Pho 97

Phở is excellent, very comparable to phở kieng giang. They give you plenty of beef and phở. You are definitely full when you leave. Wait is not long. Their usually not busy. Staff is nice.

Best Phở is Tampa Bay… simply delicious! I suggest ordering #35 on the menu. The staff are so sweet and helpful… And the Coffee is amazing!

Phở 97 is the epitome of no-​frills dining. Service is not like that of the western world. You will seat yourself (unless it’s busy), menus will be dropped (usually without much greeting), your order will be taken, your utensils will be brought over, the food will be brought to your table, and your payment will be handled at the front counter. I love a good dining experience with personable waiters/​waitresses, but I’ve come to terms with the lack thereof at most Vietnamese restaurants.
Reader beware my rating is solely based off their phở. It’s the only thing I eat here. The broth and meats have always been consistently on fleek. Broth is always a perfect combination of savory, sweet, herby, and rich. Flank and tendon always melt in your mouth soft, and rare beef always sitting pretty and pink on the top (ask for it on the side if you really like the pink. The noodles, have a slight sweetness to them and they taste rice-​y, BC THEY RICE NOODLEZ. This is great, bc otherwise, they take away from boldness of the broth.

Bahn mi is pretty good, egg rolls are okay, my fiancé says the phở was good. I get my bahn mi sandwiches here when in the area.

Good food. Clean. Can’t complain. I have had better phở before and had worse phở before. Super fast. I’d come back.

We come here every time we visit the area. The phở is good. Banh mi is decent. Those were the only things we tried. Service is always good. Expect your food to come out in less than 5 minutes. Lots of locals go here. Plenty of parking. Your hunger will be fulfilled by less than 8 bucks.
I’m very picky when it comes to Phở. And i think it’s a lot better than many places in Pinellas Park area.

There really isn’t much to say about Phở 97. It’s not mind blowing nor disgusting so it really is an A-​OK food. The only issue I had with the phở was that there was too much grease on top of the soup to my liking. I did not like the grease sticking my lips.
The service was also meh. We sat down at our tables and was set up with food and that was it. No one visited to ask if we needed anything else nor filled our glasses. We were the only table in the restaurant on a Sunday evening.
It’s definitely not the place I have in mind if I wanted to grab some Vietnamese food. I’m all for ma and pa types of restaurant but unfortunately, Phở 97 does not wow me.

The first step of the 12 step program is «admitting that one cannot control one’s addiction or compulsion.» Well I’m here to admit that I’m addicted. I’m addicted to phở. I eat phở about 3−4x a week. If I could eat it everyday, I’d most likely get super fat and be semi-​malnourished, but I’d be one happy camper. Like a $ 2 hooker, I’ve visited every phở joint in Pinellas Park’s «Little Saigon» and Phở 97 has the tastiest bowl in town. Downsides: not the cleanest, don’t really understand what the servers are saying (if they even speak at all), and you probably won’t always get your order right unless you become a regular and order the same thing every time you come in. But the price is super inexpensive, the serving is huge, there’s plenty of meat and veg to go with your phở and TONS of flavor. Not sure about the quality of the other Vietnamese options on their menu though but I’d vouch for their Phở-​sure.

As for the other reviews this place has received. If you end a review with ”fail” you are probably a moron. This is a legit and very home style vietnamese restaurant. The sandwiches are the best around and stop cheap. The vietnamese coffee is also fantastic. If you like real phở come here. If you want an americanized dolled up version go elsewhere.

My wife made me try the phở here one day. Im not a big Phở fan unless its Phở Hoa in Orlando, but I gave it a shot. Im sorry I did. The phở came the exact opposite how I want my phở to be. Too much noodles and not enough meat. Good thing though because the meat was way over cooked/​not fresh. This was not a good experience. Im staying far away from this place and not going to listen to the wife anymore on restaurant recommendations. Failed.

When the waitress didn’t know what Phở Tai was (the most common phở), I was concerned — also, she didn’t seem to know what waitressing was…
We were the only people in the place (see pics) at the prime dinner hour… which seemed odd. The phở, our reason for going, was borderline inedible.
The phở meat was awfully tough… not in any way the correct cuts for the phở tai. More like jerky! The broth tasted ‘chemically’. I only ate a few bites… my girlfriend managed two.
Worst phở I have ever had… and I am pretty forgiving.
The spring rolls and fried rolls were quite good though… and managed to salvage a 2 star rating. Maybe some other dishes are also good?
Of note, there was what appeared to be a very large bloodstain on the ground right outside the front door which left me with an eerie feeling and did not help encourage me to want to return.
Obviously this used to be a regular diner of some sort before Phở 97 took over, since the bathrooms are startlingly clean for a Vietnamese restaurant — if you know what I mean.
All in all a very strange experience. Not planning on going back for more…

Simple, friendly, and good.
After a so-​so past, the reincarnated Phở 97 emerged at this slightly nicer location. A flashing sign beckons you into dull plaza where a store sign is still needed. It’s clean inside with simple, plain décor – it felt like stepping into a communal dining area for hostel guests in Vietnam. Great for the Viet community, but I hope this place plans on décor upgrades to lure outsiders.
The menu is large featuring typical Vietnamese café fare: phở (duh, it’s in the name), vermicelli bowls, seafood… my soup «Hue» style was delicious. My friends’ phở was excellent as well – no complaints. Service was fast… don’t think this is a totally new restaurant testing the waters. (wait a bit until they can accept credit cards)
There’s lots of similar Viet restaurants in taste and price in St. Pete and this one doesn’t stand out. I see Phở 97 catering best to the native, Viet family/​community because of its current atmosphere.