The Sweet and Sour 🐟 Fish was Perfect. A little spicy but GREAT. The large is big enough for two people

Get the Gia Lam Special (Grilled pork, fried egg, chinese sausage over rice). One of the cheapest and best tasting Viet places left!

Nice spot with perfectly priced delicious Vietnamese food. Went with a friend that goes there a lot. Looks like I'll be a regular there from now on. Great spot!

Been good here for over 15 yrs, flavor and portions has not change. Still a great for some take out.

Great time here, me and my family love this place the food is always good and service is friendly

Food is great, tables are clean and service is nice. Wait time for most food is usually around 7–10 minutes, it is worth it though. Make sure to tip if you dine in. If you don’t tip, workers will nag you.

My favorite pho place! I come here every week to eat. They are a long standing business, and has been here ever since I was a kid, that’s how you know it’s good. ;)

This is my favorite Pho Spot hands down. I've been to other Pho restaurants in Atlantic City, Boston and California and I can honestly say NONE OF THEM COMPARE TO GIA LAM! They are the most authentic, clean, well cooked, fresh ingredients and they are always nice to me. I am Latina (Puerto Rican/Dominican) and they never make me feel like I am not welcomed to eat their food, like many other restaurants on 8th Avenue do to me. I have been a frequent visitor pre pandemic for 5 years, and I am so happy to support them after Covid hit. They are equally as polite as ever and more attentive now for sure to all guidelines and making sure everyone is eating safe. The food is no different take out than it is during dine in, which is so important for me. I feel like someones Grandma is very proud of this restaurant and I am happy to support them until I'm old and can't any more! #SupporyGiaLam! My favorite dishes are the Pho soup of course! I am not a big fan of meat alot so I usually order just the Pho soup no meat. But my mother loves the beef brisket with it. I also love the beef stew w. Bread. It's a delicious stew served with Italian bread cut in slices and if you haven't tried it, you haven't lived! If you are Spanish and like Sancocho, then you'll love their beef stew! I also love their beef rolls with onion in the middle on vermicelli! It's so good! It's little beef brisket rolls (about 6 rolls) with onion in the center, over a bed of hot vermicelli and fresh lettuce, garnished with peanuts and scallions. Omg it's so delicious I'm making myself hungry writing this review. I know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow, lol. Also their grilled chicken is BOMB! Enjoy!!

Great food, pork chops are Smokey and delicious. I love the pho too! I think the kitchen is slightly understaffed but the waiters try their best to make it up to customers

Awesome no frills cash only, no delivery spot for some cheap eats. Spring rolls are a great appetizer. The beef stew pho is amazing. Pork chops and ribs are great!

The pork chop rice is grilled and glazed and very good. It comes with a tangy sauce that you can pour on your rice. I’ve read reviews that say they have bad customer service but I haven’t had any bad experiences.

They have tofu spring rolls!! And the pho is heavenly. It's clean, service is impeccable, and the interior is bright and woodsy. Having had pho in many different places around the country, I would put this in the top 3 best for lower-middle priced cuisine.

Great place to grab lunch had an amazing lunch here with soup and beef noodles I went for the PHO DAC BIET for $9.50 they served us some tea as we walked in. They are friendly people

I've been eating here for many many years and never disappoint. The Pho isn't a HUGE bowl but it taste better than most places. The Pork Chop is always well cooked and taste really good. The service is great as well. Prices are reasonable as well. No wonder they've been in business for thousands of years!! They have two locations but this one is my favorite.

Amazing. Absolutely splendid. Loved the pho; it was very flavorful and the portion sizes are HUGE with good affordable prices. I’ve been eating Vietnamese Pho for over ten years and this is one of the best restaurants in NYC for it (there are also other good ones in Chinatown). Would recommend!!! (P.S. they have amazing dipping sauces!)

If you are into quiet restaurants along with the a calm atmosphere, then this place is right up your alley. The food here was excellent especially thier beef fried rice. The taste was unique even though the portion was was a bit small. A nice place to come back too.

Great pho and amazing beef salad.

+2

20260228::got my fav, the number one big bowl(head of the train noodle soup). i love the soup. could have more meats, but it was all good.

