Pho Bac Cafe

Looking for some great Pho in Tacoma? Then head up to Pho Bac Cafe in Hilltop on S. 11th Street. We ordered the well done beef Pho and it was awesome! The broth, beef, and noodles were so good on a cold day! Definitely check them out!

My boyfriend LOVES this place and will definitely has a special place in my heart. Well-priced, efficient service and great portions, it's a perfect easy to go place or quick in-and-out spot. Sonny is funny and always has a great presence in the restaurant. Probably will stay a regular for a long time 😅😅😅

I tried this place last week. Fantastic pho. I had the everything bowl… tripe, tendon, meatballs and sliced beef. Incredibly friendly atmosphere and the owner gave me some bones for our dog. I highly recommend this restaurant for any serious pho addicts like myself.

The history behind this restaurant is amazing! Definitely look up Pho Bac being the first Vietnamese restaurant in Seattle. I think this restaurant is a part of the expansion for over 30 years in this area. Our family got the small combination pho. It was more than enough food. The pho broth is light, clear, sweet with umami flavors. They also serve some vermicelli dishes and 1-2 rice dishes as well as drinks. The Vietnamese coffee is strong and lightly sweetened. So yummy. A must go for a light meal with fresh ingredients!

If Google allowed half-stars, I'd give this place a 4.5. Pho Bac Cafe was pretty good, I would say better than your average pho place. The broth was good, but definitely not the best I've had. I did particularly like the meatballs in the combination pho though. I don't know if most places use the same frozen meatballs, but both the texture and flavor were better than every other pho place I've tried meatballs at. I usually avoid meatballs at pho places, but a friend had recommended I try them at Pho Bac Cafe. Not a major minus, but I had asked for no tripe in my combination and got some anyway. Service was also pretty typical for a pho restaurant. That said, if you are in the area and want pho, Pho Bac Cafe isn't a bad choice.

They literally only have pho and spring rolls on the menu. The place was busy. Tables were a nice size. You seat yourself. Took only a few mins for our bowls to come out. The pho was cloudy and not really that hot. I don’t think I’d be back to this place.

Do yourself a favor and stop in for a pho. This is not only one of my favorite pho in Tacoma but possibly ever. We eat here at least once a month.

Best raw beef Pho around. My favorite for sure! ❤️

I loved beef pho. It's nice to choose the size too! I prefer small portions. Also, Vietnamese coffee was great here. Service was perfect. Servers are attentive and kind. She gave me a short Vietnamese lesson :) They gave us green tea! Oh my goodness! Seattle pho restaurants charge for tea :( Atmosphere is great for pho. If I can request, I would love the background music louder. I heard a sound of Vietnamese music quietly. I wanted to listen more :) Highly recommend this place!

Best pho in Tacoma, hands down. Been going here since I was young and it's my family's favorite pho restaurant as well. Service is great. The workers are super nice and friendly. The pho itself is incredible. The broth is super flavorful and barely needs any hoisin sauce or sriracha. Meat is high quality too and noodles were tasty.

I ordered take out from here. Originally was going to order door dash but it was $71.00 on door dash and only a little over $40.00 to order directly to the restaurant and pick up myself. The food was prepared super quickly and was ready when I arrived. Their pho broth is unctuous and rich, it was absolutely delicious. Their grilled pork was one of the better Vietnamese dishes I've had in WA! We also ordered a kids pho with meatballs and some spring rolls. My daughter loved her pho and the spring rolls were standard aka delicious since I love spring rolls. I will definitely be back to this place, one great thing about it is they are actually open on Sundays!

Tacoma has great Pho restaurants. This is one of them. There are two other pho restaurants on the same block. How do they manage to all stay in business. You go in, order at the counter and then sit at your table. They'll bring to tea. I am not a pho expert but it is a good bowl of soup.

