Pho 79

Hole in the wall location that doesn’t look overly inviting; however, never judge a book by its cover. Best phở I’ve ever eaten and they can make a take out order in a flash. Be sure to visit the huge fish swimming in their tank… I swear he tracks each of your movements and is trained!

With so many Phở restaurants around RVA, I believe that Phở 79 is a great contender. They have one the best broth that I’ve ever tasted. On top of that, the amount of food serving per order is huge. I love a hot bowl of Phở and I have to say, at times I have a hard time finishing the whole bowl.

I love a good bowl of Phở — but I am by no means a Vietnamese food expert. This is my first time stopping in for lunch and they did 1 key thing right — quick service. As someone who rarely goes out for lunch — I always get a little nervous that I’m not going to have time to finish my meal/I’m going to be practicing for the next hot dog eating challenge. Good was quick, fresh and great for my current cold (seriously, chicken noodle soup is so 1973). I can’t wait to explore the menu past #13.
Honorable mention — free wifi!!!

No vegan or fish or veggie based phở. Picking up for friends. Hope they like it. Wishing there was a phở option for me.

Best phở ever! The prices are very reasonable and the service was good. I’ll definitely be back!

Consistently fantastic phở and spring rolls. Reasonable prices and great service. My go to place for Phở.

Absolutely love this place. The staff is so polite and helpful, food is prepared quickly, and of course it’s delicious. One of my new favorite places to eat.

The Phở here is consistently good! The ingredients are fresh and plentiful and the broth is the best!!! They give you more than enough noodles, bean sprouts, lime slices, onions etc.
Don’t let the exterior of the building nor the location fool you! This place has some of the best phở in Richmond.

I would give 4.5. Phở 79 is not a fancy joint, but it is clean. They have the best phở broth in the city. The sides are crisp and fresh. I have been coming here for ten years, and hope to continue on! Service is quick and friendly, and many times I hear their native language.

One of the best Vietnamese cuisine establishments in this area. There are three that are my favorite and this is one of them. The phở and the meat and rice dishes along with the spring rolls are excellent here.

They are nice people! I loved the noodles and spring rolls. My son loved the fish in the aquarium.

Phở 79 is my «go to» for Phở in Richmond. As far as broth goes, I prefer Phở 79 over the ever popular Mekong down the road.
This is a small, family owned establishment that serves up good food with super reasonable prices. It’s an old converted McDonalds that certainly could use a facelift but you can tell that it’s meant to be a simple paper napkin spot.
The fresh summer rolls here are my favorite. I’ve always received them fresh, chilled and double wrapped to keep all the noodle/​meaty goodness from falling out.
I am a fan of the Phở Ti, but my favorite thing to order is the beef rice vermicelli salad — with added fried tofu. The veggies are crisp and delicious and the meat is grilled perfectly.
The service is quick and polite. Pay at the register to avoid a wait.

It seemed dirty inside… eh
Of course I had the phở, but it wasn’t that great. They didn’t have many vegetarian options.
The service wasn’t that great and it took quite some time for our food. (We were the only ones eating there at the time…)

Good food and it feels very «homey». The phở is really good along with «hui tui» I think it’s called, but one suggestion would be that they should add more toppings and meat into their soup bowls.

If it wasn’t obvious from my picture, I am half Vietnamese and grew up in a heavily dominated Vietnamese community back in SoCal. I know my phở; phở broth literally runs through my body and I know how it should taste and what to expect.
If I am just comparing it against the many other Viet restaurants in/​around RVA, it’s one that I probably won’t go back to. For their Phở, it ranks pretty low. I got the Super Bowl of Phở with beef brisket, flank steak, beef tripe and beef tendon. Take your normal size portion of phở and add another large bowl of phở to that and you get this behemoth serving of Phở (I was really hungry).
Bowl came out piping hot and there were plenty of noodles; way more noodles than the amount of meat. Broth was a little on the bland side and I had to add quite a bit of Sirracha and Hoison sauce to it. I finished about 95% of it and was xtremely full and didn’t want any of it to go to waste.
Floors and tables appeared and felt a little sticky. I don’t think the Heat was on either as it was a little chilly in there when I arrived around 12.30. Service was pretty good even though there was only one waitress for the whole place. As for the atmosphere/​décor it seemed outdated and not very welcoming. I’ll stick to Vietnam one as my go to place from now on.

Best Phở in Richmond. Yeah, I said it.
Phở So 1 is a close second, but this place edges them out with their larger noodle proportions and tastier broth. To me, broth is key, and Phở 79 nails it. Very savory, and you can taste the star anise and oxtail.
The wait staff is always super friendly and attentive and they also have Banh Mi sandwiches.
From having the privilege of eating in Vietnamese noodle houses in various spots in metropolitan cities on the west coast, I can vouch for Phở 79 being, still, one of the tastiest.

