Korean/Pho on the southwest side/sw suburbs/western suburbs

Im new to the site, and I have to say Ive been entertained reading everyone's posts on all sorts of subjects.

Im looking for a Korean/Pho place on the SW side or SW suburbs. (I just saw Tony Bourdain eating Pho on No Reservations and it had me seriously salivating!)

Anywhere from Orland, to Oak Brook, to the SW side of the city would work.

Anyone have any suggestions out there?

Thanks!

Try Pho Ha in Glendale Heights.

1971 Bloomingdale Rd
Glendale Heights, IL 60139

(630) 894-4000

And there's Korean in Downers (Korean Garden, I think). FWIW, you won't likely find pho (Viet) in a Korean place.

When you have the time you should head up to Argyle St for some of the best.

One great spot...

Tank Noodle
4953 N Broadway St, Chicago
(773) 878-2253

Well worth the trip!

shotzy wrote:Try Pho Ha in Glendale Heights.

1971 Bloomingdale Rd
Glendale Heights, IL 60139

(630) 894-4000

I just had dinner at Pho Ha last night with a group. The banh mi were delicious, bread was crisp, could have used more fillings though but at $3.50-75, tough to argue.

Pho was consumed and enjoyed by all.

Our rice dish (pork chop) was just ok as it was VERY dry.

Pho Ha is BYOB.

Im a a little confused about the korean/pho together. Vietnamese food and Korean food are VERY different and if there is a place that is serving both, thats a good warning that you shouldn't trust at least half of the menu there.
There are two very different types of pho, northern and southern. Pho is originally from Hanoi, and the northern version is simpler and has milder flavors than the souther one. The typical HCM city pho, comes with the herb garnishes and bean sprouts on the side. They actually taste very different and you will probably only get a good version of the southern one in the U.S.
That said, my favorite place to get pho in chicago is not on Argyle, its in Lincoln Park instead. Simply It, right next to children's memorial hospital. The owner is really nice and friendly which is a plus and the inside a lot cleaner than most other vietnamese places.
If you watched Anthony Bourdain eat pho in vietnam, again the pho you get there tastes completely different than any you would get in chicago. For banh mi on the other hand, I prefer the americanized ones better than the ones you can get in the streets of Vietnam.

theskinnyduck wrote:That said, my favorite place to get pho in chicago is not on Argyle, its in Lincoln Park instead. Simply It, right next to children's memorial hospital. The owner is really nice and friendly which is a plus and the inside a lot cleaner than most other vietnamese places.

http://www.simplyitrestaurant.com/index.html
2269 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614-3717
(773) 248-0884

Pho is very popular with Korean people (I've even seen Korean pho-ramen at H-Mart before!) and I know of 2 places in the Chicagoland area that are pho joints owned by Koreans. I've been to both these places and their pho pales in comparison with any of the Vietnamese owned places I've been to.

But if anyone's curious, the two places are:

Big Pho
3737 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago

Pho U
23 E Dundee Rd
Buffalo Grove

Sharona wrote:Pho is very popular with Korean people (I've even seen Korean pho-ramen at H-Mart before!)

Pho is called pho because it uses pho noodles ( a type of noodles made from rice that are very different in consistency even from other types of noodles made from rice, such as bun). I've also had a rice dish with marinara sauce on it once, but I would not call it pasta. Many non vietnamese places can make or reinvent soups that use pho spices and they might all be delicious in their own right, I just would refrain from recommending them as a good example of traditional pho.

Anyone know if the Naperville Super H-Mart has plans to open a Vietnamese stand in the food court?

It's quite the demographic oddity: even if Filipinos are statistically the most populous Asian group in Chicagoland, it always seemed to me that Koreans were in the majority growing up in the northwest suburbs. The north suburbs would be their epicenter, but not so much the west suburbs and especially not anything counter-clockwise between Midway Airport and the Loop. Japanese follow a similar pattern of settlement.

Meanwhile, I had but a handful of Vietnamese classmates up through high school - heck, my first taste of pho was in late 90's California! But Viets do seem to avoid living anywhere by Woodfield Mall in favor of the "inland North Shore" (like the Koreans) or the parts around College of DuPage (like the Chinese).

Suburbian wrote:Anyone know if the Naperville Super H-Mart has plans to open a Vietnamese stand in the food court?

I stopped by the food court today, first time in months. I noticed there's a pho stand now. I didn't investigate to see what they have besides pho.

Tim

The Naperville Super H Mart food court has pho, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Philippino storefronts.