At my count, Irvine has about eight pho/Vietnamese restaurants. Before long, this number will increase to 11, with new entrants La Pho in Quail Hill, Pho Saigon Pearl at Diamond Jamboree, and Pho So 1 in Westpark.
La Pho and Pho Saigon Pearl are already open; Pho So 1 plans to debut soon.
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La Pho looks to have the smallest footprint of the three, taking
over the space left by a failed Tutti Frutti frozen-yogurt shop at
the Quail Hill Shopping Center. Pho Saigon Pearl assumed the large
dining room of the Greek restaurant that came before it at Diamond
Jamboree. Last Friday, the new restaurant had a line five parties deep.
over the space left by a failed Tutti Frutti frozen-yogurt shop at
the Quail Hill Shopping Center. Pho Saigon Pearl assumed the large
dining room of the Greek restaurant that came before it at Diamond
Jamboree. Last Friday, the new restaurant had a line five parties deep.
Pho
So 1 is located at the former site of Goro, the long-lived sushi
restaurant that folded this summer, and out of the three pho shops, it is
the only one affiliated with a larger chain. Other Pho So 1s dot the
San Fernando Valley.
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.