Pho 919

This place is ok — not sure about how to compares to other phở joints in the area, but I wasn’t dazzled. The best thing about getting phở is usually the fact that you get it soon after you order; not the case here. There weren’t really any other people there, but we still ended up waiting about 10 minutes til our phở came out. We all ordered the house phở — nothing memorable, but it tasted fine. Portions are big, but food is also proportionally pricier.

I’ve had Phở from all over the Raleigh/​Cary/​Morrisville area and Phở 919 has the best Phở all around. It has improved through the years.
The Phở: I usually get the“special” which comes with all of the different cuts of meat. The broth is always the perfect temperature (which is a must). The broth is flavorful, clear and have all of the elements of a true bowl of phở. The price is fair and I have no complaints.
The Eggrolls: Delicious and fulfilling. The price is right and comes in a huge portion (enough for 2 – 3).
Bubble Tea: Not my cup of TEA (get it?). I don’t consider it bubble tea, it’s more of a ice fruit smoothie with pearls. It’s really sweet.
I haven’t tried anything else on the menu but look forward to trying new items on the menu.
As for customer service, the staff is kind and great people. I have never received any bad energy from anyone.

The food here is always great. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. They will explain their menu thoroughly and answer any questions you may have. The shrimp phở is one of my favorites. The egg rolls are also very good. If you order something spicy, they allow you to adjust how spicy it is– for example, you can order half the spice.

Been here a few times now, have tried a couple restaurants for Phở, this is by far my favorite in the triangle. Service is always friendly, place is very clean. I have tried just the spicy beef phở and it was fantastic, and the last time I had also ordered the egg rolls which were fantastic.

The phở is definitely good, with good size portion and flavorful broth. However, the plate of garnishes that comes with your bowl of phở, (consists of Thai basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, and slices of lime, and of chilies) is kind of meager and sad, like there’s usually only one sprig of bruised basil, and the 2 leaves of cilantro are kind of wilty…
I was also disappointed that some of the other soups I wanted to try were available only on weekends, but that’s not mentioned on the menu. And the last 2 times I went, the item I wanted, (the sizzling crêpe and bubble tea) was also not available because they were out of the necessary ingredients. Not sure if it’s true, but it gives the impression that the restaurant is on the decline, which makes me not inclined to back, despite having been a few times…
One thing that surprised me was that they allowed a little boy, who I assume is their kin, to sit and play on his laptop at the booth right by the front door! One time we went there, he was leaned back and snoring away… Kind of unprofessional, I felt… Anyways, I might still occasionally stop in for phở, since it’s conveniently located near the walmart I frequent, I will not be making a point to go there just for the food…

Nice to finally have a Vietnamese place in cary close to us. The phở soup was really good and phở all in all very good. Interesting is this place seems to have been a burger joint in prior life

I’ve been here a few times and the waitress has messed up 2 times. The pork chop is tough and dry not recommended.

Great Vietnamese food. I really enjoy this place. Prices are reasonable and great people own this place, very pleasant individual’s.

So happy to have tried another phở place in the area. The broth here is delicious and what stands out the most is the portion sizes — huge with more meat than any other phở restaurant here. You definitely get your money’s worth here. Will be back!

Phở is a Vietnam street food. It’s cheap, quick, and fills you up. It’s the poor mans meal. Go to Hanoi and your going to be sitting on the curb on a cheap plastic stool or milk crate, with a wobbly table while scooters go zooming by. There is no sanitation rating hanging on the wall. There is no ambient music playing in the back ground. You don’t want to see the toilet. You can probably get a hooker for 2 dollars more just a few blocks down at night. Make sure you check her before taking her back to the hotel ;-) Ladies and gentleman welcome to your Traditional Phở Street Vendor. Only stupid tourist hit the Phở shops with all the BS wall art and decorations. Phở changes depending on the region your in. It’s like BBQ. Some people believe BBQ is Pulled Pork. Some people believe BBQ is Beef Brisket (even when its not). The purist of Phở doesn’t have bean sprouts or a ton of green garnish, no hoisin sauce. It’s broth and noodles. All that extra stuff cost money and once again is all based on your region and how touristy it is.
If you want the «Show»… ambient music, wood sculptures, and fake bamboo water fixtures there are places around that have that crap. If you want the best Phở in town. This is the place.

