Pho House Vietnamese restaurant opens on Washtenaw Avenue
Pho House has opened at 2224 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti Township.
Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com
Pho House, a Vietnamese restaurant, opened in late February on Washtenaw Avenue in the former Fat Philly's and Burgers location.
An employee confirmed the restaurant's opening. Pho House is at 2224 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti Township on the corner of Hewitt.
The restaurant owners could not be reached for comment.
The restaurant is a family-owned business, according to Concentrate Media, which spoke with family representative Wendy Inhmathong-Travis.
Vegan pho at Pho House.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Inhmathong-Travis told Concentrate that the restaurant will employ eight members of the family, and she expects they will expand staffing as the business grows.
Pho House serves a variety of items including Vietnamese pho noodle dishes with beef broth soup, and rice noodles and fresh herbs.
The restaurant seats 89 customers and is nearly 3,000 square feet. The building is owned by Wei Chen, who purchased it from the Bank of Ann Arbor in 2011 for $182,000. The building was assessed at $111, 400, making its market value $222,800.
Fat Philly's and Burgers closed less than six months after opening last July. Prior to Fat Philly's, the Fattoush Grill was housed at the same location.
Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for AnnArbor.com.Reach her at katreasestafford@annarbor.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
Tim
Thu, Mar 7, 2013 : 5:12 p.m.
Just had noodles at this place. Awesome, authentic, fresh and delicious! Check out the menu using the link at http://www.ypsiphohouse.com.
Freight Train
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 5:20 p.m.
I stopped in today after seeing the sign a few days ago. I lived in Portland, OR for 15 years. In Portland there are many Vietnamese people and there were at one time 50 restaurants that specialized in Pho. I ate at almost all of them and I developed my palette for this wonderful dish. The Pho at Pho House is excellent. The broth is on the lighter side and it is not too salty and it is virtually oil free. The meat was excellent. I had the #12 deluxe complete with meatballs, flank, brisket, tripe and fatty tendon. Perfectly done. The accompanying bean sprouts, chilis, Thai basil, fish, garlic marinated jalapenos were great too. I will be a regular here. Please support this restaurant so it will stay!
Mike D.
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 4:52 a.m.
Banh Na had the best Thai food in town. I am thrilled that family is back with another restaurant. High hopes!
LAEL
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 3:12 p.m.
Have you been to Thai Thai?
TommyJ
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
I don't like to eat food I can't pronounce.
John Hritz
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 7:55 p.m.
Like polysorbate 80 or xanthan gum...
TommyJ
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 5:39 p.m.
No thank you.
seldon
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 3:44 a.m.
Just ask for "beef noodle soup with no tripe" and "spring rolls".
garrisondyer
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 1:59 a.m.
More for those of us who appreciate it. :) But seriously, I'd recommend branching out when you feel like it. Seriously tasty stuff.
Dan Freidus
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 1:36 a.m.
It's not hard to learn: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Ph%E1%BB%9F.oga
CPS
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 10:09 p.m.
Tried it. Delicious! Planning on going back...repetitively :)
Julie Baker
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 7:32 p.m.
Looking forward to trying this! I've never had pho, but the photo here looks delicious. The one time I went to Dalat in downtown Ypsi I chickened out and ordered some noodle dish without a bunch of broth. I'll have to be more adventurous next time. :)
seldon
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 12:34 a.m.
Ann, a lot of Thai dishes don't involve peanuts at all. And Thai fish sauce isn't just good for cooking fish with, and they don't just use it with fish.
Ann English
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 12:28 a.m.
I tried a pho recipe submitted by another reader, and didn't like it. I can see why a Far East cooking connoisseur would rather have something with the hot, sweet sauce of a Vietnamese dish than the peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil used in Thai cooking. Vietnamese fish sauce is so good, you'll want to use it on foods other than fish; Thai fish sauce is just for cooking fish with, even if it is cheaper per ounce at Busch's.
James.
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 7:29 p.m.
Terrific Banh Mi!
YpsiDipsy
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 7:24 p.m.
This is great news. I've been driving to Asian Garden in Belleville to get my pho fix. This will be much closer and, hopefully, just as good.
BenWoodruff
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 6:50 p.m.
Just had the fried spring rolls and Bahn mi sandwich. Fantastic! Pickled veggies were great and the dipping sauce for spring tools was sweet and hot. Will be going often!
rs
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 5:04 p.m.
Somebody has to make things work in this location. Hopefully its these folks.
seldon
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 4:38 p.m.
The owners, by the way, are the people who used to own Banh Na. But this is a completely different format (Vietnamese rather than Thai).
DBH
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 1:56 a.m.
And I don't understand why anyone cares about thumbs up or thumbs down. If you are comfortable with your comment, that should be enough.
arborlib
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 4:24 p.m.
Good luck to the owners - nothing on that corner seems to stay in business.
LAEL
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 1:57 p.m.
On the main annarbor.com page, why is there a picture of Ann Arbor Art Fair next to this story?
Katrease Stafford
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 2:10 p.m.
Lael, I've updated the photo. Thanks for the heads up.
David Cahill
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 1:31 p.m.
Replacing Fat Philly's with a Vietnamese restaurant will certainly improve our community's diet.
seldon
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 12:35 a.m.
Since nobody ever ate at Fat Philly's, I kind of doubt it.
kuriooo
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 1:28 p.m.
oooh, Pho!!! This is the best news for the Washtenaw corridor in years, in my culinary opinion!!! I'll definitely have to give this a try.
HB11
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 1:24 p.m.
I drove by there Friday and they still had the Fat Philly's signs up, and marquee said Pho House was now open. Considering the revolving door of tenants there, maybe changing the sign is the lowest priority. I do wish them luck and I will try them out.
seldon
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.
By the way, what's the photo on the main page?
Katrease Stafford
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 2:09 p.m.
Thanks, Seldon. It's been fixed.
seldon
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 12:43 p.m.
And, they're good.
seldon
Wed, Mar 6, 2013 : 12:37 a.m.
Oh, yeah. It needs some work. But when you're talking about inexpensive ethnic restaurants with great food, you have to take that stuff in stride. Mani, it isn't. But it's not intended to be.
Jessica Webster
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 4:54 p.m.
Seldon - I've been three times now, and for the most part I agree. The pho tai and thit nurang banh mi were both delicious, and we also enjoyed the bun cha gio. I probably wouldn't order the mi xao gion again. I went with a friend on one of my visits, and she loved her vegan pho. I think it's also worth a caution that the restaurant interior could use some work, and the service is friendly but quite casual. I sent a friend there who was a bit taken aback.
seldon
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 4:37 p.m.
Went with my wife. We tried the fried spring rolls, the shrimp on sugar cane, the pho (don't remember which version, but not one with tripe), and an awesome caramel-sauced fish dish that deserves a better name than "Fish with Brown Sauce." All were excellent.
Katrease Stafford
Tue, Mar 5, 2013 : 2:11 p.m.
Seldon, What dish did you try? I've heard good things about the restaurant from two of my coworkers.