Pho Bac

Love this place. Phở and banmi sandwiches are delicious and at a great price. I called in an order and they did not have it ready when I walked in, though they were not busy and told me it would be 15 minutes. Annoying. But the food is good.

When ever I crave for some Vietnamese phở. I come to phở Bac. It’s the most authentic phở around here in ATL. My family and I have been coming here in the past 20 years. Not just the phở is good. I also love ordering Their rice dishes like Cornish hen chicken with rice or the beef short ribs with rice. Bomb dot come. Make sure you try the watermelon slush that made with fresh watermelon. So refreshing and oh so good! Bön appetite!

Let me tell you something, if you’re not sure where to go with a big group of folks after church on a Sunday — you go to Phở Bac!
They have seating for days and they have plenty of workers to tend to your needs.
My usual go to spot is Nam Phuong which is a few more miles down, but they get PACKED — then we head out to Phở Bac where the phở is good and bahn mi is exceptional.
Something I don’t really recommend is the vermicilli. I don’t know what it was about it when I got it, but it didn’t taste that appetizing and I’ve never had a bad experience from that dish anywhere else!
I give it four stars though because the owner is always so nice to us even though the employees don’t smile much — and we never have to wait to be sat.
The prices for even a small Phở is $ 7.50 which is a LITTLE pricier than nam phuong so I guess you pay for that convenience of knowing you’ll get a spot in the house immediately!

Best Phở in Atlanta i went with a friend up and down bufford hwy to find the best phở. after trying 5 – 6 places we realized this is the best tasting broth, best service, and quickest phở. the people that run it are awesome too highly recomend it.

On our visit to Atlanta we stopped by here for dinner to go. I can only review on the banh mi’s as that’s the only thing we ordered during our visit. Let me tell you, these banh mi’s were the best I’ve ever eaten thus far in my life especially the grilled pork banh mi — so juicy and succulent. That baby was in point. The jalapeño pepper they used made the sandwich spicy as hell and my butt on fire and I do love my butt being on fire cuz that’s the way I like it! The combination banh mi with the three different hams was good and average but nothing like the pork one that blew me away. These banh mi were so good that on our way trip home to NC we stopped by this place and ordered 26 banh mi to go to hoard for future consumption in the comforts of our home. Mmnnn mmnnn! So let me reiterate, order the pork banh mi!

This restaurant could be the best Vietnamese phở (noodle) restaurants in town. They don’t put MSG because I don’t feel thirsty after the phở there.

Phở Bac is the worst Phở ever. The soup was so tasteless. They used cubic beef broil and threw in the water making the soup. If you want a real Phở, go to Phở KC in Kansas City, MO. The lady used real beef bones and cooked the soup over night. That’s why her Phở tastes so good and it’s the number one PHO in America.
Phở Bac is just a joke. I know that most Vietnamese Phở Restaurants nowadays use artificial pre-​made cubic beef broil for their soups. That’s why their Phở soups taste like water.
I’m from California. I was visiting Atlanta, GA and wanted to try out the Phở in Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong place. Most customers were foreigners and some Vietnamese.
These damn Vietnamese owners are so cheap and they don’t want to spend money. Therefore, they use artificial cubic beef broil.

I have been coming here to eat for a few years. It never fails. The appearance of the restaurant is not fancy but is very clean and the food is excellent. It has to be the best place for Vietnamese soup I have found around the city. The prices are very good with $ 10 roughly for anything on the menu. Their tapioca drinks are awesome also. The service is great with absolutely zero issues ever.
I highly recommend it! Do not shy away if you are in a mood for some great Vietnamese food.
Thank you!

Keeping this short:
Food highlights —
Shrimp Spring rolls — Short and simple, pretty good. The amount of filling and shrimp sizes are plenty but just a tad dry. I think I dunked my own pour of peanut hoisin sauce on each bite.
31A — Combination Vermicelli — Wow. I don’t remember the times I have been here through out the years and got this big a serving of all the different meats. Granted I don’t know the Vietnamese names for all of them. The dried pork is usually a meh to me, any where that it’s served. It’s pretty flavorless or I feel that it doesn’t add more to the flavor. The pieces of shrimp were good and though I wish there was more, the other meats like chow siu bbq pork with the fried Vietnamese sausages just made everything wrapped together. Generous portion of noodles and meat ratio. I tried not to dump all the fish sauce so the bottom would not get soggy. Hopefully this is consistent the next visit. Great alternate option if you aren’t craving phở.
Overall, can be a bit hole in the wall. But they have been here since I was a kid, so hopefully they keep improving.

