Pho 888

The food: ⁴⁄₅. We started with dumplings and fried rolls as an app. The dumplings were fine, but the rolls tasted a little off, so I only ate one. Should’ve stuck to goi cuon instead. The phở is 5 star worthy, easily in my top 3 favorite places at Argyle. The broth is very tasty, but the meat can be too fatty at times. My foodie in arms had flat noodles with beef, which was a very generous portion too.
The service: ⁵⁄₅. The service and the ambiance is exactly what you’d expect. It seems to be run by a family with two Vietnamese grandmas working the kitchen. The service was fairly fast even though they’re were busy.
Overall: ⁵⁄₅. A good spot to get your phở fix.

A tiny place, but their food is no joke! I love their variety of appetizers which makes them significantly different than the rest of Argyle. I love them so much, I won’t order an entrée.

I’ve been to this restaurant many time in the past. And yes, the phở here is comparably better then the phở in tank noodle. The reason that i’m giving this establishment 3 stars, is because of the serious lack of meat in their phở. What’s more is that a bowl here will cost you $ 10 without tax, while other restaurants offer $ 8 bowls while having considerably cheaper appetizers. Oh, and the main issue and reason that i’m writing this review is due to the low quality of their spring rolls. I’m a spring roll fanatic per-​say, and when i ordered their $ 6 spring rolls, i expected that i would be receiving something that would at least appease my stomach for the $ 6 i just spent. But sadly this was not the case as i found their spring roll sauce to contain no flavor which was the same case for their spring rolls as it tasted more like i was chewing on wet bean sprouts. Overall, i must say that if you are looking for phở that has great broth, this is the place for you. If your looking for places with large portions, i suggest going down a block to phở 777 which is similar in price but has comparably larger meet and noodle portions. If your looking to travel far out to the suburbs for phở, i recommend going to Phở Son Ha which is located in Palatine, or even House of Phở which is located in Hoffman Estates. Both these restaurants serve great portions and above average phở for much much cheaper than anything you would find in Argyle, though House of Phở isn’t a great place to go in groups as it has serious lack of employee’s as last time i went to that establishment, it took me nearly 2 hours just to get the food. Overall, it’s up to your tastes in which phở place in Argyle you like best, but i suggest that if you live in Chicago or planning to stick around for a week or 2 and you enjoy phở, go explore as there are many phở restaurants right outside the Argyle train station. Hope this helped!

My go-​to place for phở. I’ve tried many different places (yes, Tank Noodle included) but nothing compares to this little place. Their broth is super tasty and their servings are big.
I recommend trying their smoothies or coconut water, which comes in a coconut. So fresh!

The best phở in town (officially) and the tastiest I have ever had! Such a sweet little place with great service and atmosphere. I have recommended this place to Chicago residents and will be sure to come back here when I next get the chance! Thanks also to the staff for making me something off the menu!

Tastes better than Tank Noodle next door. Service is faster, too. My only gripe is consistency. Last time I came, the noodles were all clumped and my gf’s vermicelli bowl had way too many noddles. You can’t have a 4:1 noodle to ingredient ratio.
Gf loves the avocado smoothie though.

Phở 888 is a perfect example of traditional «Mom and Pop» restaurants that make Chicago great. Phở 888 is right of off the Argyle Red Line stop don’t bother driving. The staff and ultra glamorous owner make you feel right at home and are happy to answer any questions. This is a plus as I bring many a neophyte to Vietnamese cuisine to Phở 888. The ambience is fine. Nothing special. But who cares! The star is the food!
Portions generous. Fresh ingredients. And the flavor off the chain. Get a fun beverage to start. The iced café su da (woefully misspelled) is THE BEST I’ve ever had as a prelude to the toothsome spring rolls. Now for a main dish one is very spoiled for choice. Do I want a sandwich, a rice dish, a noodle dish or the specialité de la Maíson — the phở! What ever you choose will be great. I am team phở tai. The tender slices of beef perfectly medium rare blending beautifully with the magical highly savory broth floating over the generous amount of fresh rice noodles. Go ahead and tear into and crush that fresh basil, go wild with the bean sprouts and don’t forget the lime to add to your life giving phở. Enjoy!

Phở is absolutely my comfort food and whenever I’m craving it I almost always go to Phở 888. It’s a delicious alternative to the overhyped Tank Noodle next door, the food comes out promptly, and the service is just fine.
I can’t speak about much beyond the phở though… I’m not sure I’ve actually ever ventured away from that when visiting Phở 888.
The only reason I give this a 4 star is because there’s really no differentiation between the items at Phở 888 and the rest of the Uptown area. Yes, Phở 888 is my personal «go to» but it could easily be Phở 777, or Uptown Phở, or Lily Phở, etc.

