This is one of my favorite Pho places in the area and I probably average visiting about once a month or more. I love their summer rolls (with tofu not shrimp) and the fact that they're filled with more than just lettuce and bean sprouts. My coworker enjoys the Rice Vermicelli entrée, and of course, you can't go wrong with the pho soups. You know this place is good because it is usually pretty busy; so don't necessarily expect a quick in-and-out meal. The service and atmosphere is pretty standard/nothing fancy, but the people who work there are very nice.
Review Source:BEST pho broth in the area, hands-down. And now I know why... their broth is made totally from scratch - no 'powder' flavor (i.e., bullion-type dehydrated stock) in the soup!
My partner went one night to satisfy a craving, and ended up talking to the young man who seems to be the manager. Apparently, his brother-in-law opened the business to provide for his family, and his parents - first-gen immigrants - don't speak any English, but are back in the kitchen and responsible for the broth...and they won't use any powdered broth or seasoning - it's all made fresh every day. He said it costs more, but it's truly authentic 'family recipe' soup.
Sure, $8 may be a buck or two more than other places, but you're getting a really flavorful, complex broth that is so much better than the alternatives. You can taste the natural spices, and it has a perfect sweet-savory balance.
We've been dozens of times, and the service may be a bit slow sometimes, but even on a 'bad' night it's lightyears better than the sit-down places we've been in Eden Center - the staff are always pleasant and helpful, especially if you want to try something new and venture out of your comfort zone.
Their vermacelli dishes are excellent, and for the 'novice' pho eater, #16 is a flavorful, lean chicken breast version of pho that will leave you with cravings. Try a side dish of the vinegar onion slices - popular with Korean clients, they told us - very nice addition. Their meatballs are consistently good, and their spring rolls have always been fresh and crisp and clean tasting when we've ordered them.
The place is actually pretty quiet noise-level wise, even when busy - a nice change of pace from the frenetic, noisy pho places we've been to in other locales. It's smaller, but the tables don't feel crowded. We often take multiple to-go containers because the next day we inevitably want more!
Please go and enjoy an authentic, truly home-made bowl of pho from this lovely shop and kind, helpful staff.
This place sucks. Yelp, you really let me down!!! This is for the ultimate Alexandrian who has never had Vietnamese anywhere else. It's really crappy here. I eat Vietnamese maybe 2-3 times a week. This is one of the worst I have ever had. Do not go here. Avoid.
- pee stains on the ceiling
- summer rolls are bland, old cheap shrimp, and no herbs like basil and mint at all
- peanut dipping sauce is too thick and sweet, way too sugary, right out of a bottle
- vermicelli noodles way too thick, what happened to light and refreshing?
- grilled pork old, nasty and dry, jesus, musta been expired...who cooks like this?
- fried spring rolls old, nasty, and dry, had to have been sitting under a heat lamp
- the pho broth here sucks, too much cinnamon, "add sauce!" says the waiter...
- overall, the food here is really bad, not authentic Vietnamese at all
- can't believe a line out the door, maybe this is the best Alexandria has to offer
- really tight parking spots in the parking lot. plus creepy guy staring at me as i exit
With Eden Center so close by, and all the Pho options like 75, 50, Sate, Golden Cow - I don't understand why someone would come here. And if you want good summer rolls and grilled meats on rice or vermicelli - go to Nam Viet near the Clarendon Metro - head over heals better - real authentic Vietnamese. For Pho, stick with the places that only do pho. For other Vietnamese treats like ice coffee, bubble tea, doughnuts and pork rolls - stick with the smaller shops in Eden Center.
really disappointed...
This place is great. After spending a summer in Vietnam, I was looking for good Vietnamese food in northern Virginia, and this place is it!
They have a big menu - lots of different kinds of pho, and great entrees as well. Prices are also really reasonable and serving sizes are large. I usually order the rice vermicelli, which comes with BBQ pork and egg rolls on the rice noodles with some veggies. So good! Their pho ga is also great, as are their summer rolls and ca phe su da (sweetened iced coffee). Service is also great every time and we never have had to wait long even if the place is on the smaller side. Highly recommend!
3.5 stars
The pho here is pretty good. The broth is flavorful and you get a lot of meat. Â My go-to is steak and meatballs. They also offer other Vietnamese dishes which pleases my husband. He got the vermicilli with lemongrass chicken. Â Service could be better. The food came out fairly quickly, but they forgot about my husband's tea and they never brought me the dipping bowl I asked for. Â it's the best pho place right near me, soo I'll be back.
Pho Viet Flare, I'm not sure what the translation is...but I'm pretty sure it's "Super Vietnamese Soup." No? Ok, well...for the purposes of this review, it is!
