Finding The Best Pho In Santa Cruz
Pho is comfort food with range. Some bowls are light and clean, while others lean rich and heavy. It can warm you up on a cold day, save a late night, or help you recover the morning after.
That range is what made us want to start paying attention to it a little more closely. So we decided to chase pho across Santa Cruz County, stopping in different neighborhoods and trying bowl after bowl to see how each spot does it.
This is the Double Meat Please Pho Series. The goal is not to crown a single winner and move on. We wanted to see how pho shows up in different kitchens and how each place puts its own spin on the same classic dish.
Here’s where we started.
Charlie Hong Kong - Midtown Comfort
📍 Location: 1141 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
🍜 What We Ordered: Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup (pho Ga)
Price: $10.00
Our first stop was Charlie Hong Kong in Midtown, easing into the series with their Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup, also known as pho ga.
Inside the bowl you get chicken breast, wide rice noodles, and a clear chicken broth that stays light from the first sip to the last. It comes loaded with green onions, jalapeños, basil, and fresh lime, letting you season it exactly how you want.
We had heard some serious praise going in. Lookout Santa Cruz named it the 2025 Best Pho in Santa Cruz County, and expectations were set.
This bowl feels like an entry point. It’s pho for people who might be new to the category or just want something comforting without going full beefy intensity. The broth is gentle, clean, and easy to drink. Think classic chicken noodle soup that took a semester abroad in Vietnam and came back with a little spice and confidence.
The price was also hard to ignore. Ten bucks for a bowl that actually fills you up. That alone makes it worth the stop.
Pho Kitchen - The Watsonville Heavy Hitter
📍 Location: 983 Main St Watsonville, CA 95076
🍜 What We Ordered: Number #25 - Beef Combination Meatball
Price: $17.95
We then went south to Watsonville after one thing kept happening over and over. The DMs. The comments. People telling us there was a hidden gem serving some of the best pho in the county.
Pho Kitchen came up again and again, backed by strong Yelp (4.4 stars with over 170 reviews) and Google reviews (4.5 stars with about 200 reviews), so we listened.
We ordered the #25 beef combination with meatballs because when you’re checking out a new pho spot, you might as well go all in. The bowl comes stacked with eye round steak, well done brisket, tendon, and meatballs, swimming in a rich beef broth. Add the usual lineup of bean sprouts, green onions, jalapeños, basil, and lime, and you’ve got a serious bowl.
This broth had depth. Savory without being overpowering. The noodles were on point, and the portion of meat felt generous across the board. The extra meatballs were a highlight.
Santa Cruz Diner -
Pho at Any Hour on Ocean Street
📍 Location: 909 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
🍜 What We Ordered: Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup
Price: $18.95
Santa Cruz Diner is one of those places that feels baked into the city. It’s been around forever, it used to be open 24 hours (now its only opened late), and in 2009 it even landed a feature on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives for its pho.
Talking to the staff, we learned the broth is made with over forty ingredients and takes about seven hours from start to finish. That alone sets the tone.
The bowl here is big. One of the larger portions we’ve had so far. Thin sliced beef, rice noodles, scallions, cilantro, sprouts, onion, and basil round it out.
The real win here is accessibility. Pho seven days a week, late night, right in Santa Cruz.
Noodle Time -
Ocean Street
📍 Location: 1314 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
🍜 What We Ordered: #15 Special Beef combination Pho
Price: $17.95 for the bowl
Inside the bowl: Beef Broth, Rare eye round sliced beef, well done brisket, flank, meatball, and tendon
What we heard: This spot opened about a year ago and serves a wide variety of rice dishes as well as 9 different types of pho. A Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant. They are known for their soup bowls where they make their own fresh noodles (highly Recommend the braised beef soups with their homemade noodles).
For their classic pho they have the rice noodles that come classic with most pho bowls, but the volume of meat and the variety of different meats was wild.
Our thoughts: Even though you have an option to order at their kiosk… The staff is incredibly helpful especially when asking questions about the menu. The pho is really good, especially the generous portions of meat that also tasted great! Broth. Sides. Meat volume. Meat flavor. All top marks. We would definitely come back here for the pho.
