A build-your-own pho bar has replaced the salad bar at the Market at Norris University Center.
Described as a “popup” on Northwestern Dining’s Instagram page, the pho bar opened Friday. Prices start at $8.99, according to signs posted near the Market.
Customers can choose from between beef and vegan broth as well as several protein options, including steak, chicken, shrimp and tofu. The bar’s topping offerings include carrots, cremini mushrooms and jalapeno peppers.
Chloe Sky, a high school junior from Los Angeles, stopped by the pho bar for lunch during a visit to NU’s campus with her mother, Maria Nicolacakis.
“I just started with a lot of noodles because I always finish the noodles too fast,” Sky said.
Sky selected the beef broth. She added several toppings to her bowl but said she was surprised there were no bean sprouts, a common addition to pho.
Nicolacakis said she was impressed by the variety of add-ons available, especially the fresh basil and cilantro. Opting for the vegan broth, she topped her bowl with a sprinkle of chili crisp.
“We go to pho places all the time in LA, and the flavor of this vegan broth is right on,” Nicolacakis said.
For Bienen Prof. Geoffrey Duce, vegetables were key. He said he fixed his bowl with carrots, zucchini, onion and cilantro.
He said he prefers healthier lunches but can’t find those at Norris restaurants like Buen Dia, which serves tacos, quesadillas and burrito bowls, or Starbucks.
“Most of the other food court options are basically junk food, actually, but this is something healthy,” Duce said.
While Duce said he enjoyed the taste of his pho, he found the price to be on the higher end. He said he paid more than $15 for a large bowl with tax included, which to him was “quite a lot for a build-your-own kind of setup.”
Like Duce, Bienen first-years Grace Kim and Erin Lee came across the bar while visiting Norris for lunch Friday.
With the Bienen School of Music located steps away from Norris, Kim said she and Lee frequent the Market, previously for the salad bar.
“We come here literally every day, multiple times a day,” Kim said. “Whenever you go into the Market, it’s for random things. It was kind of a surprise today.”
Still, the new pho bar was a welcome change for Lee.
Although not immediately trying the new option, she said she’s not opposed to building her own bowl somewhere down the line.
“It needs to be the right time, when I really want pho,” Lee said.
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