Pho 81

Was in the area between jobs and wanted to grab something quick and warm. Phở!
Ordered standard Phở and summer rolls. Both came out super fast, and both were very good. The broth, al dente rice noodles and portion of meat vs. noodle ratio was on point. The only downfall was that my bean sprouts and basil weren’t as fresh as they should be. Otherwise everything was good — definitely would come back.
Service was on point.
Prices are reasonable.
Plenty of parking.

I’ve had a lot of phở in Montgomery county. The phở isn’t what gets the 5 stars — it’s the staff. Every single time I come in they are extremely nice and don’t charge extra for simple things like basil if I ask. They’re friendly and courteous, unlike some of other places. However for the phở itself– it’s above average.

My boyfriend and I love this place! Here’s why:
1.The quality of the meat is spectacular.
2. They are very generous with the noodles here.
3. Not only are the dishes presented well, they taste like traditional Vietnamese food.
4. The customer service is superb! All the guys that work here are extremely friendly, attentive, and accommodating (I’m very particular with my phở).
We are now regulars (at least twice a week) who always leave this place satisfied. We highly recommend this place to anyone who would like an affordable, comforting meal in a friendly environment.

Very good Phở, I’ve stopped by and picked up Phở here a couple times. Broth is very tasty, and the noodles are cooked perfectly. The best Phở in MoCo for sure.
The staff is extremely friendly and the place has a very intimate family owned feel to it.
Will definitely come back whenever I need a bowl of hot delicious Phở, as should you!

This is my go-​to phở place when I’m in Montgomery County or DC. The phở is some of the best outside of Falls Church. Plus, the staff is so cheery and provide such great service that I instantly feel refreshed after coming here. :)
Food: I’ve been here twice. Both times I have ordered #14, which is meatball and steak. Last time, their broth was amazing! It was robust-​dirty and flavorful. This time the broth was still full of flavor, but much more clean. No oils and not very dark. Even though I prefer my phở down and dirty, this was still one of the best phở broths I have enjoyed outside of Falls Church. The meatballs last time were moist half spheres of meaty heaven. Today they were dry. I was a little sad. But the steak wasn’t so bad. On another happy note: their avocado smoothies (with pearls!) are sooooooooo full of yum!
Service: Phở 81 has the best service I have experienced in the DMV, for an Asian restaurant. The servers are very friendly, peppy, and never fail to greet you with a smile. :) There are also rapid water refills– a major plus.
Ambiance: Not much to look at here, folks! A typical phở place.

I’ve been coming here a few times a month now to get my Phở fix! So far… loving it!
Pro’s:
+Service is always friendly and attentive
+Consistent good food (Garden rolls are always wrapped tightly and nicely)
+Fast service
+No frills
+Phở broth is light and not too salty but I do end up drinking a ton of water after
Con’s:
–The décor could use an update
–Sticky tables at time
Will return again and again!

Easily the best phở I’ve had. Very friendly service and delicious food. You feel like you should be paying more for how good the food is.
Definitely do yourself a favor and go. You will thank me.

Tasty on a chilly night! Ventured out as we had a late lunch. Not knowing what we wanted we decided on some sort of soup… Perfect Choice!

I think Phở 81 is a franchise, but not 100% sure. This place is in a majority Asian proprietary strip mall settings, so our waitress was able to communicate, but wasn’t as comprehensive of our request of her. However, her courtesy outweighed the commo gap. The setting isn’t luxurious, but it’s clean and suitable for dining. The food is delicious.

This is the first phở place I’ve been to that actually has excellent customer service. The staff is very friendly and makes sure you have everything you need. That aside, this is probably the best phở broth I’ve had in the MOCO Area! Everything is on point. They give you a lot of noodle but in exchange, they cut back on the meat portion; that is the only con. Besides that, I can probably go on indefinitely about all the pros. Phở 81, you just made yourself a new regular.

I have only ordered Phở so can’t comment on other items. The service was friendly. Decent amount of sprouts, lime, basil, and jalapeño’s. Sadly, the soup was not very hot, not even hot enough to blanch or tenderize the sprouts. The whole soup became just warm after adding the veggies. For both of my visits, I felt stomachache about 15 minutes after the meal.
Just a note, I did not get the discount for cash payment.

The interior of the store looks like it’s seen better days but the food is great and the staff are wonderful. Mostly see very young staff but they are all very professional and courteous.
The phở broth tastes slightly different than other phở restaurants I have been to. It seems like it’s less salty, a milder broth but still rich in flavor. The grilled chicken is also very good.

Found this place on our way to DC, located inside an Asian mall. Got your basic selections of Phở and some rice and dry noodle dishes. We all ordered the PHO 81 combo Phở, very tasty, large size portion, lots of meat. Service is great very friendly and attentive. We will be back again.

Normally this my go to spot for delicious phở, but today was a little different. I went in to grab some phở in the rainy weather and was greeted promptly, but told to wait because of the amount of dirty tables. I get that it’s busy, but please hire a busboy so that a customer won’t have to wait because of your lack of help. The man that was cleaning the tables was moving so slowly that I knew it would be dusk before we would be seated. Needless to say, I did not get any phở from Phở 81. Better luck next time because the food is really good here.

