Pho Green Papaya & Deli

04/05/09

Good Pho

by charmrose

Great, reasonably priced Pho. Yes the parking lot isn't beautiful, but at least they have one. Service was a bit slow on the night we were there, but there was only one person working in the dining room. I imagine in the warmer weather it would be nice to sit on the patio.

• Pros: Yummy soups and lots of options
• Cons: Only one server means slower service

05/09/08

Great Pho', Great Food!!!

by PhoEnthusiast

Pho' Green Papaya is one of my favorite Pho' restaurants in town. I like it as much as Pho' Jasmine in North Portland! They have a great menu, reasonably priced, tons of vegan and vegetarian options, a PATIO, and some very attractive employees. I liked the no-nonsense waiters, but I noticed that some of the other reviews frowned on them. I think they might have late hours on Saturday. Just don't go between 4pm and 5pm because they are closed (I learned that the hard way).

• Pros: Pho' and Bu'n
• Cons: Not open between 4pm and 5pm

04/20/08

Needs an Attitude Adjustment

by julez78

I have eaten at this little restaurant a handful of times now. Generally, the food has been consistently good and the service consistently crappy. The staff is arrogant and if you make any requests (reasonable ones) expect to get attitude. The last time I was there, we were seated promptly, then waited about 15 minutes before anyone came to our wobbly table. The waiter moved a more sturdy, dirty table over in its place. He snapped at us when he told us to stand up so he could move the table. Another staff person ?cleaned? it with a few quick swipes of the bar rag, but it was still sticky and whatever was on it smelled something foul! She actually refused to let us clean it ourselves and would not allow us to use the bar rag. This time food wasn?t up to par either. The crispy rolls were soggy and the chicken curry was dry. Upon leaving the waiter huffed when we asked to split our bill. At first when the staff was rude, I thought, it might just be an isolated experience, maybe they were having a bad day, but it seems to have gotten worse. I can?t say I would recommend this place, unless you want to be treated like chopped liver.

• Pros: Food... usually.
• Cons: Service

03/17/08

Needs improvements

by nobsts

I pull off MLK into their parking lot and the way their little pavement ramp?essentially the sidewalk?is configured where my car almost scraped on the bottom driving into their gravel lot. You drive up onto to the sidewalk to get to their lot. Weird layout. Hard to explain but if you go there you?ll know what I?m talking about. After the meal when I left their lot and turned onto MLK, my car darn near bottomed out and I heard a loud THUD! when I got onto MLK. So it sort of bottomed out but not completely. There was definite scraping of metal and if my car was newer and not 8 years old I would have been really ticked off. They totally need to FIX this!

Ok, the food and service. Very average service. When I got there they said ?seat yourself? and gave me no smile or any kind of nice greeting even though I did w/ them. Ok, so I sit down, order, and they quickly bring my salad. Not long after the salad comes, so does my entree. I hate it when that happens! They needed to time that a whole lot better. My entree had to sit there for a while before I finished my salad. The Mango Salad was really good I will say that. The curry chicken or something like that was pretty good too.

Their decor was pretty cool inside, it?s a small little place and most likely family run. They have a little deck too, that was pretty nice.

If they fixed their sidewalk, paved the lot, and had better and more timely service this place could be a place to be.

.

01/23/08

They TOW your car with NO APOLOGIES

by ajochen

The food is fine, the ambiance is good enough. The Owner/Manager's attitude towards customers is HORRIBLE. Working one block from this place, myself & many co-workers go there for lunch. I went one Friday night for dinner with a friend. We had a few glasses of wine each and upon leaving decided to visit my office to wait out the wine since I was driving. We came back about 1 hour later and my car was GONE. Turns out Green Papaya has a VERY aggressive tow policy: the minute they close for the night, your car is subject to the SLIMEball Tow Company. There are NO hours posted on the parking signs to warn patrons. I asked the Owner the reason he didn't warn us to move my car upon leaving...afterall, I would have driven it the one block to my office if I had known. In a very SARCASTIC manner, he said "Okay, I wil BABYSIT all customers." Nice attitude for a businessman. Yes, if they tow one minute after closing and they want customers to come back, it behooves them to "babysit" and warn people to move their car! Besides the slimy tow business ($220 to get my car back), the most disturbing thing about this experience was the ARROGANCE, SARCASM, AND COMPLETE DISREGARD this Owner has towards a REPEAT CUSTOMER. Yeah, one who won't return! And most of my co-workers will do the same.

