Pho Green Papaya & Deli

There’s something funny going on here!
First time customer here meeting up with a friend. It’s just a tale of two worlds here. They’ve got a killer location with lots of traffic on MLK but with a nice parking area for the restaurant. I found the food to be great, but the atmosphere is questionable.
Phở Green Papaya has been around awhile and has a lot going for it. They’ve converted a trailer into a restaurant. It feels like a glorified food cart in the most positive sense. They have an impressive menu of Vegan options, which is great for veggies like myself. I opted for the Veggie Delight. Great mixture of fresh veggies including string beans. fried tofu, and a delicate sauce over rice. Perfect for me. Not the best portion size for the money, but I’m sure their rent here is high. Meals are $ 10 – 12.
Where it loses steam and stars for me is that it feels cramped and rickety and old. They’ve made due with what they have, but when I’m eating and the waitress is busy stapling plastic to the inside of the windows to keep the cold air out, it’s rather off-​putting. For such a small place there’s too many extras gathering dust, like a greeting card rack in between tables.
Overall, not a bad option for a quick lunch stop. It’s super fresh, healthy, and has an impressive menu full of things we Portlanders love with Asian foods. The staff are sweet and kind, and you can easily see why they’ve built a loyal following. I just wouldn’t bring a date here, or set up a lunch meeting for work. Get it to go and it’s all good by me!

I’ve been coming to Phở Green Papaya for about 7 years and it is one of the best Phở spots I’ve ever been to. Inventive food with a super fresh spin. Huge portions of Phở (try the Phở Tom Yum for a lemon-​grass, thai-​inspired, Phở). The owner is a lovely woman whom I have had innumerable conversations with. She is kind, generous, attentive and hard-​working. Yeah, I get that for some purists this may not be the right spot, but for affordable, good, heart and belly warming food, give it a try. It’s a great little restaurant and really wonderful people.

I don’t understand the hype behind this place. The phở is very mediocre and price is definitely not worth it. Rest of the menu like chicken satay and phở tom yum were below mediocre.

Probably 3.5 but I’m feeling generous this morning. This was my latest stop In my continuing quest to try and find Vietnamese close to where I live (inner SE).
The building is set back from the street, with a small parking lot in the front. When facing the building, there’s a large, covered patio on the right. Once you enter, the counter/​cash register is directly in front of you, with some seating to the left. Not a huge space.
I sat outside and ordered the bun with grilled pork and rolls. I think this was 11 or 12 bucks, which I thought was steep. When it came out, I was really surprised to see it was on a plate, practically deconstructed. The noodles were in one corner, the sprouts and green in another, and the other half of the square plate had 3 skewers of grilled pork framed by two very skinny/​long spring rolls (cigarillo sized). The plate was accompanied by the standard small bowl of fish sauce/​dressing. Pretty plating, but definitely not what I was expecting.
Took a bit of work to remove the pork from the skewers, cut it and the spring rolls into bite size pieces, mix everything together, and drizzle some sauce on it. Pork was a little dry, though the spring rolls were good, albeit a little smaller than I was hoping for.
When I went to pay, the lady working the register looked at my name on my card and asked what my ethnicity was. Ends up she had been guessing I was Korean (and she is as well), and she pointed they had a few Korean menu items (kalbi and bibimbop), though they also had some high prices — low 20s for the kalbi, and maybe 12 for the bibimbop.
To be clear, I had been hoping for a bowl of bun for around 8 bucks, so this deconstructed plate for 12 was a bit of curve ball. I want to come back and try their Korean food, but my quest for Vietnamese in the SE continues. ..

Delicious. The phở with avocado is unusual, subtle, and tasty-​fresh — my favorite. But then again, the house-​made Kombucha is so good I dream about it and get cravings for it. So happy that I found this location after the one on the west side closed down.
Very friendly atmosphere!

I’ve had better Phở, but it’s a great little place that always seems to be busy. The broth is little bland, but for a quick meal or take-​out and for the price it’s a great place to stop in.

Pretty tasty phở. Plus the staff is very cute! I definitely like to come here when I get a chance to step away from work for lunch.

Can we please talk about this house made Kombucha?!
I’m super into it.
If you’re a fan of Kombucha, I suggest you come try this.
It’s got sweet, spice, tang. It’s absolutely wonderful.
The little lady that works here is so sweet. She saw I was cold and offered me a seat next to a heater.
But Kombucha! Yes please.
Oh. I got an appetizer that wasn’t bad.
The chicken roll. I’d eat it again.