This restaurant brings back a lot of memories. I've been eating here since I was a teenager(middle-aged now). The staff is very nice. The food is great. Great place to eat!

Donald Haywood

Standard Vietnamese restaurant except the food is exceptional. We enjoyed everything! So much flavour! Definitely a Diamond in a crowd of “okay” take out restaurants on 8th Ave! Was so nice to come in, have a jasmine tea and enjoy a wonderful meal in a clean, comfortable restaurant that was nicely decorated!

Nyancatpoptarts

Workers are very helpful and kind. The food is delicious, even better than many places in the city. Great prices.

gabby gabs

Everyone is super nice, the food is amazing i always crave for their food especially their pho’s im in love with their pho’s!!

ItsHungryJ

I’ve been eating here since I was a child. Now past my 20s, the food is still fantastic. The flavors are amazing, and the staff is nice. I have attached pictures of the orders I have placed since 2022. Vibe is typically quiet and perfect for dates or social gatherings.

+12

Sam N.

The service and food have always been great when I went. And the Vietnamese spring rolls here are one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life. Such a treat and the pho is so yummyy too. The Vietnamese iced coffee too 😆

Enoghene Ajueyitsi

Sup y’all, Eno with another Green book review. Today we are at Gia Lam, Vietnamese food with a bang. Great family place with good Chinese vibes (plus if you speak mandarin or cantone). Staff is quick! And very friendly. Recommended 5 stars for food and attentiveness. Come to this spot.

+2

Drifter

Simply delicious!Best Vermicelli in Brooklyn.The only Vermicelli Salad I like in Brooklyn.You can literally taste the freshness from all ingredients in the food.Also,the fish sauce is a plus!

Y R

First time here, went during lunch time on Friday. Nice ambient, no one is rushing you, pretty down to earth. Had shrimp and beef summer rolls, decent size, beef one is my new obsession. Juicy. (no pics though, those were so delicious). The rest of the main dishes were scrumptious to my taste. Kudos!

Manny

Great Vietnamese restaurant. Very affordable and yummy meal. Went here around 2pm and its pretty full but had space for 2 people. The food was very delicious. I would come again and recommend it.

Kuixi He (motoengineer)

Favorite Vietnamese spot in Brooklyn and I general. I've been coming here for many years. Pork chip over rice is exceptionally good here. The pho is also fantastical! Come here and enjoy the foos. Fantastic speed and service!

Tuan Nguyen

Feel like home with Vietnamese pho over here. The taste of soup is very goid and close to Viet style. The noodke is a big crunchy than normal. I love the fried squid. Very delicious and tasty. I would recommend to try it.

Love the food nice and fresh..had two stores both food was delish and clean service was up to par will go back

Prices are much cheaper than other viet place. But curry and rice are put into separate bowl. Feel like last minute meal

The Pho with eye of round is a great choice in the winter. The spring rolls are a great appetizer choice. The vietnamese sliced beef sandwich is a savory lunch item. The three bean drink special is a great desert to finish with.

Their food is always consistent and the service is quite fast.

I love having the pork chop dish that comes with some egg side thing. You also have to get the there spring rolls and summer rolls. Not very expensive I paid about 6 bucks for the pork chop dish. And if you want fried rice to the dish only a dollar more.

There is nothing about this restaurant stand out more than any other Viet restaurants, but they satisfied my craving for Pho and summer rolls and I have no complaints. I ordered the grilled chicken pho and it was warm and made me happy. The noodles were cooked well, the grilled chicken was huge, the soup base and broth was flavorful alone, without me adding a whole bunch of Sriracha sauce. No complaints here, the staff brought the food quickly and didn't motion for me and my friend to leave quickly even if we lingered in the restaurant for a while.

Very good food and service. Takeout for now. 3 orders of grill porkchop over rice 22.80

Really nice service. Food was not the best, but acceptable for a Viet restaurant on 8th ave/sunset area

Ordered takeout over the phone and food was ready exactly on time when we said we would arrive. The food itself was pretty good. The spring rolls in our noodle dish was a bit soft by the time we ate it, but still tasty. The curry chicken was delicious, not spicy at all. The portion sizes were perfect. I dock one star for the peanuts in one of ours dishes even though we requested for them to be excluded. We have allergy in the family, and luckily since it was only in that one dish, they were still able to eat the other stuff.

