Pho 79

Went here for dinner with the family on a Friday at 6pm. Surprisingly they were not busy at all, we were the only customers. Looks like lots of take out orders sitting on an empty table.
We order three of all different bowls of phở and one pork fried rice. One bowl with no onions. The one that we had placed for no onions had onions in it, the regular special phở was placed as a regular with everything on it had no meatballs or onions and the third bowl was correct. My son doesn’t like or eat onions but managed to spoon out all onions that was in the bowl.
I didn’t want to bring it up to the wait staff or that older lady that works there because they already looked agitated from who knows what. After our food came out they did not come back to our table to check on how things were or to refill our waters. This is not or usual phở spot and will not be back for a while. Food is not bad but service could be just a tad better. I mean this place has been here for a long while now so they must be doing something right.

The phở is sooooooooooooooooooo good. The broth is beefy, clear and not overly oily or sweet. The portions are good for what you pay as well. This is always my #1 choice for phở.
I’ve had their regular menu food as well and all were good, but Phở is what I come here for. This location and the one on Eat street (Nicollet in S. Mpls) are one in the same.
Tip: This location is closed on Sunday’s.
Knock off one star for hit and miss service.

I wasn’t feeling well when I decided I wanted phở to make me feel better. I got many Facebook suggestions from friends about this place, Phở 79. I decided since it was close I would check it out. Greeted fast and got a table right away at 630. Not the most elaborate service but answered questions and were fast. The shrimp and pork spring rolls were fresh and the hoisen sauce was good for dipping I asked for an additional fish sauce which was tangy and sweet and delish. We also loved the cheese wontons which had a crisp and flakey dough and a large stuffing of cheese in center. One of the best I’ve had. Not hard and doughy like some. Then I got the 24 it was shrimp, pork, shrimp, imitation crab and in addition to rice I also got a ramen like egg noodle which was actually kinda nice. Broth was what a phở is savory salty but I wish there was more of a ginger or lemongrass presence. You get all side fixings with it too. Fresh Thai basil, sprouts, lime and jalapeño. I will definitely go back but my hunt is on for my fav bow of phở.

Very solid spot for Phở and Vermicelli Salads. Friendly and efficient staff, fair prices and prompt service. Take out is good too– the liquid is plenty hot even by the time I get home (albeit its only a 5 minute drive). Good stuff.

Great phở and other noodle soups, and good spring rolls and rice noodle salads. Casual and inexpensive. I have not have the service issues some others seem to have had.

Decent Phở. Noodles were still a bit uncooked for my liking. My main complaint would be feeling rushed. Just got my menu and waitress already asked for my order.
Fortunately I already looked at the menu online, but the menu was kinda snatched away from me after I ordered.
Dint care much but as I got my bowl of phở, literally not even a minute after my bill was placed on my table. They didn’t verbally rush me, but their «fast“service felt more like, «hurry up, I got customers waiting.»

My perfect comfort food. Pork egg rolls delicious and crunchy. Cream cheese wantons=many and good. Phở!!! So good. Perfect inexpensive meal and fairly close to home.

Overall the place was decent looking. I tried the phở #1.
The price was good for the portion. Did not get too much noodles though. The broth was sweet, and clean, which i liked but wasn’t the best that I ever had. The noodles were not so good. The texture was a little grainy and too sticky for my liking. Also tried the cream cheese wontons which were alright though they seemed very oily. And the dipping sauce was sour, wished it was a little sweeter since the wontons were plain. My boyfriend had the vermicelli noodle salad which was disappointing. The noodles were dry and the sauce is not flavor the noodle well. Didn’t expect too much from the vermicelli salad though. Still have not found a really good place what serves a decent vermicelli salad.

I am never disappointed when I dine in or order out at Phở 79! I have my favorites like #35 but happily branch out now and again knowing there is no wrong choice. Highly recommended for anyone in need of the deliciousness that is phở or first-​timers looking for a great first experience with the dish.

My coworker has been raving about Phở 79 for ages, so when she stopped for take-​out one day, I asked her to pick me up whatever she was getting.
We got the veggie fried rice and veggie egg rolls. The fried rice was good, but not the best I’ve ever had. I really liked that they didn’t skimp on the vegetables, there were big piece of carrots of broccoli. However, there was some flavor lacking.
The egg rolls on the other hand, were possibly the best I’ve ever had. Greasy, crunchy, and flavorful. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
I’ll definitely return to Phở 79. I’d love to try their other dishes, and of course, fill my belly with some more of those egg rolls.

