Pho Truc Xanh

This Phở joint is phenom! Everything we have ordered has been super yummy, salt and pepper trip, lo mein, phở, thai soup, egg rolls… I have failed to be a good Unilocaler as I frequent this place. Recently was my experience with the Thai spicy soup. I love spicy! And I really fond a place that hots the mark w flavor and spice in one, but this joint nailed it.

The loooove their phở broth. I agree that rainy days are the worse time to come because of course people are craving phở on a rainy day! If you have patience though, it is worth the wait. It is a family-​owned and operated business. Once they are not busy running around filling orders, they take time to make sure you are doing well.
They also serve other items other than phở here but of course, the phở is the main star. The broth is rich and fragrant. It is a step above the usual phở restaurants I frequent in San Diego. I usually always order a small and it fills me up.
The parking lot is pretty small, but you could also get lucky with street parking if needed. The outside looks like really dated, but the inside is brightly-​lit diner with lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

The quality has gone down by a lot.
It’s not delicious and the service sucks !
I was there not too long ago and they made my food very spicy so I didn’t eat it after the first bite and asked to take it out of my check but the manager was very rude and loud in the process
I don’t recommend it

I love this place! So much to choose from! You can even get Chinese here. The egg rolls and hot and sour soup are to die for! The girls are super nice and always remember me. I’ll definately be back!

I always like the ambience here and always here for my favorite food! Always greet you right away and its very comfortable.

Came in on a Saturday night 20 mins til close. The staff welcomed me like I was family and that there was no rush in eating. I think 3 or 4 different staff came up to say hello while waiting for food and they showed super friendly and attentive service. Not to mention the phở is absolutely delicious. Can’t believe I am just discovering this place now!

Tried the P-​12 Phở Dat Biet Truc Xanh large size. It was okay. Surprisingly it took well over 45 minutes to get my food. I never had to wait that long for phở ever. I came on a Sunday night and it was relatively busy around 7:15pm. The staff was nice but unfortunately the food was just alright and not worth waiting 45min to get it. The meat portion was a little bit more than the typical spots I have been to.
Overall it’s alright if you are in the area but definitely not worth a drive to eat here. Mira Mesa will do just fine for me.

I’m from the southeast US so we don’t have the variety of food options back home for Asian cuisine. Friends took me here and the Tom Kah soup was delicious. I got level 8 spicy which was perfect any hotter and I would have been in pain.
We went there on a Friday night after 8pm and it wasn’t packed. Service was good and we didn’t have to wait to get seated or order. It took about 15 minutes to get food. I really enjoyed it and will be going back. I couldn’t finish the entire bowl so I was happy to have left overs.

I can’t pronounce the name of this restaurant. My friends and i simply refer to it as «the phở place». But all you need to know about «the phở place» is that it’s undoubtedly the greatest dining establishment in Escondido, CA.
why?
— really, really diverse menu
— inexpensive
— clean
— family owned /​local (and they make you feel at home every single time)
— the dankest spicy pad thai of all time
God bless Phở Truc Xanh. It is a bright, radiant star smack dab in the middle of a really boring and shitty town.

Pretty good! We ordered take-​out from here on Christmas Day. (I know I know, I should have cooked a wonderful amazing Christmas dinner, BUT, I did not).
They were actually super busy! I felt not so alone. They kindly asked me to call back after 7 because they had too many takeout orders. No problem. I called after 7, and they took our order. 45 min to pick up. That made sense because they were busy, so it didn’t bother me.
Food was very fresh and tasty. Husband got the Mongolian beef, and I got the chicken and broccoli. We also ordered the cheese filled won tons. Everything was very good!
We’ll definitely order here again for take-​out.