This is the best Pho in Tacoma, I would even go as far to say Washington, possibly even the west coast. Sonny treats you like family, super friendly and caring. The broth is the heart of Pho and nobody makes a better broth. Family owned and operated since the 80's and it definitely feels like it. If you're looking for great pho look no further 100/10 yes I meant to put 100 out of 10 that's how good it is.

I have been here 3 times. The first time was amazing when I was comparing it to lesser quality Noodle houses. The second time again was with my family . We ordered the same Steak pho #1 off the menu board. We received a brisket beef meat pho. You can easily tell the difference between raw beef and brisket. We wrote it off to maybe they ran out of steak. My last and definitely final time we ordered you guessed it the raw beef pho. A little later out came something other than our raw steak order. We told the server we did not order fatty beef and meat balls. She seemed perplexed. She took it back to the service counter. My wife witnessed from our table that is right next to the service counter the cook removing ingredients other than raw beef. We were again served a bowl of just fatty beef that we picked that we disappointedly picked out of our pho. When I went to pay I tried to express to the proprietor 2 times that the order was wrong and he pulled the English as a 2nd language challenge. And just repeated 40 dollars twice. I payed and walked away. He did not remember the first time we went there that he talked to my family in perfect english and told us the history of there shop. And even gave us a bag of bones for our dog. I'm not sorry for the rant. I just wished for a repeat of our first experience.

The broth is delicious! Barely have to add seasoning. I wish the portions were larger only because I could eat like two large bowls. It's THAT good. This has been my grandparents favorite pho restaurant forever, where they brought my dad when he was a kid. I was brought here as a kid and now my kids get to come here when we're in the Tacoma area.

Looking for some great Pho in Tacoma? Then head up to Pho Bac Cafe in Hilltop on S. 11th Street. We ordered the well done beef Pho and it was awesome! The broth, beef, and noodles were so good on a cold day! Definitely check them out!

Not sure what the hype is about! First and Last time here! The customer service was terrible! Very limited menu and the pho was nasty! And it smelled like restroom in the whole restaurant. I barely ate the pho and instead paid and left! Pho King around the corner is amazing! Go there!

One of my friend from vietnam recommended this restaurant. I was seeking some chance to visit this restaurant and finally made it. I ordered small beef steak pho. It was served quick around 5 minutes. Temperature for broth little low it was not super hot to cook vegi gatnish quickly but hot enough to cook them throughly. Broth flavor was light and deep. Scilantro and green onion was added as a base so it gives pleasant combination of taste with broth. I asked if they have onion oil, and they do. After adding onion oil, broth get heavier enough tho. I loved it. I feel time flies fast once I stared pho. I was able to finish mine quickly.

I have eaten here twice recently, and the pho was marvelous both times. The vegetables were fresh, and they aren't stingy about portions. There is nothing more disgusting than brown slimy sprouts--none of that here. The helpers are great, very amiable. My son was stunned by the lack of wait. We also ordered spring rolls. I can honestly say I have not had better spring rolls on the mainland, close to 5/5 and comparable to Honolulu, for sure. Easy to find next to Peterson Brothers/1111 Bar. Maybe hit both?

Sorry to say use to be my favorite pho place when visiting Tacoma took my family and my daughters MMA instructor. Last week the size of the bowls shrank and it tasted very watered down .

Visiting our son in Tacoma, he wanted to take us out to lunch for pho. He said it was the best in town so we decided to try it. We love pho. We're no experts, but we know what we like and we have some pretty good ones in Seattle. I ordered the small shrimp pho. Husband ordered the small veggie pho with tofu. Son ordered the large beef pho. Shortly after we ordered a guy came out of the kitchen and announced, "So sorry, we just ran out of bean sprouts. The driver has not arrived. Maybe he's stuck in the snow." There were groans and someone yelled out, "Don't shoot the messenger!" Another said, "That's okay, I don't like bean sprouts." There was laughter and no one left because of it. Our food was served. The waiter said to me, "Sorry for the sand in your bowl. It won't kill you." He laughed. I could see it was just fine pepper. I smiled and said, "It's okay. I don't mind sand in my soup!" We all enjoyed our meal. The soup was not overly salty. 5 good size shrimp in my bowl. A little sriracha gave it a kick. It's nice to know there are still comics during this pandemic. I will definitely return!

