This place was a great find. We ordered to-go.
Chicken pho- my husband's actions speak louder than his words. Although he said it was good, I was able to gauge exactly how good his soup was by the fact that he is now regretting eating the enormous bowl of soup in one sitting. I even asked for extra peppers, and they were sure not to skimp on them. Â
Crab rangoons- delicious! 5 rangoons per order.
Seafood fried rice- I ordered this with shrimp only, and it was the tastiest fried rice that I have ever had. My only issue would be with the smell, but that's because I have weird smelly food issues. What else do you expect with asian food and shrimp?
The portions were very good for the price. I'm eager to try their Thai dishes next time.
I moved here a year ago February. I am a huge fan of Pho and so is my Vietnamese girlfriend. When we moved here we went to Tank the first week we were here and I was not very impressed. The following week we decided to check out Chinatown and discovered this restaurant. We were hooked on the Pho after that visit and we have been regulars here ever since. The pho itself is delicious and everything we have eaten has been tasty, although this is primarily our pho place.
There is one guy that works there that is an awesome waiter. If he was there all the time, I would have probably given a 5 star, but unfortunately he is not and the women that work there are really not the best waitresses (there have been times where I had asked for a refill on water five times before I finally got it and they were not very busy). The meat plates are also good, although I feel they do not give big enough portions. If you are looking for the best Pho in Chicago, I recommend going here.
Tommy
This restaurant, by far, has the best Pho in Chicago.
Flavorful, great for relieving your allergies (especially when you add siracha to your dish) and a large proportion.
I'd recommend a small bowl. The small bowl is quite large.
Also, when you feel like you have to blow your nose from eating pho, do it in the bathroom. Common courtesy.
One complaint: I wouldn't order it to go. Tried it once. Won't do it again. The pho wasn't hot enough. I'd eat it at the restaurant.
Came to Chinatown because I had a hankering for Vietnamese food, but didn't want to travel allllll the way to Argyle. The prices were good, food decent and portion sizes alright, but I've had better elsewhere...my friends and I ordered:
-Pho with beef
-Rice noodle dish with pork and shrimp
-Combo rice plate with pork chop, shredded pork and egg cake
I felt the pho broth was lacking serious flavor and wasn't very authentic. At least there was plenty of ingredients accompanying the broth. The rice noodle dish was pretty good, but I've been to other places that were more generous with the portions, but at the same price point. I got the combo rice plate, which is my favorite and I always judge Vietnamese restaurants by this dish. It was alright...did I hate it...no, but would I come back just to have it again? ...nope. The flavor of the pork chop was missing something and I really wish that they would've used broken rice that many other Vietnamese places use. Overall, it was just A-OK!
Service was pretty standard to for Chinatown and there's street parking. I guess I'll have to continue my search in Chicago for the best Vietnamese food.
It was our last day in Chicago, and we didn't feel like getting dim sum, so my friends and I settled for some good ol' pho.
The food was by no means spectacular, but it wasn't bad. We got some pho and vietnamese sandwiches, which did their jobs, to soak up all of the alcohol we had drank the night before.
The pho was mediocre, but came in a huge portion. My friend loooves pho, and finishes every plate he gets, but this was the first time he couldn't finish the whole bowl.
The pork sandwiches were good, with some delicious homemade sauce.
Although not the most classy of places, the service was fast, and the food was cheap.
This is your best bet for pho if you don't want to make the trek up to Argyle. A small bowl is $5.89 and the portion is already pretty darn substanstial. If you are feeling greedy, the large bowl is about a dollar or two more. They have rice dishes as well and my husband always gets the lemongrass pork chop. We enjoy the food here--it's a pretty solid choice, again, we're talking if you don't want to go to Argyle.
Service is adequate.... as you would expect from a restaurant in Chinatown. This is my go-to place for some Vietnamese fix when I just want to make a quick trip from downtown. It definitely satisfies my pho craving!
I'm not a Chicago native, so I can't compare this restaurant to others in the area. (Also, my taste may be accustomed to the vietnamese cuisine in the Bay Area). I had the pork chop vermicelli and the spring rolls. The sauce for the spring rolls was pretty good, but the rolls themselves were subpar. I also wasn't too impressed with the vermicelli. The pork could have been more tender and more seasoned. Also, the fish sauce wasn't very strong.
