Pho Minh

I love this place. This is the third Vietnamese places in Pittsburgh that I’ve tried and so far (Tan Lac Vien and Tram’s Kitchen), I think this is the best one. I pretty much always get the vermicelli at Vietnamese places– here, I usually get their roasted pork vermicelli and the pork is great– nice and tender with a bit of chew, pretty much no «weird» bits of gristle to bite into. I do wish there was a bit more of that wonderful Vietnamese brightness from lime/​mint/​rice vinegar/​etc, at least in the vermacelli. Be sure to get the lemongrass tofu– I usually get it to share with others as an appetizer, but could easily eat two plates of it myself.
It’s certainly not the fanciest place in Pittsburgh, but it is charming. The owners are very polite and attentive and don’t rush you out the door the second you’re done. It’s a BYOB, so a great place to have a no-​frills lazy dinner with friends. I get the sense a lot of the people there are regulars and seem to know the owners pretty well. I wish they were open a bit later, but I suppose this is Pittsburgh after all.

Phở restaurant close to West Penn Hospital, I’ve had a lot better soup base, but I would say this is sub par Phở comparing that from California. Nonetheless, it fufills average standards. Also had their tofu spring roll, which was just alright.
Nothing too special at this place, typical mom and pop Vietnamese noodle place for all locals.

This is a nice spot for Vietnamese food. It’s not the best in Pittsburgh, but it offers a good portion of phở with great flavor. The vegetables taste fresh, too. I especially like the fried shrimp spring roll. The wrapping is crisp and light, and the filling is delicious. I’m not a fan of the fried pork spring roll though; the meat was dry and lacked any strong flavor. The restaurant itself is small and intimate; I like eating in because it’s pretty quiet and the service is attentive and nice. I’ve also ordered pick-​up a few times without any issues. Overall, I definitely recommend giving this place a try. FYI, it’s cash only.

No-​frills hole in the wall with good food. Is it the best phở and fresh rolls I’ve had? Not by any means. But in a city without many Vietnamese options Phở Minh ranks pretty highly. The food is cheap, good, and will certainly warm you up on a cold day. The complementary green tea is a nice bonus.

Why did I ignore this place for so long? I keep hearing off comments about this place. «It’s ok.» «It’s decent but other places are better» «It’s not as good as what you’re use to (I’m from California)» etc etc. So I was never interested in coming here.
Today, I was working nearby and decided to stop in for the first time. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I decided to give the phở dac biet and spring rolls a try. I was happy to see a pot of jasmine tea waiting for me when I put down the menu.
Spring rolls were good and was satisfying. The phở has a nice light broth. I like light broth. Didn’t feel too overly heavy and I can I feel I can enjoy it perfectly without hoisin sauce. Portions were great and huge. The beef was good, it had chicken in it which I thought was good, and I am happy to say they use the good meatballs. Other phở places I go to don’t use the correct meatballs. I finished my entire bowl.
The place is small. Restrooms are basically closets. I get hit by the door every time I go into the restroom. But hey, I found it to be clean.
The décor was nothing special and they had Vietnamese music playing in the background. They have the recognizable chairs that you see in most Vietnamese restaurants. Everything about this place reminded me of home back in San Diego. I felt the food was good and satisfying. The people there were nice, checked up on us, and they were conversating with other guests even with their broken English. I thought that was cute. Prices here are a tad cheaper than other places. Cash Only probably has to do with that.
Overall, I found my experience here pleasant. I liked the phở and I will definitely be back to give the other dishes a try.

I’ve only eaten here once and I had vegetarian options. I thought the tofu was flavored well. I really liked my time here and I will be back!

I’ve moved to Chicago, where there is excellent Vietnamese food, but I still dream of Number 40 with tofu.

