Pho Hiep Grill

Hadn’t ate here in a few years, so I figured to see if it improved. The restaurant opens at 10 am, so we got there are 10:10. Had to wait a few minutes for anyone to actually come to the front to acknowledge us. We were told they weren’t ready to sit anyone since they were still cleaning. It will be 10 – 15 minutes. That made me think a little, since the doors were open and they were scheduled to be open 15 minutes ago. So we came back in about 20 minutes and still had to wait for someone to sit us. Order an appetizer and Phở. Phở came out first, and then finally the appetizer a few minutes later. The «large» bowl is much smaller compared to other Phở restaurants, and their cost is much higher. Wasn’t impressed, don’t intend to comeback here. Willing to drive a few more miles. Ciao.

Beware: wait staff will automatically include a tip when you receive the bill.
I’ve been going to Phở Hiep Grill for years, but unfortunately, as time went on, their quality in service declined. Tonight punctuated a string of negative experiences — concluding our relationship with this business.
When our check arrived after our meal, they automatically added a 15% tip to our bill. We paid with a debit card and didn’t notice the additional charge until we were about to leave him a tip. I’m sure there have been other patrons who may have overlooked this (as we almost did) and given the wait staff a second tip, unaware that they were already charged. Sneaky, sneaky.
Our server marked the charge as a «tip» and not as «gratuity.» Clearly he knew what he was doing and secretly added it himself. We were peeved because he sneakily strong-​armed us and thought we wouldn’t be the wiser.
As the hostess explained to us, English is not their first language. That’s fine and we understand that. Be that as it may, it does not pardon the act of scheming to me.
When we questioned the extra 15% on our bill, the server explained that parties of 7 or more require the automatic tip. We explained we were only a party of 5 (we had our receipt to prove it) and were just wondering about the charge. We didn’t mind leaving a tip — that wasn’t the point — it was just the underhanded way he went about it that left a bad taste in our mouths.
In total, we only interacted with our server twice — once when he took our order and then a second time when we flagged him down for our check at the end of our meal.
This hardly classifies as customer service to me.

Found a bunch of little bugs in the rice and grill pork. No apologies and still charged full price for the meal. Will not be back!

My family and I have been coming to this phở spot for years ever since they opened, and it’s probably the best phở spot in Eastlake. I usually get the phở tai or chin, but if I’m not feeling like soup I’ll get their vermicelli or rice dishes which are pretty big portions. I really recommend mixing all 3 sauces that’s on your table and dipping your meats in it! Their thai tea and vietnamese coffee are also really good. The one dish I wasn’t too happy with was their banh xeo which lacked flavor and stuffing.
Although over the years I’ve noticed that sometimes their service is lacking and a few times my phở wasn’t spot on (soup too salty, undercooked noodles), majority of my visits here have been pretty satisfying! The ambiance is also a lot fancier than your usual phở place, and they even have a bar near the entrance with a TV which is usually set to some sport game that’s going on.
The one negative thing though is that compared to other phở spots, the prices are a bit high. They have been slowly raising their prices over the years. Phở will range from about $ 8 – 9 and the com tam about $ 9 – 10. But I guess it being a fancier phở place than your usual kind of justifies the price. Also expect a little wait if you come during busy hours like on a weekend evening. The most I’ve had to wait was 15 minutes though, so not bad at all.
I also recently noticed that they have a pretty decent happy hour from 4 – 7 on Monday-​Friday on drinks and some food. Will def have to come back to try it some time.

It took a while to be seated unnecessarily… if we didn’t love the food we wouldn’t have waited!
To add extra peppers/​garlic/​salt to our salt n pepper chicken wings– they charged a $ 1.00 … that was a first…

In one word, appalling.
In the interest of giving the most balanced review I can, I would like to state that the food tasted good, and the service was fine, to a point.
Unfortunately I had eaten two thirds of my phở before I found a fly in my soup. We inspected the other bowl, and there was a gnat in it. A bad joke, yes, but in this case a reality. It took a while to flag our server down, when we did I was shocked that when I tried to draw her attention to the fly, and the gnat, she said she was sorry that I found a fly in my soup, and that she would go get the bill. Excuse me?! The word bill should not ever have been a part of the conversation.
After pointing out the fly and gnat I had fished from our food, and a few genuinely polite words from me, the server went to speak with the manager. Our sever then came back and stated that the manager had said, «It is gnat season, and we can’t control them». I’m sorry, there is a f*cking insect in my food! Before leaving the table she asked if we would like to box up the remaining food. I’m sorry, am I being punked? Where is Ashton Kutcher?
I asked to speak to the manager. A few minutes later, the manager (not Ashton Kutcher) appeared, and echoed what our server had told us, «It is gnat season, there is nothing we can do about it, we can’t control them». At no point did she offer to do anything about the situation until I literally stated, «I’m not happy paying for food with insects in it». At this point they offered to comp my bowl, but still charged us for two drinks and the other bowl of phở, which also had an insect in it. Insane. I’d also like to point to the fact that the fly in my soup was not a gnat, but something larger. Before the manager left our table she asked if I would like the same order I had to take out… By this point of my review the ridiculousness of the situation should be setting in.
Anyway, I tipped generously, and paid for one bowl and the two drinks. So, that’s $ 20 for two flies, and two sodas. I’m not a person that likes to make a big deal out of things, but this is unforgivable, and it is the least I can do to express my opinion here so that, hopefully, other people do not have to go through this. Had they chosen to deal with the situation more compassionately I may not be writing this review.
One last thing; I’m not a detective, but the fact that the server and manager both reacted so unapologetically tells me that they either do not give a rat’s ass about their customers, or they get this complaint a lot. Hmm. Both?
I will be contacting the department of environmental health, and I would encourage anyone else that has had the same experience here to do the same.

