We ordered vermicelli bowl (bun) with pork and spring roll. Â Only the spring roll was warm,everything else was cold. Â The pork was also overcooked and dry. Â This was our "second chance" try with this restaurant, with the first trip (different menu items) having a similar result. Â Too bad, as we need a good Vietnamese restaurant close by.
Review Source:I'm giving this restaurant a 4 although I feel it really deserves a 3. 5. I wish yelp would add that feature (especially being half German, i like to be precise!). I moved here from the San Jose area a few years ago. There you can throw a rock in any direction and hit a an excellent Pho restaurant so my standards are very high. This is the best Vietnamese eatery in the South OC but not quite what i'm used to.
The Pho, Bun and the Chow fun with crispy noodles are all excellent even if Chow fun isn't Vietnamese.
The service is friendly and fast like all good Pho restaurants. The interior is a bit rough but that's not a factor for me.
It's time for the OC to support establishments from other cultures. We need more, more, more!!
Have been here more than a dozen times since they 1st opened. Is the branch of the Lake Forest restaurant with the same name. The quality is still not quite as good as the LF one, but is much closer to me home and it continues to improve. Very happy to have a good Vietnamese restaurant in very South OC. The egg rolls wrapped in lettuce is a must, followed by Pho and Bun. In my opinion, the rice dishes are not as good as the Pho or Bun. There have been several restaurants in this location. All have failed. Pho Thanh Binh will not because I know they will continue to build their loyal clientele. Service is quick, not particularly friendly, and is spotty at times, but pretty efficient. The women servers are much better than the men.
Parking is abundant and there are always open tables because (for a Vietnamese noodle ship) it is a pretty big place.
Very greatful for a vietnamese restaurant in San Clemente!
They have alot of choices, not the best but good and with many dishes to chose from!
I love how they have ox tail, which come in HUGE portions!
Only negatives I see is that the place can be remodeled, but I don't care about that much as long as the food and service is good!
three stars because this is the only Vietnamese cuisine around, other than that the pho broth needs more flavor, and the price is a little steep as compared to everywhere else. There is a slight hint of either urine or ammonia at the facility, I was picking up a take-out order otherwise I never would have eaten there because of the smell.
Review Source:We came here for lunch during a training as the gloomy weather was perfect for hot noodle soup. There was a pretty good lunch crowd. The menu was typical of any other pho restaurant. My friend ordered the rare beef pho and I ordered my favorite bun bo hue. The friendly male server advised us to order medium bowls, which is what everyone else was ordering in the restaurant. The prices were slightly higher than what I usually pay but given the area and location it was expected. I was disappointed in the bun bo hue since it only had sliced beef in it. The place I usually order it from puts ham hock, pork blood, fish cake and tripe in it for a larger bowl with the same price. The flavor was good and they had the sate sauce as a condiment, which has become a necessity for me. One of the female servers kept our water glasses full and the caphe sua da was good so I added an extra star. If in the area again I will return to try other items.
Review Source:Great phó!  Had the chicken phó ga and it was great. The broth was really flavorful and the chicken sliced thin. Had to wait a bit cuz it was busy.  As of the date of this review, which was in 2011, they didn't have a large bowl of Pho, just a medium bowl and it was a bit more expensive compared to the places in Lake Forest & Irvine.  We haven't been back because with my large family, it was too expensive.  We spend about 20% less to feed my family the same amount of Pho at Pho 89 in Lake Forest. I was so excited to have a Pho place in San Clemente, but it just is a bit too expensive for us to go regularly-we keep going to Lake Forest instead.
Review Source:The service is prompt, which is great for a quick dinner with our 2 year old and 5 year old. Â We ordered pho and spring rolls. Â The kids love dipping the crunchy spring rolls in the sauce. Â The waitress brought out extra bowls, scissors and a ladle for easy sharing of the pho. Â The pho and trimmings weren't any better or worse than most Vietnamese restaurants we've visited in the past. Â
I agree with other yelpers. Â The restaurant needs more rare steak in their pho. Â They also need to have bigger bowls as a standard or offer a larger size bowl as an option.
RIP OFF!!!
Food is average and pricey making this place unfavorable.
2 bowls of Pho, 1 rice w chicken, 2 Thai ice tea and 1 sprite was $32 bones? The Pho is available in one size at $6.95, which is a traditional small bowl. Plenty of noodles but skimpy on the rare steak. The chicken (chicken w rice) was like having flat pieces of Thai satay. For chicken and rice dishes go to Pho 99. The biggest RIP OFF was the Thai Ice tea at $2.50 which was the size of a juice glass! Absolutely ridiculous! Take the suggestions of other Yelpers who really know what good Vietnamese food is: there are plenty of other better establishments. Don't mind the high prices but the restaurant has to bring it!
