was tough, dry, and tasted bland. I took maybe 2 bites and I was done with the chicken. My shrimp had an «old» /​cooked a while ago and reheated kind of vibe. The taste was off and the texture gave me that impression. The rest of the food was okay at best.
My wife said the broth in her phở was really oily and not really that flavorful. She said overall it was okay. She preferred the phở at Phở Hoa.
For some odd reason, they weren’t very accommodating. They refused to bring an extra bowl and little sauce dishes. Service here isn’t very good.
2.5 /​5.0 — Food
3.0 /​5.0 — Atmosphere
1.0 /​5.0 — Service
Overall score is 2.0 **. Would I come back? With so many options in the area, the chances are slim to none.

I came here based off a recommendation from one of my moms. She told me about two of her fave places to get phở in the area and I bookmarked both. Naturally when Walter was craving phở he almost broke down and settled for phở in La Mesa again. I told him I had a couple places. We chose the one that was open longer, hey sometimes it’s about convenience on a Sunday night.
That being said, I think we chose well. En route to the restaurant I saw a 5 star review from a friend of mine. A good sign. The joint was bustling when we arrived. We sat ourselves and discussed what to order. I knew I didn’t want chicken, so boring. The rest I left up to Walter. He’s excellent at ordering. I’m that obnoxious one who clicks a photo after the food arrives. It’s cool though, when you’re with a fellow Unilocaler they never mind, at least I like to pretend this is true.
We always manage to order too much food. It never fails. I even suggested a half order of rolls, and Walter got me the small bowl of phở. We both ended up taking home the same amount of leftover phở! Not complaining though, just explaining how large the portions are. At least he had lunch for two days of work.
I really enjoyed mine. The broth was so rich and hot, and stayed hot the entire time I was eating it. The rare steak was probably my favorite, I had expected to like the brisket more, but the rare steak was surprisingly more tender. Also my bowl came loaded with a lot of meat. I’m not a huge carnivore, so I probably left a lot of it behind in my leftovers. Call me weird, but for me the best part is the broth.
Service was good. We received our drinks right away, then our food orders were taken. Our appetizers came out really quick. Almost as soon as we had finished one of each type of roll, the bowls of phở were brought out. Everything was very hot, just the way it should be.
The restaurant was clean. Parking was very plentiful. It’s very easy to find, right on El Cajon Blvd between 52^nd St and Dawson Ave. And best of all, if you get there early enough, you can go shopping at World Foods Supermarket which is behind them in the same shopping center.

Proper service doesn’t need to be butterflies and smiles all around, but a mere «thank you» or simple acknowledgment/​response/​gesture to guests is mannerism this establishment completely lacks. Coming back here for the first time in a long time expecting an above standard experience was beyond a short-​lived expectation. Food is important, but service and mannerism is equally important.
The phở is good, but I’ve had better broth elsewhere. If you’re looking for good phở with even just decent service I suggest looking elsewhere. Oh and their brisket is like 70% fat if you’re into that

Should have known when there’s not a single Vietnamese person eating here. This is my 2^nd time here in the 5 yrs that I’ve loved in SoCal.
All because the parents are visiting and we rolled up to Phở Hoa as they locked their door. Sadness.
Phở: salty, full of msg. Broth not warm– didn’t cook my rare beef.
Bun thit nuong and com cha thit nuong: done half assed. Flavorless egg meatloaf. Grilled pork cold, and again, flavorless.
In short: edible, and only when hoai hue and phở Hoa are closed.

I always come here when my sister is craving phở. So she likes it enough but we also go here bc I’m not a phở fan. I know weird, but my mom ruined phở for me bc I only like hers. So I always get the bun cha gio thit nuong (vermicelli noodles with egg roll & charbroiled pork). Pork was amazing today! I definitely prefer the pork over the beef (bo nuong). Service is the usual Viet style. Quick and that’s about it! Best you’ll get in SD.