This is the pho scene that I used to experience in Seattle back in the day. Hearty broth full of flavor. After the first sip you will want to get your face down as close to the bowl as possible and slurp so you don't miss a drop!!

I've had better pho, but I've also had a lot worse. I can picture this being a good regular spot for locals.

came here for lunch on father's day. not too busy. plenty of seating. one of the staff came and took our order- no individual menu, just one big one on the wall. the bathroom is hidden in the corner but overall clean. the food came out pretty quickly. the spring rolls were not bad! unfortunately b/c i can't have peanut sauce it was pretty dry but a little bit of siracha helped a smidge. the pho itself was nothing amazing, just decent. the spoon actually had residual taste of washing detergent so the broth was actually "bubbly" - not good. but hey for the price point and the service, it wasn't too shabby; would've given 3 stars since it was OK but i feel like it could've been better (clean off the spoons better, have menus so we can all see it instead of walking up to the desk, etc).

Best pho I've ever had. Staff is very kind and fast. The restaurant is very clean and has a nice atmosphere. 10/10 recommend, everything on the menu is great

This bowl of pho is as authentic as it's gonna get here in WA. The service was friendly and quick to get us our food. If you love a good bowl of pho, you need to check this spot out!

Way better than pho king. They give you much more meat. Always had to order extra meat at pho king so it was more expensive

Walked into the restaurant, no one tells us where to sit so we find our own table. They don't bring menus so we walked up to the front to read the menu. When my friend and I went to go read the menu they told us to go sit down! When the waitress comes to get our order she bitterly says "What you want?". My friend wasn't sure since she didn't get a real chance to see the menu so the waitress walks away and comes back a minute later asking the same question. When we got our orders, it's not the soups we asked for but the woman was clearly in a bad mood or just didn't like us for whatever reason so we didn't want to bother addressing it. The thing is, I don't mind bad service if the food is actually good! I really don't. The food was less than mediocre and the portion sizes were small compared to every other pho spot we've been to. The place looks dirty with hardly any effort put into making it look decent. I don't care about that when the food is good but this was one of the weakest bowls of pho I've ever had. Terrible service for an overpriced bland small bowl of pho. The high rating this place has makes absolutely no sense. It's nothing like the Pho Bac locations in Seattle.

The Pho sucked a little bit less the more I ate. It's the first time I've ever added salt to a bowl of Pho

Updating my review. I can't believe I overlooked that I rated this a 4 Star. It is our FAVORITE pho place. Pho Bac was both of our kids' first foods! My son asks to go here every birthday. Pho Bac has watched our babies grow up. Their broth tastes the best in my opinion - it's not too salty, not too much anise or clove...just right. I can't stop getting their rare beef pho and fried egg rolls. TIP: THEY TAKE CREDIT CARDS NOW! Another tip: pay at the register

Oh man... I love phó!! This place has one of the best brisket and tendon noodle soups. Absolutely delicious... thinly sliced tendon... top notch!

Best pho broth, spring rolls and egg rolls in town. Can't forget to grab an ice coffee while you're there too.

I have been going here for 16 years or longer !!! The best place to get the best pho in Tacoma !! The broth is sooooo good and the meat is always tender and bomb.com... the prices are still reasonable with inflation but I def remember when the bowls used to $5 small, and $8 large !! I will always support this family business. Its so authentic and never an off day!! Pho Bac for Life!!

Came here today for the first time. The service was great and the staff were extremely nice. Our food out super quick. The pho was delicious and I love that the noodles were chewy (I hate soggy noodles). This place is so close to my home and I know that I will be back soon.

