Nam Son Vietnamese Restaurant

mediocre food, bad service, ***filthy*** restrooms.
I understand that this is local viet restaurant for the past 20 years, I’ve been coming here if I’m in the area. but their quality standard has oblivious lowered, a lot. The signature Phở soup base is no longer made with beef, its clearness and flavor tell you that it was just msg/​salt broth. A huge NO NO! If I wanted a yummy artificial flavored noodle soup, i would just buy any packet of Asian instant noodle for a buck.
There was not much service provided, even to get my bill took nearly 15 mins.
— — — WARNING! — — don’t read the following if you are eating right now. — — — -
Now, i don’t really want to mention this next piece of fact on food reviews, but I must warn you.
When I overheard the table next to me mentioning there was a line for the ladies room so she went to the men restroom (single use with door lock), she was telling her friend how filthy it is. So I stick with the line for the Women one. When the employee* exits, i entered. The floor is completed wet, the trash can overflowed; all over the floor corners. No paper towel/​tissue, when you flush, the water don’t run much, and please hold* the switch until it finishes the whole cycle as a courtesy for the next person… AND the awful smell…
If this is a shared restaurant for restaurant employees and customers, I HAVE A QUESTION, MEANING THE EMPLOYEES HAS BEEN ENTERING IN AND OUT THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND NO ONE CARE OF THIS MESS AND «TOLERATE» THIS!
HOW DO YOU FEEL THE INSIDE OF THE KITCHEN LOOKS? HOW CLEAN ARE THEY?
yea, that’s what i thought. The first time I had to use their restroom and let it the the last time.

Best phở broth we’ve had in a long time. Reminds me of my friends’ grandma’s phở — it’s that good!
Bathrooms could be a touch cleaner.

Dining here for over 7 years. Their food are pretty consistent with the taste and portion too.
Ordered:
Bun bo hue– authentic Vietnamese noodle with pork knuckles. A little spicy with shrimp taste flavor. Portion of meat were very generous compared to other Vietnamese restaurant. Two thumbs up.
Grilled beef with wraps– never had it in medium before and it tasted aweful since it was not seasoned well. So, I asked the server to grill it for another minute or two. Came out pretty good.
Service: attentive
Cleanliness: good
Flavor: average to good
Overall: 2.5

Phở is not the only thing that should be checked out here. Number 125 is beef cubes with rice, but I always get the fried rice with it. You can tell once you taste their fried rice that it was made with care. Every time I come here, this dish does not fail to seize me. Following along that is the spring rolls, how can you not try Vietnamese spring rolls at a Vietnamese restaurant? Overall, a very good meal.

Ordered
Phở — didn’t try it. Decided to throw it away.
Bun bo hue — phở base, not spicy, pour quality soup. Did not taste like bun bo hue at all.
Summer roll — old ice berg lettuce, old shrimp, smelly. Blah
Grilled chicken — edible. But still not the same
This Viet restaurant, like many others, had lowered their standards dramatically. Sadly, I can’t explain why so many Viet restaurants inexplicably lowered their quality simultaneous. Save your money. Never returning to this once legendary Viet restaurant.
I have probably eaten in every Viet restaurant in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.
So disappointed!
Highly recommended:
Brooklyn: Thang Da
6008 7^th ave 11 220. Much better than most of the Viets restaurants in NYC. Just go!

I made a restaraunt review on my youtube channel! That’s how good it was! :P

I’ve been coming here ever since I was little and my last two recent trips have been disappointing and disgusting. I always order phở (number 1) or something similar but smaller and during the last two trips to here, I have found hair on a piece of noodle. Both times, I automatically lose my appetite and I didn’t even get to eat ½ of it. Waste of food and my money. If I could give no stars, I would. I will not be returning nor will I recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Nam Son on Grand St in Chinatown.
Busy place for a cold afternoon.
The fresh and fried spring rolls are tasty (#22 and 24).
Ordered #55 the beef bun (vermicelli) — avoid this dish as beef was overdone and tough.
# 3 Dac Biet Beef phở was good — phở broth is on the lighter (less beefy flavor) side.
Suggest to avoid the Vietnamese ice coffee here — way too strong even after diluting several times.
There are many better places for phở in the vicinity

This place is my go-​to spot for phở. Whenever I have breaks in my schedule, my friend and I would come here for a quick lunch and the service and food is always excellent here. The waiters are nice most of the time but after you order, your food comes immediately (that is if it’s the phở you ordered). I come here quite often even though it’s not near where I live or go to school but because the broth of the phở is always the same when I come, this is the only place I go to for I like consistency. I always leave this place full and satisfied. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone. It is simply delicious.

I’m really picky about my phở and can’t seem to find one that has the right broth, good meat, and the right noodle chewiness. I’ve tried so many phở places and nam son is the only place I am actually willing to finish. The broth is hit or miss recently, but still good. A couple years ago, the broth tasted very savory and flavorful. The past few times I’ve gone, it’s been a little watered down. Meat in the phở is on point especially the brisket. Definitely get the spring rolls! Service is fast. Nothing fancy but a great place when you just want a nice bowl of phở right away.

Cheap! Great Vietnamese food. We got phở with beef balls, banh xeo, fresh rolls, banh coun and bun w/​spring rolls and shrimp. Great for a chilly day and a few things that are hard to get outside of Chinatown. Definitely deserves a repeat trip. Plus they played Vietnamese music!

As good as it gets. Cheap, authentic vietnamese food. Very fast servers; i think I get my phở or buncha within 5 minutes of ordering, every time.
I would stick to the standard vietnamese dishes that involve noodles — would stay away from rice dishes or regular soups. I found the rice dish toppings usually very oily and soups were bland, IMO.
Phở or buncha or springrolls, on the other hand, are excellent here.