Apparently this spot has been in Atlanta for nearly two decades, but I’ve somehow managed to not come here until yesterday. Desperately wanting a soup and being let down by Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, decided to go for the sure thing: Phở.
ATMOSPHERE IS PRETTY AVERAGE. It’s another strip mall on Buford Highway, interior is a plain caffeteria style joint and there are trays of clean and dirty dishes sitting out right in the dining area.
LIGHT BROTH. It’s a very light broth phở compared to most I’ve had, but not necessarily a bad thing. Everything was relatively fresh, jalapeños were not too fresh though.
WILL GET THE JOB DONE. If you are in a need of a hearty soup, look no further. I wish they didn’t serve hot items in plastic bowls, not the healthiest thing to do to your body. Everything was clean and really, pretty average. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here by any means, but if you are in the area, why not.

It’s the perfect weather for phở! This place is great!!! Try the fried egg rolls they are very good too! Love the Thai tea with bubbles!

This place is a home away from Vietnam. I been coming here for the past 20 years. It has always been great. I usually order a pork banh mi, beef ball phở and a rice dish. Today I had a Medium Phở dac biet, 3 cha gio, and 2 ice coffee with condensed milk. Everything tasted delicious and tasted like a home cooked meal in Vietnam. I usually bring all my biker friends here after riding. The meals are quick and service is always on point. Service is a bit slow when busy but that’s anywhere. I will be back to stuff my face in a couple days.

It’s probably been 7 or 8 years since I’ve been to Phở Bac. It used to be my go to restaurant for phở, always packed. Fast forward to current day, I decided to stop by for lunch. The place was only half full. No matter I found me a nice table by the window.
I ordered a medium bowl of phở with sliced beef, beef meatballs, and tendon. Wow have I been missing or has the price of phở gotten much steeper? A medium bowl is close to $ 9. That USED to be a price for an extra large bowl. Even the sandwiches were close to $ 4. I’m used to the $ 2.50 price.
Service was fast and friendly, however they got my order wrong and omitted the eye of round beef from my bowl of phở. Instead I only got tendon and beef balls. I’ve learned (or perhaps traumatized) to never complain in a Vietnamese restaurant… so I just ate my bowl the way it was. It actually was quite good, the ratio of meat to noodles was right, broth was tasty and had so much flavor and depth.
Overall I will probably come back (more for convenience) but there are plenty of phở options along the Buford Highway area.

Combination Phở, small
PROS
–great flavor
–good noodle to soup ratio: some places give a crap ton of rice noodle and you end up having usually less meat or less soup because it absorbs it all.
CONS
–I honestly prefer slightly more meat to noodle ratio and I feel like there was not enough meat to my noodle.
It’s hard to get phở wrong though. It’s a little on the «greasier/​meatier» side now that I think about it but truthfully, it’s beef broth that’s been cooked forever. You can’t really expect something super clean-​tasting. It is definitely flavorful though and will hit the spot during the cold winter days. We also had the spring rolls which are pretty darn good but have yet to hit the fill-​mark (as in how stuffed the rolls are) compared to Phở Da Loi. Still, definitely worth stopping by if you’re on the northern end of Buford Hwy and further from Lee’s Bakery! Pictures here:

The perfect word to describe this phở restaurant is simply «okay.» Literally everything is just as I expect from a Phở restaurant, nothing spectacular, nothing horrible. When you order, the food comes out really fast (less than five minutes).
I simply get the #1 off the Phở menu which consists of everything pretty much. The broth is pretty good, there’s an okay amount of meat. The portions are large, though it is on the expensive side, so you get what you pay for. I absolutely love the pork & shrimp spring rolls here though, it might be the dish that keeps me coming back.
This place is huge; plenty of seating is available. Definitely a place you can go to with a large group. Disappointed that they don’t offer wifi though. There is a smoothie/​tea bar in the back corner, but I’ve never tried any of the smoothies here. Maybe I will next time.
I’ll be back due to its quick reliable service.

I didn’t have much of an appetite so I opted for the banh mi dac biet and fresh orange juice. At first, I was doubtful about how «fresh» the juice was from its bright orange color but after a few sips, I was newly refreshed and energized.
The sandwich is as Unilocal would categorize 3 stars… «A-​OK». Something to fill the belly. It had some slices of meat, some veggies sprinkled in, and 2 pieces of jalapeño. I learned from childhood mistakes and searched out the jalapenos before taking a big bite out of my sandwich. The bread is not as buttery as I’d expected but I appreciated that it was still crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I think I expected pâté or spicy mayo to decrease the dryness of the bread.
The service was professional and attentive and friendly. There are many seats inside to readily accommodate large groups. There are napkins, condiments, and utensils (chopsticks and big spoons) at every table.