I love it here I been going here since I was 6 years old. Let me tell you if you want the best experience go in the morning! Overall, great people and great food. Sometimes they will have debit and credit card issues so I would keep cash handy.

This is hands down the best pho in town fabulous owner who puts A lot of care into making his own broth highly recommend you won't be disappointed

Great pho place to eat. Literally just sat down to order and our food came out not even a minute after. Good service, nice vibe and good pho.

as I walked in, it had that familiar Pho Bac Seattle smell.. I guess it is a part of the Pho Bac chain same setup of help urself chopsticks, spoons, napkins n condiments laid on each of their guest tables but as I helped myself 2 chopsticks, there were gnats flying out? Like 3 or 4 of them coming out n playing ring around the rosie.. but interesting though in contrast, their restroom was super clean Yep.. got that authentic Viet music playing too like the original Pho Bac in Seattle back in the day broth not as good, not as tasty as the original Pho Bac n doesn't have that rich beef flavor as much, but oh man.. they have that classic Pho Bac meat! n I had my pho w/ that oh so tender thinly fatty sliced brisket although it may not b exactly like the original Pho Bac in Seattle, but it is a good place 4 pho nonetheless + 1 of the gems here in Pierce County Ca$h Only confirmed from this visit n worth that $9 for the large bowl 5 stars is based on the fine Pho Bac meat like my dad said if ur meat quality's not good or overcooked, ur pho/pho restaurant is no good + decent broth too is a must also.. don't know where the cafe part came from as it is Pho Bac

Authentic, local, mom and pop shop. Food is outstanding. Affordable and hospitality is great.

First time dining here and it was outstanding. The pho has an excellent flavor with the clearest broth I've ever seen. Homemade egg rolls have a delicate wrapping and great flavor as well. Friendly service, no frills. If you're serious about pho, this is the place to go!

Wow it's gone downhill and I'm so sad for this business. We will not be coming back. Place smelled like urine. The bathroom door was wide open and nasty grimey. The soup tasted sour and the meat was very off. The eggrolls which I had raved about are now dry and not tasty as what it used to be. I wasn't very impressed this time around. I took my husband thinking it was going to be the same stellar pho house, and he said it wasn't good. They are still cash only, so be prepared to have bills.

If you want the beat pho, simple, convenient, and straight to the point... then stop looking. This is one the if not the oldest pho spots in Pierce County and are still around for a reason. They're the BEST. Their menu is simple pho, and egg rolls or spring rolls and a few drink varieties. Their broth is to die for, and everything from the tendon to the tripe to the meatballs is amazing. The environment is completely casual and its run by people who speak dominantly viatnamese. This isn't usually a problem due to the simplicity unless you have special needs. Tip! This is a CASH ONLY restaurant so come prepared. You can dine for about $10-$12/person with tip and leave completely satisfied.

The best broth in the 253! nc dùng!!! BASS! Bass Boost! I choose this over that and that over the other, always... BOOM ! (See Pic) thân thin... Friendly; not scared to serve an Anglo raw meat... Haha, Pho B.A.C is Tacoma's finest pho. tt nht! Pho sure...

They opened again for COVID! Been missing this place for months, no lie. You can call for order or come in but please wear masks. They also take credit cards now!

They renovated the place, clean and accept credit card. Beef broth is perfect. One of their most special which I rarely seen in other pho shops is the beef tendon, the slice is so thin and so yummy. I vote 5 stars for the taste.

Not located in the best of locations but the food is worth it. Also - be careful where you park as the lot adjacent to the cafe is for residents only. Family run pho restaurant. The Vietnamese iced coffee and pho Thai are excellent. Very low key and family friendly (we had our 6 month old with us in her stroller). There's nothing fancy about this place but when ever I visit the Tacoma/Seattle area (I live in California) I love to eat here.