Review Source:Stopped in for a Bahi mi and Lemon soda on the way to the beach yesterday. Â I doubt I will ever be heading back.
The sadwiches, we got pork and chicken, were almost uneatable. Â The pork was really, really fatty and in large chunks so it was hard to eat on a sandwich. Â For some reason there was Mayo, or some other white sauce, on the sandwiches as well. Â There was tons of it too. Â Gross.
My Lemon Soda was essentially warm or at least room temp.. Â Not the best when you are looking to cool off on a hot day.
The pho they were bringing out looked o.k.. Â I always have issues with places that don't make their own hot sauce though. Â They do not. Â Siracha on every table.
Since my last review over a year ago, my love for The Noodle has grown. I luckily was fortunate enough to live within their delivery area. So the morning after my crazy nights out, The Noodle was there for me to order my chicken pho and chicken bahn-mi sandwich. It brought me back to life! I'm convinced there is something magical in their broth, because it cures all things, especially hangovers! Always fast delivery, always delicious and friendly staff. When I moved, I ordered The Noodle and had them deliver to me one last time. The delivery driver was disappointed he wouldn't see us anymore and wished us luck. It was a sad moment.
I went in last week, which is a trek from Wicker Park to Chinatown. Oh how I missed my pho soup. Just like I remembered, amazing, filling and magical. The dine is service is meh... but who cares, you get amazing food and for a cheap price. Please give them business. I don't want to ever see them leave.
The Noodle is a brightly lit, cheerful Chinatown Vietnamese eatery, with brightly colored hard surfaces everywhere. Â At my waitress' recommendation, I got a large #2, pho with steak & brisket. Â
Soon, out came an enormous bowl of broth, with a mass of rice noodles at the bottom, and a lot of good quality tender sliced beef floating along with onions, scallions and bean sprouts. Â Beside the bowl was a platter with a large pile of bean sprouts, a lime wedge, sliced hot green pepper and a twig of thai basil with a dozen leaves, all of which I added to the steaming beef soup. Â It was wonderful. Â The pho was plenty for my dinner, so I didn't add anything else but a glass of ice water. Â
This was my first bowl of pho, so I really don't have anything to compare it to. Â But I really liked this one. Â The minty basil, lime and hot peppers were an exotically refreshing combination of flavors.
Each table came well supplied with chopsticks, napkins, salt, sugar and at least a couple of kinds of hot sauce, so I didn't need to ask for a thing.
Over the loudspeaker system, an oldies radio station played rock and roll hits from the 1960's, which struck me as being very evocative of the war era in Saigon.
Charmingly, this seems to be a real family affair, with Dad in the kitchen, Mom handling the serving chores, a preteen kid sitting at a table with his school book bag and one or two relatives or neighbors dropping by for a chat and a laugh in Vietnamese. Â
The bill came to $7.75 plus tip.
{After leaving the restaurant, I walked up the darkened Wentworth Avenue--it was almost 11:00 PM. Â A block north of the Noodle, I paused for a few minutes to watch a half dozen guys unloading live fish from a gigantic truck. They netted the struggling fish a dozen at a time from the open top tanks, and dumped them into a rolling plastic trash bin, thrashing and jumping. Â As I walked past, the struggling fish splashed me with their fins and tails. Â The rolling bin was then weighed on a scale on the sidewalk, for payment. Â Fascinating. Â I just spent the evening, not in Chicago, but in southeast Asia.}
My last couple of experiences with The Noddle has left me feeling disrespected and with a bad taste in my mouth. This used to be my go to place for pho. The portions were big and it was cheap. But after the terrible service I'm never going back again and neither are my family or friends.
The service wasn't that great to begin with (inattentive servers) but then either the owner or manager started showing up and the service is now much worse. He's rude and skimps on the hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce when you order take out pho. He combines both of them into one tiny little cup! And when I asked for more he completely blew me off. I was annoyed but figured it was an off day.
I went back with my family and we had to keep flagging down the waitress to fill up our water. Near the end the owner/manager made his rounds thanking and chatting up customers. But completely ignored my family. That really pissed me off. The last straw was when I was mid-bite into my banh mi and the server came and whisked my plate off the table as I was eating. The hell?! Never again. I've never been so disgusted with a restaurant's service.
