Pho Little Saigon 3

After looking around for like a hour and trying to choose what to eat, me and my friend decided to give this place a try. We were rushed to order after like sitting for a minute or two. Told the lady to give us a couple minutes and she came back in like 30 seconds to see if we were ready.
Ordered grilled pork over rice and my friend ordered grill pork vermicelli. Both had very little amounts of meat. The pork did taste a little bit tasty though. I think it was like 16 $ for both. Kind of expensive for the amount of food you get.

Kelley L. said that this is fancy for Vietnamese restaurants. And yes, that fact definitely surprised me. The ambiance feels like an upper 3-​star-​ish type of place. However, the tables were a little too close together for my liking… until I remembered that I’m still in a Vietnamese restaurant!
I ate there solo and had a corner table where I could look out onto 3^rd St. and people watch during my lunch. I ate what was basically a chicken salad with noodles. (That’s how sophisticated I am, «chicken salad with noodles.») A bit overpriced, but very satisfactory.
Service was fine.
I wouldn’t go out of my way for this place since the Bay is chock full of Vietnamese restaurants, but check it out if you’re in downtown San Mateo.

WORST PHO I’VE EVER HAD! Rude service and weird smells… never coming back here again.
My sister and I came here today for a late lunch, we usually go to Saigon City but we thought we’d try something different. It completely backfired. When we walked into the restaurant it smelled strongly of cleaning products – good to know they clean but I don’t want to smell it while I’m eating!
We both ordered phở and also an order of the imperial rolls. The portions for the small ($ 7) were ridiculously small!!! We each barely had a handful of noodles in our bowls. The soup was extremely bland and greasy. I always get my raw meat on the side and when the waitress brought it to the table it was slightly brown, indicating that it was old. The imperial rolls were okay, the filling was decent.
I asked for more basil since the plate that was originally served to us had only a few leaves that were actually fresh and not wilted, only to be told that they were «out but the boss went out to buy some more.» A few minutes later I saw the same waitress serve two other tables fresh basil. Needless to say, we did not tip her well.
Bottom line, if you want good phở, go to Saigon City!!!

Have you ever been to a phở place where it takes 30 minutes to get your meal? This was my first. Maybe it was because I got beef stew noodle instead of the typical phở. Well either way, it was very disappointing. I asked for less meat and more veggies. I got no veggies. I got three gigantic pieces of meat that I could not eat. How do you eat big gigantic pieces of me without a knife and fork? On top of that, my noodles were caked to the bottom of the bowl. Obviously, the bowls were prepped ahead of time with the noodles in the bowl. They just left the noodles in too long. Anyways, it wasn’t good. I will never go back again. This place is expensive for phở too.

Phở Little Saigon 3 and Phở Miss Saigon are the same restaurants. Ordered Hot Tea, Spring Rolls, BBQ chicken with egg roll/​vermicelli. I really stretched it get three stars, in my opinion purely based on the amount of Vietnamese Restaurants in the area and based on my experiences, you can find a tastier place for equal price. This place based on the reviews and write ups did not overly impress me.
If I was not accustomed to eating Vietnamese twice a week I would not have any opinion to base it on and give it great reviews, however this is not the case.
Nice looking restaurant, clean and nice servers.

I’ m very surprised that this place got only three stars, I think this is a really good and cheap Vietnamese place right in downtown San Mateo.
I got their spring rolls once and they were very good and fresh.
Both my husband and I keep coming back for their Phở Ga — chicken soup. It is ready in minutes and always very good. They also give you a whole plate of different greens that you can add to your soup.
Highly recommend it!

I’m very surprised by the average reviews for this restaurant. This has become my go-​to place for phở on the peninsula — definitely the best I’ve had in San Mateo. The phở broth is very tasty. Even though the beef portion is definitely on the small side, I’m always full after the meal and its not a big deal. The cha gio (fried egg rolls) are also great — good size, taste and value.
Parking can be tough in downtown San Mateo, as always. I usually get take out, so I’m not sure how the restaurant service is. But they are always very friendly and quick about taking my order and getting me on my way. Great little place for phở. I hope it does well.

Decent phở. A little skimpy on the bean sprouts and basil garnishes to add to the phở. The service is super slow and it takes forever to get your check. I’d totally come here for lunch, but even with over an hour allotted to eat we still cut it close. Not sure why it takes so long to get your food when all they have to do is assemble the bowl of phở in the kitchen.
The iced coffee is good. My husband likes the grilled pork over rice. Egg rolls are greasy. Spring rolls are pretty good.

Great tasty food here at Lil Saigon. i eat vietnamese food expecting the fresh, light taste and this place really does it for me. I tried the vietnamese sandwich (pork) for the first time and it tinkled me with delight. for real .what a discovery.
And then the phở soup, more than you can handle!
Really tasty broth and well done beef flank. Y333!

