Pho Le, Carol Stream

A new Vietnamese restaurant has opened on the Wheaton/Carol Stream border and I had the pleasure of eating lunch there today.

Pho Le is a small but comfortable space with about 9 or 10 tables (four tops.) It is in a small strip mall facing Geneva Road just east of the corner of Main/Schmale and Geneva but has an address on Schmale. Don't let that fool you.

Naturally, I had a bowl of Pho, specifically the house special Pho Le Dac Biet. The menu describes it as "Pho Le Special rice noodle soup with rare & well-done slices of beef and meatballs. It was a lovely fragrant broth with meat balls, brisket, flank steak (I think) and tripe and tendon. I wasn't expecting the tripe and tendon so was pleasantly surprised by their appearance. Sawtooth herb, thai basil, lime, jalapeno slices, and slivered cabbage came on the side and a well appointed condiment tray sat on every table.

Four young Vietnamese sat next to me and I nosily peeked at their lunch--it appeared to be Com Suon Bi Cha: Fried porkchop, shreded (sic) pork skin and egg cake piled on rice. It looked great.

My dining companion and I were the only non-Asians in there for lunch and they've been open for 2 weeks. It bodes well that nearly all the tables were full and a few take out orders were filled while we were there.

Although we didn't try anything but Pho, other menu items included Banh Mi (that's what I plan to try next time), set price family dinners that include "sour thin soup with shrimp or fish", "catfish or bacon simmed on clay pot (sic)", and "green leaf stir-fried with garlic (Rau Muong Xao Toi)."

Goat, tripe, congee, tendon all appear on the menu...although I am mystified by the odd translation "bible trip." Avacado shake and salty lemonade appear on the drink menu.

Pho Le
551 S. Schmale Rd
Carol Stream IL 60188
630-588-8299
Hours 9 am to 10 pm (sign in window says closed Tuesday)

Thanks for the pointer. Will try it out sometime.

Also, someone maintains this web page that has a list of other Vietnamese restaurants in that area. This new one is not on it yet.

I tried this place out today for lunch.
The foods were very decent and good portion (pho, rice dishes, egg rolls) and the place was pretty clean.
The problem with "Pho Le" (i.e Quick Pho) in my opinion was the terribly slow service. I had to grab the menu myself after waiting for a good 10 mins, and then wait another 15 mins before someone noticed me and started taking orders. I saw 2 groups on non-Asian customers got up and left the restaurant while I was there because no one paid attention to them. The other Asian customers still lingered around because they at least had their iced coffee. There were a couple guys looked busy behing the counter and seemed content to take care of the carry-out clientele first. There wasn't much customer interface that I could see.
I hope they can make fast improvements in the customer service area or their business won't last long! Tay Do has already suffered from this problem.

I was in the area and tried this place yesterday. It is a small, but clean and well kept restaurant. I tried the egg rolls, which were excellent, and the com suon bi cha (rice plate with fried pork chop, shredded pork skin, and egg cake), which was also very good. Prices are reasonable (most dishes around $7) and portions are big. Overall, quite nice.

There is also a reasonably big Vietnamese grocery store in the same strip mall, next to the Home Depot.

I've been to Pho Le several times and have not found anything that I didn't like. I particularly like the spring rolls and the pho (although I thought that more greens to add would have been good). Overall not nearly as good as the shuttered Tay Do, but much better that the upscale Vietnam Bistro, corner of North Ave and Schmale, also Carol Stream. Nonetheless, Pho Le is now my go to place whenever I need a Vietnamese fix.

The website mentioned is not maintained at all as the listed Pho Saigon has been gone for several years, Tay Do (not listed) took its place literally, and it is unfortunately now also closed.

I never noticed this place because I rarely drive on Geneva, but I stopped at the Comcast office across the street and decided to come back to Phở Le for lunch. It was pretty good compared to the other Vietnamese restaurants in the area; well above Luong Loi, Vietnam Bistro and Boraan's (though I still like their Thai food). The phở gân bò (tendon) was very good, and the spicy noodle soup (Bún bò Huế) I had could have been improved by some pork blood cake, but I really had no complaints. The vermicelli with grilled pork (bún thịt nướng) was also fantastic; I could barely pull my wife away from it.

When we got the check, I couldn't resist buying a bánh tét to go. Had it for lunch today, and I tried it both boiled and fried, and I think I'm a convert to the fried version. When I get Chinese zhong in the future, I'm frying them!

My wife was bugging me to go back and get something from there tonight, but they're closed on Tuesdays! Boo hoo!