It takes a lot to give one star. Â Or rather, a little. After moving to the area, we've been on the hunt for a more convenient pho spot when weather, sickness, cravings, or any old day strikes. We wandered in on a Sunday morning, excited for a heaping, steaming bowl of pho.
The first clue met us as soon as we parked and waited for an American family to enter the restaurant  and meet a larger group. Not that we Americans don't know pho, but it's usually a good indicator of a restaurant's quality when patrons are of the same culture.
I was momentarily thrilled to see a large menu complete with appetizers - something we find ourselves wanting even at Pho 75. The restaurant was FREEZING. We both had to keep our puffy coats and beanies on - and I only removed my gloves when our meal arrived.
The spring and summer rolls arrived after our pho. The pho was a dark, clear broth. No floating bits of marrow and meat. Not a good sign. One slurp and we knew. My fiance said it tasted like MSG (his mom used it growing up in homemade pho and other dishes). At least there were a lot of greens!
Starving, we ate the rolls putting off the moment when we would have to return to the soup. The Spring Rolls were quite good - they remind me of the crab spring rolls at Viet Crystal but without the crab. I'd get those again, at least. The Summer Rolls were just meh. The wrapper a little hard and too much filler of shredded lettuce.
We did try to finish the pho but honestly only made it a few bites in and then left. Oh well. The hunt continues.
My husband and I stopped in here after one of my carpool friends told me about this place. He is looking for a Pho place that doesn't skimp on meat like the place that our brother-in-law took us to near Denver, Colorado. I never expect much of a service at this type of places, but I was impressed that the lady who took our order was willing to help out with the deifferent between the topping choices.
My husband ordered a large bowl of Pho with rare beef topping and I had the chicken Pho along with 2 summer rolls. Both bowls of pho were chock full of meat and the broth was flavorful. The summer rolls were good as well. We each also had Vietnamese Iced Coffee with condensed milk. I found that too be a bit too instense for me, but after adding water to it, it was was fine.
Note: There is a charge for carry-out just like other Pho places like Pho 75. It is listed in the menu.
Surly service, decent food - until we found a rock in it, and the cashier likes to pretend he's Gambit with our credit cards.
I never expect much service at a typical pho restaurant, but damn ... I might as well be my own waiter here if I want anything I order or ask for!
Now about that rock. Â We unknowingly played a game of Rock Roulette with the spring rolls, I went, all good. Â The spring roll was crispy and pretty tasty. Â My uncle on the other hand, he's not so lucky. Â Not only does he find the ROCK IN THE SPRING ROLL, he bit straight down on it and we could see the several pieces that he spit out!
We show the waiter, he gives an indifferent look and just takes the rest away. And that was it, no new ones, no apology, and they didn't even take it off our bill. Â Are you kidding me?!?
I've been here several times and the service has sucked more often than not. Â One occasion in particular we were paying, the cashier as surly as can be, takes our card and instead of handing it to us or even setting it on the counter decides to THROW THE CARD! Â It hits the table and falls to the floor, no apology or anything. Â Apparently Gambit was disguised as our waiter, but really that dude was just a JERK.
We picked up the card and walked out the door ... never to return again. Â We now take our business to Saigon Quan, if we're looking for pho in Springfield.
Peace, Pho 495.
Been there several times. Â The service has never been great but today was the worst.
1. Â I asked for my noodles on the side so I can give it to my son since I don't eat them. Â He said he couldn't do it but he could give me a bowl so I can take the noodles out myself to share with my toddler son. Â Fine I understand that maybe they want me to buy another bowl of soup for him (despite no kids menu) but I've never had this problem anywhere else.
2. Â The soup came out without noodles AT ALL! Â I said nothing and my wife just gave her noodles to our boy.
3. Â He never brought us our drinks so we had to ask another employee for then well after our soups arrived. Â (He even looked at us a few times in a puzzled manner while we sat there looking disappointed with no drinks to go with our meals but apparently couldn't put 2 and 2 together as he was bringin other people drinks.)