Meh. Some of their food (like the phở ga) is pretty good, some of it (like the fried rice) is kinda gross. But it’s cheap, and it’s quick. I’d probably give it 3 stars except last time I was there, the checkout woman hassled me about paying with a credit card because she didn’t want to pay the $.10 it cost her business. She kept asking if I would pay cash instead, and I told her sorry, no. She seriously kept me there at the checkout counter for an extra 5 minutes arguing with me about it. Seriously, the credit card fee is a cost of doing business, if it bothers you that much, add $.10 to the price of the meal. I was torn between offering her the dang dime and walking away (without my takeout food) and taking my business elsewhere. She finally ran the card, giving me dirty looks the whole time.

Consistently excellent Phở that my family LOVES. It’s the kind of place that you genuinely feel better after visiting –satisfied but not stuffed– and like you actually did your body a favor. The Bun is delightful as well with just the right combination of savory and spice. You won’t be disappointed if you enjoy authentic Vietnamese cuisine!

Great food at a great price! Their spring rolls are much better than most restaurants! Try their appetizers and you will not be disappointed.
I usually judge the restaurant by its phở and its on par. It has a sweeter broth than I like, but I like mine a bit more savory. I guess everyone has their own tastes! However, for the average diner, it is a great dish!
Service is great as well, try here at least once! It’s super busy!

Only had the special Phở and it was just okay. Broth was a little on the sweet side (maybe some people like that, but its not my preference). The noodles were a little clumpy and the beef slices were a little tough. It wasn’t disgusting, but far from the best Phở in the Twin Cities.
I’ll give the store credit for friendly staff and fast service, but the food was only average.

I love this place. I work nearby so I’m here about once a week.
The phở is excellent, some of the best I’ve had in the twin cities. Spring rolls are heavenly.
I have dreams about their vermicelli salad. The noodles are perfect, the dressing is delicious, and PRO TIP: get it with the shredded chicken they use on the phở. I’ve found some questionable pieces of meat when I go with the regular chicken. Their banh mi is meh. I haven’t explored the menu much, it’s hard to when I know the phở or salad will satisfy my primal hunger.
The staff is always pleasant and attentive. But if you visit during lunch hours be prepared to get friendly with the other people waiting. The restaurant is small with a tiny entry way.

My girlfriend and I were craving phở, so I decided to Unilocal a phở place around the neighborhood. I’ve been disappointed for the most part to what Minnesota has to offer in terms of phở, with an exception to Quang’s. At first upon stumbling upon phở 79, I had some doubts due to its generic name. phở 79, but due to it’s 4 star Unilocal average, we decided to give it a try. I’ve mostly had terrible experience at those generic phở stores like phở 38. phở 68.phở 88. phở 888. I’ve been to so many. One of my bucket lists is to go to all the phở places starting from Phở 1. I must locate it! I would prefer to have started chronologically from 1, but hey, I have to start somewhere!
Enough of the rant! It’s review time. I gave this place 3 stars. We ordered egg rolls and 2 different phos. I got the usual: Number 1 on the any phở restaurant menu. I don’t even have to look at the menu. I just say «Number 1!!» It’s the phở with all the meats, tendon, tripe, meatballs etc… You know. the usual. My girlfriend got some other phở, that I don’t quite remember. I think it was the one the straight up meat with broth. The food came quickly upon ordering! They had super fast service, as do most other vietnamese restaurants. The egg rolls were quite crispy and pretty decent. Better than some of the other ones around the Twin Cities area such as Bona and Trieu Chau. However not as good as Quang’s.
Next came our phở. It came shortly after we started chowing on the egg rolls. At first, the phở tasted good. However, a third of the way through, the broth started tasting a little bitter. I’m not sure why, but both my girlfriend and I tasted a little bitterness. At that point I decided to squeeze the lime and add Sriracha to try and mask the taste. It did a decent job, but still tasted a little bitterness. Other than that, the portion was pretty good for the price. It’s about or slightly cheaper than most other phở places around the city. The portions seemed to be bigger than Quang’s, Bona, and Trieu Chau and Phở Tau Bay.
Given all that, I probably wouldn’t come back here again. The only place I’d go back again is Quang’s. However, I’m still in search of good phở around the cities! Next up may be My Huong Kitchen or Lotus Restaurant. Any suggestions? Shoot them my way :).

