Pho Chef

Why does this place have less than 5 stars? It is hands down best phở in Columbus! Chicken phở every time, Spring rolls are good too. The restaurant itself is clean and service is fast.

YUM!!! If I lived closer I think I would get the curry chicken soup and the chicken phở pretty much on alternating days, and forget about any other restaurants (or cooking). In fact, just writing about this place I’m developing a craving again. Friendly, fast service, free WiFi (which I don’t use much because I get takeout and, well, their service is fast as mentioned). Some day I’ll try other things in the menu too. But for now, who needs anything else?

This is one of my favorite restaurants.
The freshness of the ingredients and the simple, but perfect execution of everything on the menu is something to behold.
The phở is delicious.
The spring rolls and and the Vietnamese sandwiches are too.
Really can’t go wrong here and the price is great too.

I ate at Phở Chef for the second time today for lunch. As with my previous visit the location was clean, service was reasonably quick and I don’t have any major complaints. Basically, the food is ok, but not above my standard for repeat business. Last time I got the phở and felt it was too strong on five spice. This time I got a bahn mi and egg rolls. I didn’t like the egg rolls at all. They were just filled with an odd tasting meat ball mix. The bahn mi was serviceable with properly cooked pork and a nice fluffy, crunchy roll but the flavor was not on point. I could taste a lot of hoisin sauce and not much else. The sandwich was completely devoid of spice that usually comes from Jalapeño. I’m not going to go back and that makes me kind of sad. I was hoping for good Vietnamese near work.

Ate there for the first time yesterday, definitely going back. Great food at a great price. The phở was awesome and perfect for a fall day. Also had the spring rolls and bubble tea, both were great. Price is very reasonable.

Great food at a great price. Love the S7 and shrimp spring rolls. Usually get take out and they are super quick and attentive.

I ordered the P15. Great flavor and came in a huge bowl (did not upgrade to the «big bowl»). Super cheap as far as what I have found in the area and fast service. I will go back.

Great food, fast service, nice friendly staff! That’s what every restaurant should have!

The ambience is very basic, a few tv’s and tables, nothing fancy. Food is not expensive for what you get and I liked everything we ordered. We order the sampler app and two bowls of phở (beef and seafood) «upgrade for the big bowl, it’s only a dollar extra». However nothing looks likes it does in their menu so prepare yourself. Service was friendly, they only had 1 or 2 other tables while we were there so I really can’t speak to much to speed while they are busy. We will definitely go back!

My family and I was just there yesterday for the first time. After running the Dublin Irish festival 5k we had decided to try the place out. We walked in 20min til closing time. Yes they still took us in but they were very rude, insuring us to hurry up and order. My family and I felt unwelcome and very rushed. I understand that we walked in close to closing time but I also work in the customer service world as stylist and if someone walked in my shop close to closing time I still take them n I may stay over from 15 mins to an hr after closing and I would never let the customer feel unwanted.
Although the quality of the food was descent it not worth coming for, luckily we have other Vietnamese restaurant here in Columbus with way better customer service. Mi li’s café and Indochine makes you feel like part of their family and happy to service you at any time.

I’ve tried a lot of phở in Columbus, and this is the best I’ve had. The only thing missing was some culantro. Very fast service, and good prices.

Pretty good flavor, but not a good value. I liked the bbq pork vermicelli and the phở tai (6.99 + tax). The phở portion was on the small side. I guess if youre dying to eat phở this is the only place I know of on the west side to get it. I will not return for a third visit.

First of all, I try to rate a place based on what it’s intended to be. This is a small Asian restaurant in a strip mall. The folks here do a great job of providing very tasty Asian food at very good prices! I’ve had the chicken curry with rice which was excellent. That was lunch. I enjoyed it so much I returned for dinner. I had the appetizer sampler which was less than $ 4 and well worth it. Then the beef Phở. Perhaps the best broth I’ve had, anywhere. Seasoned well and perfect balance of slight heat. The only issue I see is that their dinner business on a Wednesday night is incredibly slow. Just a shame that more people aren’t here enjoying what these folks are doing. (No, I’m not related to them. Heck, I live 800 miles from here but come to Columbus often for business) Great little place worth checking out!

I’m a fan of this place for PHO. they have plenty of options for different Phở combinations, tripe, tendons, pork, meatballs, chicken and the special. It’s definitely my go to spot even though its a little farther than I want to drive. But the servers and kitchen staff are pretty quick to take your order and deliver the food pretty fast. It is always busy when I’m there. The reason I chose this place for Phở is because of the consistency of the broth and how flavorful it tastes to me. That means everything to me when you sip on the broth before you add all the toppings to spice it up (hoisin, saracha, hot oil, black pepper, lime, basil) I prefer my broth with a lot of flavor instead of the watered down Phở broth that lacks flavor at some of these other places. I like how they prepare ice coffee and thai tea. I know most southeast asian restaurants serve it but I do notice when one stands out from others and as long as I’ve been drinking ice coffee vietnamese style (condense milk) I know the difference. I can’t say much about anything else except for the Phở because if the restaurant name is «Phở Chef» I have to try what they aim to target Phở seekers. The décor is simple just a huge TV and tables, clean bathrooms, clean restaurant. Def, try this place out if you are in the mood for Phở and also they have an extensive menu so you could spend a long time trying to figure out what you want to eat. They may serve Phở but I know they are not one dimension. They do one thing good and thats great but they also do a lot of other things great. Kudos for giving us options when it comes to Phở and Vietnamese cuisine and maybe a little Thai/​Cambodian.

