We were in the Nolita area doing some errands, and we ventured to this street looking for some food. There are many restaurants to pick from, but my partner did not want anything spicy or filling. From where we stood, I looked across the street, and I saw this pho place. We were also decently near the Lower East Side, but it started to rain and steered us towards eating at this restaurant. We walked in for 2 around 4:30 PM on a Saturday afternoon without reservations easily. As of this writing in addition to the Nolita location, they also have it in Gramercy and Park Slope.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance feels like a normal fast casual type restaurant. There were plenty of tables available, and the service was extremely fast once we ordered. Since it’s not the true dinner crowd, there was plenty of attention provided when needed.
Food
The Vietnamese Iced Coffee ($6) contains condensed milk, and it was pretty good.
The Beer Battered Fish Tacos ($14.50) came with 2 pieces, served with a coconut rice crepe, bean sprout, pickled vegetable, and mint garnished with fried shallot. It was served with salsa, which consisted of tomato, red pepper, cilantro, and onions. The coconut rice crepe was interesting. It reminded me more of an arepa-like texture than typical tacos. The overall flavors of this though were pretty good.
The 5ive Special Pho ($23) came slightly spicy with sliced raw angus eye round, sliced angus brisket, boneless braised short ribs, and Vietnamese beef balls. The soup was pretty good, and so were all the meats. Some of the meats were very tender and braised with a lot of flavors. I particularly enjoyed the sliced raw angus slices of meat because those were definitely high quality. This bowl of pho reminded me of some LA style pho, and its flavors were pretty good for a modern spin on it. The noodles were thankfully cooked al dente and quite tasty.
Overall Impression
For a pho places, this place probably won’t rank the highest, but it does satisfy the pho fix. If you’re really yearning for pho and around the area, this is a decent place to check out. It’s a fair Vietnamese restaurant that doesn’t quite match a Vietnamese’s neighborhood’s food, but good enough.
Yelp & Google Jabs
It is my go to Vietnamese restaurant when I’m in New York City
This Elitist might be coming here frequently because it’s easy to walk-in. It doesn’t mean it’s the best though. I’m still on the hunt for this without having to venture into Chinatown.
Nowadays a lot of pho places have bland or not flavorful soup. But the soup here was very flavorful and delicious.
The soup can be subjectively bland, but it’s also because that’s how the broth is made. Then people load up on hoisin and sriracha and lime, and now the soup has something going. I find that many of the modern takes on pho soup bases are adding a lot more ingredients in it, which is steering it away from its classic composition. That’s not a bad thing, but just something different.
Revisions
- Aug 16, 2026 - Initial revision.