Pho’ Cali

Phở is amazing. Thai Iced Tea is amazing and the spring rolls OMG so good. I always visit here when I travel down from Northern California. It’s great! Also, best hangover cure EVER!

If there are only two customers in the restaurant, shouldn’t the food be even more delicious since there was no rush in preparing it? I ordered a well-​done steak phở and the moment I put a piece of meat in my mouth, I put it back in my napkin. I eat mostly everything, not a picky eater at all, so when I spit out food and walk away from a restaurant without caring for the bill, you know the place is rubbish.

Had the crispy egg noodle plate with chicken. The noodles were delicious with the broth, but the chicken — which they should put the most focus on and which is the highlight of the dish was not good at all. I’m not sure if it’s not fresh or what the problem is, but it’s a bit soft and chewy. Others at the table were not astounded by their dishes either, so I think the place has a bit of improving to do if they want to stand out as a great restaurant.

One of my favorite phở places in San Diego! I always order to go, and by the time I eat it, it still tastes so hot and fresh. They keep the broth separate from the veggies and noodles, so when you add the veggies they still remain crisp. You’re given a full bag of green onions carrots, herbs, lime, and spices. I always get the veggie and tofu or chicken phở with egg noodles. Personally, I think it just tastes better than the regular phở noodle. Rainy weather, under the weather, or just craving phở… This is your place

In anticipation of this food experience we were excited regarding our visit here. Unfortunately our exiting was the high point of our experience. We ordered vegetarian cuisine however our order was returned chock full of meat. We discussed the issue with our waiter and who I presume to be the manager. He was too combative and obnoxious regarding their obvious error. We left after downing our beverages. There will be no follow up return.
I would not recommend this establishment to a friend.

My SO and I were running errands when we saw this place and thought phở would be a good idea as it was cold and rain was imminent. With all my years eating at many different phở restaurant I must say this was the most disappointing phở restaurant i have been to.
Food-​We ordered egg rolls and (I kid you not) it came less than 30 seconds which left me to believe that they do not cook to order. As i bit into the egg roll the shell was a little tough to eat. Flavor was also a little bland and was tolerable with the fish sauce. We ordered two main dish; rare steak phở for the SO and i had bbq pork and shrimp. Bbq pork and shrimp had a good flavor, however, pork was extremely dry and over cooked that it was hard to swallow. I had to pour soup just to get it moist so that it’s easier to eat. The rare steak phở also had a good flavor on broth but SO told me that the meat was tough to eat. Overall flavor is there but they need to work on their cooking techniques.
The place had a simple décor so it is welcoming and they keep the restaurant clean but that is all that is going for them. Parking is plentiful so no competition for spots there.
Unless they improve on their cooking skill i will not becoming here too soon.

Location:
It is in the same plaza as hooters. You can’t see if from the parking lot, you have to go inside to the center and it’s there.
Décor:
Typical Phở place with lots of plastic tables and chairs.
Food & Drinks:
I have never been so disappointed in phở in my life. We also ordered spring tofu spring rolls, it came with a sliver of tofu, a sliver of veggies, and 95% Noodles. I don’t know what made them think that was good, but I just took out most of the noodles and ate what little veggies they did have. The peanut sauce was good though.
I ordered the seafood phở and it came with 3 small pieces of square fish and 3 equally small pieces of squid. They give a small portion of bean sprouts and once again my phở was all noodles. The worst part was, the noodles did not separate as they were probably sitting there for too long. I ended up with 2 giant clumps of starch. Was not happy at all.
GO ELSEWHERE MY FRIENDS! Maybe I should have just taken my fiancée to hooters instead.