My boyfriend and I were craving phở, so we decided to come here as it was in the neighborhood and had pretty good Unilocal reviews. At first entry, there was no one to immediately greet us. The waiter was sitting at a table eating food himself, but directed us to sit where we would like. Upon seating, we were delivered our menus and water almost immediately.
We ordered pork egg rolls and two different types of phở. The egg rolls came out first. They were crispy and good, but nothing out of the ordinary of egg rolls that I’ve had at other Vietnamese restaurants. They seemed more highly stuffed with carrots than pork.
Our soups came out quickly as well. However, the noodles had a bitter aftertaste and the broth was nothing special. I’m used to eating phở with broth rich in several different flavors, but this one seemed rather plain to me. The portion was typical of what you can expect at all other phở places in the area.
Although the service was very quick, the waiter was not friendly and made minimal interaction with us throughout our whole time there. The environment also wasn’t very pleasant, as it is a very tiny restaurant with very few people there and in my opinion, was not a good place to sit down, relax, and enjoy some conversation. Overall, the food was not bad, but this restaurant would definitely not be my first choice for this type of food again.

If your idea of a good meal skips the flavor of the food and concentrates on the ambience of the restaurant then you might be disappointed. If you are all about the flavor then you will love this little hole in the wall place. Best Phở in the Cities, large portions of fantastic flavors. When in the need for excellent Phở look no further.

ok seriously, there is nothing better on a cold Minnesota day than a bowl of steaming hot delicious phở. Phở 79 is one of the better places to go for delicious food. The appetizers are all great. I’ve had the cream cheese wantons, egg rolls, spring rolls, and the shrimp and they are all delicious. The hot tea is wonderful. They have many different kinds of phở, but they are mainly just a mixture of some basic ingredients. The crab claw is good, but the regular crab tastes like imitation. They also have fish balls, beef, tripe, chicken, and a couple other things for your phở. Each bowl come with a generous side plate containing bean sprouts, jalapenos, basil leaves and lime that you can add as you wish. There is also hoisin sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce at the tables. The meals are cheap ranging from 6 – 9 dollars I believe, and the portions are generous. Definately a must try for phở lovers and also those interested in a great tasting Vietnamese soup

Stopped in during a busy lunch hour and ordered chicken fried rice as take out. Unfortunately, it took 20 minutes for them to make my fried rice. Yes, it was a busy lunchtime, but when I finally asked about my fried rice take out order, it magically appeared within a couple minutes. Coincidence? I think not.
In any case, when I began eating my chicken fried rice, it had nice chunks of chicken and a decent portion, but the flavors were bland. It definitely needed some spice. I added some salt and it was better, but I would have preferred some type of spice.
All in all, there are other places that have better fried rice in the area. Stick with their Phở as that is excellent and be prepared to wait to be seated or for takeout if you visit during the noon hour lunch rush.

I’ve gotten take out here many times. Their phở is the best *relative* to where we live so we make the drive. It’s pretty good, although a little sweet. LOVE their greasy egg rolls. They are delish! In all, we do like their phở and egg rolls but advise against their banh mi, which is kind of weird or bland or both, I can’t remember but I made a note to never get it here again.

They serve vegetarian Phở and Mock-​duck Bánh mì. Now that I have your attention, it’s not just the awesome options but the amazing flavor. Obviously, I’m a regular here. And I figured the only reason I haven’t reviewed this place yet is probably the excitement to eat, and eat a lot.
There is a wide option on the menu. The place recently has been renovated and it’s like Gordan Ramsey himself visited and gave it a makeover.

I have only had the sliced beef Phở here but it is awesome! Service is fast and the food is inexpensive! Love it!