Did take out this evening I have to say it was very very good. They didn’t skimp on the phở and send you home with your very own bowl filled with meat noodles and a bag of veggies that are just right. One of if not the best phở take out I’ve had. And it’s a good thing I decided to take the food to go because the restaurant was packed and only adding more people, they must be doing something right.
So dine in or as I suggest takeout go home and enjoy absolutely delicious bowl of fun & tasty phở.

I live about a few minutes from this place, and it is a cheap, fast, and flavorful option. I usually get the Phở Tai and definitely try to ask for the spicy oil because it adds so much more flavor to the already tasty broth. They can do takeout too and give you the containers along with a cardboard box. In addition to this, they have several other options that are quite good such as the fried egg noodles and egg rolls.
One downside is that every time I order over the phone, it is really difficult to understand the person on the other end or for them to understand me. Overall, I would say this is a place I would repeatedly visit.

By far my favorite phở place. They have such great portions for such great price. Thai tea boba is amazing. I recommend coming here. I make the extra drive for it

In my opinion, this place ranks above Phở Hoa which was a personal favorite for a very long time.
Their crispy egg rolls are the bees knees! Piping hot and filled with deliciousness that I just can’t explain. The filling is so flavorful and I have yet to have any like theirs anywhere else.
Their Phở is also a cure-​all when you’re sick. That’s usually how to tell that «this is bomb ass phở». As you can see, I might not be the best judge, but I do love food and I’ve had it quite a bit, and this place is on my go-​to list.

Great value — portion sizes are great and the phở is pretty tasty. Not the best phở in San Diego but still good. I typically like the more light — fresh taste of broth but this one was a little more salty.
I ordered the charbroiled beef on the side and the beef was really good! I added it to the soup and it made the broth taste more like a bbq soup — duh! right?! But that’s cool if that’s what your in to… but I like Limey-​onion flavor.
I sampled the soups the kids chose — charbroiled shrimp (I did not like it but my kids did). I tasted the meatball and it was rubbery.
We had egg rolls that were ok too… crispy but not a lot of meat inside…
We did order the side of bread — yum! oh yeah — great tip from Unilocalers… and the customer service is good– I noticed people mentioned that in previous posts and the restaurant must be listening!
Over all for a family of 5 — it was good food and a good price. A busy restaurant too… that’s a good sign!

I was surprised when I saw that I had not reviewed Phở Ca Dao yet as we’ve been going there since 1997. Easily accessible via Fairmont or 15 Freeway with a lot of parking, plenty of lighting and great views of El Cajon Blvd. this restaurant has been our regular Phở place since we discovered it. I’ve tried a lot of Phở but this is easily the best. Their broth is rich, fresh, with just enough salt, star of anise, etc. What is really important is that it’s consistent!
We always order Phở Tai which is the Rare Steak with beef broth and rice noodles. They come in two sizes, a small for her and large for me. I am not going to explain what Phở is, you can study the menu for that. I will tell you that we add Thai Basil, Jalepeño and Fish Sauce. Sometimes I ask for extra Green Onion. I put Sriracha Sauce in a small Bowl or in one of Soup Spoons on the side to dip the meat into. The Phở is a meal of its own and we usually have it for breakfast or lunch. It’s Vietnamese breakfast food and I would not eat it for dinner as the broth has been simmering all day. It’s a great when you have a cold. It makes you feel better right away. All passages are opened especially if you add enough Jalapeño and Sriracha.
We often order Appetizers too, most often the Pork Egg Rolls which are served hot with a Fish Sauce for dipping. The cold Shrimp Rolls are good too and come with a Hoisin Sauce, but I dip them in Sriracha instead. They also have Pork Rolls with a cold wrapper and with BBQ’s Pork inside. Really good!
For drinks my better half usually gets Lemonade and I get Tra Da, unsweetened Iced Jasmine Tea which is possibly the most thirst quenching drink of all time. Most of the other drinks are much to sweet for me, but if you like that, go for it.
Service is great, fast and efficient. Prices are reasonable, rolls, a small and a big Phở and two drinks come to about $ 23. Clientele is very diverse which I like, with a lot Vietnamese customers, good sign I think. Highly recommended! See you there!