I only ever come here for Phở, so I can’t comment on anything else that they serve. I typically order the special, which comes with «everything» — tai, chin, gau, gan, sach, bo vein (aka rare and cooked sliced beef, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe, and beef meatballs). They’re pretty generous with their meat portions. The meatballs are just okay but the fatty brisket is *delicious*; I was actually surprised by how flavorful the most recent time I was here.
I can never finish a small bowl on my own. My mom and I have even split a small bowl for dinner, but we’re two small Asian ladies, so take that with a grain of salt.
The broth varies from day to day. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it just isn’t up to par. I don’t think they use MSG — I never feel that sodium crash after a meal — but they can veer on the salty side.
Herbs are fresh and traditional; you can asked for the bean sprouts to be blanched if you prefer them cooked (Northern Vietnamese style).
They accept credit card, but it’s cheaper if you pay with cash.
Bathrooms are clean.

I stopped in the other night with the hubby to warm up and ordered a nice steaming bowl of phở. I ordered phở #7 and found it to be delicious. I liked the broth and the meat was very tender. I ordered the small bowl and still had a little leftover to bring home. Their portions are generous and they offer quite a bit of meat in their phở! I imagine the large bowl would make for a delicious lunch of leftovers for the next day.
To go with my soup, I ordered the spring rolls. Two pieces arrived piping hot straight from the fryer. It came with the dipping sauce (do chua) with thin strips of carrots and daikon radish! Slightly greasy but still tasty. I’ve certainly had better but this was definitely good.
The service is minimal with what appears to be just two people working the front of house — seating people, taking orders, busing tables, and handling takeout orders. They were friendly and were sure to check on us shortly after we received our food. However, be sure to signal them over when you want your leftovers wrapped up and when you’re ready for the check because these guys are multitasking big time.
The dining area is clean and there was plenty of seating that evening. They have plenty of 4 tops and larger tables for groups. However, the seats themselves were very uncomfortable. They have a television in the front of the restaurant airing CNN so depending on what’s playing (virtually non-​stop), it can be a bit unappetizing.
Overall, I’m happy with my experience, and I’m glad we stopped in. The food is a good value, and I’ll be sure to visit again to try something new.

This place has stayed consistent if not improved over the past few years. It is really a solid bowl of PHO with late hours and friendly service.
They still seem to give you a larger serving of meat then most places which I appreciate and I believe still have a full menu (I just get the soup). There is a big fish tank in there that my kids like to look at. :)
Only negative here is the tables are usually covered with dirty dishes and they have to bus when you get in. It’s not out of the ordinary to find only two tables occupied but find the remaining 12 all dirty. That’s a difference over most PHO places where the tables are cleaned immediately after someone leaves. Only a slight concern (and reason this is 3 instead of 4 stars) because if they don’t keep the front of the restaurant tidy, what does the kitchen look like?
Appears to be usually 3 staff here. 1 in the kitchen and 2 taking orders & delivering food. When the tables are dirty they are usually up there on their smartphones so it isn’t a manpower issue. They do clean them quickly when you walk in.
Rather than having a credit card minimum, they give you a discount if you pay cash.
Still, good food and nothing stops me from coming back.

Phở 81 is located near Honey pig. When you walk in, you can pick a table and the server will come to you with a menu.
This is a clean establishment with decent food and service. Jasmine (hot tea) was pretty good. Phở was pretty decent with very little meat. I noticed they give you a lot of noodles but not enough meat. The ratio was off with meat and noodles. Egg rolls were A-​OK, not as crispy.
*Fellow Unilocalers, you can get 5% off your check when you pay with cash!
Overall, this is a decent phở place. I can’t say it’s the best because I definitely had better.

I realized the last visit here ’twas the time my dad passed away (rip). And now we’re back after my mom joined him (rip). This place moving forward has a comforting spot in mah belly.
Oh, and apparently my bro’s friends choose Phở 81 when in this area. Good choice. Good location — on opposite end of Great Wall supermarket (GW) so there’s plenty of space.
Their small sized phở bowl has more rice noodles than the average small of other MoCo phở spots. I can feel the extra stretch from my pixie pants so it’s real.
Nice bouncy noodles with familiar aromatic flavorful broth. Customary sriracha, jalapeños, basil, and bean sprouts complete my #12 eye round/​fatty flank (no lime).
The 2 spring rolls were classically greasy as hell so yes, they were tasty. I’m glad BroS shared the rolls with me (thanks for feeding me again, brah~ ^_​^).
Über homey friendly staff. I’ll definitely suggest Phở 81 for folks if on the northern neck of 355 towards Germantown.

I stopped by here for a quick lunch to escape from work for a bit on a weekday. The décor was decent and the restaurant was clean. Service was provided by fully English speaking staff so I didn’t have to speak the language of the motherland (even though most Vietnamese people think I look Korean and don’t expect it). The broth, which is always they key component, was decent. It had the umami flavor that I seek when I want phở.
Good thing was that even though their large costed ~$ 9, they gave a lot of meat and noodles. I have ordered large bowls of phở at other places and still had to order additional noodles and meat to feel relatively full. This place, even though the bowl looks smaller, gives you a decent amount of food for your large phở.
Another positive: they accept credit cards! Long gone are the days where I have to go to the bank just to cure my hangover/​satisfy my hot bowl of phở craving.
I saw this artwork somewhere that said «Life without you is like phở without its broth.» I wish someone would get me that. *cough hint hint*