We have been to the Phở 79 in Minneapolis a few times and enjoyed it, but we thought we’d try the St. Paul location for a change. It is smaller and located in a small strip center, but it is definitely convenient. The menu is also smaller, though it has a good representation of beef phở, chicken stock phở, rice bowls, etc. One thing I really missed from the other location was the noodle bowl options, which are kind of like cold noodle salads with no broth at all. I also was hoping for a bubble tea, but they don’t do those here either.
What we did order was good. I got the #35 which is egg noodles in a chicken base with shrimp dumplings and pork. Pretty tasty. The phở comes with the normal lime, sprouts, thai basil and jalepenos on the side. Price-​wise, you can’t beat it. We both ate and got a shrimp roll appetizer (just OK) for $ 20 including tax. Seriously.
Service-​wise, I would say it was just meh. The woman who was waiting on us seemed very impatient. She seemed annoyed when we asked for a few more minutes to look at the menu. She came over several times basically to check to see if we were done and then took my bowl away the minute that I was finished. Then she hovered to see when my husband would finish. We were coming up on their 8 oclock closing time, but it was still before 8. We came in with plenty of time to eat and it seemed like she was just annoyed at us for having the gall to want to eat during their operating hours. She also did some things that i consider rude, like coming to our table in the middle of our meal and unceremoniously shoving more chopsticks into the container of chopsticks on the table. We were also not ever offered anything to drink except water and had to ask for a water refill.
So in all, the food was good, though we thought the selection was limited compared to the other location. This will do in a pinch but we are more likely to go to the other Phở 79 next time.

I went on a Saturday during dinner time.
It was moderately busy, but not overwhelming.
Nice ambiance for a Vietnamese restaurant. Lined with faux bamboo along the walls.
The server was nice and personable.
I ordered the Special Phở and the egg rolls.
The egg rolls came out and I could tell they were not going to be pleasant.
They use thicker wonton wrappers instead of the more traditional egg roll wrappers. This really hurt the flavor profile of the egg rolls. It felt like I was eating a pastry more than an egg roll.
The Special Phở was very pleasant. Not too sweet, balanced, and the beef slices were thin and tender.
I took off a star for the bad egg rolls. Stick to the phở, definitely a nice treat.

Place was phở-​king packed
Phở was pretty phở-​king good
I’d phở-​king go back
Today was my second time trying phở. First time at Ngon was just OK for me. This was better, at least for me. Largely, it may be that I went a little too exotic with the ox tail phở at Ngon. Today, I just went straight up beef — #8 Phở Tái.
Thought there would be a wait for seating as every table looked full at noon (quite tiny inside), but they went communal style and squeezed me in with a group of four. Little awkward, but at least I got in and out in less than twenty minutes.
Many items on the menu that did not sound appetizing to me, including tripe and tendon. No thanks. I’m an adventurous eater, but I am not going there. Think I will try the chicken next time.

I happened to see the reviews and ratings that Phở 79 gets, so I mentioned it to my friend and coworker, Jack earlier this week, and that we should go sometime. He said he’s been there (without me) as per his review on December 18, 2012. And since he went there without me, he loses one star on the friend rating scale.
Today was (surprise) yet another dreary wet spring in Minnesota, so we thought it would be a perfect Phở day. Jack mentioned (as per his December review when he went without me) that there wasn’t a lot of seating, so we decided to try and get there just before the lunch rush. We were the last ones to get a table right away, and everyone else behind us had to wait as diners slurped down their meals.
We both ordered the Spring Rolls, which consisted of pork & shrimp. The sauce wasn’t a typical peanut sauce, but more of a Hoisin sauce. Still, it was tasty.
For our meals, we both ordered Phở, and Jack’s Special larger Phở 79 bowl (Rare lean beef, well done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon, tripe and meat balls) was large enough to feed an army… or me. I opted for the Spicy Phở, which had everything but the tripe.
The value for this meal, as well as all the wonderful flavors make it worth the trip. Really. Why would you drop more money at that Clown’s burger joint, when you get some fresh food for less than or about the same price?
Located in a strip mall on the border of a neighborhood and industry, it’s easy to miss. But miss it you should not. Just remember to avoid the busy times or you’ll have to wait. We were perplexed at people taking this to go, but given there’s not a lot of seating area, I guess some Phở is better than none at all.
I’m glad Jack and I went to Phở 79 for lunch today. I guess he earned back that one star on the friend rating scale.

Seeing as I live and work in walking distance of this gem, I can’t help but frequent their doorstep with a hunger for piping hot soup. I always order the same soup in cold weather (Tofu and Vegetables with egg noodles) and the same salad in the summertime (vermicelli noodle salad with mock duck), smother both in sriracha, and fill my stomach beyond capacity with deliciousness. It gets REALLY busy during lunch, but once you have a table you rarely wait more than 10 minutes for food.
My only complaints: closed on Sundays, no late night, and no alcohol. However, these do not deter me from going on an almost weekly basis :)