Pho Garden – San Mateo

They are most definitely CLOSED. Construction work happening inside. Unilocal just hasn’t updated yet.

Decent place which as of this date Nov 12 2015 appears closed

I like the phở — add the fresh basil and sprouts, plus some of the spicy stuff and it’s good. Happy hour has some cheapest beer too.

I have been here twice and both times I got the chicken banh mi. It’s not bad and the price is very reasonable but both times I said light mayo and it was covered in mayo. Also made it hard to eat without making a huge mess. The chicken was decent though. Given the choice, Ben tre is much better and right around the corner.

I’ll caveat my comments by saying that I’m Vietnamese and grew up with some great phở from the DC and Orange County areas — Seven Corners and Little Saigon, respectively. The go-​to by which I evaluate all phở restaurants is the Phở Tai (rare beef). A simple classic that tells you a lot about the quality of the restaurant. Much like how a filet mignon will tell you about a steak place.
My bowl was a somewhat under-​flavored and the beef was not of the highest quality. That said, with a little additional seasoning and some lime, the broth showed signs of life. While not the best I’ve ever had, it hit the spot and works in a jam when I’m feeling homesick.

Basic phở but nothing extraordinary. I had the combination phở and the eggrolls. The beef broth was okay. It didn’t taste fresh and was a little more on the artificial side. The eggrolls were filled with shrimp instead of the authentic addition of pork and glass noodles. If you’re craving for phở and your favorite phở restaurant is closed on a Tuesday, this place will do.

Wandered into this place since it’s fairly new-​ish in San Mateo. Had some calamari, which was great — had a peppery seasoning on it. Also tried the spring rolls, the chicken ones, and if you like spring rolls like I do you’ll be happy with the ones here. It was hard for me to decide which appetizer I liked more, as both were really good.
We ordered a soup off the Phở menu, I don’t remember what it was called but it’s the one on the menu with «Spicy» written next to it as a warning. Our waiter also warned us about it, too, and we had to reassure him that yes, we do in fact love the heat. It was a really tasty broth, the noodles were a little thicker than the vermicelli noodles that came in the phở broth, but they were still good. The bf had some cheek sweat, I grew up eating peppers so I tasted the heat but it takes a lot to phase my tastebuds. Overall, we both thought it was a nice addition to the downtown eatery options. Everything’s reasonably priced, too.
Bottom line: It was pretty «phở-​king» good, and I’d come back when the phở hankering strikes me again.

The food is really delicious. I recommend you eat at the restaurant. Although the noodles are the main attraction you should try the clay pot curry and rice bowls! Everything is good!

This was my second time at Phở Garden in San Mateo, however, this trip was a major disappointment. We arrived for lunch on a Tuesday afternoon around 12:40PM and there were a lot of people at the restaurant, however, from what i saw, there were only 3 employees working. We sat ourselves and after waiting for 10 minutes, we decided to order at the counter. After paying, and waiting for about 15 mins, no sign of our food. We flagged the cashier/​owner and he asked us what we ordered. Apparently, our order was never put in. Finally when the food came, it was blah. I ordered a pork banh mi sandwich and it had a tiny piece of pork in it with stale bread. My colleagues ordered phở and it wasn’t even hot!
I get that at times you get overwhelmed but the guy didn’t even apologize or seemed to want to fix the issues after we told him about it. Skip this joint and go somewhere else, plenty of better options in San Mateo.

Here’s the lowdown. This spot is nothing special but it will satisfy the craving you have for banh mi and phở. And for the prices, $ 5.50 and $ 7.50 respectively, it’s good enough. The guy behind the counter is clearly a curmudgeon but he’s usually not the one taking your order so it’s OK.

I’m a big fan of their banh mi sandwiches! I’ve eaten here a couple times and had the grilled pork sandwich which was delicious. (and for $ 5.50 you can’t go wrong!!) While I haven’t tried their phở yet, I can tell you it looks really good too. Not sure why everyone is bitching about the service though, each time I’ve been its been service with a smile.

WOW, the lemongrass beef banh mi is great, especially for being only $ 5. The steak was delish and the bread is really good, too. PLUS, they put pâté on it, which I grew up with, but feel like is now just a bonus.
I can’t disagree with the others who mentioned the manner of the man behind the register, but I’d much prefer really solid food over great service and mediocre fare.
Definitely give it a shot.

ben tre unable to handle opening… unplanned visit to phở garden around the corner… long and narrow restaurant… counter and kitchen running along one side… table along the other… taking an order of bbq pork and egg roll vermicelli… sweet fish sauce pouring… noodles mixing. noodle bit soft and bloated… pork quite thick and flavorful… egg roll bit poor… same problem in phở… noodles quite bloated… not bad, but probably better to just get the bahn mi to-go…bbq meats are the winner here…