I loved Phở 888 as a less overrun alternative to Tank Noodle in college and I think it’s gotten even better with age! Got the Phở 888 phở and the broth was sooo good, I think I could taste a hint of good medicine amidst all the beefy flavor. $ 5 for 4 – 5 pieces of oxtail was a bit steep but the oxtail meat was very good along with all the other tasty bits of meat. Bowl was massive. Staff was sweet. Can’t wait to eat here all winter…

The service were very friendly but the food is just average. The broth were much lighter than what an average phở would be. The bowl was very generous $ 11 (probably one of the highest price Phở that I ever paid).The sugar cane juice was fresh squeezed so I am very happy there. Due to the price paid, average food, and hole in the wall atmosphere, a three star would be what I would offer for this place.

I really enjoyed their Bun Bo Hue noodle soup when I came to this restaurant. In fact, I think it even tastes much better than Tank. It looks like this hole in the wall restaurant carries a good selection of Vietnamese food to satisfy your palate. It is nice that place is conveniently located by the Red Line-​Argyle Stop.

The food was great but the service could have been better since the place is small. They have about 7 – 8 tables. The bathroom is all the way in the back, pass the kitchen, was kinda scary going back there. I wouldn’t recommend this place for a large group of people.

A friend recommended Phở 888 to us, but after eating there, I’m wondering if he meant Phở 777, which is also on Argyle Street. I’ve never been there either, so I don’t know if that place is good, but it looks nicer from the outside.
I’ve included a photo of the remains of my beef banh mi sandwich I didn’t finish. I was hoping it would be better than Tank Noodle’s, but the meat was in thick chunks with grisly fat and it had an odd flavor. I’m more used to the meat in banh mis being thinly sliced and tender. The bread was good though.
To get to the bathroom, I had to walk past a tub of dirty dishes, which wasn’t appetizing. The bathroom was a little on the dirty side, with a warped toilet seat and barely enough room. I held my breath in there.

Very average fare, but to be fair – I wasn’t in a phở mood (phở is more interesting to me when it’s colder outside), so I went with some of the egg rolls and a round of very tasty-​but-​ordinary beef fried rice. The prices were a little high for what I was expecting, but the portion size of this thing was huge and left me with a very large lunch the next day.
The décor and service were fine as well; props for BYO and the fact that they take credit cards, but otherwise there are plenty of better choices close by.

Dirty. Gross. Rude.
We were ignored. Our food was awful. I was assured by my companion it isn’t always like that but it sure was on our visit. We couldn’t even identify whether or not the meet was beef. We also did not get what we had ordered.
Skip this place.

I got the Pork Bún tht nng here $ 8.00 (without tax). Basically Phở without soup haha. It is a Large large portion Rice Vermicelli noodle dish topped with grilled pork, fresh herbs like basil and mint, lettuce, peanut, cilantro, cucumber, and bean sprouts. The dish comes with a sweet fish sauce sooo good. Taste like may ploy sauce. If you’re wanting something not too heavy and something fresh this is the way to go! You can get a beef or pork and you can add egg rolls for $ 8.75 i think?

Not a horrible place to come and get good Vietnamese food but by far the best. We ordered an oxtail phở and a bun bo hue. Flavor components were great, but both the oxtail and the pork hock needed to be pressure cooked or cooked longer. We had a very difficult time tearing off the meat off the bones. My partner in crime did better than I did, but had to use a toothpick for a good amount of the time. Vegetables that come with the phở looked a bit wilted, but was glad to see limes instead of lemons in some phở places on argyle.
Phở 888 www known as one of the best phở in 2009, but since then their phở has just not been the same. Wondering if the chef has changed since then or maybe the ownership. Would recommend other places nearby for both phở and bun bo hue, but for other dishes. Who knows?

Small joint but it’s one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants. Their phở is great and the salt and pepper shrimp is delicious here. They have a large menu and the prices are average and fair especially for the portions you receive. Service is always consistent and the food never disappoints. I always bring friends here and they really enjoy the food here too.

This is more like a 3.5.
Cheap, giant portions, and tasty.
My husband had the phở and found it to be very flavorful but the broth was almost a little too sweet. He also found the meat to be tougher than at our usual place (Nha Hang Vietnam). The banh xeo was tasty and crispy. We got a banh mi to go. It was less than 4 dollars and pretty delicious when we ate it hours later. Overall, good viet food but not our favorite.

I was here for lunch today and my feeling about this phở boils down to this: broth — amazing, noodles — meh, meat — quality but insufficient.
We both got the #22 with extra noodles and my eyes were much, much bigger than my stomach. I would say that the #22 + extra noodles has more noodles as the Tank Noodle XL bowl (for size comparison), with less meat, but better broth.