The food here is good, especially if you're vegetarian, but dang I hate coming here. The atmosphere is horrific. I've been here more than once and I still don't know if they are supposed to seat you or if you order and pay at the counter. Don't bother asking any questions, nobody understands. Sitting here for 15 minutes and nobody has talked to me. I might just get up and leave....

Simple menu. Just soup. And if you just do soup, it needs to be AMAZING! Well, I've been here twice and it's been much less than that. Quickly greeted. Waters were brought. My friend asked for a menu and the fella pointed at the wall which was across the room and illegible. We went with our usuals. Funny thing is they have sizes Small, Large, and Xtra Large. We got the small and it was the perfect size. We drank just about all the water before soup came. No refills offered at any point. The soup came and was soooooo hot! Not a bad thing as it cooks the meat and noodles. My friend wanted a fork and I wanted chili oil. To the counter we went where we got the things. When my friend asked for a fork the person behind the counter replied, "saw that coming!" What does that mean? The pho was really good. Broth had great flavor. There were a lot of flies in there... kinda gross. Totally not the fault of the restaurant, but rather the parents at the table across from us, where the kids were clearly not taught any etiquette. The final straw was one kid pretending to puke under the table. I told my friend we needed to go. Some thing to be thing to be mindful of is that they are CASH only. But I'm pretty sure they'd take a card if they had to.

Tried Pho Bac today, very good. I got the beef combo bowl large and an order of spring rolls for takeout. The spring rolls were soft and tender and was very good with the peanut sauce. The broth from the pho had great flavor and tripe was tender. Will be returning soon. Thank you.

Been doing it since 1986! That's serious business. In the world of pho, that is positively grandfatherly. At least in the Puget Sound area. They're clearly a tightly bound part of the Hilltop community. and you can see it everywhere--tons of regulars, tons of event and arts flyers up in the windows. They must really care about their neighbors and their community. They only do pho. They have a menu board on the wall behind the register, it's like a burger joint or something. No menus at the table. They do have a couple appetizers, but no other entrees. They only take cash. They don't tell you this until you get up to the cash register. There's no ATM nearby. If you leave to get cash, even if it takes you 20 minutes to find an ATM and get back, your tablemates might still be looking at a mountain of dirty dishes. After 20 minutes. 20! We had three bowls of pho, two orders of spring rolls, and a lemonade, and all this was $32 even. Insanely good prices. That's why they get two stars instead of one. Those large bowls are true larges, just massive vessels of soup. The soup LOOKS amazing. At first. Nice slabs of meat, nice bright vegetables, nice bright condiments, huge leaves of basil--you could hedge off a garden with these condiments. The broth is pale, murky, and covered with drops of floating oil. Once you notice that, the soup doesn't look quite so amazing. It smells kinda funky, kinda got that wet laundry thing going on. Not that bone broth, cinnamon, coriander, star anise thing that you want it to have going on. The wet laundry thing. Feh. Those condiments look great. The chili paste looks great. Hey, that squeeze bottle is handy! They bring you a fork whether you ask for one or not. That's annoying. The lady brought out plates and shoved them around on the table like she was dealing three card monte. It took her forever to be satisfied that she had mixed the plates around enough. Lady, please. Another lady came out and mopped the floor while almost every table is packed. For every reason you can imagine, this is the exact wrong time to mop. It makes the floor dirtier. It makes it harder to walk on. You don't get under tables and chairs, where the food falls. Why are you mopping during dinner rush? So you can have witnesses that you used it? Based on their cleaning philosophy as it applies to kitchen floors, you can imagine how the kitchen and bathrooms look. Grimy buildup everywhere. You have to practically climb over stuff to get to the bathroom, then to get through it to the toilet. I know this place has built up a ton of regulars and a ton of loyal fans. Charging well into their fourth decade, I should hope so. Did they used to be amazing? They must have been. There are two better pho places on your way back to where you parked from here. The prices are rad, and the people are characters, and the history is awesome, but for the actual food, go somewhere else.