Great place for Vietnamese food with friends and family. The food comes out fast so the wait is not long and they are delicious. The only problem we had was I felt the spring rolls might have been cooked for a little too long. But other than that the staff and the food were great.

Very good food and very cheap. Also has good service. No high chairs. Cash only.

akia

I recooked the pho and the spring rollls but sometimes the altitude of the workers is not always great and is stingy with sauce if it’s takeout but the food is great

Edna L

I frequent this place with friends when I'm in the area. As with any pho place I judge them by their broth and noodles and their signature is what I usually order. If not, then I order the noodles with pork chop, that comes on the side. Unlike a lot of pho establishments after Covid, the broth here remains the same- full of flavor and not watered down. They also give a lot of scallions and cilantro (which I love) and a slice of lemon to enhance the flavor of the soup. The noodles aren't overcooked and have a nice chew to them. The bean sprouts that you put into the soup are consistently fresh and adds a nice crunch to everything. I also love their pork chop, also rich in lemongrass flavor. The only thing is that they only give one pork chop. Most places give at least 2. Overall- a place I would come back to. The staff are friendly and very efficient. You get your food quickly- so while it can be a place you go to in order to catch up with friends or family, it can also be a place to get in and out of very quickly as well.

William Velazquez

Food was visually pleasing and the flavors were amazing. Family had the beef with lemongrass,spring rolls, beancurds, crispy noodles with pho....every dish was fresh and well prepared. Prices were reasonable. Must try this out!!

The restaurant is kept well clean. Their service is decently fast and the food is good quality. However, they give somewhat give small food proportions and food is overpriced. Some waiters are rude. Overall, I would somewhat recommend.

This place serve good food but it's a bad restaurant because they mess up your order and expect you to go back and change when you live 20 blocks away and when you ask them for extra sauce they charge you. When you didn't give them enough tips they will curse at you in Vietnamese.

This restauant has decent service and wait time is usually none. The food here is good for the price. The portions for the meals are pretty good too. There is a lot of room for parking. COme here fir a giod time,

Very flavorful broth made from scratch, good quality of the noodles and the pricing are unbeatable. Edit. After 3 years and over the pandemic, their broth they use for the pho has diminished drastically over time. Not sure if they’re cutting cost and using broth alternatives, but their broth has been tasting nothing but msg. Their business has dropped over time as well, which is quite unfortunate because this place provided so much memories.

The quality of the food is not the same as it was many years ago. The sliced pork chop rice noodle soup was what I had. The pork chop tasted dry and the soup wasn’t hot enough to have that authentic pho taste as you would normally have in most pho restaurants out there.

Not bad Gialam, not bad at all. The service here is inconsistent. Some days they'll get you what you want without having to ask twice! It's definitely one to bookmark if your looking for cheap eats. The vietnamese spring rolls and pork chop is very good.

The beef cube was dry with no flavor. Taste like fried cardboard. Pork chop looks like they slice it in half to make it super thin to save on cost. If you’re starving and no other place is available then this place would be fine.

I’m of two minds on this place. The good is that it’s decent pho, good service, fair pricing, and not too busy like their other location. The not so good is that there isn’t enough fat in the brisket, it’s a little dry, and no fresh jalapeños which I don’t understand why since it’s at the other location. I would give this place 3.5 stars but am debating back and forth about rounding up or down - settled on rounding down but would still come back if I wanted pho in a hurry.

Being here couple of times. Place is clean and organized in the dining area. Food is ok compare to other Vietnamese restaurant. The 3 stars is for food taste rating. Other than that, I recommend this place for ambient and price. I only review places worth going to.

Located 8 avenue of Brooklyn aka. Brooklyn Chinatown is where this restaurant is located . Food was decent for a Vietnamese pho, hut certainly not the best. However you do get the bang for your buck. So if you are looking for something filling and cheap, I'd recommend this place. Servers do speak a little bit of English and they speak Cantonese and mandarin. Service was so so. Does get crowded on the weekends but the wait is never too long as the turnover rate is pretty quick. Ambiance is also so so.