We ordered two different bowls of Phở and an order of egg rolls. The servings were massive (large size) so I think we’ll go for the regular size next time. There was a lot of meat, and ample noodles too.
The takeout order was ready in about 7 minutes or so, and the courteous gentleman brought my order out all packed up in a cardboard box (re purposed from citrus produce I think) which was an excellent touch! I was able to simply set it on my front seat, fasten the seat-​belt and then take off; there was zero fear that something would shift and then spill. Little things like this are what make or break a place for me. I’ll be remembering that gesture for next time I want take-​out Phở, hoping that it happens again.
The Phở was tasty (not too sweet, not too salty), and the egg rolls were very good. We’ll definitely be paying this place a visit again.

Independently owned (franchise) from other restaurants under the same name. Prices are cheaper here and the portion seems larger so it’s a win-​win situation for customers. Ordered the P12 (Phở with beef brisket and beef steak) with Satay. Decent meat portions, noodles were well, and the broth is pretty flavorful. Only one minor issue was that there was quite a bit of chunks of pure fat attached to the beef brisket served which I discarded. Also I got a Thai iced tea which was good.
Lots of AC inside which was needed after playing golf under the sun for a good 3+ hours.
No major complaints with this location and would come here again if nearby.

I have had food from Phở Ca Dao three times, all take-​out. Two of my three experiences were perfect. They separate everything to-​go to avoid overcooking the contents of your phở and it’s pretty convenient.
One of the three times, the completely forgot the broth.
Their take-​out service is friendly and fast. They do use MSG (but that’s why it tastes so good.)

This review is for the Phở Dac Biet.
Overall this phở is good. The broth was very good. The fixings and veggies also good.
What I didn’t care for was that there was too much noodle in the soup. This makes the soup too dry and becomes a casserole instead of soup.
Flavors where good.
The employees here do not speak english very well. Communication is an issue here.
Same person who took our order, buses tables.
Pork and vermicelli Bun was not good. Texture was spongy and not fresh. Veggies were not fresh and crisp. Do not recommend this dish.

I rated this place as 2 stars for the overall experience, not necessarily based on food.
Came here because a friend from out of town really wanted Vietnamese food, and this was the closest to her. Based on previous reviews, this place looks ok.
My friend got there a few mins before me and sat down. The area didn’t seem the safest, so I looked for a parking close by. There is a laundry mat next door and quite a few groups of people were hanging out outside. Luckily I found parking right next to the restaurant.
Once I sat down, a server came over to take our order. I didn’t even have a chance to open the menu yet. Within the next 1.5 mins, 3 servers came by asking to take our order. I felt very rushed to order.
Once we ordered, we had a few mins to chat and catch up. There are options of plastic reusable chopsticks or wooden disposable ones. I grabbed the wooden one and they seem to have a lot of loose wooden strays coming off.
I ordered the chicken vermicelli with eggrolls. The i chicken wasnt bad. The dipping sauce that comes with every dish had a lot of shaved carrots. When I grabbed one of the plastic soup spoons, the first two had a dry crust on them, definitely did not seem clean. The lettuce on the bottom didn’t wasn’t fresh and green, rather a bit dull. The eggrolls were a little different than what I have had at other Vietnamese restaurants, I feel like they were vegetarian as all I saw was maybe noodles inside? Did not taste any meat if there was any.
I have had better Vietnamese food at other restaurants.

I had been wanting to try this place because of the Unilocal reviews that I had previously read. I wasn’t disappointed. I love how they break down the ordering of the phở and give you so many options. The menu is easier to decipher than other phở restaurants. I also like that there is a small bowl option. I can never finish a regular sized bowl.
For lunch I had the phở with brisket and rare beef on the side. I learned that I need to put all the beef in at once while the soup is still hot, so it all cooks. I wasn’t disappointed though because I like my beef rare. We also had the egg rolls. Yum. I kinda wish they had a small order of egg rolls, because I couldn’t finish 6 on my own, or even 3.
The service was great and the place was crowded. I can tell that people keep coming back. This place is so close to my house, I will probably become a regular soon! Yum.