Sally P.
Yelp
I used to adore this place when it was plain old Pho Chu The. Grimy laminex tables, most of the menu written in Vietnamese, heck most of the patrons were Vietnamese.
It used to be my place to take "shame-dates", like on Sex And The City, when Big takes Carries to the crappy Chinese restaurant with the good food but horrid decor that guaranteed anonymity. But mostly, I came because the Pho was amazing. I alternate between the beef chicken combination, and the plain beef.
BUt then some bastard took rockstar NYC chef David Chang here, and he told some blogger that he liked it... and well, then it became hipster central. So now I have to line up. Thanks for screwing up my local, Chang.
And in the aftermath of this success, they somehow decided that they needed to revamp the whole restaurant (and move it two doors down) and the dingy no-frills interior was replaced with a "safe for white folk" image. That's where they lose a star from me.
BUt man, $9 for a huge bowl of deliciously aromatic pho with rice noodles? Hell. Yes.