Pho King

Fantastic service I just stopped by to get a to go order they got to me in like 5 seconds got my order threw it on the line and while I waited they gave me water and a chair to wait all this without saying one word by far the best service I’ve ever gotten in any restaurant in san diego. 5 stars and 2 thumbs up

The only reason I gave Phở King one star is because the food is not that bad. However, the service and ownership is horrible. I know I shouldn’t expect much service going to this type of restaurant, but at least basic service would be nice. Why do they even «serve the public», when they can’t even take an order right or provide acceptable service.
As I was ordering, I didn’t finish ordering and the girl just walked away. I had to call her back and told her we needed to order our drinks too. She gave me a look as if it «Annoyed the H_​LL out of her. It’s her DAM$ job. This is a family business. However, at Phở King, the employees (family members) seem as if they don’t like being there. My advice, work somewhere else. As my advice to myself, I’ll eat somewhere else too.

There are plenty of places with the same name, so it’s hard to tell which is the Phở King original. From all the Phở King’s I’ve experienced, I have to admit and say that this is not the best Phở King. If you want to get your Phở King on, try Orange County, it’s the best Phở King you’ll ever get!

Got the vegetarian phở, it comes with tofu and some vegetables, pretty good. The service wasn’t too friendly or welcoming. My friend got the #10 Phở King, he said it was pretty good.

I seriously come here twice a month. My favorite is the hieu tieu mi tho nuoc. That’s usually my favorite at any Vietnamese restaurant but this place uses clear noodles which I love. The broth is really flavorful and has a lemony finish. I usually order this to go and even then, the dish is still good.
The only place you’ll find the noodles, broth and red sauce separated. Actually this is probably the ONLY place you’ll find the red sauce. The service is fast and he restaurant is always kept clean. A good place to go on a raining or cold day.

I have been to this place twice. The restaurant itself is very tidy and welcoming. The gripe I would have is the service. Both times I went, the place wasn’t that busy. Maybe only about 5 other customers besides myself. The server were slow and only came to the table once. I had to get up twice. Once to ask for a refill and another to ask for napkins and more sides. Both times when I had to get up; the server was busy their cell phone.
I’ll give this place one more shot, but hopefully next time it’s a little better. Other then that, the Phở was awesome. And spring rolls were good, a little sticky, but good nonetheless.

Never and never again
I usually come here once a week but today will be my last day here. Terrible service ! I was very disappointed. We were seated very quickly and 5 minute later the server came out and moved us to another table, she said this table reserved for the big group then why you seated us at the beginning?

Came in late night and stil wee seated pronto.
Ordered the Dac biet phở and thought it was ok, a bit bland compared to other places
The avocado shake was so good with boba.
The guy server was nice.
Will be back for hu tieu

My noodles were ok but I probably should have just gotten Phở… given that Phở King is the name of this place.
I ordered the #48. Mi Xao Thao Cam — Soft stir fried egg noodle combo — beef, shrimp, pork and I think, chicken too.
The shrimp in the combo were tasty & cooked just right until I got to the 4^th one — the gastrointestinal tract hadn’t been totally removed. I know it’s ok to eat it but it’s not a very appetizing visual.
It was fine but the noodles were clumped together, even after adding the broth. Maybe ordering them «crispy» would have changed that.
Our group also ordered the fried egg rolls, I ate only one bite because it had a strange smell & tasted like the meat had soured.
Next time I’m in the area I may just stick to their phở or try Phở Hoa.

Stopped in just because of the name… Phở King. What, no one is catching that?
The phở was weak. There are better options in that area of town. It’s dingy, the tables wobble, service is iffy (I expect iffy service at most Vietnamese restaurants, but this was terrible… I need a flare gun to get your attention to refill my water?), spring rolls were cold, rubbery and the shrimp was not even close to fresh… and the broth (phở is all about the depth and nuance of the broth) was bland.
I asked the counter lady (yes, THAT nose-​drilling engineer referenced in Vicente’s review, and I can confirm that nasal fracking was aggressively in progress) if they sell t-​shirts with their name on it (again, the name… hehehehe). Rude look and a dismissive attitude… like ‘Are you stupid? No, we don’t sell t-​shirts for $ 20 and make a mint off the SDSU kids!’ Wow. Giving you an easy roadmap to a new profit stream… guess I’m an as**olé. Boogers and attitude, hell of a combo.
Won’t be back, needless to say.
AVOID THIS PLACE (unless they start selling t-​shirts, then buy one, laugh loudly, but avoid the food).

Not the best tasting phở restaurant on El Cajon Blvd.
My review is not without reason.
I ordered an order of spring rolls and a no. 11 which is the rare steak.
The Spring Rolls: a little bit on the rubbery side but still edible. The peanut sauce tasted more like fish oil sauce. If it’s an added ingredient that I’m unaware of, then they overdosed it. In addition, it was at a hot temperature.
The no. 11 was tender, flavorful, and not overcooked from the temperature of the broth. The broth itself was good too.
Cleanliness of the restaurant is acceptable to a certain extent. The table I was sitting at was still sticky, chopsticks wet from the wash.
The thing that was the deciding factor in my entire experience that would have had me come back, was the elderly lady with glasses and her hair tucked in a pony tail. She was picking her nose as I was walking in. Sitting behind the counter as if no one was seeing her or just didn’t care but she really dug it in there. As a former restaurant manager myself, that for me is the turn off.
As I said, my rating is not without reason and therefore I will not be coming back to Phở King.