Got delivery from this place. I was craving Vietnamese food very badly so I just went with this place. I wasn't expecting much but this was super yummy!
I got the bun bo hue, the special banh mi, and the bbq pork banh mi, and the ragoons, and pad thai (lol random but my bf doesn't like Vietnamese food). I also got free spring rolls with my order! YAY.
Anyhow, the bun bo hue was sooo goood. I almost cried because it totally hit the spot!!! My special banh mi was good. My bf liked his bbq pork banh mi and his pad thai. I had a bite of his pad thai while it was still fresh and it was super delish! However heated up later, the pad thai was just okay. They forgot to bring lime slices for the pad thai too (or maybe I used that for my bun bo hue? lol).
Ragoons were creamy and crispy but leftovers didnt heat too well as the pad thai.
Overall, cheap eats! Tasty food. Very happy.... and bloated. Haha. Definitely going here for my Vietnamese cravings now instead of going all the way up to Argyle (I live in the loop). :)
Came here with some study buddies after hardcore study session. One of the few times I've had pho outside of Viet town. I'm not Vietnamese, but I've had my fare share of pho. It was decent despite being unauthentic (I've had worse in Chinatown at a popular establishment, which will remain unnamed in this review). The broth was okay, but I'm not terribly picky when it comes to broth. I got the small #44: beef brisket, flank, fatty flank, tendon & bible tripe. I must say, it was pretty damn filling for a small. Bang for your buck. I really love tendon and bible tripe. Definitely hit the spot. I realized that sambal isn't Vietnamese, but it still upset me that they didn't have some sort of chili paste aside from sriracha. I digress...
The guys I came with also got spring rolls, but I passed (I knew I'd get filled up from all of that tendon/meat), so can't comment, but they seemed to like it as they scoffed it down. I *did* get a mango smoothie (they almost forgot to make it), and it was good (tasted like real mangoes at least). Like every other restaurant in Chinatown, you come for the food and NOT the service or clean bathrooms. I must mention though, the bathrooms here were decent. I don't think I'd necessarily come back for pho unless I'm REALLY craving it badly and I'm in Chinatown. Cheap eats though, and if you're not necessarily picky about pho, it's the best I've had in Chinatown. 3 stars.
My boyfriend and I came here for pho one night when our usual place was closed. Â We were craving that and spring rolls so we had pretty high expectations!
However, when the spring rolls came out, although much bigger than what we usually get, they weren't as good. Â There was abit too much lettuce and the peanut sauce didn't have the usual peanut-y taste.
The beef brisket pho was next. Â We each got a large and were surprised at the size! However, after digging in, we were less than impressed. Â Although tasty, it just didn't stand up to what we were wanting.
It was a fine dinner, but we will probably be sticking to our usual spot on the other side of Chinatown.
I must say this is my first time ever having Vietnamese food deliver which is pretty cool. Â I just ordered Chicken Pho, the both was quite tasty I would order it again. I also ordered Shrimp spring rolls isn't bad at all. I think next I'll order banh xeo
I am very picky when it comes to any type of Asian food especially Vietnamese.
At first, I was so hungry so I just randomly picked a place and did not expect much.
But this place blew me away.
I am Vietnamese so I am very picky when it comes to Vietnamese food. The waiters were all not Vietnamese so I wondered if the chef was Chinese also.
I ordered 'banh xeo' (Vietnamese pancake) for appetizer and rice with beef. They were both good. I was so impressed. I had never had such good beef in my life. Banh xeo was also delicious.
I am IMPRESSED !
I really don't know anything about Vietnamese cuisine so I can not vouch for any authenticity or lack of here and this review is just based on my 3 or 4 visits here and the service and flavors. Â If you rate the ambiance of a restaurant then you'll probably want to deduct one or one and a half stars from my rating since I rate almost solely on service and the flavor of food served. Â I'd think it would be an OK place for a date with somebody you're very familiar with, but would probably not take a first date there that I was trying to impress. Â That last comment is based strictly on the lack of ambiance and nothing else.