Decent menu. The beef cubes were not as delicious as other places. The bbq pork was good and the spring rolls crispy. I would be willing to try again.

Very busy place and I’ve been here many times. Previously always hot soup. However, was met with lukewarm soup today. It wasn’t even hot enough for the beef to soak in and cook. I told the waitress that it is not cooking through and if I can get a small separate bowl of soup. She tried to charge me even though the soup itself was not warm to begin with .. and then blamed it on me not putting the beef in soon enough.

I used to come here every week and I still do. It’s sad that the food and service has gone downhill over the years. The workers are rude and even demanded more tip, the sanitation has been neglected and we’ve even found a toothpick in the noodles once. The lettuce we got for the spring rolls was not fresh and the cup for the tea was dirty.

Their pho is somewhat decent. Think again when you try their bahn mi, their bahn mi bo xao(sliced beef bahn mi) is over sauced to a point of hard to consume, lettuce is not fresh.

The food was good but if you ganna dine in you might get ask by the waiter to tip 15% of your total. Do recommend to do a take out order to avoid getting ask to tip.

The food is typical Viet food. But the place is pretty dishonest about their pricing. Every item I paid for is mark up at least a dollar or more and different from their menu. When I question them about it, they just claim is for tax. But they are marking up each item individually, not really calculating tax at the end of the bill. So you have no way of knowing if the tax you paid is the right percentage, and most likely you are paying more. On top of it, this is a cash only establishment, who knows if they are really reporting it.

My fiancé and I come to eat here all the time because the food is great HOWEVER we always have an issue with one particular employee. She always shakes her head and rolls her eyes when she takes our payment. Today while dining with our family we left a 10% tip and she yelled at us in everyone's presence saying "Only 10% tip? We work hard!!!" And then she said something else angrily to a coworker in her native language. Not only was the experience embarrassing but unnecessary. We left her an additional $2 and walked out. We won't be going back. I hope she brings up her salary issue with her superiors and not customers.

Came years back food was amazing but now very simple very little noodles I notice this time no menus wants us to read from table can’t barely see it … the waiter was rude about the tipping …we was counting the money to leave tip she came by was like it’s 26 for tip our bill was like 160 something….they made sure it was 15 percent never coming back here other spots around there way better ! Not coming back no more ever stay away

Mostly disappointed with 2 summer rolls. They wrapped two slices of thinly sliced tofu on top with noodles and lettuce. The vegetables cost more than a typical entree. Almost $16 for some peppers and tofu stir fryed together and made it clear there’s no rice. I could really make it better myself. I went to the bathroom and the waitress gave my husband a hard time about the tip. Ultimately we gave her the one dollar (!) we were short of 15% but before that she told him never to come back again. Only after did she remain silent.

me and two other friends went here for lunch, the food was mediocre nothing special. When we were getting ready to leave this server stopped us and demanded a tip. She got extremely pushy about it and wouldn’t let us go until we tipped. The bill was only $28.50 and none of us had small bills on us so it was really inconvenient. She wasnt even the one that served us 🤦. I came back later to ask about a missing item, they gave me a horrible attitude and told me to go to another place to look for it. 0/10 customer service, would not go back.

I ordered a pho special and it came out without tendon & meatball even the most basic basil, jalapeño & culantro belt..Well, the broth was decent and the price matches

Food was okay, but our server never checked on us once the food arrived. So when it's time to checkout, I pay cash, and then tip accordingly to the service I received. The lady is watching me tip, and tells me it's not enough, and demanded that I must tip 18%. I understand you want to make your money but tips are not mandatory, they are reflective of the service which you provide for your customers. I didn't feel like arguing with her over it so I just gave her the dollars and left, but no I will not be coming back. As for the food, it was okay, but I've had better pho.

Mr. Klaus Heisler

The service was quick and seating was available almost immediately, but that’s where the positives end. Staff aggressively pressured customers to tip, which completely ruined the experience and felt inappropriate and unprofessional. Tipping should be earned, not forced. No matter how fast the service is, behavior like this leaves a bad impression and guarantees I won’t return.