In need of a nice hot meal on a rainy Christmas Eve day...I quickly searched Yelp and found PVF, which turned out to be a lovely choice. As the only folks open on Christmas Eve are typically the ethnic restaurants (and I happen to love pho and Vietnamese food) this was a very solid plan.
We met my parents there around 1pm (we had no idea how late they'd be open this day, so we hurried!) and exchanged gifts, oooh'ed and ahhhh'ed over crispy spring rolls, steaming bowls of pho, and a fabulous iced coffee with condensed milk (yum!). My mom also tried the coconut milk with pomegranate jellies (dessert) which is very sweet, but very good. Nice to share...as its a bit much for any one person to down, unless you really need a shot of sugar.
Many types of pho, from the "kitchen sink" method all the way down to just some Ga (chicken) or tofu. I had the pho with flank steak and meatballs, very good. I wanted a bit more kick in my broth...but it was still a great warm-up and very filling. They've got some very interesting dessert choices as well. Service was quite good and all in all it was a lovely escape on Christmas Eve, no dishes to do, no dishes to cook...some great authentic delicacies to enjoy, etc.
A bit pricey on a bowl of pho ($8), but seems par for the course in this area. I'm used to the $4 pho in Chicago (Argyle Street)...so I've been a bit spoiled. I'll pay for the pho! I'll pay for it, just bring it on.
Yes, its in a strip mall. Yes, the food is great. No, it's not as divey as you might think...
My new goto Pho spot! Get giggi wid it! I walked in at high noon of all times to walk in. The place was packed but the turn over was fast enough. Got my seat shortly after I walked in. What I wanted wasn't on the menu but that didn't matter. BAM we got it. My bowl of Pho came out fast and hot. My shrimp crispy spring rolls came out and melted in my mouth. Young coconut milk to wash it all down and I was a very happy man. I took my time and savored every bite of that delicious pho. Well worth it. Get some!
Review Source:I was happy with their pho until I found out a string of hair in the bowl. Â I complained about it but they did not make any change. They said that they were sorry. Â Shouldn't you bring out a new bowl of pho in this case? Â The bill was also not affected by the hair in the bowl as well. Â This was a huge disappointment for me and I will never go there.
Review Source:It's northern Virginia, there are pho houses everywhere and most are one in the same. Â That's not a bad thing, as most also have good pho. Â This one definitely passes the test of having good pho, decent prices and very quick service, so it would be recommended if you're already in this area and looking for some pho.
Review Source:3.5 stars
Pretty decent Vietnamese food considering there aren't many places in Alexandria/Annandale in the first place.
Their summer rolls are tasty, but not as fresh as I'll like. Had their rice with chicken and fish sauce which was okay. I rather go home and make that dish on my own instead of going here. Nothing really stuck out and their menu needs to be more extensive. Not a lot of selections. Drive 15 minutes more and go to Eden Center, where true Vietnamese food lays or go to someone's house. If this place was in Eden, it wouldn't survive to compete.
Food: For the price you cannot beat the pho or vermicelli. Their vermicelli is excellent and always draws us there. Very good. Their fruit smoothies are fantastic and well worth the price.
Service: Good. I've never had to wait an exceptionally long time for anything, and all the wait staff are polite.
Would recommend to anyone looking for a good place to have a cheap, good dinner.
This is a solid pho place and great for a local restaurant. My wife and I can walk here and get an inexpensive but tasty soup. Having gone here after some reviews from my fellow Yelpers, I was not disappointed.
The service was prompt and efficient, the soup tasty, and the vibe of the restaurant was pure simplicity.
The private lot is huge and almost never full and you can go for dessert at SweetFrog across the way.
My local pho fix is here.
Very good place to eat for a decent price. I have been coming here since its opened. All the appetizers are good, and the pho is very good. Most pho dishes here are a medium to large portion, so bring a friend or just enjoy alone. So come by and enjoy a decent meal or give them a call and pick it up for a home dinner.
Review Source:This is a good neighborhood Vietnamese joint. Â This is a tried-and-true for our family (two kids, 6 yrs old). Â It's consistently tasty, doesn't break the bank, pretty fast, and the service is good. Â
We usually get a few Pho and a rice vermicelli dish to share for the table. Â
The Pho is quite good, but we've had better elsewhere (e.g. Pho 75 in Arlington).  But  we appreciate that there are other things to enjoy here.
I have gone twice and both times have been nothing but delicious! Both times I got a P 7 the broth is soooo good. The flavors from the beef and veggies def are in the broth. The large is like $7 which is an excellent price and they give you all the yummy toppings to go into your soup.
