Beef Noodle No 1

Bombbbb. Phở is all about the broth and here, it’s good. Came here once and it’s quickly replaced phở ha on story for me as top phở spot. Good amount of meats good hanh dam bombb

Beef Noodle No 1 was one of the first Phở restaurants established in San Jose, CA. The interior hasn’t changed much over the last 20 years except for the upside down knock off Louis Vuitton upholstery which I actually happen to like. The kitchen is wide open, and it is nice to see 3 — 4 large stockpots of beef broth simmering behind the glass. In the later 1990’s, this place used to close early when they ran out of soup. I might be a little biased since this is the first place that I tried Phở as a kid.
I recommend the Beef Phở here usually #1 Phở Dac Biet (If you like all the wierd cuts tripe, tendon, etc) or #7 Phở Tai Gau (rare steak and fat brisket). The soup broth is nice and clear and the rice noodles don’t stick together which are two things I always look for when eating a good bowl of Phở. Service is pretty fast, usually takes around 5 minutes to order and receive your food. Order a Bun Kep or Green Waffle on the way out, I typically ask for it when I pay for the check at the register. The Green Waffle is best enjoyed still hot!

I’m not really a phở expert, but the broth was tasty, the meat was hearty, and the staff was friendly. There may be better phở out there, but you can’t really beat the prices here.

Hot food came out fast. I got #1 which is phở with everything– tendon, rare steak, and well-​done steak. It’s alright, a little bit of MSG. $ 8 for a small bowl.

It’s just not the same here anymore!!! :(
My family & I used to go here all the time after church. The employees used to be so nice & attentive along with great soup! But now it’s just great soup. They no longer provide the good service you yearn for as I’m guessing new management has taken over therefore new employees.
My sister & I came here xmas eve around 11ish AM & I’ll say there was a good amount of crowd but not enough to call it «busy.» I had gotten up to pay for what we ordered and had asked the lady if i can order some green waffles & she said «no. I cannot make for you now im busy.» ARE YOU SERIOUS?! That is the first time i have ever heard of that. How can you decline a customer of ordering something that is clearly being sold?
Overall, two stars because the soup is still as good!

You know you’re in for a delicious meal when you sit in an LV booth! Since the place was called Beef Noodle No 1, I assume their specialty was beef noodle and I got the phở tai large. It came out a few minutes after and I ate it in 2 – 3 minutes, it was slurpingly delicious.
The place is good for an efficient lunch, if you don’t want to wait outside BC in the cold. Also, I’ve never complained about a place giving too much meat, but here they were quite generous on the beef portion. The quality of the beef was average, but the phở was still satisfying and I can’t get over the fact that the entire meal was essentially 5 minutes long! Extra points for efficient phở!

Check this place out, it will not disappoint. Cool Louis Vuitton booth seating and authentic Phở. Two thumbs up!
–TS

Been here a couple of times, soups always good. Can never complain about it.
It’s easier ordering if you know Vietnamese since the workers here aren’t very fluent in English. But other than that service is good & friendly.
Occasionally they make the green coconut waffles as well & those, you never go wrong with them :)

I’ve been here a total of 3 times now. The last two visits were a blur and I think we can agree that any noodle soup tastes great when you’ve had some drinks in your system.
I ordered my usual phở gau, gan with a side order of meatballs. The meatballs are ⁵⁄₅ reminds me of the ones at the Calaveras Luu New Tung Kee location. Broth was ok. Could have been better if the msg wasn’t apparent. I don’t think I would be coming back here for phở anytime soon. There wasn’t much that I could remember that was great about this place aside from their meatballs.
I’d stick to going to Phở Cong Ly on Williams if you want quality broth and huge portions of meat. And if you’re daring, try Nam Tien on McKee. It’s a little dirty, hole-​in-​the-​wall place but the phở there is out of this world (my #1).

Came in at 7:59PM when the place didn’t close til 9. The guy said he couldn’t seat us, when there was tables open, but didn’t give us a reason. If the time changed please update your store signs as well as your Unilocal page.