• Cons: they TOW paying customers cars (cost $220!!) and Owner Adam is ARROGANT & SARCASTIC

01/18/08

I love this place.

by 70foodie

I just discovered this place and having eating vietnamese food all of my life ,the pho here is close to home cooking as you can get. The prices are great and the service people are very nice. Parking is a little difficult. I would recommend going on off hours.

01/07/08

Who knew Pho could be so good?

by avaldes27

Truly one of the very BEST Pho places in Portland (& dare I say, Oregon...)

Besides the outstanding Pho, I highly recommend the Cream Cheese Wontons, the Satay Noodles, and the Pork Combo Plate (wish I could remember the name, but it has BBQ pork sausage & pork skewers over noodles- YUM!)

And as a last final note- the staff there are really great. Really.

• Cons: Not open everyday. Bummer

11/18/07

Are we eating at the same place people? Pho Green Papaya a winner...

by jimmytruck

For those who rated this place before me, are we honestly eating in the same restaurant? This place is no doubt a winner.

I try to eat here almost every weekend with my girlfriend, and I can tell you that The Pho Green Papaya is probably one of Portland?s best kept secrets ? although anybody who eats there during lunch hours knows that this secret is slowly getting out! Set in an urban southeast PDX location, Pho Green Papaya reminds me of what Portland restaurants should all be about: unique, relaxed, welcoming, and DELICIOIUS food!!!

The service is really tranquil. The waiters here don?t prey at your table, yet they are there whenever you may need them. Eating here feels like eating at your best friend?s house who happens to have a mom who can cook ridiculously well: you grab a seat, make yourself comfortable, and let them smother you with food.

I?ve been raised on Pho my entire life and have eaten at almost every Portland pho location available; with that, I can assure you the entres here are meticulously concocted to perfection. One sip of the Pho broth and you are in heaven ? the chef really knows what she is doing. For the guy who says the Pho isn?t traditional enough, what part of rich and flavorful broth isn?t traditional? The salad rolls here are a rare thing when compared to other Portland Vietnamese cuisines; they are thick, and stuffed with ingredients that taste like pure quality! (Don?t skimp out on the peanut sauce that comes with this dish!).

I would DEFINITELY recommend this restaurant to anybody who can appreciate a modern view at Vietnamese/ Thai cuisine with a Portland edge. If you are looking for a formal white tablecloth 70$-a-meal restaurant, maybe this place isn?t for you. But if you are looking for a restaurant which can deliver day in and day out with a friendly down to earth atmosphere, Pho Green Papaya is a no brainer. Plus, the Vietnamese iced coffee is literally the most addicting drink I?ve ever had?a must try!

• Pros: Anything you order.
• Cons: Parking gets full during lunch.

11/10/07

bad service, bad food

by brianreviews

When me and my friends came into this establishment, we were not greeted, and the kitchen was not clean we could see meat products sitting next to dirty dishes, We sat for more than five min. before the server acknowledged our presence. He came to our table and very rudely said ready to order? When my friend asked if there was MSG present in the food, he stated that all the food has MSG. Needless to say they didn't eat anything but instead had a beverage. I ordered the beef Pho which was fatty and grisly, my other friends ordered the papaya salad which was soggy, and Chicken Pad Thai which had little flavor as well the chicken was tough. Needless to say we won't be eating at this establishment ever again.

• Pros: none
• Cons: everything

08/16/07

Faux Pho

by team_splashi

How to stay this review ?

Maybe by saying that this is not authentic Vietnamese PHO or it's pure Americano`PHO , made up for the taste of blue collar lunch eaters , who plague this ?pho? establishment during their break time.

It will be unjust for me to say that this pho place is yuppie in nature.

So to give you ?readers digest? , this is not authentic pho and if you are food aficionado then you might be disappointed in taste.

Cheers

• Pros: nice patio
• Cons: everything else