I'll def be back for some more pho! Word to the wise the summer rolls are out of this world delicious BUT they do have pork in them so if you don't dine with swine like myself just ask for them to make it with out the pork!
Don't be discouraged from the lack of decor its about the food here not the cheesy decor on the walls!
A 4-star Pho restaurant, but a 3-star establishment.
The summer rolls have 4 shrimp, not the usual 3. But they're 4 dollars. 4 dollars? Really? 3 more and I can get a bowl of Pho. Am I being cheap? Maybe. But there is no effort put into this place. Except for the actual food, I think it's safe to assume their costs are low. Why are you charging me so much for a summer roll?
Pho Viet Flare is one of the better options for Pho in the Alexandria area. But that doesn't mean they can be so damn lazy about things. Why is it we lower our general dining standards when it comes to Pho? If the food is good we overlook all our other dining preferences. Is it too much to ask for a hello when you walk in, and not a 'how many?' Or a 'how is everything?' a few minutes after the food has arrived? Or some comfortable chairs. Decor. Anything that makes the establishment stand out from the 58 other Pho places in the DMV?
I think there should be an option next to yelp ratings where yelpers can specify that they have low expectations generally when it comes to the type of establishment. Because in what world would a place like Pho Viet Flare be at the same level as a place like Rasika?
The broth here is pretty good, and I was impressed with lovely long strips of meat. I think I got the number 7.
I thought their summer rolls and peanut sauce were really good--a bit tastier than other places. They also have vermicelli and rice dishes on the menu as well, so this place is not just for pho. The service here is better than a standard cafeteria-style pho place. The decor is nothing special. Plenty of parking in the lot.
I loved that in this strip mall you can get Salvadorean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indonesian, Ethiopian, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. And after all that, you can go to Dunkin Donuts.
I have to say, Pho Veit Flare was surprisingly some of the best pho I've had. Â I got the pho ga, and everything about it was perfect. Â The broth was flavorful, the chicken was perfectly cooked, and the noodles were downright amazing- again, not overcooked, just firm enough. Â They also loaded up on the noodles for a regular bowl. Â It was quite filling. Â The service was also pretty speedy- less than 10 minutes.
It would be nice to see Pho Viet Flare do a veggie pho (pho chay). Â But seriously, go here and get some pho. Â Next to Pho 14 in Columbia Heights, this has easily become my second favorite pho joint in the DMV area.
I still haven't found a great Vietnamese place in the DC/NoVa area, but the search continues!!!
This place was decent, but not amazing. The summer rolls were loose and had some unseasoned pork in it, which just took away from the overall flavor. They typically have some kind of pork, but in the dozens and dozens of Vietnamese restaurants I've been to, I can usually rave about how they prepare their meat. Not so much here.
The peanut sauce was amazing, though.
The bun was decent, too. But, the vermicelli was slightly undercooked. I like my pasta aldente, but this was actually underdone. Again, the pork was bland, slightly grilled so better than the meat in the Summer Roll (which I've always known as a Spring Roll), but for the first time ever, I had to add gobs of sauce to it.
The shrimp broth with the bun wasn't great, but it did the job. The bun bowl had the right amount of peanuts in it, other vegetables were good, except not enough sprouts or cucumbers in it and a little too much lettuce and carrots as filler. Their fried spring rolls are really good.
I was also disappointed that they don't serve Thai Iced Tea here, yeah I know, why expect Thai Iced Tea at a Vietnamese restaurant? This is the first one I've ever been in that didn't offer it.
I will say, though, the food was out SUPER fast and the service was great!
I never knew this place in hidden inside a somewhat rundown and small strip mall. Â Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Pho...meaning I don't go out of my way to eat it. Â But, I enjoy good food and that's what this place serves up!
The first thing you'll notice is how clean and simple this place is. Â There are no photos on the walls or fancy paint. Â The floors, walls, tables and seats are all clean. Â The staff is very friendly and attentive. Â The best part is the food of course, it's amazing. Â Everything from the Pho soup to the pork and rice, you cannot go wrong. Â Each bite tastes good and a another perk to this place is that most of the food here is healthy! Â The price is pretty good too considering how much food you get.
One thing I would skip are the jelly drinks, they're tasty but very high in sugar. Â It's basically a sugar drink.
Overall, this is a wonderful restaurant that gets my visit at least 3-4 times a month.
Ok first off, don't be scared by the crappy shopping center. This place is a hidden gem (also along with Thai Lemongrass across the parking lot, but that is for another day). My boyfriend and I recently moved in together right off of S Van Dorn, and while much of the area heading north on Van Dorn leaves much to be desired until you get into the Old Town area, this pho place has become our go-to when we get a pho craving.