1 star for bathroom cleanliness. There was skid marks on toilet seat, pee on floor, and window wide open for people/​employees to see you do your business. I should’ve left after seeing that!
1 star for seeing the gentleman taking payments and answering his cell phone and NOT WASHING HIS HANDS before preparing someone’s food with his bare hands. I should’ve left after seeing that!
4 star for the spring rolls, pretty good! BUT, wondering if he washed his hands before preparing my food?! DAMN, should’ve left after seeing that!
2 star for for my pork and egg roll rice noodle bowl. Pork was well marinated and the one egg roll was good. BUT, the noodles were soggy and stuck together! And way too much bean sprouts and lettuce.
1 star for my daughters beef rice noodle bowl! Just like mine, the noodles were soggy and stuck together. The beef did not look like beef nor was it grilled long enough because halfway through her meal her «beef» when unrolled was RAW! I showed the gentleman that didn’t wash his hand that the «beef» was RAW, all he said was sorry! AND HE STILL CHARGED ME FOR IT! Hoping my daughter doesn’t get food poisoning!
We took a probiotic as soon as we got home!
Ate here all because it was getting late and was hungry BUT will never eat here again!

Nice phở place in downtown San Mateo
I actually liked this place. The décor inside is nice, with a definite modern vibe you wouldn’t usually find a phở places. The menus have things like happy hours, snacks etc. so clearly, they are trying to upgrade the place to provide a higher end atmosphere, while keeping the prices reasonable! The wait staff are very friendly, and would consistently fill my cup with water from a lemon/​lime infused tank. The seats also have fancy mats etc. Overall the vibe feels great.
In terms of food quality, the phở is actually decent. The broth is consistent with what I’d expect at any other phở restaurant. I got the combination bowl, and I could clearly see that they put in different visible types of meat, which sometimes does not happen at lower grade phở places. The bean sprouts on the side are clearly fresh, and the beef is pretty tender. For $ 7.5, and the pretty big portions, that’s a great deal!
Definitely worth coming back again

I hate giving this place so such a low rating, but I’ve been to more than 20 phở places and unfortunately (for this place), I’ve had better.
Their atmosphere is cool and modern and even has a fun shaped bowl. I got the phở with meatballs and steak which were good but the broth was not flavorful at all. I got maybe a hint of broth and that’s usually my favorite part! The noodles and meat were good, but I don’t like adding extra sauces to my phở so the soup is what sells the meal for me.
Overall, I’ll probably check out other phở places in the area.

I love this place! Authentic phở, great service and conveniently located next to cream!
I got the combination bowl and it was huge! Broth was perfect and authentic, none of that canned msg phở in a bowl here!
Will definitely revisit again

Mediocre Vietnamese food at best (at least what we ordered).
Had the pork banh mi sandwich and grilled pork plate. The Banh Mi French bread was less than average and the quality of the pork could have been better. Prices were about average. Would be open to trying the phở.

If there was one thing that downtown San Mateo was missing was a good banh mi place. Thank the stars this place came to be. I can finally get a banh mi and/​or phở fix without traveling too far from where I live.
There is a lot of room here, which makes larger group seating easy.
I ordered the combination phở, which has both the beef balls and the rare beef. I deducted one star because they cut the meatballs in half. Logically I can understand why. These things are huge and difficult to chew if it’s not cut. It just gives a bad impression they’re cutting you short on ingredients. The broth itself needed more anise or spices. I had a lemon or citrus aftertaste.
But man there are vegetarian options! If you have someone with food allergies or a vegetarian they can enjoy a meal with you.

LOVED the phở here. Finally a place in downtown San Mateo that has delicious phở! Service, however, definitely needs to be improved because it seems like they need to work out a lot of kinks and hire more workers.
Food:
I’ll just start off by saying the chicken phở was excellent. The broth was clear and clean, but it was very flavorful. There was a little bit of sourness in the soup which I really liked. I couldn’t stop drinking it at the end. The noodles were also cooked perfectly, they had the right amount of hardness and there was a good amount of them.
I suggest they let you upgrade your bowl to a large because they only serve medium sized. I wanted more!
Ambiance:
The layout is pretty spacious and open, overall the restaurant is very clean and the décor is modern. There also isn’t a strong smell of phở in here, MAJOR plus for me! I love phở but I don’t like it when I’m soaked in the smell.
Service:
They should hire workers that speak English and Vietnamese to make things more efficient. It was a bit slow and the workers seemed confused at some of the orders. I’m sure they’ll work things out though as they get through their initial growing pains.
Price:
Pretty cheap. $ 7.50 for a bowl of phở.
All in all, I can’t wait to see this place grow and I’ll definitely be coming back for their amazing phở!