Food was decent. Attitude was terrible. The lady looked at me like I owed her a million dollars.

The lady was trying to over charge us and asked me and my friends for our age so they can try to scam us! We gave tip and they asked for more and called us cheap for not giving enough “tip” after their horrible service. Their spoons had soy sauce stains on them and I had to clean them myself. I don’t recommend going here.

The attitude was terrible and argued with us over their mistake when we pointed it out.

This Vietnamese restaurant service is so poor they won’t even pour water when I ask for it. Also when I ask for the check they are giving me bad attitudes towards my friends and I. Plus when I give tips they are very cheap and selfish about how much I need to give them asking that 8 dollar tip is too low. PLS DONT COME HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s ridiculous that they gave a small portion of rice and meat. Not coming back to this place and better try a different place for Vietnamese food

They gave me the wrong order for takeout. I got pork chops with rice and instead of rice they gave me noodles and a broth. How do you mess up this bad seriously. Make sure to double check and open your order

Very bad attitude of the waiter! And rude! Ridiculous service! Also ask for a tip! Before we even left, one of the waitresses (who worked here the longest) asked for a tip! This kind of service and attitude is not as good as the waiter in the buffet store! We're not finished yet, we're not ready to leave ！we were asked for such a ridiculous request!

This place offer little to no service but demands tipping anyway, insisted they are a service restaurant but the dine in menu they offer is the same as the take out one, also there are no table for single person you're force to use a big table if dining alone and must share table if asked

I used to come here often until one day I came and ate with 2 family members and we tipped a few bucks but the lady or one of the waitresses at the front desk demanded that we give more tips and wouldn't let us leave. Absolutely vile.. never came back since then.

awful food, AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE. absolutely disgusting those ladies at front have absolutely no manners gosh who even hire them. awful

We paid for the meal and included tip. Then we were told that the tip is 15% and demanded that we pay more. Tip is based on how well the customer felt the service was. How does it make sense to ask the customer to pay more tip? Be ready to pay more tip if they feel it isn't enough.

The table was sticky and dirty, ut was hot and humid inside. The food was barely edible. Not the mention rude wait staff and demanding a mandatory 15% tip. Guys please know for a restaurant to demand a tip is highly illegal, unless it is a service fee in which they must let you know UPON ORDERING!!. This place is overall ridiculous. Please don't eat here and go somewhere else.

Went here to order a banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) to go and when I got home it was just a sandwich with grilled chicken, lettuce and tomatoes. I would not recommend this spot.

I used to go to this place all the time as a kid and the food was decent, at cheap prices with nice portions. But recently, my experience here has been horrible. This was THE worst restaurant experience I've ever had. The tables were dirty and sticky, and the portions were small. The spring rolls were ok, but the broth was just absolutely disgusting. However... the worst part of it all was the service. Before leaving, they checked our bill saying we didn't pay enough, however I clearly left enough for the bill for my table of 4 and a small tip despite the horrendous service. The waiter was asking me where the missing money was, saying tip was a mandatory 15%, and I had to pay it. We went back and forth for a bit and I was livid- they disrespected me constantly, stating I was uneducated and stupid. The waiter, another staff, as well as the boss, which I remember from childhood, were all ganging up on me, and I had to SERIOUSLY restrain myself. This is the last time I will EVER return back to this restaurant with absolutely repulsive staff and people. I had never been disrespected to this degree and would give this place 0 stars if I could!!!! DO NOT COME HERE!!!!!!! MANY OTHER PHO PLACES NEAR

The manager there was the one that served me and my friend but when it come to the billing part a total of 28 dollar meal we gave 33 as tip however the girl over there started counting infront of us and told us it’s wasn’t enough and demanded us for more saying nyc tax is 15% and need to pay for the service fee (WHICH THERE WAS NONE) went back and forth with us and when we’re leaving started talking trash bout us behind our back thinking that we cannot understand their language but I actually could. Never coming here again

Awful. Customer service was disgustingly terrible. MY STOMACH HURTS AFTER THIS ISNT CLEAN.