A Pho place in San Clemente? Was my response to my BF when he announced the opening of this restaurant! He was raised and grew up in SC, and i currently live in huntington beach - miles away from all the Vietnamese restaurants in Little Saigon. Plus - my mom and aunts are phenomenal cooks and domestic queens, so I was very excited to go and try this new and ambitious restaurant.
Walking in, i immediately knew that it was Vietnamese owned - the place was painted a bright and hideous pink, with no sense of interior design even in its nooks and crannies. Dont get me wrong, my culture has a lot of its high points - such as its food, but interior design is not one of them.
We ordered the eggrolls as an appetizer - they were crunchy and the flavor was pretty good, although I have had better. The fish sauce - tasted very unauthentic, almost as if it was store bought - it was lacking the full flavor that fish sauce usually comes with. My boyfriend ordered the chowfun dish - was okay, nothing to complain about. I got the oxtail pho soup - and 75 percent of it was remaining when I left the restaurant. The broth does not have that rich meaty flavor that it should, I hope they didnt commit the cardinal sin of making pho with store bought seasoning instead of the authentic way - but thats how it tasted. It was bland - and to call Vietnamese food bland, is saying ALOT - our food is so flavorful because the recipes call for lots of seasoning and salt!
OH and the bill came out to about 35 dollars including tip. (-__- ) Im so biased, because im blessed with free delicious food from my mom and aunts, and have cheap restaurants only miles away. 35 dollars is pricier than what Im used to paying for! But, given its in SC and the rent  is probably more expensive. I feel bad writing a bad review, because a place like this has soooo much potential! But seriously, the quality of the food needs to be stepped up so much, especially if your paying those prices. If you want authentic vietnamese food - go to little saigon or irvine has some places too.
Solid vietnamese experience every time. Of course the fact that it's 5 min  away gives it the extra star. We go here all the time and appreciate the super welcoming and friendly staff. Would HIGHLY recommend splurging on the fried shrimp despite its $14 cost. Super worth it everything & sometimes I order it as my main entree vs. an appetizer to share. Have tried several menu items including the vegetarian pho, chow fun, vermicelli,oxtail pho and more. All has been good & never disappointing. It's not food that'll blow you away but it's delicious AND really cheap :)
Review Source:I was very disappointed with this place. I was really looking forward to the eggrolls and these were lacking on all fronts. They were bland, and so was the fish sauce. I ordered the rare beef pho as well which was also very bland. The veggie portions are on the small side as someone else previously noted. Out of the three of us, no one really liked the food.
On a positive note, the service was friendly  and the restaurant seemed pretty clean.
My husband and I love Pho and  usually go out of our way to drive from our home in San Clemente to Irvine or Lake Forest for a bowl of the good stuff. Let's face it, San Clemente is a great place to live, but it lacks food variety. Lots of burger joints, simple California dining, and tons of mexican food can be found here, but if you want something different  like Vietnamese food, for example, you typically need to drive more north for that.
I tried the house special and was pleased with the taste of the broth - which is the most important part of Pho if you ask me. Unlike other Pho places I have been to in OC, you do not get a choice in the size of bowl, and the side dish of bean sprouts, lime, and basil was a smaller portion than what I am used to. The Pho broth could have been slightly hotter in temperature, as most other Pho restaurants I have been to bring their dishes out piping hot - basically giving you a bonus facial. I, unfortunately, did not experience this today, but hope next time I come back it will be piping hot.
Overall, I was pleased with the Pho at this restaurant and am extremely happy my husband and I can now simply drive down the street to get our Pho fix.
I've been eating Vietnamese food - and driving to Little Saigon - since 1985 and just about did back flips when I saw that Pho Thanh Binh replaced Bad to the Bone in San Clemente. Â While the pho is good, it's not as flavorful as you'll find in Little Saigon or even Pho Bo Vang in Lake Forest. Â Only one size bowl - but pretty packed with noodles so you don't miss the normal large and XL bowls. Â
While the varieties of pho - including pork, chicken, oxtail, etc. - is great, the rest of the menu doesn't include some of our Vietnamese favorites, but to be fair, San Clemente isn't Westminster and the restaurant is catering to Vietnamese food newbies to a certain extent. Â We were able to order some of our favorites that were not on the menu - they simply threw together, for example, some bo tai chanh in the kitchen that was a decent facsimile of what you'd get in Little Saigon. Â
Still - the restaurant doesn't stock the wide variety of greens, spices, etc. that I've come to expect - so everything was a bit toned down. Â The cha gio (egg rolls) are decent, but the goi cuon (spring rolls) sometimes seem to be rolled way in advance and come out a bit dry. Â
All-in-all though - I'm a fan - mainly because I now only have to drive 5 minutes for a decent bowl of pho, and I've become a regular (and will continue to be one).
Stopped on my way from Laguna to San Diego. Â Crazing a big bowl of yummy pho and that's exactly what I got! Great service, quick and attentive.
