Words by Elias Schendler PZ ’29, Graphic by Margaret Kaneb SC ’29

I have found most of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants in half-abandoned strip malls across the country. Tu’s Kitchen in Broomfield, CO (delicious grilled quail), Pho Ha Noi in San Jose, CA (unbelievable Bon Bo Hue), the list goes on. In fact, an addition was made this past weekend at Pho Century in Upland, California. Just an eight minute drive from Pitzer College. 

I went to Pho Century with fellow Outbacker, Viv Simon SC ‘28. On our way to the car, my friend Jasper Forgey PZ’ 29 appeared (as he tends to do) and decided to tag along. After all, who doesn’t want to kill some pho at 11 am on a Friday? 

The drive took fifteen minutes due to my driving handicaps in this urban hellscape. I’m used to the country roads of Colorado, but Viv insisted that the speed limit was 45 mph, and I didn’t have to be going a meager 30 mph. At one point, my passengers wondered if I “was even in a lane.” Safe to say, we were all pretty hungry. 

I discovered Pho Century through Pomona graduate and fellow food critic, Jeremy Martin. During an exhilarating trip to Disneyland, Mr. Martin shared his top eats around Claremont. I couldn’t help following up over text about a certain pho place he mentioned. Jeremy expressed his feelings: “Pho Century is a delightful establishment,” recommending that I “get a bowl with all the fixings” and “check out the bathroom while you’re there because it’s Star Wars themed for some reason.” 

Almost immediately, the waitress asked if we were ready to order. This proved to be quite stressful for an indecisive guy like myself, not to mention the abundance of dishes on the menu. Luckily, while I was caught in the headlights, Viv made the clutchest decision I’ve seen in the sport of ordering in a long time. She ordered the grilled pork spring rolls for starters. That’s when I realized I wasn’t dining with a pho fool. Viv knows ball. They were quite tasty. This gave me the time to prepare my order. 

Jasper and Viv shared the XL rare steak pho. I got the specialty pho with steak, tripe, and tendon, as Jeremy had suggested. In all honesty, I wasn’t fully bought into the whole idea of tripe. I once had a bad experience with Menudo (Mexican tripe soup). Never again would I try tripe. But here we were, feeling valiant and curious about the wonders of tripe. It was time to change. 

It wasn’t long before two mega-sized bowls were placed beneath our chins along with a platter of veggie toppings. The platter is an integral part of pho and one of the reasons I love it so much. Getting to assemble your bowl with herbs, bean sprouts, and peppers adds a little something special to the dining experience. Much like hot pot, Korean BBQ, or dim sum, I enjoy meals containing side quests. 

My fellow foodies and I agreed the broth was top notch. I couldn’t get enough of that rich beefy bone broth. Slurp… yum. After such an inviting first bite, I didn’t hesitate to take down some tendon and tripe. This is where I learned two things about myself. Two very important things: I don’t like tendon and I still don’t like tripe. Don’t get me wrong, this is no dig on Pho Century. The tastes and textures of these parts of the cow just give me the heebiejeebies. I hope someday this changes, but until then, I’ll stick to steak. In my defense, as the late great food legend and chef Anthony Bourdain once said, “good eating is all about risk.”

I took down that bowl of pho like nobody’s business. I proceeded to order a tiger milk boba from the bountiful boba menu. Good stuff. Don’t believe me? Ask Viv; she taxed a few sips. Unfortunately, I was too busy talking favorite cuisines with Viv and Jasper to check out the Star Wars themed bathroom. Perhaps, like the tripe, I’m not ready to take that step. I’m no Jedi yet. 

As we marched out of the joint, some type of vermicelli grilled meat plate caught my eye. I’ll get that next time. Would you like to join?