Phở reals?! There’s a decent phở joint in NC?!
Don’t get too excited yet. While this place has great potential to become my go-​to spot in the area, there are definitely a few kinks to be worked out at this mom and pop operation. 3.5 stars for me. ( Unilocal: when are you going to allow us to give half stars already!)
Yes, it’s true what you’ve read here. The décor is not much to sing about, don’t expect date night ambiance. This is a phở place for goodness sakes! Who cares if it looks like a retro diner!
Now about the phở, can’t say this is the best I’ve ever had, but it’ll definitely hold me over until my next visit to NYC. The broth is pretty clear, but not lacking in flavor. Back home I usually order phở with grilled pork, but most places don’t even have this option, so I didn’t expect them to have it here. I went with the meatball phở, but I did try my luck and ask for a side of grilled pork which they kindly obliged for an additional $ 4… making this the most expensive bowl of phở I’ve ever had lol. It was kinda worth it though… the portions are HUGE… and I consider myself a big eater :) Definitely come hungry or go home with left overs! My hubby’s fave is the grilled pork vermicelli. The pork is sometimes dry, it’s a hit or miss, but for the most part, it’ll satisfy the craving. The fried springrolls (which are referred to as «eggrolls» here) were pretty good as well. Definitely recommended!
One other thing… service is slow as molasses! They need to get with it and start hiring more staff to wait on the tables. It took about 20+ minutes for them to serve our appetizers and drinks and then another 15 minutes for the main dishes. What annoyed the crap outta me was that other tables who came in after us were being served before us… that made no sense to me whatsoever! This is an easily resolvable issue though and I hope they do so sooner rather than later because winter is around the corner and I’m going to want me some phở!

I hate leaving such low reviews for a new restaurant, but there were so many things that was wrong during our visit to Phở 919.
As many others have said, you can definitely tell the place was some sort of burger joint before. They haven’t done any sort of renovations, not even a fresh coat of paint it seems. But – I can understand, they’re just starting out and initial startup fees are a lot. What I can’t forgive though is using items that need to be thrown away. Our metal tray that held salt, pepper, sriracha, and hoisin sauce was rusting bad. The table we had wasn’t in better shape. Then, when we were given our utensils, my sister’s spoon still had crud stuck on it (I’m just gonna stick with «crud» because I don’t really want to know what it was).
Seeing as we’re in a phở place, we all ordered the house special phở (phở dac biet). When it came out, we were impressed because it was HUGE. There wasn’t enough meat for the size though… and then we noticed that the smell wasn’t quite was tantalizing as it usually is. Well, once we started eating, that made sense. It was very bland. (I should also point out that all of us were starving, and we tend to think things are much tastier when we’re that hungry.) I also got a Thai Iced Tea and that tasted very watered down as well. It didn’t have a bitter aftertaste though, which is my usual complaint.
TL;DR: Phở 919 is still starting up and it is family owned, so service can be slow at times and the décor could be better, but even if we ignored that part, there are still many other things they need to work on before I’ll be able to up my rating. I’ll give them a few months and maybe stop by again to see how they’re doing.

«What the phở?»
— Me, after getting served my Com Ga
Phở 919 is a mom-​and-​pop Vietnamese noodle shop on Davis Drive in a strip mall with Walmart grocery store. Their eponymous dish is phở — pronounced «fuh».
Phở is the de facto national dish of Vietnam. There are many different types of phở — but the famous one is phở bo: beef phở. Phở is cheap, fresh, delicious, and filling. I’ve been to Vietnam several times and never fail to have a steaming bowl of the heavenly stuff.
Phở is not complicated to make — so the key is really in having the greatest ingredients and being patient. Phở is beef broth based. Even humble street carts have vats of the stuff loaded with bones constantly bubbling. And like the Catholic sacrament, stuff is added and soup is ladled off — but you really only have one master broth that feeds everyone. Modern health codes probably prevent that from happening in Morrisville, but it does tell you how lovingly it is treated. Thinly sliced raw beef is usually added after the soup is served and it cooks in the broth and you fish it out while it is still medium rare. Garnish with bean sprouts, cilantro, and basil. Eat until full.
Phở 919 is North Carolina phở. And I guess it says so right in the name of the place. To be fair to the proprietors, you can’t get all the ingredients you need here to make authentic phở. For example, they use Western green basil, not red basil. They use the standard Portuguese lime, not the orange-​lime tasting calamansi lime. So, it’s not exactly authentic.

Their broth is okay, but not great. You can taste the star anise, onions, and fish sauce. But it doesn’t have that deep rich taste associated with long-​simmered bones. So it’s more of a briny French-​onion broth that you leave behind than a heartily broth that you leave a bowl mark on your forehead because you’re licking the bottom of the bowl. And all authentic phở comes loaded with MSG. So does theirs. And their bowls of soup are huge, so you get a lot of the mediocre stuff. So 2 stars out of 5 to begin with.
Their fried rice uses nice fresh meats, but then they just toss in frozen vegetables. No change to rating.
Their Com Ga (chicken and rice) is quite disappointing. Com ga is essentially Hainanese chicken/​rice. There are different sub-​styles, but the classic style is poached chopped chicken quarters parts with ginger, onion, and Vietnam’s ubiquitous «nuoc mam» fish sauce. Often this is put on spiced or enriched rice. This was not that. This was flash deep fried plain boneless chicken thigh on plain rice. No spice. No garnish beyond 3 dry cucumber slices. Boring and plain for $ 9. Bummer. Lose one star.
Their location is big, spacious, and generally clean — but service tends to be a bit thin due to it being a mom and pop store. I have been here many times, simply because it’s close. Service is consistently pleasant and prompt for order taking. But dirty tables can linger and getting water refills really depends upon how busy the place is. Nice and hard working trumps understaffed. Add one star back.
On the plus side, their Vietnamese fresh spring rolls were spot on. Really great. Add one star.
So, I will not probably come here again, unless my son demands fried rice again. But he’ll eat any form of carbs that are fried. He is not burdened with the heavy, heavy burden of being an arrogant insufferable food snob. Ah, simpler times.
I will make a point of going to Taste, just a few blocks away. Hopefully they have better phở.

