Bahn mi, a perfect sandwich. And Pho 36 overall, it's "eat here 4 times in 3 days" damn good. Here's what we tried in those visits:
Grilled beef bahn mi ... 5 stars
Lemongrass tofu bahn mi ... 5 stars
Hot and sour soup w/ shrimp ... 5 stars
Spring rolls ... 4 stars
Spicy shrimp w/ rice ... 4 stars
Love this place. Not sure why it took us a while to try it, but now that we have, it's an immediate first option (alongside Chipotle) for quick and tasty food on the west side of Indy.
Eaten at Pho36 at least half a dozen times by now. Great to have something other than crappy Chinese food in the western suburbs of Indy. All of the food I have eaten here has been flavorful, fresh and more than enough to fill me up and keep me full. The service is great and the employees are very friendly. My only complaint (and it is not enough to know a star off the rating) is the business hours. I would like it if they were open later and on Sundays. Overall, great place with great service, food and value.
Review Source:Oddly the same Vietnamese song was played over and over and over during our recent visit at Pho 36. But, that did nothing to mar our dining experience. This place is wonderful. The service is good and their pho and banh mi and spring rolls are great. The Vietnamese chicken wings are delicious but really sticky & messy. And sticky. And, the prices are incredibly reasonable. Huge bowls of Pho for $7.99 and large banh mi sandwiches for $3.50. Dang.
Review Source:Came here again and was surprised to find that they had fixed their broth! It was significantly beefier and not covered up with pepper, giving it a much simpler and savory flavor. I also ordered the vermicelli bowl with egg roll and pork (bun cha goi thit nuong) and it was delicious! A pretty good blend of noodles, lettuce, cucumbers, and a good portion of meat drenched in slightly sweet and tangy fish sauce. This place just gets better and better!
Review Source:The owner (? white guy behind counter) was really nice. The bubble tea, however, was not. The bubbles were undercooked and flavorless. He did not ask if I wanted mine blended or over ice and I just assumed it would be over ice. It was not. It was poorly crushed ice (think chunks big enough to clog the massive straw mixed with pellets from an artificial snow machine) blenderized with grainy sugar, over hard tapioca balls. I had a huge craving for bubble tea and this place left me feeling unfulfilled. I do NOT recommend it for bubble tea, but based on the cleanliness, kind owner, and happy expressions of all the people eating there, I will be back to try the food. The tea was almost $5, so I felt it was overpriced too.
Review Source:Pho was ok.
I would have liked the spring rolls to have been stuffed with more veggies and/or shrimp, less rice noodle.
Condiments were disappointing: salt, pepper, two squeeze bottles (hoisin & hot sauce?), sugar. I expected fish sauce, soy sauce, two or three hot sauces, and more.
Bubble tea even more disappointing. Tapioca balls were seriously undercooked, crunchy in the center.
If you can't drive to a more "authentic" Vietnamese restaurant, several of which are clustered near 38th & Lafayette, this might be fine, and certainly you can get a decent meal for $10-15 (not including beverage).
It was suggested that I try this place for the Bahn Mi. Â What a great suggestion.
The rolls are made to the owners specs at a local bakery and this is the only place you can get them. Â Once you have this roll, all others will pale in comparison. Â Great flavor, texture and structure. Â The meats and veggies were great too, I had the roast pork.
My boyfriend and I went to this restaurant when it had just opened. As someone from Hawaii with parents who were born and raised in Vietnam, I wasn't expecting much. However, I was proven wrong on many levels, and we have consistently gone back again and again for the good service and great food.
Now on to the food reviews. I'm going to say right of the back that the pho is not worth driving to Avon for. The soup is surprisingly thin and rather flavorless, other than a slight overwhelming peppery taste, which does not accurately describe a good bowl of pho. I do not believe they use a traditional pho recipe, which is disappointing. This is the only reason this restaurant did not get 5 stars. For a place named after this dish, I expected it to be the star.
However, the food gets much better after that. I can't turn down the appetizer, goi cuon, or the spring rolls. I would advise the shrimp and pork ones with a yummy hoisin/peanut dipping sauce. I could never admit this to my mom, but these rolls might best hers! All the other appetizers were also spot on for me.
As far as entrees go, the cha gio (egg rolls) and vermicelli noodles is an amazing dish to try. The pork chops are also really good, as it is marinated in a phenomenal sauce. The bahn mi sandwiches are not as great as I'd like, but it's hard to be picky in Indiana.
Overall, there is yet a dish (besides the pho) that I have tried that has disappointed me.
For a long time Indy was lacking a "complete" pho restaurant, and now they have one. Â You don't have to drive very far from 465, or into a sketchy neighborhood, to find this bright, clean, simple place; it's in boring but safe Avon just past several rows of corporate box stores and across from a Walmart. Don't be deterred by the middle aged white guy at the counter who runs the place; he speaks fluent Vietnamese, and the restaurant has all the little touches of an authentic big-city pho joint you'd find in Seattle, Minneapolis, or other great pho towns. In addition to great pho tai (available in two sizes) you can get the vietnamese beef stew, vermicelli bowls, delicious bahn mi sandwiches, and bahn choux (cream puff pastries). Â The prices are very reasonable (5.99/7.99 for small/large pho).