This Hu Tieu is phở-​king amazing!
Best Hu Tieu in town! There’s two types of Hu Tieu: nam vang (phở noodles), mi tho (transparent glass noodles). I don’t like the glass noodles because they feel heavy in your stomach afterwards and it’s pretty chewy. The broth is super flavorful and delicious! Be aware, Hu Tieu comes with liver squid and all sorts of meat, I usually ask them to remove the liver meats stuff.
Tip: eat it with the jalapeño peppers, it gives a crunch and kick to your noodles. I love spicy food so jalepenos makes it so much better!
Banh Hoi: my second choice if I’m not craving Hu Tieu. Portions are good enough for 1.5 people. They provide spring roll papers to roll but I like eating Banh Hoi and the meats itself with all the veggies, pineapples with the fish sauce. A spot to get your banh hoi cravings, super good!
Phở: I wouldn’t eat phở here even though it’s called Phở King. Highly recommend to get phở at Phở Hoa, which is across the street from this place or Phở Ca Dao which is a couple blocks north.
Service: great, young workers but hard working. Their English isn’t perfect but be patient with them because they really try to understand you. My parents know the owner, so we’re always greeted and treated very well.
Overall, phở King is a great Vietnamese restaurant to eat, especially their hu tieu dishes. Highly recommend trying it because it’s phở-​king great #sopunny

I have literally lived in this area most of my life, and I’ve always known about this place, but just the name itself, never appealed to me. Until last night… my sister suggested a type of dish that they served here, and I was convinced to try this dish.
+ Hu Tieu King Kho (Small $ 7.95/Large $ 8.95)
(Dry/​Wet Noodle Dish with bbq pork, shrimp, fish ball, squid, ground pork, fried onions, green onions topped with sauce)
First of all, I recommend getting the large size bowl because it’s ONLY $ 1 more!!! Plus the small size is like literally half the size of the large bowl which is ridiculous. So basically its a bowl of your choice of noodles (clear, rice or egg noodles). Then you get to choose whether you want it served in broth (wet) or have broth on the side (dry). Personally it’s great both ways, but for this particular dinner, I wanted to try it dry. They also give you this soy sauce flavored black sauce with garlic in it that you can toss on top of everything as you go. Throw some veggies in there and mix it all up and enjoy! Honestly, it was delicious!!!
Personally, since I am vietnamese, I try to stay away from Phở, because thats what I grew up on and am tired of and there are just so many other amazing dishes rather than just boring Phở!!! And I like that they have a lot of options here. I am definitely coming back to try the Banh Hoi! If you dont know what that is, I recommend googling it and then trying it out for yourself! It’s one of my favorite dishes.
Overall, simple little restaurant with good service, good food and cheap prices.

2 stars = low grade, bland tasting and poor quality food.
Go to better places on same block.

I really liked this place. I had always heard of it but never been. I had the chicken phở soup is basically chicken soup with rice noodles. It was so good. The broth was perfectly rich and I still can’t believe the portion sizes, they are insanely huge! For such a small price too. We got the egg rolls as well, don’t know why. My eyes were bigger than my stomach for sure. I was impressed. They aren’t my favorite spot yet, but they’re good.

When it comes to Vietnamese food in San Diego, I kind of, sort of, totally have a favorite spot for every dish. Go figure that it’s not a single location that has MANY great dishes, lol.
I come to Phở King when I’m craving Hu Tieu with the red sauce. The portions look small because of the shallow bowl but it’s actually a great amount of food! I typically get the phở noodles but thought I would try the clear noodles too… And I’ll go back to phở noodles next time. The consistency of the clear noodles don’t soak the red sauce up and I’m a saucy person.
Wait staff is kind and gives you your space (which is a nice way of saying they almost never revisit your table) but it’s an old fashioned Asian establishment… We all don’t expect good service here.

This place has poor ventilation and it gets hot inside. Bench seating for the main tables.
Phở Dac Biet is decent. But the fixings are not as tender as other locations. Sometimes tough or off tasting flank.
Noodles can be too much. The bowl is not big enough so you end up with over flowing mess after you add the veggies.
Worth a try.

I’m from St. Pete, Fl but i think most of our phở places beat this one. The portion definitely will fill you up which mean good portions but something was not flavorful enough in my phở. I like their thai tea though! I wouldn’t return for their phở though.

I like this place well enough. The phở is pretty good, not the best I’ve had, but definitely not the worst.
I’ll come back.

I’ve been addicted to their Hu Tieu My Tho for the past 2 years. It’s definitely worth trying if you’re looking to diverge from the traditional noodle soup.
Although there is a lot, the parking is pretty limited since the plaza is so busy.