Everytime my daughter from out of state comes to visit one of her must haves is a meal in Chinatown at The Noodle. Â I personally find it strange to come from out of state and go to Chinatown without trying any of the good Chinese food, but I have to admit everytime I reluctantly take her to The Noodle I'm very pleasantly surprised and wonder why I never come back unless she's with me.
Last night I had the Seafood Pho and was very pleased with it. Â The flavor was strong (in a good sense) of seafood and I ordered the large size which was way to much for me so I now have a 2nd meal of it that I brought home. Â Yumm! Â I loved it but anybody who eats it really should have a desire for a strong seafood flavor because it is not kind of a watered down flavor like some seafood soups I've had at other places. Â It came with crab, shrimp and other goodies I could not identify, but that tasted delicious! Â The only bad part of the Seafood Pho was there was one item in it that was a tubular shape with bumps all over it and it had the consistency of crunchy cartilage and no flavor. Â My guess is it may have been either in the squid or octopus family but I can't say with certainty. Â Other than that one minor detail it was great and I would not hesitate to order it again. Â
On the way there I was complaining to my daughter that lately the Chinatown restaurants had been disappointing me with potstickers that weren't all that flavorful and the sauce that comes with them not being very good flavored. Â I noticed the potstickers on the menu and we shared an order of them. Â I have to say while they were not the best poststickers I've ever had The Noodle is now my go to place for potstickers in Chinatown. Â They are more flavorful than the Chinese ones and have a much thinner "pasta" outer later than the Chinese one and appeared to be deep fried. Â The sauce that came with them was very similar to a sweet and sour chicken sauce that had some subtle but unique twists to it. Â I'm impressed!!!
I will be coming back and I would recommmend it to others who'd like something that is a little different than the standard Chinese fare that you find in Chinatown.
First and foremost, this place deserve -5 stars...it does not deserve even 1 star!!!
I am very skeptical when it comes to non-Vietnamese making Vietnamese noodles (pho). The reviews were okay but most was from non-Vietnamese people who knows nothing about what REAL pho/bun is supposed to taste like.
I was in Chicago for the weekend and was craving a nice hot bowl of pho on a cold day. We traveled to the old Chinatown and stumble upon this place. I should of took the train to Argyle instead!
Upon entering this place, I already knew from looking at the audience that this place was not going to be good. But too hungry to look any further, my friend, sister, and I decided to give this place a try. What a mistake it was.
I ordered the BUN BO HUE. I shouldn't have, what I should have done was get my butt back out the door and fast! Instead we settled in and ordered foods. The bun bo hue had NO FLAVOR, just a bunch of spicy crap they put together to make it look red and taste spicy. The most important condiment is the shrimp paste and surprise, surprise! THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WTH THAT WAS. Seriously?
Yes, the portion was big, but it was mainly broth and hard noodles. Where the hell was the meat and the flavor, and the vegetables that came with it. Get it together. I would never go to this place and I would suggest Vietnamese people who knows THE REAL FLAVOR of what PHO and BUN BO HUE tastes like to NOT come here, either.
Horrible place!!!
3.5 stars.
I used to come here all the time for the pho, but haven't had it recently. Â What I crave now, especially during the hot summer months, is their noodle bowls. Â Dry noodles, grilled pork, fresh veggies, an eggroll, and a light, sweet, tangy chili sauce on the side. Â So clean, bright, and fresh. Â And all for a handful of dollars. Â
Took a half star off due to the fact that their eggroll was not as fresh as I remember from times past. Â It was just a little soggy and didn't have much flavor. Â I got a bahn mi as well (marinated beef or something) and the bread was great, but there was too much mayo.
So the decor isn't stellar... in fact the walls are an unsettling green color. Â Who cares that the menu has one spelling error after another? Â That only adds to the authenticity of this place, Â right?
I must say that the dishes we ordered weren't landmark, the value was definitely there! Â Eggroll, spring rolls, wings, crab rangoon, and giant order of pho for $20 - you know I'm sold =)
I thoroughly enjoyed the sesame wings. Â My general rule is that if I would go back for something in particular and everything else was pretty good, you get at least a four. Â Even as I write this, I am wondering if there is a way for me to return to Noodle tomorrow so that I can nosh on some sweet and crispy sesame wings!
Definitely stop in this whole in the wall, just don't be expecting anything to glam because Noodle is anything but!