My go to place for phở! For that alone it’s five stars. If you come here and order any phở, you won’t be disappointed!
My family has been coming here pretty much since they opened, which my parents tell me was a few years after I was born, and I’m on the verge of being a quarter century young! This place does have a few cons, but you really cannot beat the phở here, which is why it’s a solid five stars. When you enter you can smell it, and as soon and it’s delivered to you, you can see the broth is an amazing deep color, and when you sip it, you can seriously taste the flavor. I actually just came here for dinner last night, and it had been quite some time since I have had phở here, and I forgot how amazing it was. I ordered a Phở Dac Biet with a side of pickled onions. Not a lot of people know about pickled onions on the side, but it’s a nice addition and at only 50 cents more it’s worth a try if you’ve never had it before! I think this restaurant actually has a special machine to slice their onions super thinly, so the pickled onions are just on another level compared to other phở places.
Unfortunately, I also ordered eggrolls with my meal, which was a mistake. I’m not sure why this decision was made, but they changed the type of eggrolls served. The eggrolls were served nice and hot with piece of lettuce, but when I bit in, I was met with a bunch of vegetables, which is completely different from a typical Vietnamese eggroll. I’m pretty sure in the past they served normal Vietnamese eggrolls, so I’m not sure when this change came about.
As some other reviews have mentioned, they also serve green waffles here. This is relatively a new addition like maybe in the past 6 or 7 years they started this? When you order them, the waffles come out relatively quick because the waffle irons seem to always be on, so they just have to add batter and wait. These aren’t the best green waffles as they are on the thin side, but it’s a nice dessert, and it really hits the spot after a big bowl of phở.
After having had phở here, I don’t know if I can go to any other place for a while. This place simply has the best phở I’ve ever had, and I’ve been around. I’ve had phở in the bay, LA, SD, OC, and in Vietnam, and this place is way up on top.

Uhmmmmm… I question the people who think these green waffles are good. Please explore other green waffles in San Jose.
Granted, they’re cheap but they taste cheap too. The comparison I can make is like a cheap knock off purse to an authentic Chanel bag… There is such a big difference.
The batter is thin. They spread the batter thinly on the little waffle press, let it bubble, then close the lid for another minute. I didn’t get any coconut, the flavor was meh, and it tasted like soggy cardboard.
I have had MUCH better green waffles at a shop in Vietnam Town or at Vanitea.
C’MON PEOPLE!!!

Came here for a lunchtime treat and was not disappointed. I am in no way a phở pro, but can say that this was the most delicious I’ve had. The broth is just… wow. Flavour for miles. I had the number 3 and a coconut juice and left completely satisfied for just I’ve $ 10. I will order the small rather than large next time, because the portions are definitely generous.
The interior is quirky — Louis Vuitton seats, oh yeah! — and pretty tidy.
All around very pleased and will definitely be back soon.

Pleasantly surprised at the wonderful flavors and freshness of the phở and egg rolls. I had the chicken phở and if was delicious!!! My new favorite phở place in San Jose!
The food didn’t come out as fast as other phở places I’ve been too, but it was worth the wait. It allows to meat to marinate and the flavors to simmer. The service was also attentive. I didn’t feel rushed to eat and go. That was nice. We will be back! «See you next time!»

Super glad that I finally got to try authentic Vietnamese food in San Jose… My friends and I were painting a house in a mobile home park and were looking for a place to eat. That’s where beef noodle came in.
Growing up in SoCal, you know authentic Vietnamese restaurants from the aroma of broth when you walk it. That’s exactly what you get here.
Interestingly, the only items they have are phở soups, but it makes sense given their name. We all ordered different items, but most revolved around #1 combo And #4 with meatballs.
Food came out after a few minutes and one taste took me to phở heaven. The broth is authentic, noodles are soft, and the meat is amazing. It definitely tastes on par with the restaurants in little Saigon, and definitely better than anything you get in the East Bay.
Check this place out and lemme know how you do!
Eat well and prosper,

I’ve been coming here over 18 years & the phở tai bo vien is the best… For me I’ve never found another place that makes better Phở.
I miss the employees that use to woke here that have left. They always made my experience pleasant able. The staff here now is still nice, polite.

