Well-known Vietnamese sandwich specialist with a cozy ambiance, outdoor seating & fruit smoothies.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 719 W Maxwell St, Chicago, IL 60607
Phone: (312) 733-7595
Website: https://lotusbanhmi.com/our-food/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Order: Order online
Photo Gallery
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Reviews
Alright – 8 years later. This is STILL our go to place. The other day I went on my way up north for some me time creative class, and this was my choice of dinner. This time I tried the Curry Rice Bowl. Delicious seasoning! My only suggestion would be to add more chicken which might be an option for additional charge, but I was so excited, I didn’t even look for that. This was the first time I tried this, and I was pleasantly surprosed because this isn’t in my usual line up. Years later, their flavors, recipes, quality all have still stayed true. This is important as they have now 3 or 4 locations, and when restaurants start expanding, they outsource ingredients/marinades to make it easier. This ends up changing the recipes, and that’s frustrating when this is your comfort food.
We ordered the beef pho, ginger chicken pho and both broths were flavorful but extremely greasy. I’ve eaten pho all over the city of Chicago bc my bestie and I are pho lovers and so I know what good broth tastes like. But this broth here was so greasy every time I took a sip of the broth I felt like I was drinking oil that’s how greasy it was. I had a ring of grease on my lips and it was just too oily I couldn’t even finish half the bowl.
The beef pho was more flavorful than the chicken pho, the chicken pho was a tad bit salty but then chicken was tender.
We also ordered the pork egg roll which was crispy and tasty no issues there. But we ordered the shrimp spring roll which on the menu lists it as two but it’s literally one spring roll they cut in half instead of two whole spring rolls which I thought was a cheap move on part of the restaurant.
In terms of the drinks, I don’t see any prices listed on the menu for drinks so I didn’t see the cost until after paying. We ordered the bubbly drinks lychee and red yuzu both were good but nearly $4 a drink. They have a small selection located in the fridge next to the register. I was hoping they had Vietnamese ice tea but they don’t even serve that only iced coffee, disappointing.
Lastly, this place is self serve which I wasn’t aware of since it was my first time coming here, I paid 15% tip and realized after that I had to serve myself!!!! This will be the first and LAST time I come here. Crazy nonsense asking for tip when customers have to bring their own pho to the table.
I do not recommend this place unless you like drinking oil for broth. Overall, disappointed.
The space is very small so not ideal for dine in.
Hard to find parking it’s metered except for Sundays. They do have a garage which is $3 for 2 hours.
Very tasty pho that’s full of flavor. I’ve tried both chicken & veggie. I was surprised that the veggie pho was very flavorful. Shrimp spring rolls were also very good, the shrimp tasted fresh. The portion for the pho is very generous, more than enough for one person (I couldn’t finish & had to take the rest to-go). I’ve also tried the banh mi before and that’s also good. I still prefer coming here for just the pho though. Come hungry!
This restaurant is bright, clean and quaint. The service was friendly and great. You order at the counter and pickup when your order is ready. My friend and I dined in for the whole experience.
I love ginger, but have never had ginger flavored Pho before. Lotus Bahn Mi’s Pho options are different from any Vietnamese Pho restaurant I have ever dined in or dined from, across the country. Curious about the taste of their Ginger Chicken Pho, I decided to try it. Let me tell you it was quite delicious! This dish has the perfect balance of ginger flavor, as it was not over powering.
I ordered several of my favorites:
– Shrimp Spring Rolls
– Pork Egg Rolls
– Chicken wings
The first bite I took of the port egg rolls tasted funny and was very chewy to the point I spit it out and found a rubber band in the bite. See photo.
Hoping I could salvage a bit of the meal I tried the shrimp spring rolls. Much of the rice sheet that it was wrapped in was too hard and dry to eat.
The honey grilled pork Bahn mi was delicious(I unchecked jalapeños and cilantro, not really good with spicy stuff). I don’t know if it’s the pickled daikon or fish sauce(let me know if I’m wrong), but it does have a slight spicey taste at the end. The baguette was the best I’ve had, very soft and fresh. Soy wings were pretty good too. Haven’t had any good soy chicken for a while so it was nice to find a place like this.
Food was great, but when I picked up my order, I thought I was picking up free food for a second person at the counter was not really friendly.
I’ll try dining in next time.