Service is bad. Waited for hot tea for at least 10 – 15 mins before someone acknowledged us, even tho we flagged them down multiple times. Did i mention, it was not even packed?
Food: its ok. Although raw beef looks fresh, portion was soooo small. I wouldn’t come back here even if im hungry.

I was in the area after an evening of fine meats and wine, or maybe meats and fine wine, and the bf needed some food so we parked the car and walked on over to this fine establishment! I say fine because the décor was… fine. I felt like I was going to afternoon tea, just without all the roses and china on the walls. I ordered the spring rolls, and bf ordered a large phở (so he could share! too bad I wasn’t hungry…)
The spring rolls were wrapped in a SUPER THICK layer of the wrapping! Usually I can see through to the fresh colors of the ingredients but it was a thick slab of opaque white. I know color isn’t too big of a deal when it comes to flavor, but I like the taste of the delicate wrapper when I order my spring rolls! I had to chew through these, and I could hardly taste the thin slice of shrimp and the other meat that was in there! The noodles also clumped together. :(
Boyfriend says his phở was alright though, I had some when he was finished and the noodles were good, as was the soup. It’s nothing I’d crave on a cold, rainy day when miles away from the nearest phở place though.
Random note: waitress lady brought our check to the table, then immediately took it away. What happened there?

The phở here hits the spot… Perfect on a cold night like tonight. We frequent their sister location in Foster City, but came here for the first time. I am now surprised that I have not come here before since it is even closer, and has a nicer atmosphere than the one in Foster City.
Think of phở, and whatever makes phở great, and they do it right. Wifey and I had 2 large #1’s (raw steak, beef balls, tripe, tendon well done flank, and all the trimmings — wonderful), and the kids shared a Large #9 (raw steak, well done flank, and tripe). We slurpped it up in record time — so satisfying… We also started with the fresh spring rolls (A-​5) great with the peanut sauce. Finished everything off with two tall Thai iced teas.
Think we will be regulars here in no time… Highly recommend this place!

First off, I hate the musical ‘Miss Saigon’, but this place is better than that. The food seem healthy, but for me, I felt like a Panda eating weird ass greens. LOL.
Dear Diary,
The boys and I are heading up river to the village of Da San Mateo. Heard by the locals, food was there. That was our mission and once we were done with it. Home with the Miss. I don’t know how I will explain her of all the things that happen. Maybe one day, when the dreams stop.
If you notice by my other reviews, I tend to not eat a lot of Vietnamese food. I felt like reviewing this place dismay what I feel about Vietnamese cuisine. I don’t like Vietnamese food much, but I give them some credit, still better than the MRE back home. Coming close now, the boys start to play Wagner ‘Ride of Valkyries’ and then we enter.
We saw this place look like a good place to eat after surfing, so we chow down. We enter the resturant, very clean and nice looking. Nobody hostress greet us, so we just went ahead and pick a table.
‘Smell that?’ ‘You smell that?’ my friend says with his cowboy hat.
‘What?’ I reply back to him.
‘FOOD, son’ he says licking his lips. ‘Nothing in the world smell like that’.
He kneels.
‘I love the smell of food in the morning’. He says.
‘Dude it’s 4:30 PM, it’s nearly dinner’ I reply. ’ And why are you wearing that stupid hat?! You’re from Patterson, New Jersey! (I knock the hat from his head)
The waiter comes, now great service. We quickly order from the menu. They had a good selection of Beef Noodle Soups: choice of small (6.25) to large ($ 7.25) known as Phở Bo. None of the food I could ever say in public, I look like a fool trying to say it. I know the types of meat they had:
Tai: Rare Steak (eye round cook in boiling broth to perfection)
Chin: Lean Brisket (no fat, well done)
Nam: Flank (Well done)
Gan: Tendon (soft, well done)
Sach: Tripe (bibble, well done)
When ordering beef noodle soup dishes remember that. They had very few Chicken Noodle Soups. They did have appetizers: (Khai Vi) all of them pretty ok. I wouldn’t advice it, unless really hungry. I would get a Cha Gio (vegatables Fried Egg Roll). Springs Rolls are worth the money. Kinda expensive for appetizers. The others taste weird.
You can get the Hu Tieu which is rice/​egg noodles. The item I always get is Hu Tieu Dac Biet. (Shrimp, Squid, Chicken, Pork, Fish Cakes with Rice Noodles soup).
You can also try the Bun (Rice Vermicelli) or Com Dia (Rice Plates). If you get the Com Dia, try the Com Bo Kho (beef stew over Rice) for 6.95
Thristy? Try Giat Khat (Beverages): Thai’s Ice Tea, and Vietnamese Ice Coffee are treats, but the Smoothies are da way to go. If you get normal soda, it’s cans, not fountain drinks. No refills. Why worry? You don’t cause as soon as you sit down, the waiter hands you a glass of cold ice water. Sweet.
Quick service as the bathroom looks ok. After eating you walk to the front, it’s look like my mission will fail. MINIMUM 10 Dollars for Credit Card!!! O the Horror! The Horror! Lucky me, they accepted my card. Yes!!! You know what it smell like…
VICTORY.
I did it, and went home. I can still hear the copter.
Well like The Door’s always say, that’s the end, my friend. Overall: great place: quick service, ok food.
Your choice
Well you can surf or eat!