Noodle, Noodle, why hath thou forsaken me. I have been coming to the Noodle for at least 5 years and in that time it has been pretty consistent. Until now...
I feel a little weird saying this but once white people find an ethnic restaurant the quality seems to go down because the owners and cooks think we are not going to know the difference. Here is a tip for the Noodle, your loyal customers know the difference.
The ratio of Asian to any other race in this place used to be about 8 to 1. Now it was like Lincoln Park meets Pilsen hipsters...the table next to us was talking about their Human Resource department for crying out loud and having an actual MEETING at 8pm on a Friday. I don't come to Chinatown to hear conversations I would hear at Big Bowl in Schaumburg. One lone Asian family with a beautiful baby in the whole place. That speaks volumes about the quality of food to me....
Always order the same thing....shrimp spring rolls, 71 (grilled shrimp and pork) and thai iced tea. The spring rolls were clearly made hours if not days before and stuck to my chopsticks like glue. Gummy is the right word. The noodles were the same...sticky and slimy.
--Slap--(Hitting the noodle with a wet noodle)
I went here for dinner a couple of times and I thought it was fine.... but I guess this is a more informational review.... since I just read it was closed for roaches. Hopefully, they'll clean up their act.
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagobreakingnews.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fcity-closes-chinatown-eatery-due-to-roaches.html&s=ed3dc92f492be3ac900e95c469aab272f3a717144a7a7c7eda242b99d81dc5e3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.chicagobreaki…</a>
I had my first pho here one hot summer day after a long night of drinking perhaps too much. Â It was a fitting food-therapy for the aching stomach and fuzzy head.
Obviously, I don't have anything else to compare their pho to -- so my four-star rating may not be so discerning. Â BUT, I will say this: Â it was DAMN tasty! Â My brisket pho came in a large bowl with bean sprouts, cilantro and other veggies. Â The soup was fragrant and delicious. Â During the 45 minutes we were there - fantastically hungover - we delighted in our phos and an endless recap of fortnight's glee.
Cafe Hoang is closed on Tuesdays, so we walked down Wentworth to try The Noodle, who serves up a good simple and massive bowl of Pho Tai for only $6.95. Â The mammoth-sized bowl of broth was chock full of rice noodles and an abundance of tender thinly-sliced beef. Â Two could split the large and have an appetizer and leave satiated. Â Sprouts, lime and basil came on a side plate. Â Eggrolls here are really good too. Â
Business was hopping and service last night was great. Â Next time I'm trying the spring rolls. Â That sounds like it's a favorite amongst yelpers.
By now you've probably put together that I enjoy Asian food. Â I don't call it "cuisine" b/c A) I don't fully comprehend what that word actually means and B) even if I did have firm mastery of A), I'd probably end up sounding like a twit doing so.
Regardless, it can be said, I am a fan and a loyal subscriber. Â Per traditions to my fandom, I am sometimes faced w/ the overwhelming urge to devour the soupy goodness of pho. Â This urge multiplies exponentially especially on winter days and this past visit to The Noodle was no exception.
I don't know what draws me here. Â I'm an avid patron of a much better place on Argyle and if I were to level w/ you, I'd tell you the only real reason I find myself here is that this is the closer option.
I pay dearly for the convenience, however. Â The overall place is depressing and smells like the inside of a gym. Â The food is equally uninspired and mediocre at best. Â This is the place where the lowest common denominator of each dish's definition is served to joyless results.
I knew this coming here. Â It's not like this was the first time I ate here and left disappointed. Â I'm just finally writing this down so I can firmly cement my resolve to never eat here no matter how strong my urge to eat pho or convenient this location may be.
When the weather is in the single digits, Pho seems like the perfect warmer-upper so my friend and I ventured to Chinatown in search for some tasty treats. We ended up at The Noodle, a little hole-in-the-wall packed with young Asian kids and their friends. It reminded me of my days at Hop Kee in NYC after a long night at the clubs.
The menu had a lot of beverage options, mostly cold boba and smoothies. We were already frozen so we hopped straight to the soup section. They have pretty basic options; you just choose the meat and size. Like most Vietnamese places, the soup arrives quickly. I ordered the basic beef in small. While the broth was tasty, the simple meat-noodles-cilantro combination left a bit more to be desired. Maybe it's been awhile, but I thought pho sometimes threw in some veges?