Note: The braised beef and braised short rib noodle soup are awesome!
Britannia Arms -
The Thursday Night
📍 Location: 110 Monterey Ave, Capitola, Ca
🍜 What We Ordered: Sydney’s authentic Vietnamese pho
Price: $23 for the bowl of filet mignon | $18 for a bowl of chicken pho
Inside the bowl: A large steaming bowl of thinly sliced filet mignon, rice noodles, broth seasoned with charred ginger and other toasted spices, including cinnamon, clove, star anise, coriander seed, and peppercorn.
What we heard: This place is a local hidden gem! Only on Thursdays they serve pho here, and it always sells out, so we came right at 5pm!
The love for this place during shooting was matched by the online presence of those that have tried the pho. They say it’s one of the best and they come from all across Santa Cruz for this warm bowl of Vietnamese goodness.
Our thoughts: Even though this bowl had filet mignon, which we’ve never seen in a bowl of pho in our series, the broth was the standout.
The cinnamon and the star anise really coming out to say “Hi how are you?!” The broth, was both delicious and unexpected.
By far the most unique broth of any of the phos we have had. An amazing addition to our pho list.
Pho Super Noodle – Capitola Pho Done Two Ways
📍 Location: 1200 41st Ave Ste C, Capitola, CA 95010
🍜 What We Ordered: Number #8 – Beef Combination with tendon and tripe and #4 Beef Combination with beef balls
Price: $15.99 (Medium) | $16.99 (Large)
Super Noodle in Capitola gave us options, so we leaned into that.
Instead of choosing just one bowl, we ordered two. The #8 beef combination with tendon and tripe, and the #4 beef combination with beef balls. Prices land at $15.99 for a medium and $16.99 for a large, which feels fair for the portions.
Inside the bowl: Both bowls start with a deep beef broth and classic rice noodles. The #8 layers in rare eye round, brisket, tendon, and tripe for a more traditional combination, while the #4 leans heavier on the beef balls alongside the sliced beef. Each bowl comes with the usual pho lineup on the side: bean sprouts, jalapeños, basil, and lime so you can build it the way you like.
What we heard: Super Noodle has been in the Capitola area for years and comes up often when locals talk about reliable pho. It is one of those places people mention when they want something consistent, quick, and satisfying without having to leave the neighborhood.
Our thoughts: Ordering two bowls ended up being the right call. The broth here leans savory and comforting without going too heavy, which makes it easy to keep going back for another spoonful. The tendon and tripe bowl brought the most variety in texture, while the beef ball bowl delivered that classic pho combination people look for. Portions were solid and the flavors felt balanced across both.
Asian Express – A Quiet Local Staple
📍 Location: 1955 41st Ave # A2, Capitola, CA 95010
🍜 What We Ordered: Two bowls of beef pho
Price: $16–$18 depending on bowl size
Asian Express is one of those places that can fly under the radar unless someone points you toward it.
So we ordered two bowls to get a better feel for what they’re doing here.
Inside the bowl:
A classic beef pho setup with sliced beef, rice noodles, and a clear broth that carries the familiar mix of spices you expect from a traditional pho base. On the side: bean sprouts, basil, jalapeños, and lime so you can dial in the flavor yourself.
What we heard:
Locals mentioned Asian Express as a dependable spot when the pho craving hits. Not flashy, not trying to reinvent anything, just a straightforward bowl that keeps regulars coming back.
Our thoughts:
This felt like a neighborhood bowl. The broth stayed light and drinkable, the noodles held their texture, and the portions were solid. Nothing overly complicated, just a warm bowl that hits the spot when you want pho without overthinking it.
When you think of pho in Santa Cruz you're first thought of it “Pho-get about it”, but this small town has more Pho spots than you think, all with some slight variations and options. This is only part 1 of the Pho Series.
If there’s a spot we missed, tell us. We’ll keep chasing bowls.