Pho So 1

The restaurant is very large and cavernous. There is also a television which I don’t like. But the restaurant appears to be very clean, which is good.
As for the food — the rice vermicelli with pork lacked any cucumber, lettuce, basil, bean sprouts, etc., that one often finds elsewhere in rice noodle bowls. Although the grilled pork had good flavor, it was tough. Also, it didn’t have much of a grilled favor and had quite a bit of fat and some gristle.
The grilled pork over broken rice also had the same tough grilled pork.
The iced Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk is pre-​made from coffee brewed in the morning so it is not recommended. Go to Phở Tay Do for the best Vietnamese coffee.

I got the fried egg rolls, the phở number 1 special, and coconut juice here. Although the «special» isn’t on the menu, it’s still an option to order. The only difference I noticed between the special and the regular is that he special had the meatballs (they tastes a lot like hot dogs). The flavor of the phở was very good, I usually have to eat my phở with vinegar but this dish had enough flavor that I was able to order it and eat it as is. The fried egg rolls were also very good. They were crispy and the taste was savor. The only thing is that they don’t cut the fried egg rolls in half… which is good if you just want to eat it all yourself and not share (like me). The coconut juice was also very yummy, as always. I would come here again!

Been here a few time, not bad. I’ve been to the other phở so 1 near target on broad street. In my opinion I think the other one have better taste than here. Service is not bad. Their bubble in their bubble tea taste pretty plain. Atleast the prices here is cheap and affordable. Good for groups

Decent Food + Terrible Service = Horrible Experience
I understand the need to cut back on supplies and I can even understand the language barrier; however, I find it horrible that I can’t get a to-​go tiny container of chili oil. I had ordered 2 Large Phos to go and asked for four of the small containers of chili oil and he literally was sarcastic towards me yelling, «No, i’ll give you just one!» I was like but I ordered two phos and he stares at me and then says I’ll give you two. It doesn’t even take that much to make chili oil which is cheap to start off with but the staff were so rude. This is not the first time that I’ve encountered bad service from here but this was definitely the tipping point.
Get your stuff together Phở So 1. Look at your other reviews… I agree with Brian Y., «Broth is underwhelming, and staff is rude and impatient.»
Food is decent though, definitely overrated… you can find phở elsewhere.

I have been coming here since I first moved to RVA. Amazing Phở, fantastic atmosphere, and a great experience every time. Definitely recommend this place to anyone who comes to Richmond for the first time who wants good phở!

Go to the rigsby road one! It’s amazing. I get this one when the other is closed but i got the worst meal from there today. I got the most dry pork ive ever had from a restaurant, horribly disappointed. The wonton soup has too much sesame oil and the wontons are soggy with barely any material in there. Please save yourself the disappointment and got to Rigsby.

Always awesome, always friendly! This location is better than the original in every way.

Whenever I drove down to VA to visit relatives I always went to Phở So 1 at their old location. Today I was told they had moved and had to definitely visit them at their new location. Wow, the difference is amazing! The place is much bigger and I love how this makes it easier to have private conversations. The best part is that the food is the same amazing quality and I will still be making a trip down to Phở So 1 when I come down from MD. No doubt about it.
They have a unique broth that I don’t believe any other phở place can replicate and they always give us fresh, clean ingredients for the phở. No bruised herbs, no browning bean sprouts, lush red raw meat and their summer rolls are well sized. You can tell the summer rolls are made to order because the noodles are soft and warm and the rice paper has a good texture.

Funny thing: since there’s two Phở So 1’s in Richmond, we thought they were the same owner. Nope — two separate owners, separate restaurants, just with the same name! Huh.
I wasn’t really impressed by the broth. They had all the typical fixings but the broth just didn’t have that aroma or a depth of flavor. I don’t usually had extra sauce to my soup but I added hoison, sriracha, and hot chili oil to this one.
Service was friendly~
May or may not return.

Humongous place… you could fit hundreds of ppl in here… lol…all in the name of Phở… well OK!!! Phở always comes quick, it had all the fixings… no mint tho. The side plate had: lettuce (nvr seen that but ok), jalapeños, basil, cilantro and plenty of bean sprouts… All fresh, crispy and fragrant! We sat next to a window as it eas very early Sat. afternoon and we were just menaced by A FLY not many… guess he wanted some Phở too… ummm annoying but i got over it because thats not totally something u can control and i was HUNGRY… needless to say all my Phở got taken down and i was replenished enough to get bk on my brewery crawl fir the day! Lol

Coming from Charlottesville, this is usually my go-​to spot for Phở when I go to Richmond. It’s probably not the best compared to other phở places in NoVa, but they have a wide menu with enough options to satisfy a craving! They always give a good amount of meat and bring out the food super fast. I’ve had the iced coffee too, and even though it’s strong (which is how I like it anyway), it’s still sweet and not too watered down.
The location is really easy to find, and they do take-​out orders pretty efficiently as well. It’s really good for large groups; every time I’ve came, there’s always been a long table open that can seat 20+ people.

Very spacious so really never have to wait for a seat. The food comes out pretty fast. The Phở broth is probably the best you will find in Richmond. I’ve had pretty much all the phở restaurants in the area and have to say this is the best by far. Perfect for a hangover cure, you won’t be disappointed.