Just ate dinner here tonight since we were in the mood for hot phở and Chinese food. The food here was good and very tasty. The Phở broth isn’t overly salty and it came out hot. The fried rice was excellent and not overly greasy and with a very flavorful sausage and jumbo shrimp.
The main reason I gave them 2 stars was because the service was terrible. This restaurant has front of house problems with inexperienced servers and managers. It was exhausting watching one server covering 10 tables of 4 and running back and forth to take orders, fill water, deliver one plate at a time, and miss delivering the check when the take-​away bag is dropped off.
It was also infuriating when the young server made a snarky joke in response to a request for a water refill. You really don’t want to miss that ask before your server runs off for 20 minutes.
Overall it took 1 hour and 30 mins for 2 people and we nearly walked out waiting for the check to be delivered.

Another great find around North County! I’ve never found that many phở shops that I’ve been impressed with, but I love this hidden gem! Found on the corner on Mission, it’s hard to miss this cute, little green building!
I came here after a long day of Black Friday shopping, and wasn’t expecting much. After being seated and checking out the menu, I was amazed at the variety and how amazing every dish looked when others were being served!
We ordered:
–1 bowl of phở with well-​done steak /​/​Perfect noodles, and good amount of meat. Only complaint is that the meat was a bit too fatty. Hence, the cheap price.
–1 bowl of udon seafood stirfry /​/​YES. Was not expecting this at all, but I LOVE the big pieces of calamari, fish balls, etc. Perfect sauce, udon stir-​fried well… and amazing portion size for 1!
Pros:
–Awesome prices! I’m glad that all dishes are under $ 9! (The majority were, besides the speciality ones.)
–Great variety! I wanted to try everything because the options were limitless!
–Nice service! Super nice ladies, definitely family-​owned. They are super helpful and help you out at the moment if you need anything.
–Cute ambiance! One of the cleanest phở places I have seen! I also love the décor and the different paintings hanging around.
Cons:
–A bit too much MSG in the broth, but luckily I didn’t come home drinking gallons of water!
Tips/​Observations:
–Parking lot is pretty spacious! Enough parking for the amount of people they can sit.
Overall, I would definitely come here again instead of going all the way to Mira Mesa for asian food!

Great corner location that is easy to find. Hilariously tacky interior and exterior décor with things like red paper pineapples hanging from the lay-​in ceiling tile and framed pictures of their food stuck to the walls. Exterior parking lot has blue and yellow paint with blue painted pylons in front of parking spaces, which to me made it look like handicap-​only parking. Nope!
With that said, this place rocks. Amazing service coupled with cheap, authentic food. Their signature dish of sorts is a super spicy phở variant called Bun Bo Hue that had me in spicy food post-​op pain for days. I ordered this with a ⁷⁄₁₀ on the spice level. I was highly encouraged to downgrade this to a ⁶⁄₁₀. I obliged. When I started eating it, it was wicked hot… like lips on fire and I had to stop eating it about half way through. But oh, it was so good. I was later told they downgraded it to a ⁵⁄₁₀ for me anyways knowing I was a complete noob and wouldn’t be able to handle it. But why even have a 10 point scale if 5 is already insanely spicy? Why not just adjust the scale?
Spicy food pain aside, the portions were gigantic and the ingredients and flavors really nailed it. My wife loved her food and we had leftovers for days.
Service really is stellar. You are treated like a regular from day one. It’s a hoot really as everyone is chatty and funny. It’s well worth the 30-​minute drive for me from Oceanside.

Really good food here.
We started with egg rolls. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the sweet and sour sauce dip it came with, but the egg rolls themselves were seriously delicious. The filling was great.
My friend ordered a spicy beef stew which I tasted and loved. I actually really wanted to order that instead, but my stomach wasn’t feeling great so I laid off the spicy. She ordered it as a ³⁄₁₀ spicy and it was pretty flaming, even for me. I had the wonton soup, which was really good. Husband had the phở tai as usual, and liked it.
Everyone loved their food. Service was friendly. Cheerful and pleasant place.

