Get to know Pholicious, a wonderful restaurant with a menu filled with healthy, tasty Vietnamese dishes, including the rice noodle soup that gives the Victorville eatery its name.

Owner Andy Do learned the restaurant business from his parents. He grew up helping in the kitchen in their three Asian fusion restaurants in Canada.

Do’s sister owns Mai Asian Restaurant in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Do developed skills in superior presentation as well as a culinary sense of recipe “twisting” by watching his mom and dad at work.

It was a matter of tasting the dish, then adding his own “twists” so the dish was “traditional, made better.”

Pholicious has been a Victorville favorite for years. After relocating to the food court at The Mall, Pholicious was offered for sale and purchased by Do and his wife, Annie Dang. They recently sold their Mall location and opened in what Do calls “the perfect spot” — a corner location, lots of parking, good traffic flow on Bear Valley and Amethyst Roads, and plenty of foot traffic as well.

Do said he easily "twisted" many traditional Vietnamese dishes through very simple changes such as borrowing cooking techniques from other cultures. For example, the Pholicious Special soups on the menu are served in a stone bowl set atop a heat source similar to a Chinese hotpot. Not unlike a fondue pot, the hotpot keeps the soups simmering.

This process takes regular pho and makes it extraordinary.

Vietnamese pho is a basic soup broth served with a tray of fresh items like bean sprouts, jalapeno pepper slices and basil leaves. Diners customize their bowls to suit their tastes. Pholicious offers regular or large servings. These soups start at $10.50 for a regular serving.

The Pholicious Specials mentioned above come in four choices —  combinations of beef cuts such as rib eye, tendon, tripe, ox tail and brisket as well as a seafood option with shrimp, calamari and rounded balls of fish paste. These specials start at $13.50.

Pho broth is cooked for 20 to 24 hours, with beef bone adding its subtle flavors. There is also a vegetarian broth option.

Pho stir-fry dishes are “pad-Thai-like.” Pad Thai is a stir-fry made with gluten-free rice noodles, shrimp, peanuts, scrambled egg and bean sprouts as well as other vegetables. Pholicious stir-fry choices start at $12.95.

Another gluten-free “noodle” is Vietnamese vermicelli, made of mung beans. Vermicelli bowls at Pholicious are available from $10.95.

The Pholicious menu is filled with choices for those with other dietary restrictions as well as for those who prefer vegan or vegetarian dishes.

Spring rolls — shrimp, chicken, pork and beef — plus chicken wings, fried tofu and crispy calamari will get your meal off to a great start. Some diners can make a meal of appetizers, and there are plenty of tasty options.

Vietnamese sandwiches are served on baguettes and filled with grilled chicken, pork or beef with various sweet and spicy condiments as well as cucumbers and pickles. The sandwiches start at $12.95.

Milk teas in a variety of flavors — original, coconut milk, honeydew milk and green thai tea, to name but four — are refreshing and delicious.

“Simpliciteas” are fruit-flavored green or black teas.

The “smoothie” menu at Pholicious is a large selection of “bubble tea” with boba, or chewy tapioca balls, added for fun. All drinks start at $5.99 with added boba starting at $1.

Flavored and plain lemonades, soft drinks and bottled or draft beer are also available.

Check the website, pholicious.co, for menu options. Pholicious offers eat in, dine out, or delivery via Doordash.com. Receive 10% off your first online order pick-up or delivery by scanning the QR code on their business card or by visiting their website.

Pholicious, 13680 Bear Valley Road, #2, Victorville. 760-885-4540.  

Open Monday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

If you would like your own restaurant or your favorite eatery profiled in Dining Around, please contact Kathy Young at the Daily Press by email, kyoung3@gannett.com, or text 760-953-8682.