Food: Must get the egg rolls. Â Their crispy deliciousness is second to none. Â Good thing there were 3 of us and 3 egg rolls so no one had to get rowdy. Â Veggie & tofu pho was delicious. Â Pho was tasty and had great flavor.
So sad to say this, but this place sucks. The pho broth lacked so much flavor. Left here disappointed and mostly likely will not be returning.
Other than the food, this place has lots of seating and the walls are painted (tacky) pink. Lot's of worker too since they just recently opened.
It may be the only pho restaurant in San Clemente, but I would still rather drive 30mins. north to Irvine any day for a real goood bowl of pho.
What the Pho... a Vietnamese restaurant in San Clemente??? Â Yes, its true and a decent one at that! Â
While you still need to make the trek to GG / Westminister to find the best in ethnic Vietnamese cuisine, Thanh Binh is a real plus for those of us who live in the hinterlands of South Orange County.
While it all looks good, I can only vouch for the Pho and the Egg-roll Vermicelli as that is all I have tried on my two lunch visits. Â I'm a noodle guy at heart and they have the real deal here along with friendly service.
What the Pho ~ bookmark it and go!
Phenomenal pho, sensational service.
My family is hooked, and though I'm not a big fan of Vietnamese, this place is managed by extraordinary people. Â Only 9 days to open from prior occupant's close, and the customer is always right. When they were out of custard dessert, they surprised me with a small sample so I wouldn't leave empty handed. Â A class act add to Pixo Plaza.
Their only downsides are being the victim of their own success and a rolling opening, continuing to remodel in phases. Â This restaurant is so popular that they need to hire more staff to serve them all.
Super excited for Vietnamese food in San Clemente! Â Tried it out today and it's pretty good! Â The flavors are a bit Americanized but authentic enough that I'd come here instead of driving to Pho Bo Vang in Lake Forest, as Pho the Bowl in Laguna Niguel doesn't cut it for me.
The bun thit nuong chai gio is excellent. Â It's a sizeable bowl of yummy seasoned grilled slices of pork with egg rolls served over skinny rice noodles and fresh shredded lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots and cucumber. Â The protein is served warm, the rest is room temp so it's a very light and refreshing meal. Â You pour the fish sauce over the entire thing and mix it up. Â Their sauce is very mild. Â
Novices, if you'd rather have a hot meal, order the pork & eggrolls served over rice. Â You get the same flavor, just slightly different presentation.
Prices are excellent, you can get a healthy delicious meal for under $10. Â Service is super friendly, quick & they speak decent English, which doesn't always happen in a pho place. Â Yes, they painted the entire place pink, my people can't help but go for that 80s Chinese restaurant look.
Almost had a heart attack when I went to Staples and discovered this place just opened up. Â Go there, go often and try something new each time. Â They have a very safe menu (nothing weird), the only way it could improve is if they offered more variety of other fave Vietnamese dishes.
Finally! Â Pho in South Orange County. And it's GOOD!! Â We had Pho ga. Very tasty broth!
Service was just ok but I'll ignore that because they only opened two days ago. Nice people.
We've been driving to Lake Forest and Westminster for pho. We are so happy it's now in San Clemente! Â If you don't know pho, it's a healthy noodle soup with meat and fresh basil, bean sprouts, limes and (optional) jalapenos. Fills even me and I weigh 260.
Yay!! Â It is a miracle!! Â Vietnamese just a couple minutes away!!! Â Whoooo hooo!! Â We have already gone twice in two days! Â I wasn't a fan of the spring rolls, the paper was drrrryyy.....
BUT everything else was AMAZING! Â I love the egg rolls...so big and the BUN! Â Great portion size and the meat is sooo tasty! Â I am a fan!!
Everyone...support this location! Â Keep them around!! Â Write reviews so everyone knows how awesome and amazing to have such a treasure in SC!
Like the review above, my wife and I are VERY excited to have a new Vietnamese food place in town! Â It gives us another dining choice in San Clemente!!
We often getting the food to go, and we both go for the chicken and shrimp vermicilli dishes with a side order of the fresh spring rolls. Â It was all very tasty and generous portions. Â I like that they BBQ their meat and shrimp here. Â Can't wait to try the pho once it gets colder!
Prices are right in line with what we're used to seeing. Needless to say, this place ranks up there with all the other really good Vietnamese places that we typically have to drive 20+ minutes to. Â We are very excited and will be eating a lot more Vietnamese now!!
PS- I hope they stick around too, unlike the few previous occupants!
SO excited that the food of my people is now being served up in San Clemente, just a hop, skip, and a jump from home! Â It's not dad's home-cooked pho, but it's decent and sufficiently satisfies that craving for a taste of the motherland without having to drive 20 miles north to the next nearest Vietnamese restaurant. Â I really hope these guys do well and stick around because I plan to be back, and back often!
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