I have found with almost every Indy pho restaurant up until now, even the better ones, that there is always one or two significant details lacking that take away from the experience. Â Not here. Everything is spot-on, down to the sauce ramekins delivered with the soup, and the right amount of fish sauce in the pickling brine used for the veggies on the bahn mi. Â Well worth the excursion to Avon from wherever you live in the greater Indy area.
It may look simple but it's amazing. From the minute I walked in the door with my two sons the owner was joking with us and explaining the menu. This was the first time any of us had eaten Vietnamese food and it won't be the last. We loved everything including bubble tea. Stop being midwestern and go eat some vietnamese in Avon, IN.
Review Source:I've been here many many times, but have neglected to write a review. I've eaten in the restaurant and I've had take-out. The owner is incredibly helpful and attentive. With my most recent visit I noticed that they have hired a server. She was nice enough, but doesn't know the menu and was somewhat flaky. I will let that go though. She is new and the owner was double checking and ensuring everything was enjoyable.
The Pho is phenomenal. I've had it a couple other places and by far this was the best of the bunch. I personally like the chicken pho, but have had the meatball and the beef brisket. The broth is so flavorful. If you are going for the first time, get the Pho.
Their Bahn mi sandwiches are also very good. The owner recommended getting one as a appetizer to share. Yes please!
As previous reviewers have stated, the spring rolls and egg appetizer are also really fresh and delicious.
I'm going to post a review from a kind of different viewpoint -- that of a person who isn't at all familiar with Vietnamese food. Â But being far from timid, I gave it a try and I'm glad I did.
When I walked in the door, I told the owner, "I'm a Vietnamese food virgin. Â Guide me." Â He very helpfully talked me through the entire menu, explained everything. Â The spring rolls were a fresh and refreshing surprise -- until now, the words" spring roll" coincided with "deep fried."
The Pho was incredible. Â The owner explained how to customize it with all the various additions, and it was just unbelievably good. Â This is one of those dishes like fried rice that even a newbie can thoroughly enjoy, that looks deceptively simple but that I can imagine is horribly tricky to make RIGHT. Â The broth is just exquisite.
The owner was wonderfully helpful and able to answer such moronic newbie questions as whether to bite the noodles or slurp them, and whether to eat the basil sprigs or leave them. Â He managed to do so without making me feel like an idiot.
If you're going to get both a bowl of Pho and an appetizer, bring a friend. Â A very *hungry* friend. Â Because I've got a really hearty appetite, and I got through about half my bowl of Pho.
Now, bear in mind that I can't compare good Vietnamese food knowledgeably. Â However, I can speak to fresh, delicious, well-prepared and well-served food versus half-ass, unenthusiastic, mediocre food, and Pho 36 was most definitely the former, not the latter.
In other matters, let me throw out kudos for a couple of things you don't often find in reviews. Â The bathroom was immaculate. Â The entire restaurant was clean and neat. And the iced tea was brewed and *delicious.*
Westsiders and newcomers to Vietnamese food rejoice. Â This is the place for you. Â Go forth and eat!
After my first lunch this week, I am a big fan. The only drawback for me is having to trek out to Avon to enjoy it. The service was attentive and playful without being intrusive. Loved the rice cakes with egg and the rice noodle dishes. It's the kind of place I would visit at least weekly of it were down the street. I was not as excited about my boba tea in the smoothie form. The default is usually over ice, so hadn't thought to specify. Looking forward to trying sandwiches next time.
Until they can open a location downtown, this menu would easily be accommodated by a food truck!
I go to Pho 36 when I'm feeling drained and depleted. Â I order a large bowl of Pho, and I come out feeling slightly better about life. Â As others have mentioned, the owner is incredibly friendly, and the service has generally been quite good. Â Expect a longer wait during lunch rush, since the owner has to do quite a bit of multitasking. Â The spring rolls and the fried rice cakes are fantastic. Â The boba tea is a little bit expensive for what it is (the norm, I guess, for a somewhat gimmicky drink) -- I recommend getting it simply over ice instead of the default "smoothie" style.
Review Source:I've been here twice now and the owner is very nice!!! It's a small family owned place. The food is good, the service is GREAT!!! The pho is not as awesome as it could be, but for Avon, it's fantastic. They use hu tieu broth, not pho broth. The sandwhiches are great. The grilled pork chop had a little too much five spice - type seasoning on it. We have not tried the bubble tea yet, but that's next. Overall definitely a good addition to Avon's 'restaurant strip'.
Review Source:I love this place! Although the pho was a bit watery, everything else is top notch! Â I'm completely addicted to the fried rice cakes with egg, and the banana coconut dessert is to die for. Service is super nice, and you can get a Vietnamese sub for $3.50. You just can't beat the place for price and convenience.
Review Source:Went to pho36 for the first time this evening. Â The pho was excellent and my companions enjoyed their vermicelli and sub. Â The egg rolls are excellent and the banana desert is a must. Â The owners are super nice and double as servers and cooks. Â We will definitely be making this a regular stop for us
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