While the warm soup hit the spot, I am interested in trying a few more Vietnamese places before deciding if The Noodle will be my fo-sure Pho spot.
Oily, salty broth. Sure tastes like pho but just not done very well at all. Noodles on the starchy side and meats are abundant if not fattier cuts. Usually at other places I can slurp up the bowl spotless but the soup was just too much, I couldn't this time. They give you tons of beansprouts, basil, and lime. Spring rolls are pretty standard and I like to use plenty of peanut sauce. My  friends have gotten the non soupy vermicelli noodle dishes with various meats and have enjoyed them. Perhaps I should go down that route next time...but it's always so damn cold in Chicago that I'm usually inclined  for a nice steaming bowl.
It's closer here but if I wanted pho in Chi town, I'd prefer the Argyle locales.
I love this place!!!
The only reason I did not give this place 5 stars is because I don't think the service and the atmosphere are that great. I'm not a huge fan of pho, so I normally get the vermicelli noodle dish with steak. This is phenomenal! All the ingredients are fresh. I love that I only spend about $7 on a wonderful meal.
I never actually had real Pho till I came to Chicago. Well...I'm assuming the Pho here is authentic, I have no idea how they actually make it in Vietnam. But I LOVE it. The first time I had Pho was probably at Argyle (Special 666 baby), and I've never looked back. I was super glad when The Noodle opened up in Chinatown which is a lot closer to where I lived at the time.
There are a variety of Pho choices here and the rice dishes are also pretty good. The soup base is extremely tasty like it should be and they definitely don't skimp out on the meat. We usually order a large pho (with everything) + meatballs and the chicken + spring roll rice for two. Also try the rice paper roll which is delicious with the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
The only problem I have with the place is the cleanliness. The last time we were there, the air conditioners were broken, dirty dishes were left on the tables and I've seen things in my water that's not water. But I still love the food and despite my girlfriend not wanting to go back because of the hygiene, I WILL RETURN!!!!
My pho place. Â I used to frequent this place once a week and just love the noodle soup. Â My order is one spring roll (which I share with my hubby) and number 17 small please. Â I find that if you order the noodle with more ingredients, you tend to get more - yup, their inability to proportion works to my advantage. Â Yes, I'm hung up on getting more tripe, tendon, and flank...
I must admit I was pretty turned off by this place when they were shut down by the health department but then - what restaurant in Chinatown hasn't. Â They do try to keep up with their decor (sorta), they recently got new chairs for most of their tables. I guess not enough fell out of the truck. Â You know how they do.
I've only tried their pho and nothing else. Â Literally been coming here since they opened (when they had 15% off).
I love this place. Â I found it by accident about 3 years ago and have been coming back since. Â
I have to strongly disagree with some of the negative  reviewers on here, the food is of excellent quality but will agree that service is not very attentive.
The food is very clean, fresh, and flavorful. Â I think they must grow their own basil and sprouts because they seriously look like they just came out of a garden. Â My favorite dish is the steak brisket with noodles in broth.
The Thai iced coffee is a stunner and  the Thai iced tea is pretty good too.  The only dish I've had that I would not recommend is the curry chicken, it is very plain.
Prices are very reasonable. Â $5-$7 for most dishes, 1.50 spring rolls, $2 for 16 oz iced coffee, hard to beat.
If you are used to goopy chinese food and just love that msg laden syrup poured over everything, then you will not enjoy this place.
However if you like very fresh and flavorful noodle dishes and soups, come here.
Just to let people know that there's a Pho Hoa in Chinatown too. Â This is a great place to introduce people to pho in that their menu is a bit more appealing with pictures and more descriptions than other Vietnamese places. Â However, I think the pho here is only ok.
What makes me want to stop here whenever I'm in town are the Spring Rolls. Â They are amazing and they are actually made fresh to order, another thing that sets this place apart from a lot of Vietnamese places.
Things I've Tried:
Pho with everything - Broth is only ok. Â This place gets an award for having the most cow parts in a soup.
Spring Rolls - This guy I know comes here and orders 10 to go. Â Yeah. Â They're that good.