Pho 79

I’m total fan of it! Crazy about their phở with beef brisket and flank! They have different combination with various part of beef to choose from depend on your preference such as well-​done lean beef, brisket, tendon, stripe, flank or fat brisket.
Sesame chicken wings worth a try, crispy outside, take a bite and you’ll surprise how tender and juicy it is, and the sauce is mild sweet and savory.

Favorite place for phở ! Really big portions! & amazing authentic taste & not to mention their fresh bubble tea is simply to die for !!! Honestly think it’s the best place to go for phở !!! Absolutely loved it ! & was ver impressed!

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more 79!

You won’t get exceptional table side service but you will get exceptional phở. Food comes fast and is fresh. The Vietnamese coffee and pork pot stickers were also awesome.

Cravings for some Vietnamese food. I would go here and here’s why:
Thumbs up:
–Good a** cream cheese wontons (I’m a cheese puff lover)
–Decent phở, but good canh chau and catfish pot
–Pretty good food for the $
–Decent CS, but when it’s busy it can take awhile for someone to get to ya
–Large group capability
Thumbs down:
–It is a hole in the wall décor, set your expectations low for ambience
–Parking can be not so fun, small private lot and street parking on eat streets a bummer, blind spots
–Not much vegan or veggie options
Authentic food sure why not. Try it you might like it.

Love the phở here… I think it’s tied for my favorite on eat street. I always get the combo with all the weird stuff in it. The taste of the broth is magical.
If you’re with a bigger group, get one of the circular tables (Chinese style). Not a lot of other phở places have that option for seating.
My friend said she loves the sesame chicken there… It’s got some kick to it. I had a bit and it was pretty good.

Been coming here for over a decade or longer. Food is hit or miss, the décor has never been updated. Coming less and less as the service is usually slower every time. Usually order the special phở but last time ordered Phở Ga and it was bland. Stick to the special phở.

I’m gonna post the same review as I did for Caravelle, because these places are the same. I don’t even know why they have 2 names.
If you want the best authentic Vietnamese in Minnesota, This is the place to go. My family is Vietnamese, and this is the only Vietnamese restaurant that they will go to.
Here are my MUST have at Caravelle:
Canh Ga Xa Ot: These are my favorite wings of all time! Better than any buffalo wild wing sauces. These wings usually come out straight from the kitchen, so they are hot! please be careful and not burn yourself. The mixture of sweet and spicy blends perfectly well!
Lau Canh Chua Ca: This sour soup is delicioussssss, and it comes in either a firepot (Lau) or big bowl (to). I highly recommend the firepot because it keeps your soup hot throughout the meal and it looks so darn cool. Definitely pour this soup over your rice, that is how it is meant to be eaten.
Ca Kho To: This dish comes in a clay pot. This is how they make it back in Nam, so it has the authentic feel. The fish is EXTREMELY packed with flavor and you won’t go wrong picking this. The only downside is that there are bones in it, but totally worth eating despite that. Remember to drizzle the sauce on your rice!
Tom Ram Man: This dish is shelled shrimp in a tasty sauce. Some people eat the shell, but I can’t do it, so I just peel it off. I hardly see anyone ever order this, so it is truly under appreciated. I can see why though, with all the great options here.
Soymilk: They homebrew their own soymilk. :)

While visiting Minneapolis, I was feeling the onset of a cold and rushed out to find some Phở Ga in an attempt to fight it off.
It was a bit after the lunch rush, so the restaurant was not crowded. Ordered the Phở Ga and it came out fairly quickly.
While I was waiting, I asked for the password to the WiFi network. Allegedly the password is their phone number. They appear to have two phone numbers — I tried both phone numbers multiple times but could not connect to their WiFi network.
Back to the Phở — it was a chicken broth, but rather ordinary. Very light in flavor. Not bad, just not the rich Phở Ga broth experience I was hoping for. The broth was steaming and I added the plate of accoutrements (bean sprouts, basil, jalapeños, and squeezed in the juice from the lime wedge). The plate of stuff was fresh.
I periodically added squirts of Sriracha sauce to bites and to the broth to spice it up.
Overall, a rather ordinary bowl of Phở Ga.
Service was good.

Went here to have phở. Noodles are kinda hard, also found a hair. They have a sketchy massage parlor upstairs. Waitress are rude. I dont understand why they can’t be nicer.

Overall good experience for first timers. Big food portions, inexpensive.
Boyfriend had Kung pao chicken level 4 spice out of 5 an it was pretty bland. Entrée came with fried rice and egg roll. We also ordered shrimp spring rolls which were typical and wontons which were good. I had phở ga with meatball added in. Huge portion, your basic phở. I liked it but it wasn’t over the top delicious.
Fast, friendly service.
We would go again.

Serviceable, comforting phở, especially on a Wednesday when my favorite spot (Phở Tau Bay) is closed. But the parking is tight and minimal, the interior is a bit shabby, and the layout is a little confusing: There seem to be 2 restaurants here with a single entry (Phở 79 and Caravelle). The Phở 79 side as about 10 tables, The Caravelle side is larger and has a buffet at lunch time. When you enter at lunch, they ask which you are coming to eat at. I watched several people enter and show utter confusion at being confronted with this decision at the front door. I’ve been here about 6 – 8 times and the food is good and fills the inner urge but it is a little lacking when compared to some of the other places on Eat Street. Spring rolls seemed a little dried out; Egg rolls a little soggy despite a deep fried exterior; Phở broth tasty but lacked the glistening, almost-​velvety mouth feel I associated with bone based broths. Portions and prices are comparable to other places on Eat Street and it does satisfy my craving but I do think that other spots get the extra stars for paying just a little more attention to the details.

