Core Bistro

Best phở in downtown Seattle core.
I have eaten at a lot of so-​so phở places downtown. They always seem to be overpriced and lacking flavor. I got the combo phở from here and the meat was plentiful and the flavor of the broth was rich. My Vietnamese friend eats here every week since she works in downtown and this is her go to place so we always go together when I’m downtown. Friendly staff and delicious food!

The bahn mi was great except they use regular chicken cold cuts-​WHAT? Should be a hot lemongrass chicken not lunch meat. The bread is great and so was everything else but cold cut chicken? Bummer-​this would be a 5 start bahn mi with bahn mi real chicken.

For those of us who work in the vicinity of the City Hall, Core Bistro is a convenient location for a slightly above average Bahn Mi and a slightly below average Phở. I found myself here frequently mainly due to two reasons: my laziness of walking to the International District (ID) and the lack of cash in my pocket (since most ID restaurants either don’t take credit card or has a min charge).
Like others had described, their Phở broth does have a strange Chinese herbal taste yet lack the rich spice-​filled flavoring of a traditional Phở. They do however, leave generous amount of toppings when you order a large size combination Phở (though they don’t have tripe). Additionally, their price of Phở had recently (started in July) gone up from $ 8.76 to $ 10:40, to me that’s not a justifiable increase, especially when the quality hasn’t been improved. Their Bahn Mi is somewhat okay, varies from time to time. I usually eat the ones my colleagues bought. They could be a bit dry.
Staff on the other hand are very friendly, hence I give them a 3 stars, otherwise it would’ve been a 1 – 2 stars place.

I’ll admit it, I’m a freak for bahn mi. Spice & vinegar, crispy & crunchy with a hit of creamy — a well made bahn mi is light and refreshing but wholly satisfying. Kinda like Core Bistro. So far this is my fave bahn mi spot in downtown. The staff are all super nice and they offer amazing value for the money. Absolutely a go-​to spot.

Super nice people working here. Seems to be a small family-​run operation. I’ve only had the spring rolls (numerous times) and tried the pork bahn mi today. I can highly recommend the spring rolls. The peanut dipping sauce that comes with it is really tasty. The rolls are nice and light, not as fancy as the ones you can get in other full scale Vietnamese restaurants, but definitely passable. Meaning they don’t have the abundant herbs and frilly leafy green spilling out of the ends and instead are filled with shredded lettuce.
Can’t recommend the bahn mi. It was tasteless and dry, even if it was only $ 3.75. I would come back for the spring rolls and the friendly service anytime. Pass on the bahn mi.

Ever since I became enlightened to the tunnel connecting Columbia and Seattle towers, my laziness has prohibited me from leaving these two buildings to scourge for food on a rainy day. Which is what led me to Core Bistros because what’s more appetizing than Phở on a rainy day?
Core Bistro is random. They offer phở and kabobs. You can see their kitchen from the front of house, to which you’ll tilt your head and wonder why they don’t have an actual stove top and instead, a single portable burner, one that draws soup into a single pot per individual order.
There’s a strange flavor in the phở broth, almost an herbal Chinese medicinal taste. And the broth is actually murky, lined with the fall outs of meats and bones (or watever the broth is derived from). It even colors the rice noodles with a tinge of brown. If that’s not terribly off-​putting and you don’t mind drowning your phở with flavors of lime, sriracha and hoisin sauce, it’s not that bad.
The veggies are fresh and like Phở Than Brothers, they offer you a single cream puff dessert.

Very friendly staff and they always thank me for coming in. Good price on food and the turkey croissant sandwhich is what I always get, it is a simple and tasty sandwhich that keeps me coming back.

Absolutely love this place!!! Best Phở I’ve ever had. They have an addictive menu, and they are affordable. I go there all the time on my lunch break & I know I will be served in a timely manner. The staff is very nice and attentive!!!

I wanted to wait until I came here a couple of times to write a review. However, I’ve still only tried their Vietnamese sandwiches (Banh Mi) so far. I want to try their phở, because I eat phở a lot — at least 3 times/​week, but I have another go-​to place for that. Maybe one day.
Pork Banh Mi — I got the small on a white roll. It was decent sized, bread was soft with a littlle crunch to it. I don’t like when it’s so hard it tears the inside of your mouth, which this did not do :) The meat was a little dry and overall it was lacking flavor, but for $ 3 and some change, I was fine with it.
Chicken Banh Mi — Much of the same review as the pork. This one I got on the wheat roll, which is much smaller than the white bread roll. Meat was kind of dry and flavorless, but there was a lot of veggies and cilantro in this one, so it evened it out for me.
I haven’t tried anything else and I likely will. I would still get the Vietnamese sandwiches just because they’re so cheap. Want to try the phở sometime. Friendly, helpful staff. It’s nice to be able to eat outside when it’s warm and sunny. Can’t beat the prices and it being next door to my office. I’ll be back for sure.

Bahn mi sounded good today. In fact, it sounds good to me on most days. A few friends and I went to check it out.
They have two sizes of bahn mi: small, 5 inches ($ 3.49) and large, 10 inches ($ 5.99). The price is a bit cheaper than most eateries nearby. I ordered a small pork bahn mi and a chicken skewer (chicken, peppers, and pineapple). If bahn mi isn’t your jam, you can also get traditional sandwiches or even the ingredients of bahn mi on white or wheat bread.
The bahn mi had good flavors. The veggies were pickled and fresh. The bread was toasted nicely and stayed crisp. They also pickled jalapenos and although they were good, I needed some spice and stole my friend’s fresh jalapenos. The pork was sliced thin which caused it to dry out. This was the first time I’ve had pork prepared that way in bahn mi. Aside from it being dry, it wasn’t altogether unpleasant.
The chicken on the skewer was thick so I was afraid it would be dry. Quite the contrary, it was moist and seasoned well. The peppers were cooked just right and I’m not sure about the pineapple since I don’t eat them cooked.
My friend got some spring rolls to share. I usually don’t like spring rolls but I enjoyed the texture and weight of these. They were hearty and flavorful. I’m also a sucker for peanut sauce and could have drank a glass of this one.
Overall, it’s a good choice for lunch. My bahn mi and skewer totaled $ 6.55 before tip.

