Miami

Hy Vong

Hy vong in Vietnamese means “hope,” which pretty much sums up the emotional state of the nightly crowd that lingers outside this 36-seat hole-in-the-wall in the heart of Calle Ocho. “We’re running on Cuban time tonight,” says Kathy Manning, co-owner of Hy Vong, who placates the hungry mob with…More >>

Hy Vong is “one of Little Havana’s best-kept secrets”

Minneapolis

Quang Restaurant

Walk into Quang, even at 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon, and the place will be bumping. The family-run Eat Street restaurant is a consistent hive of activity, and deservedly so. Quang is an institution, started by the Quang family in a smaller location across the street and eventually moved to their…More >>

New York

Pho Tu Do

Out of all the Vietnamese joints on the Bowery, you’ll recognize Pho Tu Do by the Statue of Liberty on the awning. Order bahn beo, jiggly steamed-rice cakes topped with slightly sweet puréed mung beans, fried shallots, and dried shrimp. Douse it with fish sauce. More >>

Orange County

Bún Bò Hue So 1

The trend in Little Saigon for the past couple of years has been to “upgrade” restaurants–clean the floors, buy better ingredients and increase the price by half. Pass. Give us the unpolished glories of Bún Bò Hue So 1. Give us the wonder of its namesake soup, a…More >>

Phoenix

Pho Avina

Consider us impressed. For such a tiny restaurant, Pho Avina sure has managed to bulk up its menu with a wide variety of Vietnamese specialties. There are more than a hundred items in all, from simple classics like bun (rice vermicelli noodles) and piping hot pho (noodle soup with a…More >>

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Pho Avina Owners Avina Pham (left) and her mother Thanh Nguyen

San Francisco

My Cahn

As veritable pho-natics, we’ve sampled most of the fancy pho this city has to offer, which led us to the conclusion that pho shouldn’t really be fancy at all. South Vietnam-style pho is already packed with delicious ingredients and doesn’t require much spicing up, so to all you pho…More >>

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