I’ll cut to the chase: For $ 22 (including our tip) T. and I had a delicious and filling lunch. We split everything.
– Phở Tom (shrimp noodle soup): flavorful! A medium portion is good for two
– Banh Mi: we chose our sandwich with grilled pork. Yesssss!
– Goi Cuon: Vietnamese spring rolls; we got the original with shrimp and pork. In essence, a salad translucently rolled. Delicious dipped in peanut sauce. Three rolls to a portion.
Good service, helpful wait staff. One small glitch. When I ordered our soup, I indicated that it would be shared. A waiter brought one steaming bowl. «May I have a ladle?» I asked. No. He advised me to use a spoon. When I said, «that’s an accident waiting to happen. Can you apportion it back in the kitchen?» he semi-​reluctantly agreed.
No matter. I’ll be back!

Probably one of my favorite Phở places in Atlanta. I think it edges out Phở Dai Loi 2, but idk… they don’t have a fancy chandelier. Hard decision.
I’ve had both the chicken and shrimp fried spring rolls and the fresh spring rolls to start. Both are pretty good and you can’t go wrong with either. Their dipping sauce is pretty good
I typically want everything in my Phở, so I get the #1, the Phở Dac Biet. It has fatty brisket, rare steak, flank, tendon, and tripe. For sizes they have small, medium, and X-​large. I’ve only ever had the X-​large, and yeah… it’s pretty big. I’m a big guy, and I usually can’t finish it, but I’m not willing to take the risk and get a medium and still be hungry afterwards. They definitely give you a lot of noodles and meat. The meat and broth are pretty good and are the reasons I keep coming back.
They don’t have any chili oil on the table, but just ask and they’ll get you some. I’m still searching for a Phở place in Atlanta that has really good and spicy chili oil. This wasn’t bad, but after dumping all of the chili oil in, it wasn’t enough. They also have some sriracha on the table and serve the usual phở side veggies you can add to your bowl (bean sprouts, basil, cilantro etc.).
Service is good and food comes out fast. Almost instant gratification. The restaurant is pretty big and never had trouble getting a seat.

This place definitely changed my opinion of Phở. One of my favorite restaurants on buford highway serves it up, but it isn’t that great.
I honestly thought it must be me, that i just didn’t like it. However, Phở Bac totally changed my opinion of that. I let my friend lead on the ordering since he had been there before and has basically been my guide to my ethnic food journey of life.
We spiced up the #10 with all the side ingredients and my first bite was heaven. On a cold night it was just what I wanted, and FULL of favor. I would highly recommend checking them out.
Unfortunately they were out of the bread for the bánh mi for the evening, because I would have liked to have tried it.
My biggest complaint is that i don’t have a stomach big enough to finish a bowl because the portion is huge. woo!

I can’t believe I have never tried Phở Bac.
My friends are a bunch of squares when it comes to food so I typically get my phở fix solo.
It’s actually awesome. I came here two days ago and ordered phở with flank and skirt steak.
They give you a LOT of meat (whoop) && I ordered a small. I’m the chick that eats and slurps the broth until the meat is gone and I’m pretty much done.
This made for an enjoyable lengthy meal. I read a fabulous new book that I couldn’t pull my attention from, so the quiet place was a great spot.
I also ordered a pork Bahn Mi that was delicious. The bread isn’t the best I’ve had but the ingredients sure were. Best place so far for both the sammy and soup… I also noticed they had a shit load of frozen shakes and different flavors like bananarama and mango paradise or something like that. I liked the names.
I ordered a Taro or Tarao something or another, it’s purple and tastes like coffee… sort of. And call me crazy but God did I love the fact that they played music in English.
The other places don’t bother me whatsoever but it was a kind of freaking awesome moment when I realized I was humming John Mayer while reading I am Pilgrim and slurping my noodles. I’m so white.
Love this spot can’t wait to try it again, as of now it’s the closest place to me and that just tickles me pink y’all.
Oh ya and as much as people complain about ‘rising prices’ here as I’ve seen in other reviews. It’s like 8 bucks for a huge meal for one person. IMO – that’s a score.