In my opinion, this place is sub-​par. The broth was fragrant, but a little bland to my liking. I’ve been in Pittsburgh since October and I’ve tried most of the phở in this city and I’m my honest opinion Vietnam’s Phở is the best. This place is comparable to Tram’s, but being that I live in Houston which has plenty of amazing Vietnamese food to choose from and I end up always going back to Vietnam’s Phở when I’m in Pittsburgh.
If I rank the places I’ve been to in Pittsburgh, it would be as follows starting from the best: Vietnam’s Phở, Phở Van, Tan Lac Vien, Phở Minh, then Tram’s Kitchen.
I know this isn’t consistent with the Unilocal reviews, but you can’t go by the number of stars a place has all the time. If you’re a transplant like me and always looking/​wanting good Phở but want to avoid the trial and error like I did there’s my 2 cents.

One of my favorite Phở places in the burgh! Service is always fast and friendly and I’ve never had a dish I didn’t like. A good amount of GF friendly options.

This place is totally off the beaten path, but well worth it. Prices are awesome, and the food is tasty. Get the spring rolls.
I ordered the #25 chicken soup with glass noodles and was pleased with it. The service is not great, nor are the restroom facilities, and I had to ask the restaurant constantly for any type of service at our table, but the food was good and done right. The chicken was slightly dry, but I’d definitley give this place another chance.
BYOB!

I probably should’ve tried the phở but unfortunately I got the lemongrass beef with rice and I was not impressed. In fact I was quite disappointed. It also seemed expensive ($ 8) for quantity and quality of the dish. Based on all the other reviews, probably safe to stick to phở.

I am convinced this place has the best Phở in Pittsburgh the spring rolls are really good too. The space sure isn’t fancy but the owners are friendly and attentive. It is the best pittsburgh has to offer for Vietnamese food

Here is another restaurant experience that will make me wanna go there often, for more than just delicious food. I have stopped by only once and had spicy beef woth lemongrass phở, and boy it was some spicy heaven ! My friends around the table tried different phở as well as some vegetarian tofu stir fry, and I didnt hear a complaint.
But the real impressive story about this place is not just food. a bunch of us went there one afternoon. we got there a few minutes after 2pm, time they close for lunch. we saw the timing amd started walking back towards our car and one lady came out and called us back. they served us with absolutely no rush and an older lady that cooked/​prepared our food was genuinely happy to see us walk away happy. when I eat that kind of food, it not only makes my body happy but mind happier. people that know that food is not really bound by time but happines to serve. !

Very small place but the food was good. I enjoyed the fresh shrimp spring rolls. The Phở hit the spot and I will be returning soon

It is probably pretty obvious, but this place is quite similar to Tram’s Kitchen. Small hole-​in-​the-​wall Vietnamese place that from the outside doesn’t look very impressive, but actually provides very good and cheap eats. Needless to say, their phở is quite impressive, and I enjoyed their lemongrass tofu appetizer as well. Their rice plate, at least the pork chop anyway, wasn’t too impressive, so I’d probably say just stick with phở. It’s pretty neat that they have more than just two or three options of each type of food – I think they do have a better selection than Tram’s. Oh and their hot tea is very fragrant!

I’ll start with the «bad» stuff — the place is a small hole-​in-​the-​wall, in an area that, at some times of day, may make you double-​check that you locked your car. The restaurant is not the cleanest, nor is the menu the most extensive. HOWEVER… having traveled to Vietnam, and having been to a wide variety of Vietnamese restaurants around the US, this is certainly one of the most authentic. In fact, it reminds me of being in Vietnam. Are the spices on point? Yes! Delicious bowls of soup that should leave you with enough to bring home? Check! A couple cobwebs in the corner? Most definitely! An experience, to be sure. The place was about deserted on a Monday at lunch time, which was great for us — we got a window seat!
We started our meal with tea — this was your basic tea, nothing to write home about. We added on the spring roll with shrimp — and it was obviously freshly handmade to our order. Great appetizer to begin with — it’s my barometer of a Vietnamese restaurant. This was a good one, not the best I’ve ever had, but quite tasty. I followed this up with a green papaya salad — heavy on the fish sauce (yum!) and covered in shrimp and peanuts. Very refreshing and light. My friend ordered the chicken curry with yam, which was creamy, freshly made (the veggies were not overcooked, as you find most places that premake lots of food) and not too spicy. I ordered the spicy vegetable soup with mushrooms. I’m not your average diner, and I like my spicy foods VERY spicy. This was maybe a 1−2÷10. Pretty disappointing to me, but luckily the table was equipped with homemade Sriracha-​like sauce and the ubiquitous chili-​in-​oil sauce found in cafes all over Vietnam. This solved the problem. The soup was fresh and filling. I will certainly be back again. There were tons of menu items I am dying to try!