Uuugggghhhh! Gross! I ordered the shrimp and garlic fried noodle entrée to bring home. Well, I think they screwed the order up and gave me the shrimp pad tai. Not only was there NO garlic flavor anywhere in the dish, I got that horrible artificial crab meat you can get in the grocery. In addition to the fake crab meat there was some anonymous rubbery white stuff… I’m thinking wannabe squid. I was disappointed to see 3 lousy, skinny undeveined shrimp, but after tasting the over cooked shrimp I was glad I only got 3. The sauce was super thin and watery and I’m feeling sick to my stomach just typing these words. I will NEVER go back to eat at this place! I should have gone to Windchimes on Frantz rd. I gave one star because I couldn’t post my rant until I rated restaurant. I actually give NO stars!

I have to start with the iced coffee! Im wide awake and loved it. I really love hot foods and the spicy steak phở was awesome. Very fragrant, fresh, and flavorful with just the right heat. My wife is more into simple foods so they gladly made her a garlic chicken dish over noodles thats not even on the menu. I love customer service like this. Very friendly staff and overall a great alternative to chinese food!

Finally made it here on a dreary day perfect for phở. Then I promptly changed my mind and got something else.
The menu is large and diverse. There was a lot I wanted to try– phở, assorted noodle dishes, sandwiches… Something drew me to the vermicelli, and so I went for Hanoi-​style, figuring it would be close to authentic. Surrounded by Asians in an Asian restaurant, I assumed the food would be appropriate. It was darn good, but I should have gone with the phở. Nothing wrong with what I got; it just wasn’t as hearty and warming as phở would have been on such a wet, chilly day. It was a sort of deconstructed dish similar to phở, but on a plate– cold noodles (not rice noodles,) hot tender grilled pork (as you might find on banh mi,) lots of very fresh veggies, some sliced tofu. Excellent, individually and together. I also had the add-​on meatballs, out of curiousity. Pretty darn good, and might be good in a soup.
I also got a grilled pork banh mi and some Vietnamese egg rolls to go, for lunch at work later. Ah, banh mi. The perfect sandwich. Well, maybe tied with a good BLT. But that just-​right combination of soft and chewy bread, flavorful meat, vegetables so fresh they make you think you’re standing in a garden… The sandwich was great– good bread, great meat, lots of fresh veggies. The egg rolls were okay, but I think next time I’ll go with spring rolls.
Prices are low. Service is pretty good. The place is Spartan, but nice enough. I’ll definitely be back.

Clean, cheap, good, and fast. I don’t think you can ask for much more. It’s not amazing, but it will satisfy any phở craving you have or if you’re sick, you’ll need this noodle soup!
I prefer Huong’s for phở, but it’s a little bit further than this, so I’d gladly come here instead of driving out to Morse towards Easton. I also haven’t tried other items on their extensive menu, so I’ll be back!

In the frigid temps of early January, my friend and I decided to bundle up and try Phở Chef since we’ve never been. It sounded like a great meal for a cold day. We were pleasantly surprised with the restaurant even after there were some negative reviews.
Firstly, it’s located on the corner in a small plaza on 161. If you’re heading westbound on 161 then there is an easy right turn entrance into the parking lot. If you’re headed eastbound on 161, then you’ll need to turn on Sawmill Pl Blvd and go in through the back of the plaza.
We ordered the tofu spring rolls, which comes with a peanut sauce. I enjoyed the rolls and the peanut sauce. We also ordered the curry chicken rice noodles and the special combination Phở. The curry chicken rice noodles was really good. It had great seasoning/​spice and was just what I was hoping for.
As a previous reviewer stated, there are very few vegetarian items on the menu; I only eat chicken, so I have more flexibility, but they did say that they cook with 3 main bases including chicken, pork, and beef. The chicken curry dish was cooked with a chicken broth base.
The service was friendly and VERY quick! I would definitely go back and have the chicken curry again and may try another chicken dish.
I’ll be posting a couple photos in a few minutes as well.

My first bowl of phở of the new year brought me to the Sawmill & 161 area and Phở Chef for a big steaming bowl of tasty and I was not disappointed. Walking in the door of this clean, open and well lit dining room I was greeted immediately and ushered to a nice sunny table.
The dining area is open, uncrowded and dominated by a huge flat screen tv on one side of the room while the rest of the area is adorned with a couple large pictures of vietnamese foods and coffee. As always, I find it strange that many of these places have large TV’s with the volume muted, no captions and then radio playing over it, quirky.
I already knew what I was there for but took time to peruse their very nice menu with good descriptions and pictures of each of the dishes served there. I can see that these spiral bound menus would make it very appealing for folks without experience with vietnamese cuisine.
Ordered the Phở Tai and it was delivered in less than 10 minutes, steaming, hot and fragrant. A perfect sized plate of bean sprouts, basil, lime and jalapeño slices accompanied it, very fresh and colourful. Each table is stocked with soup spoons, napkins and the usual roundup of rooster, hoisin, soy and their own house made sauce.
When it comes to phở the broth is always the star. The broth here was clear with a distinct savory beef flavour that was accented nicely with the usual spices in phở. A good sized share of rice noodles was accented with cilantro, slivered onion and bite sized slices of lean beef.
Overall on my first trip here I can say this place is clean, has a friendly helpful staff and while I can’t comment on the other dishes served here I can say they do serve up a tasty big smiling bowl of delicious phở. I’ll be back on during the next Phở Moon and the urge overcomes me when I am in the neighborhood.