Phở, you say? Phở, it is. A decent number of tables inside with spacing so that you’re not sitting immediately next to someone else. The menu was pretty clear and we were able to find ourselves at the Phở Ga section easily. Small, medium and large bowls on offer, we chose two small bowls.
A few minutes later, two decently sized vats of broth, stuffed with chicken and noodles and green onions, plus a large side dish with bean sprouts, lime wedges and basil. After adding some shredded basil and a squirt of Sriracha, it was heavenly. I cleared the bowl.
My only complaint was that there was a small delta between the price on the menu and the price on the check we received. Not enough to be a deal break, but just an irritant.

Phở 79 has excellent Phở and Vietnamese Food here… The service is right on, as they always come around to check to see if you are doing OK… I have on occasions ordered Phở, and they are very accommodating in how they will fix it for you… As an example… I wanted Beef and Chicken Phở and they added the Beef to the Chicken… sometimes, I like the Beef and Pork, and again; NOT a problem. I always ask for extra Limes and slices of Jalapenos and they bring plenty…
IN addition, I feel they put MORE noodles in the bowl than the other popular Phở places I have eaten at around Richmond… I NEVER leave hungry.
On warm days here in Richmond, I enjoy their «Bun» dishes. It is not as heavy as the Phở. The Rice Vermicelli is light and the grilled Beef, Pork or chicken has a nice charcoal flavor to the taste… I love Phở, however it seems to be like heavy «Comfort food» to me, and in the Summer months… I want something light. This is why I go to one of the many «Bun» dishes they have on the Menu.
Richmond has many good Phở places, however I find myself coming to Phở 79 more often… Friendly Service, food is HOT and Good. I have uploaded some photos, and if you see me there on your next visit for some Phở… do not be surprise and the food is REALLY Good!

I recognized the Phở ’79 name on Unilocal from a same-​named restaurant in Virginia Beach, where I lost my phở virginity. I guess they used to be owned by the same family but are now under new ownership/​management and have renamed themselves «Phở.» It’s bright and clean inside and setup for serving phở. In fact, I could tell the tables had held thousands of bowls of phở goodness because there were bowl-​shaped circles worn away at each setting. +10 for the phở vibe!
I’ve been here a few times now that my office moved just down the street from them. My first visit I had a bahn mi. They aren’t on the regular menu but on a menu board above the kitchen door. The grilled pork sandwich I had was missing cilantro, a critical ingredient in my opinion, but every other aspect of it was delicious. I hope it was just an anomaly.
The phở is obviously the star here as they have a very large selection of ingredients and the broth is delicious! While I wish there was a little more meat, I always walk out full and satisfied. It’s hard to ask more out of a $ 7 lunch in Richmond.

Summary: «Phở», formerly «Phở 79», is a Vietnamese restaurant focusing their menu on Phở (rice noodles in a beef broth with onions and various Vietnamese toppings).
Cost: I got a large bowl of phở and it was $ 7.95 I believe and fairly filling.
Taste: I’m a little torn on what to say here because the phở was tasty, but perhaps not *quite* as good as Phở So 1. There was certainly an abundance of noodles, so if you like noodles in your phở, you’ll be pleased. There wasn’t a ton of meat but it was adequate and tasted good. The brisket wasn’t quite as flavorful as others I’ve tasted, but admittedly that’s really being picky. The broth I initially didn’t find quite as flavorful as I’m used to, but before I knew it I was finishing the bowl as the taste grew on me. It’s not an aggressive flavor but has a nice underlying onion and beef taste. Perhaps the slight lack of flavor is due to less sodium or the like, in which case I should be thanking them.
The menu wasn’t quite as extensive as other Vietnamese places, but let’s be honest here, you’re going to go to a place called «Phở» to eat Phở, right?
Atmosphere: I can see where others are coming from by calling it a «hole in the wall». As odd as it sounds, I prefer noodle shops like this over some of the larger spacious ones. I grew quite fond of some of the Ramen-​ya (ramen noodle only shops) with only 10 or 20 seats that I frequented in Tokyo. The color choice (bright lime) is a bit odd to outline the building with, but it wasn’t displeasing. I personally prefer the Atmosphere of «Phở» more than that of the new «Phở So 1» as it gives that «mom and pop noodle shop» feel.
Service: I’m guessing that the reviews mentioning poor service were written when it was still «Phở 79» as the wait staff I had were great. There was an older Vietnamese man who waited on me which for some reason gave it a more authentic feel and he checked back a couple times during my meal. I personally think the service was great as they were attentive and I had my meal in literally 4 or 5 minutes after ordering. I’ve waited longer at McDonald’s.
Overall: I really liked it here. The actual phở wasn’t quite as good as Phở So 1 in my opinion (but wasn’t too far off). As a whole, I don’t think I could bring myself to give «Phở» 3 Stars, especially with the atmosphere and service which I thought was fantastic. It’s a different kind of dining experience than Phở So 1, so you’ll want to decide what’s important to you and go from there. I know I’ll be coming back.