Roots Bistro

Reviews

• AN

  Abi Hwang Nable

  Nov 12, 2025
  3.0
  Whenever I’m in San Jose, I always try to grab a bowl of Pho at a different Viet restaurant each time. Roots Bistro caught my eye with their modern & vibrant interior and Pho with Wagyu! Stopped by for late lunch on a Sunday afternoon and the restaurant was packed. There were only two 2-top tables available as well as two patio tables. We initially sat inside by their Roots Bistro sign, but the chairs a bit uncomfortable for me, so we opted to sit outside. The staff escorted us out and sat us with menus. We ordered the Wagyu Pho Special $19, Softshell crab salad $8, Thai Duo Iced Tea $5.50, and Viet Iced Coffee with Condensed Milk $5.50. The Wagyu Pho Special was perfect for two people. It also came with a larger serving of tripe compared to other places! The broth was not very hot, but it had a fairly deep beef flavor. The wagyu was very tender & succulent and the tendon was like jello, it was lovely! The Softshell Crab Salad was a lot smaller than we expected, but with the Mango Kaffir Dressing, it was absolutely delicious. It was very light and refreshing. The Viet Iced Coffee was perfect! We thought about ordering another coffee to go, but we didn’t because we were so stuffed at the end. It was perfectly bitter, aromatic, and sweet. I’m curious to taste their plain black Viet coffee but they said that they were out of it. The Thai Duo Iced Tea lacked a bit of flavor, but it was refreshing nonetheless. The restaurant felt a bit understaffed, so I was trying to extend some grace to them. They were very kind, and overheard us discussing the size of the salad and comped it from our bill for us. I wished I had asked for them to clean off the table, there were a couple spots of bird poop and it was fairly dusty. But there was plenty of space, and it was a nice cool day. We knew what we wanted to order pretty quick and they took our order within 10 minutes. We waited an additional 20 minutes for them to bring cups of water to us as well. The wait for the food itself was very long- about 35 minutes, but at that point thankfully everything came out together! I’m definitely curious to visit here when it’s not peak business hours or when they are staffed appropriately.
• LD

  Luz D

  Oct 25, 2025
  1.0
  I ordered a chicken pho which was very disappointing. First,I had to pay separately for the noodles it doesn't come with it which is the first time I ever had to do that when eating at a pho place. Second of all, the chicken was very old you can taste it and also it was very dark I couldn't eat it (which I ended up just throwing everything away). The broth was also very bland no chicken flavor what's so ever. Third, I also ordered spring rolls with shrimp AND pork but of course I only got shrimp with ZERO pork.
• LZ

  Loralei Zimbauer

  Oct 15, 2025
  5.0
  This is the first time I have gotten Pho where I love it. I gobbled the whole thing down it was so good! Thank you!
• ID

  Isauro Dominguez

  Oct 14, 2025
  5.0
  Top notch!! Highly recommend shaking Fillet mignon !!
• IM

  Isabel Martinez

  Oct 9, 2025
  5.0
  Came in for lunch. No wait, service was fast and friendly. The gentleman was really good about recommending dishes. I got a salted cream coffee, wgyu pho and the pork and shrimp spring rolls. Everything was delicious

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