Located 50 feet west of the legendarily grubby and delicious soup
shack Pho Bac, Pho Viet offers all the vegetarian pho options (in addition to meat dishes) its sister establishment refuses to, in a
setting that doesn’t make you consider a tetanus shot. It’s the
little things that make Pho Viet’s pho stand out—most notably,
the singed and crushed garlic cloves lacing the broth, which
give this classic rainy-season fare an addictive new kick. (Pho
Viet, 1240 S Jackson St, 568-0882.)

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...