Pho 88

I have been coming back to Phở 88 since it opened. It has been a good place to eat phở even though it is not as authentic as the real Vietnamese Phở. The server has always been nice and attentive to the customers even though she is the only one working with a lot of tables to serve.
I give this place 4 stars because the owner (skinny, tall, Korean man) is RUDE. He knows the server is busy he doesn’t pay mind to other customers waiting to get a table. I have never been greeted or either helped by this a**hole. I honestly prefer eating there without seeing him inside the restaurant because he is not of any help. He favors certain customers that are his friends and pays no mind to other customers around him.

The food is the only thing I’m reviewing because it was the only reason I’ll go. Not the service for sure.
That being said I LOVE the teriyaki chicken, vegetarian phở, &&the vegetarian spring rolls! It’s easily my favorite new place. I want to go everyday and it would be nice if the feel of the place/​staff was as welcoming as the food! A+++++ on the food.

You know it’s authentic if the place has a number right after its name ;)
Anyway — good food! ⁴⁄₅!

I really really really wanted to like this place and it definitely has a ton of potential. Unfortunately this restaurant is not really authentic especially to Vietnamese cuisine. The name of the restaurant is Phở 88 but it seems to offer just about every type of Asian Cuisine from Korean to Japanese to Chinese to Vietnamese. I came specifically for the namesake of the restaurant and was a little disappointed. The vegetables that came out with the noodles were very lacking and I had to request for the additional vegetables that you usually put into your broth. What was also disappointing was that they did not even have Vietnamese ice coffee. Perhaps they don’t have a large Vietnamese population here in Bakersfield but it just seemed like some of the very standard things to expect from a phở restaurant were not available. They did however, have Thai iced tea.
The soup was a bit too salty in my opinion and the Thai iced tea seems like half of the cup was just full of sugar and that it was way way way too sweet to which I ended up drinking a little and adding water until half of my water glass was empty to balance it out.
The actual restaurant layout and feel was very very nice and so was the server. She was extremely nice and even the choice of music was really nice. So in all that, the restaurant was very comfortable. So as mentioned before I really really wanted to like this restaurant but I was only able to give it a 3-​star.

We gave it a second chance. The food was good however the tables are all very very sticky!!! It kind of grossed us out. The waitress was very friendly. I feel bad for her because the owner walks around with an angry look on his face. I made eye contact with him, gave him a smile, & he just looked away. Most of the time he sat at a table in the back looking angry. We noticed this the first time we came here & It made us feel un welcomed. We like to eat out and have met lots of restaurant owners!!! Being nice is a plus and it’s good customer service. We won’t be going back to Phở 88.
One more thing! They have a «B» rating! We saw it hiding in the window as we were leaving. You can barely see it when you walk in.

Terrific phở but the customer service can be a lot much better. I ask a question and the tall slanky skinny guy just answers in a monotone voice as he walks away. No, «thank you, have a nice day.» either. Customer service is everything, tall slanky guy!

Very yummy! We had the 1. Vermicelli I don’t remember what it was called lol then I had mango and sticky rice and it was absolutely delicious definitely recommend it!!! Also the beers here are only $ 4.00

I am a big fan of some good phở, and boy does this place have some good phở! The broth is delicious, the meat is cooked to perfection, and the noodles are tasty! I usually get the #7 (steak and well-​done brisket) and it has yet to disappoint me or leave me hungry!

It was empty when we arrived, but it was expected since it was the middle of the afternoon (way past lunch and way before dinner). The server said hello causally. I said, «two please,» and he sort of just waved at a table. Not a very good impression. We received our menus, and every two minutes, he would ask, «Are you ready?» Not necessarily in a rude way, just abrupt.
Anyway, the food was good. Large servings. We had the vermicelli with shrimp, pork, and beef, the teriyaki chicken over rice, and the pork fried rice. The pork fried rice was too salty for my liking, but the vermicelli was good.
Overall, this was an okay place to eat. Not the best service, though. The man there needs to learn how to greet customers and show them to their table, not wave at one.
We prefer going to Saigon on Chester.

The phở here is delicious! Its comparable to the home made taste. Their pork egg rolls are mouth watering! Although i don’t always like their service, especially when i order a to go. Something is always missing, and sometimes I had to wait even longer than the estimated pick up time. 4 stars for the phở broth, and pork egg rolls!

Good foods phở noodles soup and Korean foods!
Good service too! Owner nice quiet guy :)

I come to this place at least once a week or every other week! I always the beef phở! It’s really good! I only gave 4 stars because I wish they provided more noodles =(I even pay the extra $ 1 for more noodles but it’s never enough! Hahah
I have noticed I get more noodles when I dine in the restaurant compared to ordering take out! Regardless, I will always come to Phở 88 because the place is clean, the staff is great and the food is good!