This place is huge! It used to be a buffet and they turned it into a phở place so you could imagine the size. We came for lunch on Saturday before we came back home to the beach.
Waitress came right up with waters for us. We ordered the #1’s (phở with everything) all around. The phở was pretty darn good. They have an assortment of herbs (cilantro, jalepenos, thai basil, and bean sprouts) that they put out generously. My mom ordered the mocha bubble tea, then was told they had no milk. So she ordered the Mango, waiter came back and said they didn’t have the ingredients to make bubble tea that day.
Will definitely come again when i’m in town! Great hangover food :)

Here’s the deal with broth–
Good broth tastes great in your bowl, nice and hot.
GREAT broth tastes even better the next day.
Trust me, this is tried and true. If the chefs take the time to cook the broth diligently and with care, putting in lots of ingredients to bring out that oh so good marrow from the bones, you can tell.
Their portions are huge. I can never dinish their Phở. Ever. I always take half of it home. When I heat my phở up the next day, it is even better.
Their rice paper rolls are so good, especially their grilled pork with the fish sauce, and my friends say the rice dishes are good.
The building is huge, great for groups, great for individuals, and you can even pick up and take home your order.
I have never had a problem with management though it seems others have. I have found the ultimate Phở house.
Try it. The next order of Phở, take it home, eat it the next day. THAT’S where you will notice the difference in the broths.

This place is a staple in my diet. When I first moved here from California in January this was the only place where the phở would warm up my cold bones.
Now I have ordered some of the broken and fried rice dishes here but I always go back to the phở. Phở tai chin is normally my go to phở but lately I have only had the taste for the phở chin.
The staff here is friendly and this place is huge, almost like a banquet hall. A must for cheap good tasting phở.

We came here because the original Phở So 1 in Richmond was closed for several weeks. This was the biggest phở restaurant I had ever seen. The space inside was so large. too large in my opinion. It just looked oddly vast and not very inviting.
The phở broth was delicious, and the noodle consistency was perfect. Probably one of the best broths I’ve had, and I’ve been to countless phở restaurants.
However, this was the only positive thing, and it wasn’t enough to balance out the negatives. First, we arrived pretty early for lunch on a Sunday, and they were out of all coffee and specialty drinks. The server stated all they had were water and canned soda drinks. So much for getting my morning coffee.
The booth seats were dirty and were the cheap ones that connect your seat to the person behind you, so the child kicking my boyfriend’s seat was extremely annoying. I had a hard time getting out of mine because the seat wasn’t heavy enough and kept sliding backwards.
The acoustics of the restaurant are poorly designed. Because it’s so wide open with sparse furniture, everything echoed loudly. especially the blender. Why do Vietnamese restaurants make smoothies in freakishly loud blenders, and in the front of the house? The noise is very distracting and causes breaks in conversation because we can’t hear each other. I’ve had this happen at multiple different places, but it was the loudest here. (Also they had told us in the beginning that they had no more smoothies…)
The small bowl of phở was way too small. I’m usually more than satisfied with a small bowl, but I ate all the noodles and wanted more. The meats weren’t the best quality, and of poor variety. I had a tiny, tiny piece of tendon, and the other pieces were average at best.
We also ordered crispy spring rolls and they were fat with yummy filling. but I didn’t like the outside crust. It was doughy and had no crunch.
For broth, I pick Phở So 1. For a better overall phở experience, I will look elsewhere.

What’s left to say about Ph So 1 that hasn’t already been said? They have the most authentic and best tasting broth. The lady that runs the register told me she wakes up at 4:00am every morning to begin making the broth. She told me it takes 6 hours to get the full flavor, anything less than that and it doesn’t taste right.
The large #2 is unmatched in the area. :)
The #34 grilled pork chop is a thin slice of heaven.

I was excited even before this second location opened. I saw the signs go up and I knew eating out was getting a little easier. It’s a bit farther away from my townhouse than the first location, but has better seating. Both locations are tremendously popular.
It is remarkable in itself that I eat any food that’s not American. I am a tremendously and notoriously picky eater. Yet I love this place. Some days aren’t so good, but most of the time the soups are spot-​on. One of the reasons I love it is that I am food-​prejudiced. I stand out as a white person eating here. It is typically packed with Asians, and that’s a good thing! I want food made by the people from whose culture it derives. I want Vietnamese people making my Phở. I want Thai people making my Garlic Chicken. My belief is that people have more appreciation for their culture than someone just paid to make a bowl of soup. It is their passion. It is their history.
I love the Phở Tái. Phở Ga comes in a close second place (beef soup… and chicken soup).

My husband is crazy about phở so he always wants to try every phở place he finds. Well, I am happy to proclaim this place to be the phở-​shizzle.
The restaurant itself is huge, brightly lit and spacious, almost cavernous. It was also clean as a whistle. There was a nice crowd on the night we visited, with the service was brisk, attentive, and well-​paced.
We started off with the shrimp rice paper rolls, which were well prepared and quite good. For dinner, DH got the phở (of course) which came with slices of rare beef brisket in the hot broth. He proclaimed it to be absolutely delicious. For my dinner, I ordered the grilled pork chop with broken rice. It was incredible. The chop was delicately seasoned and beautifully grilled. It came with a light sauce on the side that you can use as much or as little you like with your broken rice.
Best of all, DH and I left completely full for under $ 20! We will definitely be back!

After returning to this location a couple more times, I have I say that the broth is my favorite here, and the brisket is spot on. (Although the brisket is equally good at the Phở So 1 on Rigsby). My fiancée said that the grilled pork is a bit better at the West Broad location.
At the moment this is my favorite phở places, but definitely going to keep trying other phở around Richmond!