4. (The last straw) I found a slice  of plastic (ie plastic bag)  about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick in my soup.  I told my waiter.  He says nothing and continues to eat his own, probably plasticless, pho.
On a good note, the woman, who waited on us more than our actual waiter, was apologetic. Â She took the soup off of our bill. Â I left a 25% tip for our bill anyways and even handed it to our actual waiter who said nothing (not even a thank you) and put it in a jar. Â The waiter never even apologized for any of the shortcomings. Â I'm pretty sure I won't eat there again.
BLUF: If you like soup with a surprise and horrible service, you'll love Pho 495. Â If you don't, there are many other Pho places in NOVA that will gladly appreciate your business that don't have Pho Tai Plastic.
Good taste but bad service & bad business practice
Our table did not have lights on. When we ask the waitress about this matter, she said she did not know the location lighting switch. Well, we do not have to everything in the world. But the owner's response after he was informed for this matter was totally out of common sense. We asked for relocating table to another side. He simply ignored. It was not only matter of language issue but attitude.
When I paid the bill on register after the meal, I was going to pay with cash due the sign posted "Credit card machine broken. Cash only"
Also I suggested a couple things to be improved to young lady who served us.
Guess what she said  I can pay with credit card. Obviously they still had a same post in front of register.
I understand that cash is preferred. But I would not post that kind of sign as a business. I would rather post "Credit card is not accepted. Cash Only"
Or he should have sign " Our credit card is broken every single day"
"Our credit card takes ONLY CASH. No Plastic please"
So far, the best place I've been to for pho. I usually get #15 with meatballs. There have been others that are good, but I think what I like the best here are their meat dishes. The food comes out very quickly and even though the staff pretty much disappears once they take your order, they are friendly and welcoming.
Review Source:I'm feeling slightly generous, which is why I give this restaurant three stars. The place looks like any other simplistic pho joint, and yes, it can be on the dirty side sometimes. The service is whatever, it's not good, but it's not bad either. I usually order Pho Bo Vien (beef meat balls) when I get pho, and I feel like the bo vien at this place seems.. not home made or something. When the pho comes out, the noodles are clumped together. The pho overall isn't bad, but I've definitely had better pho and overall better experiences at other viet/pho restaurants.
Review Source:I used to come by this place every few weeks a couple of years ago, but one incident turned me off forever. I came by with my girlfriend after the weekend lunch rush, around 2 pm, and ordered a bowl of pho. When they brought the order out, the pho was cold, and obviously could not cook the raw meat. I told the waiter, and asked for another bowl of pho. After a few minutes, I went to the counter and asked someone else for another bowl of pho. The cashier asked the waiter what to do, and the waiter accused me of talking too much and saying that was the reason my pho was cold. I brought the bowl of cold pho to the counter, and showed them that the meat never cooked. The waiter adamantly refused to give me another bowl, even though the OTHER employees who saw this thought they should. I refused to pay, and left, and on our way out he made a lewd comment at my girlfriend.
If you go here, you've been warned.
You get what you pay for. I come here if I want decent pho at a good price, and fast. They have a good amount of options; both pho and non-pho options, I've done both. The servers come quickly and bring out your food relatively fast too. It's true that your server may take some time to come back (I think it depends on the time you come in). But Pho 495 definitely helps take care of my pho-fix real quick.
Review Source:I find this place pretty much ok. Service wasn't on top of its game. For my first experience at this restaurant I find it pretty dirty. My first thought... wheres my waiter? my 2nd, where is the busboy? theres like 10 tables filled with dishes and trash and no one occupying the seats and people were waiting upfront. I can probably understand for a saturday or sunday afternoon, when everyone is hungover and want pho. Yeahh... but this was like a Wed. afternoon? LOL
I heard about this place being really delicious and I have taken takeout before. The springrolls were good. Soup and noodles were pretty ok. I probably would recommend taking a to go order.
