Shorewood Lands OMG Pho, Great New Vietnamese Restaurant

There are many great local restaurants in the Joliet, Plainfield and Shorewood area, but very few of them are Vietnamese. That's unfortunate because so many people love great tasting authentic Vietnamese food. But I have some positive news to share. The cupboard is not bare. A classy, new Vietnamese restaurant with an awesome name, OMG Pho, opened in late March right next to the Nothing Bundt Cakes near the Target store on Route 59.

My wife noticed this new restaurant a few weeks ago and brought it to my attention. I showed up on Wednesday for lunch and met the staff and the owner. This place has excellent, incredibly reasonable prices and the inside of the restaurant looks fabulous.

Mark my word: OMG Pho is going to do very well. It's an ideal place to go for a business lunch or for a dinner date.

Owner Victoria Tran told me that her family also owns two other Chicago suburban restaurants, Pho Ha in Glendale Heights and Green Basil, located on East Jefferson Street in downtown Naperville.

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So far, OMH Pho has been getting crowds, and Tran showed me several photos of messages that customers wrote on their receipts, raving about the Vietnamese food.

"This is family owned so a lot of things we make from scratch; meatballs and sauces we make," Tran told me.

If you drive up and down Route 59, there are a plethora of restaurants serving pizzas and hamburgers, but when it comes to sit-down Vietnamese dining, "we the only one," Tran told me in explaining why she opened her restaurant in Shorewood.

"I just think that we busy because a lot of people on Facebook say nice things," she said.

At OMG Pho, I tried their egg rolls and their spring rolls. Both were excellent, but the spring rolls were my favorite. I loved the minty taste and these dipping sauces were amazing.

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For lunch, I went with one of their most popular appetizers. And folks, it's a big appetizer. It's listed as A5 on the menu: Banh Xeo. It's $10.

"Crispy, sizzling Vietnamese crepes with shrimp and pork."

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Afterward, I asked Tran, the owner, to highlight some of the menu selections that have been crowd favorites since OMG Pho opened here two months ago. Besides, the two items I had from the appetizer selections, she also suggested the following:

From the Pho (Noodles) P3: PHO DAC BIET, it's $12. "OMG special beef soup with sliced beef, flank, brisket, tendon and tripe."

From the Com (Rice Dishes) C2: COM BO LUC LAC, it's $13. "Sizzling diced beef."C4: SA TE', it's $13. "Asparagus, bell peppers and onions in garlic sate spice (wok sautéed shrimp $2.)"

C5: Com Chien Bo Luc Lac, it's $15. "House fried rice, filet mignon, bell peppers, onions and spring mix in red wine vinaigrette."

There is not one item on the OMG Pho menu that is more than $15. The appetizers are between $5 and $10.

The Vietnamese crapes I had were outstanding.

I don't believe I had ever eaten something like this before, certainly not around Joliet, Plainfield or Shorewood.

And I would absolutely recommend the spring rolls, too. They're filled with shrimp, pork and vegetables.

OMG Pho is at 201 Vertin Boulevard, Shorewood. The restaurant does carryout and dine-in. It's closed Mondays and open Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Its phone number is 815-733-6630.

If you are in the mood for something outside of your comfort zone, I would strongly suggest you try OMG Pho. I think you're going to like it.