This restaurant is not terrible but I wish I could say better things about this place.
My friend and I ordered phở and a vermicelli salad. The couple who sat down after we had put in our order, and clearly knew the owner, received their entire meal before us. How is that even possible? Oh, right, they knew the owner.
P. s. The vermicelli salad with marinated pork and shrimp was very, very greasy.

I really like Phở 79 because of all the options they have for phở. I love getting beef, seafood and tripe and like being able to switch it up. The fried egg rolls are standard but smaller than other spots I’ve been to. The salads are also pretty good, I’ve only had one with tofu and the tofu was a bit dry but seasoned well. Phở 79 was my go-​to place until I found My Houng, but when I want phở on the go, I stop in to Phở 79.

Nothing can ever beat home made phở, but Phở 79 gets close. We eat here probably 2x a month because it’s just that good and of course we always order the same thing: phở and fresh spring rolls. Phở is served with thai mint that’s always fresh, but you have to ask for the culantro as it’s not a standard herb they bring out. The spring rolls are some of the best in the city.
I wouldn’t stray from much else on the menu. I’ve tried the grilled pork and the other noodle dishes, but they’re subpar compared to other places. It’s all about the phở here. Order a fresh coconut drink too, yes you can get that at any Vietnamese restaurant, but it’s so good here and something new to try if you have never had it before.

Phở is the specialty here with several kinds to choose from. It shares a building with a Chinese restaurant so go through the door and stay left. It has older furnishings and the layout is L shaped with community tables in the front and more regular seating in the side. I had the Phở 79 special, and honestly I think I prefer chicken phở better but the broth was great as were the additional basil/​lime/​jalapeño/​sprout fixings — nice and fresh.
They have a lunch buffet that is a very good value.
Pay at the register on the way out. There is some limited parking on the side of the building.

Whenever I am in Minneapolis and hungry, I go here. Who doesn’t love a one stop shop of the best Asian dishes — phở, bun salad, spicy squid and pad thai!?!
Honestly, I make the 30 minute drive for the 5 SpiceSquid dish which is my favorite meal from this place. That alone is worth the trip. If only their service could be better. Today, the ladies were bery busy and did not even get to us for 10 – 15 mins and then, didn’t come around with water.

I want to eat here all the time. It’s my favorite phở (sounds like «Fuh?») joint!
What the phở? Because the broth tastes like it has szechuan peppers in it! No one else does this! Yeah, it’s normally a bit on the spicy side, so if that’s not your thing, then no, we’re not going to be besties. If phở really isn’t your thing at all, I’ve tried the salad and rice dishes here, and they were all very tasty.
Also, the sesame fried chicken appetizer. Get it. Trust me.
Sum up! Prices are great. Food comes out hot, quick, and delicious. Service is prompt (but don’t ask too many questions because occasional language barrier, just google it if you really need to know). Parking is as expected on Eat Street (fight for your life during prime dinner time).

In an attempt to appease a friend who had not yet found a killer bowl of phở in the Twin Cities, we swung by Phở 79. It seemed my friend was neither blown away nor disappointed with the phở, but I suspect his journey to find great phở in the cities will continue.
Nonetheless, my meal of mock ducky and veggies hit the spot. Mock dock itself is hard to screw up, after all I believe it’s simply birthed straight out of a can, kinda like spam, and then stir-​fried into a more edible form. This glutenous delight together with nice big cuts of crisply tender (oxymoron?) veggies (peppers, broccoli, carrots) all slathered in a «standard brown Chinese sauce» (I hope this is not offensive, not sure how else to describe) with a side of white rice and a complimentary tofu eggroll (whose innards I scraped out leaving the fried carcass behind) made for a superb dinner at $ 8. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, with plenty of leftovers to take home.
I gather that Phở 79 offers some unique and authentic Chinese and Vietnamese dishes, all at a decent rate (with leftovers probable unless you are a large man). But, despite its namesake, phở might not be the superstar here.

Where am I? Are you Phở 79 or Caravelle?!! — Those were running through my head when i got seated on the right side of the building among bunch of people eating off a buffet table of chinese food. The waitress, clearly recognizing my confused/​dazed look, told me that I can order food from Caravelle (chinese cuisine) or Phở 79 and gave me a combined menu.
Ok so my obvious complaint about this place is the name. I don’t understand if it used to be independent owners and they are trying to keep the two separate (which I don’t think you can unless you itemize everything). But anyway, it doesn’t work! There is no actual divide from right aka ‘chinese food/​buffet’ side or left ‘vietnamese food’ side. And frankly, I doubt customers would care if a restaurant with ONE name, offers both cuisine.
Food:
Nem rolls: So good! I never had this before but it was wrapped differently — rather than typical eggroll wrapping style, it was just rolled. It had some pork and fried wrappers in there that tasted like chinese doughnuts. Recommend for sure!
Phở 79: Yum! This was so meaty and had loads and loads of noodles. But my soup was tad over salted. I would come back for this though!
Seafood noodle soup: The soup is like traditional wonton noodle soup (holler to my mom!). But the shrimp was flavorless and the noodles were overcooked. A dud.
Service: Crapshoot. The lady who came with our dishes and beansprouts/​vegs nearly threw them on our table as she was running to take orders. In contrast, another lady, who left and picked up the bill, helped me pick up my cards as I clumsily dropped the contents of my wallet. Gotta take your chances here.
Overall, I would come back again. Based on food alone I’d say it was a 4 star, but with the disorganization and inconsistent service I knocked it off one.
P. S. I am not the only one struggling with matching name to the «side» of the establishment. Lady and her child didn’t know to leave tip on the table (right side of bldg) or the cashier (left side of bldg) because she had phở but was seated among the masses eating fried rice. The owner needs to learn about commitment and take only one!