I came here as a young teen and came here more recently for the 3rd time and will have to say comparatively the soup base tastes much more authentic and flavorful whereas other pho soups aren't as flavorful and at times inconsistent. PROS: pho tastes really good and the prices are good with 3 varying sizes: normal, large, XL CONS: parking is limited so you park either on the street or across from it. Can seem a little bit unclean but you can just wash your utensils with some water.

I come here quite often cuz my boyfriend and friends LOVE this place. Frankly I am not too crazy about it. I only like this pho when I DOUSE it with hoisin sauce and sriracha. Also water often taste quite funky like the smell of the restaurant, which isn't the cleanest place. If they didn't love it so much I wouldn't be here but it does satisfy the pho fix during the cold winter days. Plus it's cash only, which adds onto the inconvenience if you're a card payer like me.

This is my absolute FAVORITE place to dine at. I have been dining here for 5 years now . I never had any problems with my food or the staff. I come here so much that the staff already know what I want before I even order Lol . They are always very friendly, always on time never take long to take my order or give my food. I get shrimp pho , it's never over cooked. I take family and friends here that's how much I love it. I only enjoy two pho places in Tacoma , this is my top fave!

I came here and got a bowl of noodles. Apparently the noodles come out first before water. I had to ask twice while I was nearly done with my food for water. It came with a side of passive aggressive attitude - just what I needed. Guess what? I won't be coming back

This is hands-down the BEST pho place in Tacoma and anywhere I've eaten it in the USA. The reason is simple--the soup is perfect. It's rich, spiced well, and has wonderful depth. I've seen how many beef bones go into it and talked to them about how long it all simmers. They don't take short cuts and you can taste the difference. People keep talking about bone broth and its health benefits. Well, this soup is bone broth deliciousness. When it comes to pho, two things really matter: the soup and the meat. Their meat is also high quality, and trimmed to perfection. No grizzle and no unnecessary fatty gross portions. I always get the flank and rare combo. Consistent quality. The portions are generous and they offer three sizes, too. Some places have more varieties of pho meats but I've never felt neglected at Pho Bac. They have a few appetizers and they're good--spring rolls and eggs rolls. Nice fresh peanut sauce. As for the price, it's below the average so there is real value here. And you can always order a smaller bowl if you're not too hungry. They even have a kid size one. One important thing to note: Bring CASH. No cards, no checks. The place is simple in terms of atmosphere. It's a lunch counter dining room but the people who work there are all exceptionally kind and gracious. The owner is a great guy and he'll chat with you any time he's there. He always remembers me and my order. Go get some pho!

Cash Only (nearby machine took $3). Never got a cheque (guy at counter chose a number). $25 for 1 regular & 2 small bowls. Repeatedly asked to be served tea. Repeatedly. Waited a loooong time to give orders. Yes, the people are nice. Yes, the food is fresh as in all phö restaurants. But, what's going on with Cash Only? Is business that difficult? Are taxes that high? There are three other phö restaurants on this corner! I've been to all three and this place simply does not keep up with the others.

Do not go anywhere else! Pho Bac Cafe is the best! Bring your cold hard cash, because they do not take cards. Go ahead and order the Large or X-Large Bowl..... if you order anything smaller you are just cheating yourself, not treating yourself. :)

CASH ONLY This is my first visit here and there were some surprises at first but everything worked out for one of the best experiences. I'm on a quest to find the best bahn mi around and had not been here. They only have Pho and a few other items but no bahn mi. The second "bump" was they only accept cash. I ordered a small beef pho and two spring rolls. It turned out I only had $12.00 cash but that is exactly what my bill came to. I had ordered and then explained and they said I had the exact amount. The pho was some of the best I've ever had. Everything was very fresh and the soup stock was perfect. The service was excellent. I will come back again and be sure to bring my cash with me. It was a cold and windy day so the pho hit the spot. This is an add to my review, the manager/owner is a super nice guy.