This is one of the Little Saigon chains, and it features the same standard menu and food.
After a number of visits and take-​outs, I feel this place is better than Saigon City down the road or the Mama’s on El Camino Real. We often have the seafood phở, barbeque chicken with vermicelli and beef with vermicelli. The seafood phở has very little edible seafood in it, but doesn’t taste bad. We’ve never been so disappointed by the barbecue chicken/​beef over vermicelli.
Okay service. Very fair prices. Spacious for strollers.

While Saigon City a short walk away is still my favorite. this place is my second go to place though. I like this Phở Little Saigon better than the one inside the Marina Plaza, even though most of these guys started out working there. I haven’t been back to that one since this older gentleman (hadn’t seen him before) brought my vermicelli noodles and my side of fish sauce. and swimming in the bowl of the fish sauce was some plastic from a plastic shopping bag, then he comes back with a spoon ready to fish it out for me, until this younger guy (who always saw us going there) comes to my rescue with a new bowl of fish sauce & takes the other one away. Yes it could have been worse, but it was still weird & a little gross!
Food comes out fast, service is good & food is plentiful & yummy. And the place is clean too. Yummies: pretty much all of the vermicelli noodles, the spring rolls, the fried chicken, & the strawberry smoothies.

I keep on a comin’ back here. Why? The value prop just works.
The bun ga nuong is amazing. There’s something about how they spice and cook the chicken – it is full of flavor. I order this dish everywhere, but these guys do it the best.
The guys who serve are really friendly and efficient. It’s a casual looking place, very laid back. Not fancy, not junky – just right.
Like it better than Saigon city; it’s cleaner, friendlier.

After a long and tiring trip to San Mateo, I found myself walking by Phở Saigon. It was 3 pm, I had to be at a holiday party at 6 pm, but my stomach was bothering me from eating a partial lunch, the stress of my car situation, and the tight schedule.
I wisely decided to make a stop here and treat myself to some phở healing broth. Among the many benefits of phở places, great hours is also among them.
Despite the late hour, service was no less brisk nor were entrees prepared any less quickly. I ordered the a small phở with rare beef on the side and well done flank with tendon.
I actually thought the quality of the rare beef was quite good. Nice and red, the slices of rare beef were neither recently thawed nor poorer quality than other cuts. The well done flank and ultra tender tendon were also on par.
The provided bean sprouts were also high quality. All were sparkling white and not a spot of age was visible. Unlike some places in San Jose, Phở Little Saigon carefully chooses their bean sprouts and must throw out any that show any sign of decay.
The standout among all these qualities though was the broth. As the warm, soothing beef flavor filled my belly, I immediately felt better. Strong and flavorful, the broth was not overly oily at all.
I quickly finished my small bowl and left ready to deal with the world.
Phở Little Saigon accepts credit cards, but only for orders more than $ 10. They do not accept American Express.

Not every Phở place is the same. But sometimes I get that feeling when I walk into a phở shop. That’s the way I felt when we sat down and got our menus last night. As it turns out, my suspicions were correct since this is a sister restaurant to Phở Little Saigon on Norfolk. See, TH? I’m not crazy.
It’s typical faire — as far as phở goes. Nothing special, but it certainly satisfies my craving. But on most nights parking in San Mateo can be pretty bad and given that this place is a sister restaurant to the one on Norfolk, I’ll just go there next time.

Co-​worker and I spent a late lunch together. And eating Vietnamese is my idea, so you guys better hold your breath for this review.
This restaurant is appears to be biggest out all the restaurants on 3^rd Ave., therefore there are plenty of seating. From the menu, I ordered the #1, which is some of you people, who dine Vietnamese often, is the popular Beef Noodle soup. The Noodle soup is the #1 lunch or dinner on menus in most Vietnamese restaurants. There are two different sizes for the Noodle soup and I ordered the Extra-​Large (XL) bowl for $ 6.25. My co-​worker ordered the Barbecue Chicken over rice (I don’t know the exact number).
Our food arrived to our table really fast. How fast? I came out from the restaurant’s lavatory and my Noodle soup was already on the table, with my co-worker’s meal not far behind. I put all the necessary ingredients and condiments in the soup, and I took a sip and the beef-​broth was a bit lukewarm and on the sour side. None of you wanted to see the expression on my face, because it was an atrocious sight. My co-worker’s chicken was bit burnt and dry.
We endured our lousy meal and hurriedly ate the whole thing, charged our meal and quickly left. They do take credit cards here for a minimum order of $ 10.00. But after reading my review, why bother. You can tell my decision-​making wasn’t there that day.

Tasty!