I’ve been coming to this pho restaurant since I was 14 years old, although I hadn’t visited in quite some time. Since it was the Lunar New Year parade on 8th Avenue, we decided to dine in with my two kids, my husband, my sister and brother-in-law, their three kids, and my parents. Because our group was so large, there wasn’t a table big enough to seat all of us together. There was one round table available, so my sister and brother-in-law sat there with their kids. My husband, our two children, and I sat at a table for four, and my parents were seated at a separate table nearby. As we were finishing placing our order, I noticed that a round table that could seat six people had become available. I waited for a server to walk by so I could ask if we could switch tables, allowing my parents to sit together with my family. A server walked past, and I politely asked, “Hi, would it be possible for us to move to that table instead?” She suddenly shouted at me in Chinese, “Don’t bother me!” I was completely shocked and embarrassed as everyone in the restaurant turned to look at me. I couldn’t believe a staff member would speak so rudely to a paying customer. The way she spoke to me was extremely unprofessional. It didn’t seem like this was her first time behaving this way, as none of the other staff members reacted, and she showed no remorse at all. To make matters worse, she forgot to bring out my husband’s dish, and he had to wait an additional 10 minutes for his food to arrive while the rest of us were already eating. After this entire experience, we will never be returning. The staff was incredibly rude, and they even had the nerve to ask us to tip more. Absolutely disgusting.

This place is genuinely awful. The food is consistently terrible — cold noodles, cold rice, zero effort. I’ve given it multiple chances over time, and somehow it gets worse with every visit. On top of that, the staff is incredibly unprofessional. If you don’t tip what they think is acceptable, they’ll pressure you and make it uncomfortable to leave. Even worse, they’ve miscalculated my bill more than once, clearly hoping customers won’t notice. I ordered two bowls and was charged over $30 — I had to call them out myself to get it corrected. There are far better pho spots literally anywhere else. Save your money and your patience and skip this place entirely.

Angel

I’ve came to this place a couple times for dine in for the past year. The food’s decent for what you would get for the price but the service is unacceptable. Especially this time when I’ve brought a friend with me to dine. There were no greetings or smiles upon entrance, with only a question of how many people in the party. They placed us to our seat, took our order and served the dish. Which is a basic job description of a server that the restaurant should be paying a sufficient amount for the job required. During the meal, there was NO ONE checking us in if we needed a water refill or if the food and everything is okay. Yet they demanded, mind you NOT suggested for us to tip them the minimum amount. Tips are supposed to be optional and APPRECIATED not demanded. The cashier lady raised her voice across entire restaurant and even crossed her hands giving us a very nasty attitude and blocked the doors, not allowing us to leave. Mind you the difference of the tip we gave and the amount they “demanded” was only a dollar difference. This is unacceptable and illegal :)

daniella

awful everything, the plates does not look clean and it looks old, the atmosphere looks really badly. the ladies here does nothing and just stand around. oh and for the prices is not worth it the food tase like no flavor at all. TRY PHO60 ITS SO MUCH BETTER AND WORTH THE PRICE

XinTing Chen

I have been a patron of this establishment since childhood, but my recent experiences have been disappointing due to a noticeable decline in food quality. The dishes now lack the vibrant flavors I once enjoyed, tasting surprisingly bland. Furthermore, I was dismayed by the mandatory tipping policy, especially given the lackluster service. The staff rarely checked on our table to inquire about our satisfaction or clear finished plates, and to compound matters, I discovered hair in my food. While I value supporting local businesses, these issues need to be addressed to restore the dining experience to its former standards.

Olga Dzyurak

Diaspointed. Pho #1, doesn't contain the tendon, however on a menu it says that tendon is one of the main ingredients. The waiter told us that "no more tendon in soup". I wish she would tell me that nefore

A C

I know small businesses are difficult under the rising food costs. But please don't fool your customers. I got Fried Spring Rolls and Summer Rolls. The spring rolls obviously taste rancid from frying in the old oil and the meat fillings are dried and spoiled. For the summer rolls, they taste so bland and dried as a kitchen towel, the peanut sauce also looks old and dried out can't even dip. I feel yuck and spit out and throw away everything.