I love this place! They have excellent prices and good quality food! The waitstaff is always friendly! Oh and the salad rolls are excellent! The phở is good not the best but for the price I won’t complain!

It’s inexpensive and high quality. A Mom n Pop kinda place. They are extremely friendly (almost zero Vietnamese restaurants are friendly) and fast. I guess a few places have come and gone from this spot (I’m new around here) but I hope this one stays. Tuna sandwich is delicious, Phở is of the slightly lighter variety like Phở Cyclo’s.

This is a great cheap place to grab lunch in the Seattle Municipal Tower. They have tasty kabobs, salad rolls, salads, and Banh Mi.
I had 2 kabobs for lunch and took a salad to go for my dinner. I had the pork kabob which was marinated in lemongrass it had good flavor but it was a little dry. My beef kabob was better with a good flavor and tender. Next time I’ll try the chicken one.
My salad was good I had the Honey Mustard Chicken Salad. There was too much meat for my liking though I would have preferred more vegetables, but it was good overall.
They accept the LevelUp as payment making it easy.

The Vietnameese sandwiches are great! They are fresh, filling and inexpensive. The customer service is unbeatable and so is the price!

It’s good inexpensive food prepared quickly. The owner is quick to fix any problems and is very accessible. Also check out the photo albums of his mother’s arangements, floral, paper folding and vegetable sculpting. She has some amazing talent.

Owner is great and responsive. Takes your input toward what the store should be and how the food should taste. Excellent, friendly service. Prices unbeatable in the government core… on jury duty? Don’t want to spend more than $ 6 for a filling lunch? Come here. I usually get a remarkably tasty and large sandwich for $ 3 (always get your sandwich on French baguette!) and a $ 2 pair of Vietnamese spring rolls for a grand total, after tax, of $ 5.45. I come away stuffed. This guy can’t be making any money off of this food. The quality is great.
He added Phở a week or so ago. Came away unimpressed but he asked for honest feedback. He’s tweaked the Phở and I tried it again today… it was actually really good!
If you are coming from court, go across the street to the North to the Municipal Tower. Head up the stairs to the open courtyard where the food court is.

This is the most inexpensive place to eat lunch in the area. For $ 2.17 including Tax you get two Fresh Salad Rolls with House Peanut Sauce, Hot Sauce and Peanuts.
I have also had the Green Papaya Salad. And starting last week they started to serve Phở. I ordered the Combo Phở and they even put Tendon in it which is my favorite. And they give you a little Cream Puff with it, nice Touch! The owner told me they are in the process of tweaking the Phở, but it was pretty okay, better than a few other places that I have had it.
The food is good for what it is. The service is excellent though. And they want your opinion on what you think of the food. So for Price and Service I am giving them 4 stars. When they first opened I walked in, looked at the menu and walked out as they had very few menu items, but now they have a Large Selection of Sandwiches including a few Vietnamese style sandwiches. And they have Meat Skews. I haven’t tried either of those options yet. I have also heard good things about the Meat Skews.
So if you work in the Seattle Municipal Tower and you only have a few dollars on you, this is the place to get your Fresh Spring Roll fix.

DELICIOUSLY fresh! I LOVE this place — so glad it opened. It offers very healthy options, you just have to order the right thing. My favorites are the chicken breast skewers w/​pineapple & red bell pepper, as are the veggie, pork & shrimp spring rolls (like Vietnamese food, rolled in rice paper — not fried). Two shrimp spring rolls or a chicken skewer for $ 1.99? There’s no reason to pack a lunch –I’ll be back at least 2X a week! — which is more than I can say for the processed-​fastfood Quizno’s that preceded it.

There wasn’t much healthy or fresh about the sandwich I had. The price was cheap, but not cheap enough to keep me coming back. There are a lot of other options in the area with better flavor.

This place just opened in the Municipal tower in the old Quizno’s location. It looks pretty much the same, except without all the snazzy Quizno’s branded signage.
Serving up breakfast and lunch… I popped by for lunch, and grabbed one of the pretty outdoor tables. They tout themselves as having «fresh, healthy and tasty» food, but their menu is pretty limited at the moment (though expansion of the menu is supposedly in the works) — 5 or so sandwich options and about that many salad options also, all pretty basic. Also have a fro-​yo machine, which I must say I was pretty excited about, but it seems to be more of the McDonald variety, rather than my vision of a true tart and healthy frozen yogurt. They do have fruit toppings available though, which is nice.
All in all, good concept, I would love some more healthy lunch options around work, but I don’t think my chicken bacon ranch sandwich qualifies as healthy. And it tasted very Quizno-​esque. Would like to see them truly embrace the healthy concept and provide some calorie counts to shame me into making better ordering decisions in the future.
Like the concept, we’ll wait to see if the product delivers after they expand the menu. I’ll probably stop in for frozen yogurt and sit outside on a nice day, and pretend it’s good for me because it’s yogurt.
Oh the lies we tell ourselves.