Figure I’d give this place a try since the Japanese place next door isn’t opened at this time. First off, don’t be fooled by the name, it should be called Phở and Fusion cuz it’s got Chinese and Korean dishes on the Vietnamese menu.
I didn’t get the phở since that broth looked too clear for me believe that it’s really s good phở broth. I did get the vermicelli with everything on it… bluhhh… what a mistake. The vermicelli dish is supposed to be a refreshing plate full of lettuce, cucumbers and herbs to balance out the fish sauce and grilled meat, but I got about as much greens as what you’ll find on an Italian sub. The meat also looked like it’s been sitting around for days and they just heated it up in some oil and worst off, it tasted like it’s old meat as well –reminiscent of beef jerky.
Stay away from the Thai tea as well, it’s ridiculously salty.
Glad I came here though cuz I always wonder if I should eat here or the place next door… now i know.

Okay, this was dumb. The Phở isn’t bad necessarily, but apparently it’s staffed by stupid people? Maybe the problem is that Phở 88 is catering to the Rosedale «Wonderbread» crowd and they’ve never demanded more from their trendy Vietnamese restaurant?
My office ordered 5 phở orders, to go. We received a SINGLE half-​full container of Hoisin sauce, per order, and some Siracha. Who on earth eats a teaspoon of Hoisin for a Phở order?
In addition to this, they sent the polystyrene containers, nearly full of broth. Please explain to me how someone is supposed to get noodles into a damn container of phở, when there’s barely enough room to add the basil and cilantro?
Now I have to eat this in small batches, at my desk, burning the FUCK out of my hands because I’m trying to separate a clump of noodles into a small enough batch to not overflow my nuclear hot broth. Oh, and thanks guys. No spoons.
Seriously? How cheap can you get?
I’ve never seen a phở establishment screw up a phở to go order, so badly. Let alone, repeat the same damn mistake 5 times. You know what that tells me? It’s not a mistake, you guys just don’t know phở about how to prepare phở.

The food was okay; not what I prefer in Phở. My meatballs in the soup tasted a bit weird… I don’t know how to describe the flavor. But the soup was very flavorful and sweet. I feel like they add less noodles and put more soup to cover up. The waitress was nice.
It was nice with the quiet atmosphere, but my table was sticky…
I also didn’t like their metal chopsticks, the noodles slip right out haha, but overall it was mediocre.

Oh my gawd… so good! I was excited from the first bite to the last. Yum!
Everyone and your mother get into the restaurant. Great portions, great prices, and most of all… GREAT TASTE!

This place has really great phở, I’m updating my review because it seems it was a one time bad experience but since then their food has been great. The phở is really delicious but their sticky rice and mango still needs work. The phở is wonderful, I prefer the beef over the chicken phở. Though they are both awesome.

If you couldn’t already tell by my name, I’m Vietnamese, so you could pretty much say that I am a phở connoisseur (no, really though), so I expect a lot when it comes to this soupy noodle goodness. If you’re not Vietnamese, then you might not know that the whole process of making a good batch of phở, literally, takes all day, and not everyone gets it right. So when I walked into Phở 88 on Sunday, I was hoping that I would get the phở my taste buds needed, and I was pleasantly surprised when it did, and to that, I say «**ck yeah!» But let me start from the beginning…
My family and I walked in at about 4:30 on Sunday and it was pretty empty. Only two parties of 4 dining. We were quickly greeted and seated at a really, really sticky table, which we soon realized was not dirty and just sticky! Felt grimy. I’m thinking that someone needs to take some gloss to those tables. Anyway, the waitress took drink orders and gave us a minute to look over the menu.
Now, I know this used to be a Korean BBQ restaurant, and it seems that a lot of the Korean items are still on the menu, along with phở, Vietnamese rice and vermicelli noodle dishes, katsu and terriyaki. There’s also fried rice on the back of the menu. Seems like a whole lot of different types of Asian food happening inside Phở 88, and that’s ok with me!
I ordered a regular size Phở Dac Biet, which has all the meats (tripe, tendon, etc), and it came out in a massive bowl! Everything tasted as it should have and it was delicious. I was absolutely pleased with my phở. My husband got the katsu and my son got the terriyaki. They both enjoyed their meals. The only thing that my husband disliked was his rice. He said it was super hard, but my sons rice was fine. Soo, not sure what happened there.
All in all, quality and portion were excellent. I find that most places around here aren’t as generous with their portions, and I like to be stuffed like a turkey when I’m done eating my food!
I, personally, think the phở at this place is, by far, the best in town. Bold statement, I know, but I’m a phở connoisseur, so I feel like can make such a statement. Ha! Give it a try! You won’t be disappointed!

This is a combination Vietnamese and Korean restaurant. They do Phở there that is fine. It isn’t off the hook, but it is OK. I don’t go there for the Phở, to be honest. I LOVE the spicy soup! I have also had the Kim Chi Fried Rice that is crazy good and the Black Bean Curd dish. All are wonderful. I have never had a bad meal here, and eaten here quite a few times. I’ll be back again.
I’m telling you, I actually drive half an hour to get there sometimes because I am craving that spicy soup.
Enjoy!

I like this place because the place is clean. My favorite is their spicy noodles. If you’re a spicy food fan, try this soup, it’s amazeballs!