Decided to give Beef Noodle No. 1 another shot today.
It was a rainy day, but there was still a pretty steady stream of customers at the post-​lunch rush hour. I was seated immediately, my order was taken very quickly, and my bowl was brought out after a minute at most. For the uninitiated, that’s typically a good sign since it means they have a huge pot of broth ready to go.
I had a large phở chin nam ve don (well-​done brisket and flank). It was $ 8.37 (small bowls are $ 7.37), which is surprisingly not too much of a price bump compared to my last visit three years back.
The phở was good. There could have been more meat, but I almost wanted to slurp up all the broth. It actually seemed to have a little acidity, so I ignored the lime wedge completely. Another plus is that they continue to provide huge, fresh Thai basil leaves alongside the bean sprouts and sliced peppers.
Christmas music was nice to have for the season, although there were no popular renditions and the table behind me decided it would be nice to sing along. Also, there weren’t any missing parts of the ceiling like in my last visit.
I’ve decided that this restaurant isn’t so bad. If the location is convenient (translation: if I want Sno-​Zen for dessert), I think I’ll come back more often for my phở phix.

I love how when you first walking in the door the phở broth smell hit you right in the nose. The workers here are nice and friendly.
I love how some of the workers lets you pick any seat to sit at. And they even give you free hot tea. My wife and I love how they broth the phở. You can’t for get to try their delicious green waffles.
One funny thing is all their booths have fake Louis Vuitton leather on the covers.

Bring your LV bag to match the Louis Vuitton leather booths here at this hole-​in-​the-​wall phở joint. You’ll be Instagram and Facebook #selfie ready while you’re enjoying your bowl of Vietnamese soup (phở sho!).
This was my second time eating here ever since moving to the Bay Area. And I’d have to say, this time around my experience was much more pleasant, probably because we were eating brunch with a whole bunch of Betty N.‘s (fellow Elite Unilocaler and all around badass) friends and it’s always a hoot hanging out with her. :)
What to expect when it comes to their Phở:
1. Broth is good. Not GREAT. But good.
2. Noodles are just okay. I think they pre-​cook their noodles at least an hour before throwing the block of noodles into your bowl of soup. I’m not a fan of that. I prefer they cook the noodles when we order it.
3. Variety of meats are pretty delicious and cooked well but they sure don’t give you enough!
4. Don’t even bother ordering a small bowl unless you’re not a fan of soups or you basically eat celery all day, errrday. I made the mistake of ordering a small not realizing that it’s like child-​sized. Next time I’m ordering a large and maybe another side order of something.
We also got to try their Pandan Waffles which looks exactly like any other waffle except it’s GREEN and it’s effing delicious! They’re definitely on point here, but once again they looked and felt a lot smaller to me.
I’m basically being a total Phở Snob and comparing this spot to my favorite phở spots back home in Orange County. You can’t go wrong with HUGE bowls of phở with the BEST broth and freshly cooked noodles for almost $ 2-​$ 3 less in price!
But since we live in the Bay, this would be a great go-​to spot for your Phở hankerings.
Check out my footage of this restaurant during that weekend:

**STRONGEST VIETNAMESE TWEEKER COFFEE **
Reunited with Bay Area friends for breakfast here.
PARKING
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Lot.
Next to the busy Chevron station and Boiling Crab.
AMBIANCE
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Semi-​shabby, but it’s endearing.
Louis Vuitton clad seat booths.
YES.
FOOD
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ORDER THE #1 (DAC BIET)
Broth is delicious and solid.
Noodles and meats are OK.
RATING: ⁴⁄₅
GREEN WAFFLE
Order yours, smells and tastes wonderful.
RATING: ⁴⁄₅
BEVERAGE
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CAFE SUA DA
Not for the faint of heart. Their Vietnamese iced coffee is seriously the strongest caffeinated drink I have ever had. Wired from 11AM to 8PM. Shaky, seizure-​like strong.
RATING: ⁵⁄₅
Lunch with tip was under $ 10.
My type of lunch.
RECOMMEND for good phở in San Jose.