The food here is ehh... Let's start with their spring rolls, they are greasy than most other places. Blah, the taste of oil is in your mouth once you are done eating it. We ordered 2 different types of pho, one of them was the vegetarian pho and pho bo vien with tai. Let's start with the veggie, first of all... it is clearly stated in their menu that you have a choice of a small bowl or a large bowl. The lady that was taking our order said the vegetarian only comes in a size large, which doesn't make sense at all but ok....then the broth seemed as though they just used those favorable cubes to make broth for the vegetarian. The bowl with meat balls and beef, there were only 4 diced meatballs, which means that it is equivalent to only 1 meat ball. They went skimpy on the meatballs, the broth didn't really have flavor at all. The bean sprout that they had brought out to us were getting ready to turn brown. It just didn't look fresh at all. My mom had ordered the Che Suong Sa Hot Luu and that thing was watered down, it didn't even look that appealing. The coconut were supposed to be blended down but there were chunks of it in her cup. Â Overall it's no bueno.
Review Source:We eat here all of the time. Â The Pho holds it's own in the area. Â More of a cafeteria feel with the white tile floors and inexpensive dining tables and chairs. Â It can be a little cleaner at times, but with the size of staff and the amount of customers I can see how they fall behind. Â You really can't beat the food and service for the price! Â A real Mom & Pop joint.
Review Source:Man it hurts me to write a bad review on this place bc it was my favorite pho spot. I don't know if its under new management or what but the pho was ok. Noodles were too soft and the portion was skimpy. They use to give you a good amount of meat in the pho but not anymore. Â Sad sad sad!!!
Review Source:I will NEVER do carry-out again from this place! The owner(s) of this place seems to be people who think of ways to rip people off of their money. When I called to place my order, I was never told that there would be a "TO GO" fee. What type of place would require you to pay a "TO GO" fee when they are not delivering. I am picking up my order. I ordered 2 things...1 Pho noodle and 1 spring roll. They charged 50 cents "TO GO" fee for the Pho noodle and another 50 cents "TO GO" fee for the spring roll. So if I had ordered 5 items, then each item would have their own separate "TO GO" fee. I find this pretty ridiculous. What did I get for this? Nothing. What did they do to earn it? Nothing. It's just a way for them to make extra money and to trick customers. They didn't even give me a receipt. But when I realized that the total was a little high, I asked for the receipt. Then a person behind the counter grinned and quickly said that there's only a 50 cents "TO GO" fee, which is not true. They charged a "TO GO" fee for each item.
I know one thing for sure. I will NEVER come back again to Pho 495 located on Commerce street. Their only care is to get more of your money without doing anything!!
Food is decent but I do wish it was a bit more consistent. Â They give you the option of ordering the rolls in single or an order of two, which is great if you're just not that hungry. Â
I disagree with the reviews on the service. I've never had a problem with any of the servers here but I tend to be easy going with it. It's not an upscale restaurant and they try their best to make it fast and friendly. Â I guess it depends on who you get. Â
Overall - food is good. You have your regular options along with vegetarian pho, seafood pho and their beef stew (bo kho). Â I'd go to Eden to get your bo kho fix or Golden Cow on Sundays. They also offer rice dishes and vermicelli bowls. Decent, not great. I wish they'd take the meat off the skewers for you. It takes me forever to prepare my food because they are a pain to get off.
Saw that the reviews weren't good enough and wanted to put in my 2 cents. Â
Notice all of the bad reviews talk about service. Â I've never had a problem with he service - but even if I had I'd still make my restaurant review about food.
THE PHO IS GREAT. Â Great broth, great flavor, great selection of protein. Â Try not to be timid and try the tripe - you'll love it! Â Overall it's authentic, excellent food with average service in a spartan restaurant. Â Don't go to this place for ambiance, go for great food.