Nam Son has been my go-​to place for relatively inexpensive and decent quality food (especially phở) probably since 2011, if not earlier. Here are a few key things that are noteworthy about this restaurant:
1. There are plenty of seats and tables. There are tables for two people, four people and even larger groups. Flexibility is a plus in my book.
2. Most people come here for phở. In my opinion, that’s probably what you should get if you come here. If you ask for #1, you’ll get a bigger portion so keep that in mind.
3. You might be given good service on a given day, or bad service. I guess you can flip a coin and evaluate your luck before going in.
4. In the dozens of times I’ve come here, i never really experienced anything amazing, so don’t expect anything too amazing.
5. The appearance and ambience is kind of nice and casual.
6. The bathrooms are disgusting. I think some people enjoy urinating on the floor for some reason. Prepare to bring an extra napkin with you into the bathroom to turn the door knob. And make sure you wear shoes that don’t have holes.
Would I come back here? Of course. It fits my budget and is conveniently located in Chinatown. It also fills me up.

Actually not sure how I haven’t written a review for this place yet… I’ve checked in here well over 20 times and have been here even more times than that.
All in all, one of the best viet restaurants in the area. Super quick, great food and at a great price. Yes, the price has gone up over the years, but you can always count on having some great food here and getting it delivered to your table quick.
The food is good and it’s reliable. My go-​to viet place whenever I get that phở craving. After all these years, they’ve never let me down!

My favorite Vietnamese noodles in the entire City of New York probably reside here.
This area has been gentrified so much in recent years that there was a guy to my left reading The New York Times and a woman to my right playing with her iThingie, neither of whom were Chinese or Vietnamese. It follows that prices will go up — and they have. When Asian and non-​Asian alike come to a venue, you know it’s very good.
Food: my wife likes the 火車頭 (#1 on the noodle menu) and I love number 5. We shared a large order of spring rolls and she could hardly finish her order, so I helped. We also ordered a traditional Vietnamese coffee, which was really intense and authentic.
Service: all servers speak English very well, and seem to prefer English. Gentrification baby. Orders can be very quick or slow; I haven’t figured out how such a large discrepancy can be possible. Standing in line by the door for seats was odd; no numbers were taken.
Décor: I love how this restaurant consistently earns an A from New York City and how clean the tables appear.

Really needed to get my phở fix today (June 20^th) after a long day at work. Took the B/​D to Nam Son and it was very convenient to locate. I had the extra big bowl with beef balls and vietnamese spring rolls and my friend had the beef ball noodle soup. The beef balls tasted a bit funny (i think its real beef balls instead of the darker ones). The noodles were so good and the soup as well except my friend said it wasn’t enough noodles (she loves noodles). The spring rolls were soooo crispy and delicious. I will definitely be back.
Not much to comment on the service, it is Chinatown afterall but there was a really annoying customer sitting a few tables from us and the waiters handled it perfectly. The food was great and if I am in a craving of phở, I will be back.

Came here with friends for dinner after school! I would say this place is a pretty standard/​decent Viet restaurant in Chinatown. Décor was nice and the tables seemed very clean. Service was like nonexistant even though there were very few people in the restaurant… hence the low tip. I got the #1 Xe Lua phở and found it to be very tasty. The meat was very tender, the phở noodles were on point, and the soup tasted great with the lemon juice added to it. $ 7.50 for a large bowl of phở is a pretty good deal for a meal in Chinatown. Do I recommend this place? Maybe, but that’s because there are so many Viet restaurants in Chinatown so I must continue on my foodie journey to find the best one haha.

Good Vietnamese food. Staff is not friendly. Food is quick. Prices are decent. Parking is a pain to get. One of the better Vietnamese restaurants in Manhattan. Prices are average for the area. Nothing super special. Stop in for a quick bite if hungry.
The interiors are very basic and designed for a cheap eat quick and get out. They do have the Vietnamese desserts in the fridge in front.
No wifi.

The famous go-​to place whenever you’re in Chinatown and craving authentic Vietnamese food. I’ve been here on numerous occasions and I would usually order the «usual» number 1 (Big bowl of phở with eye of round brisket). I like mine with a lot of sriracha and sweet oyster sauce!
Service is great and often fast. Never had any desserts here but I look forward to trying the next time I visit. The reason why I didn’t give 5 stars is because after all these times that I’ve been here, I’ve been paying extra tip because the waiters/​waitresses never mentioned that tip was included. I don’t mind paying the extra tip but it would’ve been better if we were notified about this.

Vietnamese businesses are integrated into the Chinatown landscape these days and Nam Son is in the heart of it on Grand St. My sister’s family are regulars here and brought me here on a cold winter day, perfect weather for a steaming bowl of phở.
The large beef phở is a very respectable bowl of rice noodles with a very fragrant broth. The thing you notice first is that the basic broth has strong flavors of star anise and cinnamon, but they are soon tempered when mixed with the raw slices of beef eye round, brisket and tripe. The flavors combine to transform the rawness of the ingredients and really pop when you start slurping up that hearty soup. It gains even more depth when you add in fresh basil, sliced jalapeño and bean sprouts. I like dipping the beef in a mix of sriracha and hoisin sauce for some added kick.
The grilled pork chop and grilled chicken are good choices also when served with a bowl of phở or over a plate of rice. The spring rolls leave something to be desired, but the summer rolls were just plain tasteless. Even drowning it in the fish sauce couldn’t help it. Stick with the phở and grilled meats.