After experiencing Horrible service at the Telegraph Cyn Location and leaving after we received no service, we still wanted to eat dinner. We drove to the Eastlake location and received Excellent Service, Excellent Food and had a great experience having dinner. Obviously, this location is managed better and they are paying attention to customer service.

Ate hear for the first time w/​my fam, and I was fairly happy. Their phở was good/alright-wasn’t bad, yet nothing really spectacular. They stick to basics and their phở basically tastes the same compared to any other phở place I’ve been to.
Although I do not recommend trying their Vietnamese crêpe– thing tasted flavorless and really oily.
The place appears to always be fairly busy, and the waiters/​waitresses are really nice, patient, and they always keep a smile on their faces. As a side note, the place has a really nice relaxing ambiance, with the music and cultural decorations.

I was pleasantly surprised by this restaurant. I am highly critical of Vietnamese food as I grew up eating delicious homemade Vietnamese food everyday of my life.
Anyways, the service was prompt and everyone was very nice here. I have eaten three different items from this location.
Banh xeo, com tam tom bo nuong and the phở tai.
The bang xeo is a Vietnamese crêpe. I ordered mine with shrimp. It came with the typical array of fresh veggies. I thought the crêpe itself was very well made. I did think that they put way more bean sprouts than shrimp though. The ratio was off.
The next thing I had was the rice dish with shrimp and beef. The shrimp and beef were cooked well. The rice was slightly dry.
The phở was really good. I will definitely be back to try the other dishes!

Solid restaurant with fast service. Some times are better than others. Best around dinner time.

The service is great! The servers even bowed. Super kind and the food was tasty. The ambiance is great since it’s right on Eastalke village. Only thing is I wish they had a better dessert menu and more boba options. Otherwise it was great.

I would give Phở Hiep & Grill 0 stars if that was a choice. Walked in this afternoon to take my mom and sister for a nice dinner. No hostess to seat us, had to get a waitress’s attention and we were seated and waited, waited and waited. No water offered and no acknowledgement… Told a passing waiter that we were ready to order and waited and waited some more.
***We finally got up to leave and no one noticed! Just as we were at the door I went back and told the waitress that we were leaving because we received no service at all! Worst customer service ever!***

Nice patio seating overlooking the Koi/​turtle pond. Tiem our server was awesome. Good for families. We went during happy hour which has a decent food and alcohol options.
Would definitely come back. Cheers!

Have been going to original one on Telegraph Canyon, this place here is better though.
Service at both locations is really good.

Good service but the chicken did not taste fresh. Tasted like it was left overs from the day prior and re-​heated. I will still come back though because this is the only spot in the neighborhood with decent phở and spring rolls. BTW, beware — the passion fruit boba is too sweet.

The phở was decent but the service was incredibly bad.
Our server took about 12 minutes to greet us from the moment the hostess sat us down. He never introduced himself just took our order and left. We had to ask 4 times for a water refill– every time someone different because no one was following up. Never checked up on us until the bill was put on our table and he walked away.
We usually go to Otay Lake Phở but we wanted to try something different — not making that mistake again.

So I have to admit, this is not a unbiased review. I have been visiting their Telegraph Canyon location for a while. They are very good to us there, and the same employees hop back and forth between both locations.
First of all, the steak phở is amazing. It is the best broth you will ever have in a soup. Not only that, but they get it right EVERY TIME. The quality is wonderful. The veggies that show up before the soup are always top notch and perfect. They must have a really amazing grocer! I usually start with the egg rolls or spring rolls. Those are both can’t-go-wrong options.
Next, the employees are great. They are always smiling, quick to help, and always on hand. Never have I encounter a grumpy employee.
The location here is what outranks the other grill. Set next to the pond at Eastlake Village, you get to watch turtles and ducks frolic while enjoying soup. They even have an outdoor patio or a bar set apart from the dining room.
All in all, I might start to migrate to this location!

My sister and I went here on a Sunday night– we understood it would take longer waiting to be seated so we sat at the bar. There was only 1 employee at the bar and he was nice but I felt sorry for him. This place is understaffed. I love the food and drinks but taking 20 – 30 minutes to attend to the customers — the owners need to hire more employees.

****BE AWARE***** they are including tips in your bill without you knowing and when u get ur credit card receipt back it doesn’t tell u that the tip it’s included so I almost gave my waiter double tips!!! I gave my CC to the waiter because I wanted to pay for the I tire bill without fighting with my friend about it, he then just brought me back the cc receipt and no bill, when I saw the total I thought it was too expensive so I asked the waiter to give me the actual receipt and that’s when I realizes he included 18% tip, I’m ok with included tips but at least let the customer know don’t play dumb and try to get extra money when u know your service sucks! This is very shady

Wonderful surprise. The restaurant décor is really nice of an Asian establishment. Their Phở is generous with the chicken. And observing the other tables those portions were generous as well. Our server, Ngan, was great. I tipped her above 20%. She was always available when we needed her and was never interrupting or over bearing.
The only criticism I have was the bathroom. The air could of been fresher. Strong mildew smell.