Why Not Pho

I checked out this place for the first time a couple days ago. The first thing I noticed were the prices. Large phở for 6.50 is hard to beat, regardless of the restaurant. Anyway, the phở was decent, not the best I’ve had and certainly not the worst. The vege phở had broccoli, carrots, onions, mushrooms and tofu. Which is definitely better than the simple tofu and onions I have gotten from other places.
Why Not Phở is a classic example of a family owned/​operated establishment, which are always great to support! It definitely stood out that the older gentleman running the place gave wonderful service. The restaurant itself was very clean and creatively decorated. Gave me the impression its a great place to meet a friend over lunch. Not the best for groups though. If you have a party over 4 you may want to reconsider because you’ll often have a long wait.

I’m a Phở Tran addict. They have me by the (meat) balls.
That said, it was really cold outside, and I was parked at the north end of the Ave to do some light shopping. I thought I would try something new, and broke tradition to try out Why Not Phở.
I was skeptical, because they have so many other offerings on their menu. But I had the beef and tripe phở, and was pleasantly surprised. The broth was good and heady, the noodles were just right, the beef came out rare. Not quite enough basil or bean sprouts for me, but sufficient. I was pleasantly surprised. If on the north end of the ave, I would totally go here again.
FYI — cream puff addicts… They did not bring one. lol. Just so you know.

Some of the friendliest waitresses on the block!
I wanted to like this place. I got a large Phở with everything but that meant one of everything and a whole lot of noodles. I’ll stick to south of the Ave. for Phở for now.

They have a bit of mixed everything here, thai, phở, molly moon ice cream, iced tea, etc.
Venue — REALLY could have been better furnished.
Service — only had one waitress when i was there. My friend and I had to wait for about 15 minutes for our ice cream. But she was understandably busy.
I would come back and try other food on the menu.
UPDATES on 6÷21÷11,
they sent me a message last week, I think it is very cool and it shows how much they care about their own business and the review from their customers.
«Hi Maria
Thank you very much for giving us 3 stars on Unilocal.We are really sorry that let you waited so long on that day. We will try our best to improve our service. We value our customer’s comment. Please feel free to let us know if you have any comment.
We want to be better in our business and satisfying our customers is our first priority.
Thank you
Why Not Phở»

Was headed to Ok Noodle for some Thai food, only to realize it was closed! Disappointed, I dragged my feet into Why Not Phở with my head held low. I noticed on my way in that the menu posted outside mentioned something about pad thai, so not all hope was lost.
Upon receiving my menu, I didn’t see pad thai anywhere. Scrambling, I asked the waitress and to my dismay she said they only served phở on Sundays. We started off with ‘spring rolls’ which turned out to be fried egg rolls. The waitress was nice enough to send it back and bring out what we actually wanted.
The phở itself was pretty good, nothing extraordinary. I’d say the soup should have come out a bit hotter, but the service was good. Also décor is much nicer than the other vietnamese restaurants on the Ave. I’ll have to come back another time to try the pad thai, but for now it’s just another number in the seemingly numerous phở restaurants.
Update: Finally tried the pad thai. Pretty tasty, but at $ 9 the portions along with no rice make it uncompetitive to the likes of Thai Tom /​Ok Noodle.

The menu here is a strange selection of Thai and Vietnamese dishes. There’s phở, of course, but also a selection of Thai noodle dishes and Vietnamese platters. (I think the menu on the website is incomplete.)
At first glance, the décor and feel of the place makes you expect that you’ll be paying a couple of bucks more than the competition for the same food. It looks like a proper sit-​down restaurant, slightly out of place in its U District surroundings. But the prices are actually quite standard, with most entrees in the $ 7 region. On my first visit, I tried the special plate with vermicelli noodles, vegetables and a bunch of meats, including sugarcane shrimp. Satisfying food, but nothing that stands out in my memory. My next time in, I went with the Phad Kee Mao. Tasty, but a little heavy on the seasoning. I was surprised that both the Thai and Vietnamese sections of the menu seemed to be done competently.
What really differentiates this place from all the other phở and Thai places on the Ave is that it positions itself as a tea house rather than just a restaurant. Thai iced tea, Vietnamese coffee, Molly Moon’s ice cream? A slightly unexpected set of things to see next to each other on the menu. Though come to think of it, a Vietnamese coffee ice cream float sounds like a good idea. I also think some sandwich offerings would be quite welcome here; banh mi and ca-​phe sua are match made in, well, Vietnam. I believe they also offer standard brewed teas and coffees. Oh, and there’s wifi, and they are open late on weeknights.

I had the Rare Beef and Briskey phở bowl. Yummy!
I love the clean and bright décor of this cute restaurant. The fried wontons, spring rolls, fried rice and phở are excellent. Service was great and friendly. Must try!

I actually really enjoyed this place; my friend and I are trying to eat at every Thai restaurant in the district and this was one of our last ones.
The decoration is modern; there’s plenty of sunlight for Seattle, and the place offers free WiFi.
Plus the Pad See Ew that I got was pretty good! Def. going there again!