As others have said, the service is always friendly and prompt, and the pho is good! When I feel like trying to lighten my meal up a bit, I get their chicken pho, which is really good. Now after reading some other reviews, I think next time I must try the pork buns (another favorite I've had other places!)
So if you're craving quick, cheap, and consistently good pho in the S Van Dorn area, I'd recommend stopping here.
I *love* Vietnamese food, but I'm not such a fan of pho. Â What to do, what to do? Â Go to Pho VietFlare where the soup lovers can get their fill of pho, and the soup-eschewers have other options.
Actually, the pho here is pretty good...mellow, savory broth with mounds of vermicelli and scads of scallions and cilantro, as well as a plate of mung bean sprouts, Thai basil and mint, and sliced jalapeño.  Steak or white-meat chicken -- sliced ultra thin -- fat meatballs, or tofu options.  Swirl in Sriracha, squeeze in some lime, add a little plum sauce, and you've got comfort in a bowl.
Tho the pho is good, I prefer a vermicelli bowl -- with wonton wrapped shrimp and ground shrimp in yuba skins to be precise. Â Just the right amount of noodles, topped with scallion, mung bean, crushed peanut, shredded lettuce, carrot matchsticks, and cucumber. Â Pour in the accompanying fish sauce, a douse of plum sauce for good measure, and you've created a mouth-watering and thoroughly satisfying array of flavors and textures. Â
They don't serve alcohol at Pho VietFlare, but they do serve wonderful  iced espresso with condensed milk (like Thai iced coffee on crack) and our favorite, young coconut juice.  It's very sweet and has an almost cereal-like flavor with softened peels of fresh coconut suspended in its sugary goodness. Â
While the ambiance is nothing to write home about, the dining room is clean, the service is quite good, and the prices are very affordable. Â Pho VietFlare is a new favorite.
Pho Viet Flare may be one of the most perplexing ratings I've seen as a 4.5 star aggregate rating over 32 reviews makes me think "wow, this is gonna knock my socks off!". Â But, reading more deeply into individual reviews, I gotta agree with James L, who is torn between 3 and 4. Â That was kind of my experience as well as I ate it and thought "ok, this pho is fine".
In addition to the tai chin gan I also got the obligatory crispy rolls. Â Really good and really hearty rolls. Â Definitely in the top 5 that I've had. Â But then the pho came out and the broth looked so thin. Â Not a sight of beautiful fat globules and the meat wasn't particularly plentiful. Â Veggie tray was fine and everything was fresh so no complaints there. Â But when I ate it, I was just wasn't that into it. Â James might be on to something with the MSG talk. Â It wasn't awful, but it was just very standard, maybe slightly above average pho.
The biggest turn-off however is the price. Â I can get a large bowl of far superior pho at so many places for around $6.50 so anything over $7 is a turnoff. Â I know it's only $1 or so more, but why would I want to pay a cent more when I can get better and cheaper elsewhere? Â Maybe this is the best option for the area. Â I'm sure people would come here and enjoy it just fine, but for me, I'll stick with other places. Â My socks were most certainly not knocked off here.
Ok, seeing as how this place has been getting some rave reviews and it's located not too far from me, I had to give it a shot. Â Granted, gotta say, I haven't seen too many reviews from Viet people. Â Don't lie, I know other people noticed this too. Â I'm just saying what you're all thinking.
My gf and I got the tai chin (steak and brisket) and some onions in vinegar to go with it as well as the cha gio (egg rolls). Â The cha gio were pretty good. Â The egg rolls were average sized and crispy. Â Pretty good. Â The pho was decent but I still haven't found a place to dethrone Pho 75. Â The large bowl also is a little smaller than what I'm used to. Â Also, the meat didn't come out rare. Â Still, a good bowl of pho.
As mentioned in various other reviews, the thing that separates this place from other pho places is the service. Â They are actually responsive here which is pretty rare to see in pho places. Â They refill your drinks. Â Wow. Â The restaurant itself is pretty small but it wasn't too busy when I went. Â They have a large variety of other things on the menu with bun (noodle) and com (rice) dishes. Â Note: Â the parking lot can be a pain with such a small lot compared to how many stores there are.
Overall, it's a good pho option. Â Pho 75 (Falls Church) is still closer for me and still my go to place. Â But if I'm out here, I'd hit it up.
I drank too much on Friday and had a terrible quasi-sleepness night, so I was awake in the wee hours of Saturday watching CJ7, a recent Stephen Chow movie. Shittiness was pouring down from the sky until the early afternoon, when m m convinced me to join her and Neal for pho -- what? she'd pick me up? awesome. Time to put pants on.