A friend wanted to have a late lunch yesterday and wanted Phở so I researched a mid point between her and I to try. I arrived earlier than she did, the place wasn’t crowded so got seated right away. I told the young wait person that I was waiting for a friend. I wasn’t offered water or a drink. My friend was running late so I ordered the shrimp spring rolls. I’d wanted to have a shrimp/​tofu combo, but was told they didn’t have that… I thought it was odd but when they cameout really quick I was sure that the were already pre-​prepared. They were very basic and not that tasty.
I asked the young wait person what type of oil did the use for their stir frys and he at first didn’t even understand what I meant by «oil» When I explained further he hesitantly insisted that it was peanut oil… I asked if he was sure… and then named off a few more oils, olive oil? Vegitable oil, Canoloa oil??? Then he insisted that it was P-​nut oil and Canola oil. I asked if he was sure, and would he like to go check. He said, I’ve been working here for years, I am sure. A few mintues later, I went up to the front and asked the older gentelmen if he could tell me what type of oil they used. He names some type of oil that I hadn’t heard of. When I pressed him as well, he then took 3 steps into the back and looked down. Oh, he says — it is Soybean Oil. Ok, finally an answer.
Right before my friend arrived (20 minutes late) I was asked if I wanted water… I ended up ordering the chicken stir fry and wanted to add shrimp for the $ 2.19 extra it said it would cost. My friend ordered fish Phở. The plate arrived and the food was not hot. It was eh, some what warm. The chicken portion was almost non existant, I had to really look to find some. The shrimp were so small… thankfully, I love vegetables so there was that… If I hadn’t ordered 2 proteins with the stirfy I would have sent it back. The veggies were decent. The sauce that they added was brown and not that flavorful. I was hungry and it was decent enough to scrape around and eat the veggies and meat without eatting too much of that sauce. I would not recomment this place and I will never go there again. Not even for Phở… my friends fish Phở came out and the amount of actual fish contained in the huge bowl was pitiful. There are really gerat Phở places here in SD so, I will go else where… you should too.

It was good for my 1^st time but the friend I went with said that she’s had better. I had the Tai which was the rare steak and I added shrimp. The shrimp was really good but I wouldn’t order the steak again. It just wasn’t to my taste. The phở broth was really good and I was able to add lots of extra spice and flavor on my own. They provided a bunch of really nice fresh Thai basil that had amazing flavor.
There egg rolls were really good but the sweet and sour sauce they served with them was watery and slightly disappointing.
The restaurant was large with plenty of seating. The wait for food wasn’t long at all which was nice. The staff was all super friendly too.

Was ok.
Pros:
Clean restaurant,
Ok service
Cons:
Dishes are bit empty and filled with rice noodles to take up the space. For same price or less I’ve had much better dishes at other vietnamese restaurants.
I wouldn’t revisit.

Stopped in during lunch time during the week. Lots of seats, no waiting.Perfect.
If you are not familiar with the area, its a bit confusing– the chain link fence separates the different plazas.
As soon as my fiancée and i sat down. We were greeted by the server with of course water. Phở places are always quick to serve the water, which is always good.
Got the menu… i was shocked on how expensive a regular bowl of Phở was,
close to $ 8 for a bowl of phở. a pork bahn mi was $ 8 and 4 egg rolls for $ 7. good golly… i spent almost $ 30 on lunch. Overpriced in my opinion. but if you must have phở. then .yea.next time i can wait.
as for the taste of the phở and broth– its typical, its no explosion in your mouth, but its normal.
The bahn mi– huge. bread is HUGE. but the meat is tiny tim. with lots of veggies…
Id wait til convoy or mira mesa area. much cheaper.
Would i come back? If i was craving phở… but not enough to spend $ 8.
Phở’ Cali @ 1400 Camino De La Reina. please lower your prices. you may win me back. if the price is right.

If you are looking for just a good phở the experience, this is a good place to start. They have a ton of great phở menu items, including my favorite, phở with rare steak and meatball, and a selection of good appetizers as well. They don’t have a bar here, but you can order a couple different bottled beers that hey have there.
It’s one of my fave phở spots in San Diego, for sure.

Love it!!!
I got the tofu and vegetable phở!
Really really good service and friendly staff. Food is excellent. You definitely have me as a regular

This spot is okay, when you need a quick phở fix but not my first choice. Quick service though!

Smells like sewage back up.
Had to sit myself & ask for a drink.
Was rushed on my order.
Will never return.

