Nathan W.
Yelp
love Vietnamese food and am so glad we finally have a Vietnamese restaurant in Hammond. My group and I stopped by here Monday and were blown away with the food. We were also very pleased that the restaurant seemed busy - that's a good sign.
My appetizer of Vietnamese spring rolls came to the table and were beautiful and nicely sized for the price. Although I have never had them with just lettuce before (usually they are stuffed with Thai basil, cilantro and mint), they were very tasty and the thin dipping sauce that comes with them is delicious. The rice paper wrapping was the perfect mix of chewy and tender.
I ordered the deluxe pho and I can say that the broth is the cleanest, purest pho broth I have had in years. The large size bowl was filled with delicious rice noodles and beef and came to our table piping hot and full of flavor. Standards such as bean sprouts, Thai basil, green chili pepper slices and lime wedges were served on the side. Although I did miss a little fresh cilantro like I've had in other places, the flavor of the soup was more than enough to make me forget about it entirely. Best of all - I had leftovers for later!
The atmosphere is bustling - I really liked the bars with bar stools lining a couple of the walls - it made it feel like a really authentic asian style restaurant where you come in, eat your food, and be on your way. Plenty of tables as well, but if you go for lunch you may want to go before or after the lunch rush or you might end up waiting for a table to open up. The entire restaurant was clean and bright and just felt comfortable.
The wait staff, admittedly, can be just a TAD on the slow side, but they are doing great so far. This will all change as everyone settles into their roles and I can see nothing but improvement. They are very friendly and accomodating, full of smiles and eager to help with any questions. I also thought that it was a truly wonderful thing that the owner stopped by our table and introduced himself and offered up some suggestions from the menu. I really enjoyed seeing him walking around the entire restaurant keeping an eye on things and helping out where he could. You can tell he is proud of Pho Grace and wants it to succeed, and if our experience Monday was indicative of how things are going to be, I see nothing but success in the future.
Hammond, if you've never had Vietnamese food or are looking for a good bowl of pho, please give Pho Grace a try. I hope they stay around for a long time and am eager to go back and sample everything they have to offer.