Phohut

My office is walking distance to Pho Hut, and I swing by once in a while when I’m craving Vietnamese and I’m really hungry. It’s not the best Vietnamese in LA, nor the cheapest ($7-8 for pho and $8 for bun, aka vermicelli???) but it is the closest Vietnamese in the Glendale area.

That said, the food makes a perfectly good, satisfying lunch in the middle of a workday. The portions are huge, even of the regular bowl of pho (vs the large). I always have leftovers whenever I go here, no matter what I order. They give you ample amounts of basil, bean sprouts, etc. to go with your pho, and of course there is sriracha on every table. I’ve tried the seafood pho (#13) which has shrimp, squid, and fish balls, the meatballs pho (#9), and the combo of brisket, flank steak, tendon, and tripe (#2). The seafood pho wasn’t as exciting as it could have been (well, I guess traditionally you don’t make pho with seafood anyway). The meatballs in the meatballs pho were a bit rubbery for me. I liked the #2 pho the best, as it seemed to have the deepest flavor, both in terms of the broth and the beef, tendon, etc.

The bun (vermicelli) is pretty good too. I usually get the combo that includes shrimp, beef, pork, and egg roll (chopped into bite sized pieces). They do a good job of not overcooking the shrimp and the meat. Also, the egg roll skin is usually crispy, unlike many places where the egg rolls are soggy when they serve the vermicelli.

They also have some other Vietnamese items like banh mi (sandwich) and com (rice dishes) but I’ve never tried them.

Pho Hut gets very crowded at lunch, particularly between 12-1pm, so you’re better off going after that. All in all, I wouldn’t call this a destination place by any means, but if you’re in Glendale and yearning for Vietnamese, it’ll do the trick.