I used to like coming here a lot when i worked around the Mission Valley Area. A couple of weeks ago, my father and I came around during the end of the lunch rush hour so I knew it wasn’t going to be as busy. However, during this visit I was very disappointed and I probably will rethink about coming back.
We ordered a large bowl of Phở, spring rolls, Vietnamese sandwich and a Vietnamese iced coffee. I have been here a couple of times and I have been to numerous Vietnamese restaurants throughout San Diego. This was the first time I’ve experienced «cheapness». Usually, Vietnamese restaurants serve you with a handful of lettuce to accompany your spring rolls. All we got was 2 leaves to go with 6 spring rolls. (That’s just silly, its lettuce leaves!)
The Phở and Sandwich were just alright. I can’t tell you if it was amazing or bad, it just was.
Lastly, the Vietnamese iced coffee was one of the biggest disappointment. It was overpriced (around $ 4) and mostly filled with ice. My ice water had more liquid in it. When I told the waiter he said he already pre-​made it and that’s how big the servings were. (next time i’d rather drink Starbucks down the street)
Last but not least, i couldn’t rate this place a 1 because there was a waitress who replaced our original waiter. She was very friendly, attentive, made sure we got water and our bill ready. However, my father and I couldn’t help but notice she only came when i overheard her (white business men) regular customers were seated next to our table.
Just saying.

I am taking a class around this area and my carpool buddy and I got down early and wanted a snack. She had spotted Phở Cali when she got lost 1^st day of class so she suggested we check it out.
Location: it’s in the shopping center with Hooters and Chase Bank. Park and walk past Hooters and farther into the shopping center,
Food: we ordered spring rolls and egg rolls. Props that they were fast, I think our to go food was ready in less than 10 minutes. They said bahn mis would take longer so we stuck with rolls.
Spring rolls had too much noodles in it and the wrapping was breaking. The peanut sauce was alright, I did enjoy their fish sauce though. I tried an egg roll as well, and my carpool buddy said they were your average Viet egg roll, nothing special. We probably won’t go back. They are pricier than the average phở place as well. Usually I can find myself a bahn mi for under $ 4, this place had them for $ 7.
Props to good customer service!

In San Diego, I tend not to stray very far in my eating habits from Mexican food. After all, San Diego has the market cornered on the perfect carne asada burritos, and it’s pretty hard to mess up three rolled tacos smothered in guacamole.
But Ben does not live by meat alone, and to seal the deal, I have been suffering from something of a summer cold for about a week. Those in the know understand that Vietnamese soup is a curative elixir, and besides, a fellow principal had never had Phở before.
Since we were stranded on Hotel Circle, I look for a nearby Vietnamese restaurant. Only 2 ½ miles from our hotel, squirreled away in a strip mall behind a Hooters restaurant was Phở Cali. I read a few Unilocal reviews, considered the blend of positive food and negative service reports, and decided to give it a go.
How pleasantly surprised we were! Perhaps the ownership has read some of these Unilocal reviews, and made adjustments… The service was some of the friendliest I have ever experienced in a restaurant, let alone a noodle soup place.
I ordered my usual: Phở Tai Nam Gan Sach, big bowl of course, and got my buddy a Tai Chin to get his feet wet. An order of Spring rolls and egg rolls rounded out our meal, washed down with decidedly Chinese Tsing Tao beer.
The soup was flavorful, the noodles were the right al dente chewy but not soggy, and the broth had a nice mix of star anise, beef flavor, fennel, and onion. Sriracha augmented the dish, but wasn’t necessary.
They refilled our waters several times, actually visited the table to see how we were doing, and brought our soup out in record time… Even for a Vietnamese restaurant, which always seems to be quick.
Prices were not Valley Boulevard cheap, for you locals in the SGV, but really it was only a buck or two more per dish. We escaped for 30 bucks with tip, and that included the beer.
While I suppose I’m too old, married, and a father three times over to have even considered the nearby offering of chicken wings served by good-​looking women in short orange shorts, the adjacent Pilates studio provided all the aesthetic beauty one could ask for, parading by the window, while eating various cow parts in beef broth!
I have always loved San Diego, but this little spot makes me love it even a little more. Definitely a spot to check out again.

The food here is pretty good. My boyfriend eats here quite often because it’s near his work. I like eating here when I’m in the area. Phở has always been a good choice for my gluten and dairy free diet.
Today I got the phở with chicken and vegetables. My boyfriend got a dish that has crunchy noodles, beef and veggies. They got his order wrong and came to our table two more times to verify what he wanted. My food came out first and I waited almost ten minutes till his came out so we can eat together. He told me to eat but I waited. They recently remodeled but we had to ask them what changed because we couldn’t really tell. The employers here are polite but seem flustered.

This used to be my fav phở place. Not sure what happenend. Its been years since ive been to this location.
Their egg rolls got really thin and their soup wasnt as good. it didnt taste fresh.
The owner still remembers me… hes nice. He was the owner of Excel photos on Sweetwater and he remembered my sister and i going there to take pics haha.