So pants are on and I am out, and m m is waiting in her car. I should mention that I had met neither her nor Neal before. Moving on.
When I go out to eat, I go out to EAT. Especially if it's a Vietnamese restaurant; I'll generally walk out of the place incredibly full and breathing through my mouth. I split an order of goi cuon (summer rolls) with m m, ordered myself a small pho tai bo vien (raw beef and meatballs), and a ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced milk coffee).
Goi cuon:
The rolls were small, but tasted fresh. m m says that there was chicken in them, but I honestly don't remember -- this is the only reason why I'm not knocking a star off. Chicken in summer rolls? Blasphemy!
Pho tai bo vien:
I thought the broth wasn't hot or flavorful enough, but it was good. The noodles were good -- not clumped together, and not broken either; you know when you get to the end and you think there's just broth but you run your spoon through it and up come all these little bits of noodle? Yeah, that's not good. The raw beef was so tender! I don't think I've ever had such tender meat at a pho joint before; I was definitely impressed. The meatballs were good: they had a good texture and were quartered. Beware of the places that give you whole meatballs that are also perfectly spherical. That screams "FROZEN!!!!!" to me; these looked handmade. ONIONS! I couldn't help but notice -- and comment on -- the severe lack of onions. What's up with that????
Ca phe sua da:
It was good. Unfortunately I poured it into my glass of ice too early -- before I was ready to devote my full attention to it -- and so it was a bit diluted by the time I drank it.
Other things worth mentioning:
- the chili paste/sauce -- you know, other than Sriracha? the one with all the seeds and the plastic spoon sticking out of the little pot? Major MAJOR props to Pho Viet Flare for its chili condiment. Usually I have to have at least 3 spoonfuls to reach the level of spiciness that I want. Just one spoonful of Pho Viet Flare's chili mixed with the summer rolls' peanut sauce did it for me. Amazing.
- the fish sauce -- where was it? I've never been to a Viet restaurant that didn't have a bottle (usually a reused Sriracha bottle) full of fish sauce standing right next to the hoisin sauce.
- the bean sprouts and basil and jalapeño and lime plate -- very fresh!
I walked out full but not TOO full -- I always get a large pho, but I had just had a grilled cheese sandwich before m m lured me out, so I thought it'd be a good idea to take it easy.
Special thanks to Neal and m m who made this possible -- and very enjoyable!
**3.75 stars**
An impromptu meeting of the Pho Force took place last Saturday evening. A Pho Force of Three: Met fellow Yelpers m m. and Sophie here for dinner last Saturday evening. I was the first to arrive about 5:50 pm - I noted as I walked in there is a Yelp sticker on the glass of the front door - stating something like: "They like us on Yelp."
I snagged a four top table. Shortly afterward, the ladies walked in. After eyeballing the menu - we ordered. M m. and Sophie split an order of Garden rolls, and I got another for myself. I ordered the Pho Ga with white meat (small bowl) and the goils got other various flavors of Pho.
The rolls came out quickly with the requisite peanut dipping sauce. I added some Sriracha sauce directly to the peanut sauce and stirred it in. The rolls were fresh and tasty - hit the spot!
Then came bowls of Pho - lightly steaming. The broth was a little on the light side from both a coloration and flavor standpoint. I agree with M m. that the broth was a tad light on the flavor - the chicken broth needed some more chicken fat/essence and a bit more seasoning. The chicken meat was tender and succulent, the noodles were perfect - no clumping at all. And the aromatics and veggies were fresh and picturesque.
I added some Sriracha sauce to the broth to overcome the lightness of the flavor.
The best part though was the company and getting to know my fellow Yelpers - learned a lot about two awesome lovely ladies!
One other negative - when I first arrived, I visited the Men's Restroom - some sort of insect was scurrying around the floor of the Men's room - was not sure what species it was.
First time visitors to this area beware - To make a very long story short, I mistook the place for PRO STYLIN and walked into a barbershop expecting some phunky pho. I remember the name being a little unique and since the sign was all caps, it was easy to mistake PRO for PHO. Yes I know it was really stupid, but funny enough to share that bit with you. Of course I pulled it off well, trying to look as if I just happened to trip my way into PRO STYLIN's entrance.
Anyways, so the real Pho Viet Flare turned out to be very good and blazingly fast. The lone guy there took my order and within two minutes... BAM there was my pho. I have a hard time telling the difference in quality in pho, they generally all taste pretty good to me and all basically the same. I did notice though that the meat quality was a higher than average, something worth noting I guess. It was the speed that impressed me, I know I've had fast food burger joints come out slower than this place.
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