Just to reiterate: Cash only, you’ve been warned.
Now on to the important stuff: Good, no-​nonsense, warming phở (and bun also on the menu.) Many different meat combos to choose from, though I am partial to flank steak and brisket. Phở is in the name of the restaurant, and it’s the main star of the show here.
Lemongrass tofu is wonderful as an appetizer and upon sitting down you are presented with a nice warm pot of tea. The ambiance is no-​nonsense and the Vietnamese ballads playing on the background transported me to far off lands.

This is the best Pittsburgh has to offer in authentic Vietnamese. I have eaten here several times in the past 7 years or so and have tried several of the items on the menu with success. I like to order bun with chicken and pork spring rolls. I also like the Hieu Tu. Basically chicken phở but with chicken broth instead of beef. This is typically my go to dish here and it’s very good. It’s a small family run place without a lot of slick ambiance. I wouldn’t say you’d be wow’d by the décor but the service is friendly and efficient. I am always glad I dined here.

Best Phở in Pittsburgh. Way better than Tram’s kitchen. Must try the fried shrimp roll.
Warning: closed on Tuesdays. Seriously, WHAT THE PHO? Don’t make the same mistake as me, so check their website first to find out which day they close since it might change. And cash only!

Had dinner at Phở Minh again last night, after having had a wonderful time meeting some of the Pittsburgh Unilocal gang and Rachel, our new local Unilocal ambassador. I didn’t say much about the food in my previous review, so thought I’d rectify that.
I’m a big fan of Vietnamese bun, which is a dish made with rice noodles and some kind of grilled meat, usually served in a big bowl with sprouts, cukes, scallions, peanuts, cilantro, lettuce and carrots. What I’m looking for when I order this is meat (I usually get chicken) that has been well marinated, as this lends alot of the flavor to this dish. Phở Minh marinates theirs in hoisin and maybe other things, and it’s delicious. They add a little of this sauce to the noodles and garnish with the salad, then serve it with their wonderful fish sauce. This is a dish I crave. Their veggies are really fresh, the meat is succulent, and all of the flavors complement eachother so well. I like a deep fried spring roll with my bun, so I always order one, and they slice it and serve it right in the bowl. These are great here… really meaty little rolls. They use pork, and it’s almost like a pork meatball filling. When you order these as an appetizer you get 2 of them and a side of their molasses/​fish sauce combo. Doug had the Hu tieu xao, which is chicken, shrimp and veggies stir fried with rice noodles. This dish has some funky Vietnamese flavors, and has fish sauce as a base for the stir fry sauce, so you have to like that, but if you do, this dish rocks. Like all of their food, it was very well prepared and delicious. The woman who waits tables here always offers us their traditional mung bean pudding dessert, and we always say yes. This is a sweet and starchy treat served hot with a lacing of coconut milk. I love it. Tea comes to the table automatically and is free, and they offer some nice hot and iced beverages in addition. We didn’t have the phở on this visit, but I will reiterate that it’s great. I think this is the best Vietnamese restaurant in Pittsburgh.
This is a family owned and operated restaurant, so you will see the same friendly faces when you become a regular. Early on we learned to say hello/​good afternoon in Vietnamese (xin chao, pronounced shin chow) and we always get a big smile from the older gentleman who owns the place. Cash only, closed on Tuesdays.