The most expensive mediocre salad roll in town! Advertised as the happy hour salad roll this $ 4 roll was merely a single roll cut in half with basically vermicelli noodles and few bean sprouts. The peanut sauce was warmed which was new for me but pleasant. The phở was good but not exceptional in any way. Two phở bowls, 2 beers and one weak salad roll for $ 33, never again.

I don’t rate service, ambiance, cleanliness and wait times; they are too variable. I can put up with anything if the food is good. It is all about the food– that’s it. All of my ratings are based on vegan options only.
Notes: This place is really good. They surprise me every time. Really flavorful food.

Went here for lunch yesterday to get some good phở. This place is a small restaurant serving traditional vietnamese dishes. The vibe here is very friendly and there are a lot of regulars that come in. A few people popped in for «to-​go» orders and the owner knew just what they wanted. She was very friendly chatting with people during lunch. Great atmosphere!
The phở was off the hook! I loved the broth. There was a tiny hit of a sweet flavor and seasoning almost like a cinnamon. The meat was some of the best phở flank steak I have ever had. Fresh and super soft.
They have a number of noodle dishes that looked great! I can’t wait to try this place again!

separate vegan menu: hell yes
delicious vegan phở: hell yes (I was so happy! had vegan phở in CA and hated it)
kimchi fried rice: mmmmmmmm
going back tonight for dinner: hell yes
love you!!!

Hands down my favorite Phở restaurant in Portland. We go here at least once a week. The owner is the sweetest woman ever & always remembers our orders. Fresh & delicious!

I absolutely love their chicken phở! Such good flavor! And an awesome patio to sit on during the summer! The dumplings were also really good — not too greasy and made with chicken and green onion. :) Yum!

After living in Portland for 2 ½ plus years. I believe i’ve found my Go To Phở spot.
I like the variety. I love the quaintness and laid back atmosphere. I can tell most people whom go here are regulars. Lady up front is as sweet as can be. Was only my second time coming and she remembered me right away.
Love that they have Kirin and Franz on tap. It comes out cold and just the right amount of froth. I can have several.
Phở came piping hot. I was surprised with the Vegan Phở. Normally consider that an Abomination. But I LOVED IT!
I hope to becoming a regular and my new place to call home away from home.

Love this place! It’s quaint and cute and always has ample parking. The staff is friendly and sweet, it’s usually the same woman working the register and waiting tables and she’s an absolute delight. They have «happy hour» at lunch time and the food is tasty and quick. I go here often for lunch time hangouts with friends and coworkers!

Love this place! It’s my go-​to meetup with friends for lunch during the work with place. The service is fast, the ladies who work there always remember us and are very friendly. It’s my favorite place to get Phở, the broth is perfect, the chicken isn’t gross and fatty and they give generous amounts of bean sprouts and basil to add in. Their pad thai, pot stickers, veggie rolls and peanut sauce are all yummy too.

Despite what the Unilocal page says, they are open on Saturdays! Not sure of the exact hours, but I went during lunch for takeout.
I was served by a kind, older Vietnamese woman. She was courteous and not intrusive. I got the regular olé beef phở. To my delight she asked how far I was traveling (answer 1 block on foot back to my desk) and assembled my order accordingly. I really appreciated that I didn’t have to put my soup together myself and on the flip side I’m happy to know that if I was going much further she wouldn’t have let my noodles sit in the piping hot broth and get mushy.
I can’t believe I have worked a block away for 6 months without checking this place out. I noticed they had an all day happy hour with lots of options ranging from 4 – 6 bucks. I will be back to check that out!

The phở I had was very bland. Not in a «needs more salt» kind of way, but it needed more flavor. Maybe the broth is too watered down?
I liked the décor of the restaurant and the server was friendly but I would not eat here again given the plethora of other Phở places in Portland.

Meh.
I went to Phở Green Papaya last night with a friend and was very excited to read the menu. There are a lot of nice things to say about this place… It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed the outdoor patio, the waitress was very nice and fairly attentive and the appetizer (veggie gyoza dumplings) were tasty.
Why just two stars then? Because the main courses were Bland. Bland. BLAND. My guest had the kim chee fried rice and it tasted like… Rice. Bland rice. She hardly touched it.
I had the Tom Yum Phở. How could one possibly go wrong with such a delightful sounding bowl of steaminess? It was bland. I fixed it up with the array of sauces on the table but it still left me bored, unimpressed and not likely to go back.