My wife and I have been eating here consistently for 5+ years. Â I am surprise to see all of the average reviews because (after trying many) we believe it is one of the best Pho places in the area. Â I agree that the decor and service are not that great, but this is a Pho place... Â They are all like that. Â
The spring rolls are excellent and some of the best I have had (similar in quality/taste to Minh's and 4 Sisters). Â The crispy chicken wings are also good, but sometimes a bit greasy. Â The summer rolls and shrimp toast are tasty, but a notch below the spring rolls. Â
The Pho here is also quite good. Â It is not overloaded with MSG and does not have the oil slick sheen that you get at some other places. Â I enjoy the simple beef Pho and the tofu with vegetables is a nice change of pace.
One thing I really like about this place is that they have a lot of good food other than Pho. Â The pork and spring roll noodle bowl is my favorite. Â I have also enjoyed the rice dishes with pork, lemon chicken, and beef. Â Everything is reasonable priced, service isn't great, but you are seated within 15 seconds and usually have your food in 10 minutes. Â
Highly recommend for cheap eats.
There's nothing wrong with the food here. Â It's ok for a pho joint but the service sucks. Â
The waiter was extremely rude and he didn't even try to hide his attitude. Â It was all over his face that he did not want to be there and this was not the first time we've had him as a server. We tend to try to forgive asian restaurants for poor service because asian restaurants aren't usually known for their stellar service to begin with.
But our friend ordered an order of spring rolls. Â When the food came out, he put the spring rolls down on the table then plopped the pho bowls down so they splashed out of the bowl. Â And then he took the spring rolls away. Â When we stopped him and said that we had ordered those, he mumbled something and walked away with them. Â We waited for about 15 min and he never returned with them. Â We ended up having to flag down another server and on top of that rice dishes are supposed to come with a small side of beef broth and he didn't bring those out either. Â
For the food just being ok, this is not acceptable to put up with.
My brother, his gf and I went to Pho 495 for "brunch" today. Â Unlike some other pho places, they seemed to have more grilled meat options but we were there for the pho so that's what we stuck with. Â The waiter was pretty fast with the water and taking our order, but there must not have been enough people working in the back 'cause we didn't get our order for a while. Â The pho itself was pretty standard - I had the small size bowl and it was the perfect amount. Â We also ordered the summer rolls, which weren't that great - it was mostly vermicelli noodles. Â The peanut sauce that came with it was watery and unsatisfying which is sad since I love me some peanut sauce. Â I'll be back for pho if I'm in the Springfield area, but I'm definitely not ordering the disappointing rolls.
Review Source:4 stars at most
The place is good. Â Nothing really stands out compared to the other PHO places. Â I usually get the chicken pho. Â Always the same. Â The rice dishes are good too. Â This is the only good place within 10 mins from me. Â Its not the best... Someone please point me to the BEST PHO JOINT IN THE AREA.
Quick meal
Cheap meal
Credit card accepted
This is my favourite pho joint in Alexandria/Springfield area! Though the broth could have used more depth/flavour, it really had clean taste to it. It seemed like there wasn't much of MSG either. The spring roll appetizer was really good too. Â The staff is always around.. so you don't have to wait 10 minutes to get refill on your water... Pho 495 is larger (and bright) than most local pho restaurants in the area and I will definitely be back.
Go try it!
My roommate and I used to go to Pho Hang Anh, but since the service there isnt that great and the staff isnt very friendly, we decided to check out Pho 495 just around the corner. I really like the pho. The broth is very flavorful, the staff is friendly, and the service is quick. The only downside is that there is a minimum credit card purchase and I, like so many other people, rarely ever carry cash.
Review Source:Pho 495 is your typical good, fast and cheap neighborhood pho place (if your neighborhood happens to have a pho place). Â They don't serve too much outside of pho and bun (the rice noodles with veggies, meat and fish sauce). Â The service is quick and the waiters are friendly. Â
I usually get the spring roll and pork vermecelli. Â Their pho is okay too. Â I would not suggest getting the beef with lime salad though. Â It's basically pho meat with lettuce (and no hint of lime). Â
Not the best place to eat but it's good if you want something quick and cheap.
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