Noodles "Pho" U - Suburban Pho and Pan-Asian Dining

For some weeks I have noticed a small Vietnamese restaurant in one of our Glenview Shopping Centers (Heatherfield Shopping Center) on Waukegan, just south of Willow (in the Jewel/Osco center). I finally made it in on Friday. The restaurant serves several styles of Pho, but also "mainstream" Chinese, Mongolian, Korean, Japanese, and Thai cuisine (which I did not try), which leads to their label as Pan-Asian.

The Pho was very good. Not at the highest point (the spices were a little muted), but in the big, broad middle of Argyle Pho Restaurants, and not so different in price ($8.95 for the most expensive - tendon, eye round steak, brisket, flank meat, meat balls). I was quite pleased, considering it is about a ten-minute drive from my home. The Banh Mi ($3.95) was also quite good (ham, liver paste, pickled daikon, peppers), only marred by a rather dull sandwich roll.

Noodles "Pho" U is a mini chain (four local restaurants). Gocubs88 suggested that they can be variable in quality, but suggested that they were impressive when they were on their game. They were on last Friday.

Chicago Location
3417 South Halsted Street, Chicago, IL

Lombard Location
1239 South Main Street, Lombard, IL

Glenview Location
2532 Waukegan Rd, Glenview, IL 60025

Naperville Location
3124 South Route 59, Ste. 146
Naperville, IL 60564

GAF wrote:Chicago Location
3417 South Halsted Street, Chicago, IL

The Bridgeport restaurant is no more.

Noodles "Pho" U, October 2011

My experiences with the Glenview outlet, all carry-out back to the office, were pretty dismal. When we first came across the place, we were excited but after a few visits, it dropped with a thud out of our lunch rotation. Sounds like the pho is the thing. We did have it but I'm guessing it's better eaten in than carried out. I'll have to give it another shot the next time I'm in the area.

=R=

Is this the same Pho U that is next to Choahanna, the Uzbek restaurant that we had a dinner at in Morton's Grove?

jlawrence01 wrote:Is this the same Pho U that is next to Choahanna, the Uzbek restaurant that we had a dinner at in Morton's Grove?

No, that's Pho U in Buffalo Grove. This is Noodles Pho U.

=R=

Pho U
23 E Dundee Rd
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
(847) 353-3333

. . . and here's the website ,and the Glenview menu.

Noodles Pho U has some amazing pan asian food for very cheap, but stay away from the Americanized-Chinese dishes. If you get anything Chinese, you will be disappointed compared to if you were to try a Korean stone bowl.

Since the January closing of Ben Tre Cafe on Touhy--which had started out like a house afire but had unfortunately gone downhill quality-wise in the last year or so--it appears that Dung Gia restaurant on Miner St. right across from the Des Plaines Metra station is the go-to place for authentic pho and other Vietnamese goodies in north or northwest suburbia.

David Tran, the proprietor, is a veteran of the Chicago Vietnamese culinary scene, displaying his talents early on at Pasteur on the North Side, then in the mid-'80s opening Annam Express on Dempster in east Skokie. From there, he moved to downtown Evanston in the 1990's with Annam Cafe, and finally to Des Plaines about three years ago, and Dung Gia has expanded into a second storefront over the last year.

Very solid, truly consistent Vietnamese cooking up and down the menu--David's made sure of that since the eighties. Favorites--besides the pho--are lemongrass chicken, catfish in a clay pot, and banx xeo, that French-influenced crispy crepe with pork, shrimp & other goodies inside. And their combination fried rice is a far cry from the Chinese version--less soy-based, more peppery, excellent stuff.



Dung Gia Restaurant
1436 Miner St.
Des Plaines, IL
(847) 803-4402

http://www.dunggiarestaurant.com

Been doing a Vietnamese overload during the last couple of weeks.

Dung Gia - met a friend here last week for dinner. Things started well - the appetizer sampler was delicious, especially the sweet/salty contrast on the pork skewers and also deep flavors in the spring roll. But the Banh Xeo was soggy and too sprout-y, we didn't finish it. The Pho was very weak in flavor, even after we added all the stuff. The fried rice had no taste to it, other than the sausage pieces themselves which were tasty. The lemongrass chicken was one note. Service was great and friendly but we were both disappointed in the quality of the food.

So I decided to stop by Noodles "Pho" U in Glenview on Tuesday after a meeting. I was only doing takeaway and only doing some basics -- a beef stew banh mi and a pho ga (chicken).

The packaging for take-away was very thoughtful. The banh mi came as a sandwich roll with the stew separately in a plastic bowl. I think it should have also had the vegetable ingredients separately? Maybe that sandwich doesn't come with them. Anyway, the stew was flavorful - maybe a little too much tendon, but otherwise very tasty. The pho ga came in three containers - one with the broth alone, one with the noodles, onions, and chicken, and the third with the bean sprouts/herbs/lime/chili. This pho wasn't particularly amazing, but it was decent enough as the next day's lunch.

There were two people working at Noodles "Pho" U at 3:30 in the afternoon, a cashier and a chef. The cashier was very friendly and suggested that I tell all my friends about the restaurant. I need to get back and try the sit down experience, and also some dishes with more complexity.

Dined in at Noodles "Pho" you in Glenview. Ultra clean, friendly staff trying hard to make a good impression. Spring roll was exceptional but unfortunately the "Pho" was "Meh". If you are jonesing for some Viet food and are in the area, it's not awful. It was an experience... I have experienced it... I probably would not go back.