I love that this place is a former old-​school diner from the 50s/​60s on the outside, and equally plain jane inside.
It’s not divey, but can feel that way. But then you get the food and service, both of which are spot on. The flavors are pretty bold and portions are good. If it was on or near my commute/​home or work, I’d probably go there weekly.

Been here a handful of times and recently came in for some Phở and decided it’s been awhile coming to this restaurant.
I prefer their Chinese food over their Phở. With that said; Good Chinese food not great. As for the phở, broth is super sweet. It didn’t have that savory taste when it comes to my palate. I put in a bunch of mint/​basil/​lime which kinda help tame it down. If you like your broth on the sweeter side this is the place for you. As for the noodles were kinda gooey, over-​boiled horrible consistency, like it’s been sitting in the water too long.
Overall:
Would have given 2 stars but because service is friendly and good chinese food; 3 stars. Will come back for the chinese food but will not order Phở from here.

Good service, decent bahn mi but skip the spring rolls and the beef phở. Although the broth was tasty, their steak was so fatty. Very low quality meat.

Solid place for Vietnamese food in Escondido. I was actually pleasantly surprised how good the food was! The restaurant was clean, the food was made promptly, and the menu was clear.
We walked in and was immediately greeted by an over enthusiastic worker lol. We were seated and she took our drink orders asap. I got an order of their Thai iced tea and my boyfriend was convinced to order this «salted plum drink». My drink was good just a little on the sweeter side. My boyfriend’s drink though was WEIRD. It was so salty and not good at all. Our server said it was made in house and it was extremely popular but none of us were a fan. I’m assuming it’s an acquired taste…
FOOD:
I ordered their bun bo hue. I like my food spicy and the server gave me a weird look when I tried ordering an 8. She told me she normally can handle a spicy level 8 but has to order a 4 here. So I opted to go down to a 6. MISTAKE. It wasn’t even that spicy! Overall, the broth was good and had a subtle kick. It was packed with meat, fish cake, and fresh veggies. The noodles were soft and packed inside the bowl. I give this a solid ⁴⁄₅. I was a huge fan of the broth and it was a filling and comforting dish.
I would suggest you come here if you are in need of an authentic Vietnamese food fix. Just don’t come here for their strange salted plum drink!

Living in town I know there aren’t a lot of great options in North County, but this place stands out. I’ve ordered take-​out a handful of times and keep coming back.
There is ample parking, but even that can fill up on a busy Friday/​Saturday night, the place is fairly large. The interior could use a remodel but has plenty of character, as do the employees. I’ve learned that no matter how on-​time or late I am, I should assume I’ll be a few minutes early, and be encouraged to sit and have a cup of soup. Accepting this as standard practice makes pickup go smoother.
I’m partial to noodle dishes and have enjoyed the Singapore Noodles and Pad Thai, both ¹⁰⁄₁₀ spicy. They are so darn good. Prices are very fair and portions generous. I’ll be back for sure.

Phở Truc Xanh is the one restaurant I find myself craving on a regular basis. I wish it was closer to home because I don’t find myself in Escondido often enough.
I have had lunch here twice and both times the food has been exceptional. My favorite Vietnamese dish is bun, vermicelli rice noodle bowls. The ones here are the best I’ve ever had. I have tried both a pork and shrimp bowl and a pork and crispy eggroll bowl. In both, the pork was sliced thin and seasoned with an amazing blend of spices and a slight hint of sweetness. Paired with the perfectly cooked shrimp or egg roll it provided an amazing protein base for the dish. Vegetables were fresh and crisp with bright flavors. The noodles were perfectly al dente. All together they formed a comforting dish which was delicious, light and still sustaining.
The restaurant is located in a converted diner. It’s a funky place. The combination of the mid-​century modern architecture of the building and the simple vietnamese décor creates a fun environment. The women running the restaurant are super friendly and did a great job of making me feel at home. It’s a nice place to take a break from the normal rush of the day.
I wish Unilocal had a secret button that would allow a sixth star.