Pho 777

great pho love this place.

This place is FANTASTIC!!  Much better than any of the other Pho places around.  The staff is so sweet and the food is delic!  Get the lemongrass chicken, the #1, the #22, and the spring rolls.  Actually - try anything!

I'm rating this a 2-Star but only because I've been there before and had better experiences.  

I stopped in with a friend after the Lunar New Year parade yesterday.  The restaurant was steady but we were seated right away and there were a few other empty tables.  It wasn't overly crowded.  It was my friends first time eating on Argyle or at any Viet Namese restaurant.  

We placed our order of beef & meatball Pho and an order of spring rolls. We both ordered hot tea (it was FREEZING outside) and I also ordered a soft drink.  We choose the spring rolls because neither of us likes shrimp and usually at an Asian restaurant when you order spring rolls, they are more sprouts and other vegetables and not shrimp which is usually in the egg rolls.  The waiter was very 'short' while ordering but sometimes this is cultural and I just figured it was that or he was having a bad day.

When the spring rolls came out, I immediately saw that they had shrimp in them (they casings are fresh vegetable casings and nearly translucent so you can see right through them).  I tried to flag down the waiter a couple of times but he just kept walking by.  Finally one of the waitresses saw me and stopped by and asked what I needed.  I explained to her that neither of us likes shrimp and she began to say that she would bring out a set with just pork when our waiter happened by.  Almost defensively, he asked what the problem was and I attempted to explain.  He was very put out, told me that since I made a mistake that he would bring out something different but that now he was going to have to pay for the shrimp version.  I apologized and he walked off in a huff.  

When he returned, not content to just drop them and run, he proceeded to lecture us again on how if we want just pork, we have to say just pork and now he's going to have to pay for both plates.  I explained that most places that I'd been don't have shrimp in 'spring rolls' and he interrupted me and told me to check and any restaurant on Argyle and its the same.  He kept going down this road to the point where I asked him if it would be better for someone else to wait on us?  I was becoming very uncomfortable with other tables beginning to look over and embarrassed for my guest who couldn't believe what was happening.

A few minutes later, he came back and told my guest that he didn't want to have to pay for an extra entre also so did she want chicken pho with chicken broth or chicken pho with beef broth... He said he just wanted to makes sure because he didn't want another episode of the spring rolls. I really bit my tongue on not saying anything to him (he IS bringing out the food I'm consuming) but to again come and reopen that wasn't appreciated.

He came by, dropped off the pho, and reached over our table (we were sitting near a ledge between the dining room and utility area and there were straws on the ledge about two feet above our heads) to grab a straw.  Several others stuck to the one he was grabbing and fell onto my guests head and shoulders.  Granted it was straws and they weren't heavy, he laughed and half apologized, and scurried to whatever table needed the straws.

The rest of our lunch was taken care of by two other wait staff that were friendly and accommodating.  While we were eating, we saw him get into a dispute with another table and again another waitperson took over to solve the issue.

As is usually the case, the Pho at Pho777 was good.  The hot tea, however, served in plastic glasses you'd usually get ice water in, tasted like dish soap, my soft drink never arrived, my 'date' had straws dropped on her head, and our waiter was 'combative' at best.  

I rated two STARS... because this was one of the worst restaurant experiences of my life... but also because in my 3 or 4 other times here, this was the only time I experienced this.  If you're looking for good pho, stop in... but there's a chance you'll end up with the 'pho nazi' (reference to Seinfeld's Soup Nazi) serving you.