As soon as you walk in the door though, that worry goes out behind you.  The scent that greets you at the door is of a long-simmered broth, of beef and onion and star anise.  The dry Denver air is almost humid with all the pho being served here.  You can choose from an impressive list of 23 types of pho, with staples like meatball, tripe, rare steak and brisket offerings.  The pho is served up in a giant ceramic bowl, with all the fixings: kefir lime leaf, basil, jalapeño, bean sprouts and lime wedges.

The steak within the soup was wonderfully soft and perfect with the light, salty broth and crisp veggies.  Just heavenly - and the perfect thing for a rainy day.  But pho is not the only thing this place does well.  We also ordered the Chả giò rice noodle bowl, which are my favorite eggrolls in the whole world, Vietnamese style with soft pork and rice noodles packed into a very crispy, pale rice paper roll atop a bed of rice noodles, served with fish sauce.  The rice noodles here are perfectly cooked and never soggy, they spring right back when you push on them and are slightly sticky.  The fish sauce is also some of the best I've had; salty, sweet and spicy all at the same time.

The traditional drinks at Pho-natic are a treat too. They have Royal Milk tea, boba (tapioca bubbles sucked up through a straw; truly an experience), Thai iced tea, and my fav: Vietnamese coffee.  Oh the rich delight that is Vietnamese coffee - I could go on all day.  Dark, smooth coffee slowly drips into your glass, at the bottom of which waits an inch-deep serving of sweetened condensed milk.  It is the best coffee I've ever had.

So as you can tell, I'm a big fan.  I would recommend giving Pho-natic a try for yourself; it's even a safe place to try pho for the very first time!