I found the food here to be outstanding, and I only lowered it down a star for service issues (minor, but still existed). I went with my boyfriend who had been dying to go for months. I found the menu to have a wonderful range of options. If you are a vegetarian or a vegan you will have a nice selection.
We were seated promptly and had drinks and food orders taken in no time. Boyfriend had the Pork rolls for an appetizer and loved them. They were huge (could’ve been a meal for me!). Definitely get your money’s worth.
Boyfriend also wanted Phở. When our server asked what kind, he said just throw every kind of meat they had in there. I’m not sure if that’s on the menu or not, but that’s what he got. He loved it. I tried some of the noodles, and they were perfect. I think the Phở was around 10.00 and he had a gigantic bowl that he could not even come close to finishing.
I had the tofu fried rice. The server asked if I was ok with having egg in it. I said I was and found this to be a very attentive question. I am guessing they are happy to make this without egg so you could have it vegan. My rice was in the 7.00−8.00 range, and I had enough to have an additional meal. The tofu was also perfectly fried. The best fried tofu I have ever had.
My issue with the service was when it came time to leave. I know others have noted how crowded it was, but it was not crowded at all when we went (Saturday night). I think we were one of four — maybe five at best — tables. Our server just didn’t come back at this point. He was out attending to the other tables so it wasn’t like he had disappeared. Tried to make eye contact to get his attention but that didn’t work (customers were scattered throughout the place). Eventually he came over and took care of getting out boxes and bill taken care of. I know that’s a really minor thing, but everything matters if I give some place five stars.
I would absolutely go back, and I recommend giving this place a try. We drove about 30 minutes each way so I don’t think we would go back all the time, but it’s worth the drive out to try.

Okay… First of all I was super excited to go here. I heard the phone was amazing! I walked into the restaurant and WOW it was packed! I knew I chose the right place especially if so many people came. The food looked amazing too. However, I noticed that they were understaffed with only two people working. I had to wait about 20 mins to get seated. Even though there were plenty of seats in the back. Then it took over an hour to get the entrée and appetizer. All my friend wanted was cha gio… But why did he get it when everyone else got their phở? My friends who were there an hour earlier than us told me they had to wait 45 minutes for their phở as well. Every time we wanted the waiter, she would just hold up her finger to us. This has got to be the worst service ever.
For the food part though, the cha gio was okay. The phone was amazing. There was a lot of meat and noodles which I loved! They seem kind of stingy with the basil so I had to ask for more. I would come here for phở, but if you are crunch on time so NOT come here.

Taste, about a mile up the road, was impossible to get into for lunch on a Friday afternoon — not an empty seat in the house, so I decided to try Phở 919.
The phở tai is very good here, a HUGE portion, but only one size is available. I was hoping to see options for smaller bowls at a little lower price, but no such luck. I was also hoping to find banh mi sandwiches on the menu, but again, no such luck.
If all I want is a huge bowl of phở or any other noodle or rice dish or some appetizers, this is probably not a bad place to be.
The servers are very personable, will talk to me about how things are, if I’m taking time off for the holiday and what not. They are just trying to learn their customer, become acquainted. While I am generally a bit shy and introverted around people I do not know, I did not object to the questions or the conversation.
The ambiance definitely could use an upgrade, but when a restaurant moves into a failed restaurant’s space, budget constraints need to be considered when looking to upfit the space to suit the needs. No buildout was really necessary in this case, but it still gives off that Highway 55 burger joint vibe.
I would love to see Banh Mi on the menu and smaller phở options.

My first impression walking through the door was not a good one! The place is in serious need of renovation. Clearly, not much effort was made to replace the décor in place by the previous establishment, because it is 50s diner all around! Mirrors on every wall? Check. Red pleater seats? Check!
But hey, you can’t always judge a book by its cover… right? So my family ordered up some heaping bowls of phở and a few vermicelli/​rice dishes. Oh did I mention we’re Vietnamese?
Phở portions are good! The bowls are huge (as they should be), but it’s mostly broth. The amount of noodles per bowl is just right though. I love having big bowls because it gives you ample room to add in all your condiments and herbs and still be able to mix it all up. I have seen fresher bean sprouts in other locations, but it’s not like it was spoiled, so it was fine.
Broth tastes fairly rich. It has nothing on my mama’s phở of course, but it’s not bad! Noodles were not over or under cooked. If you’re in Chapel Hill, this is a better phở option than Lime & Basil.
Overall, this place is average. There is nothing special about it but my entire Vietnamese family enjoyed this place. This is the kind of place I’d go to if I lived near by and wanted something casual/​tasty. If you don’t want to make the trip to Raleigh but are craving Vietnamese food really bad, this will do.

I stopped by Phở 919 in Morrisville recently to get my phở fix, and an overcast, cool Spring day.
The pros:
— A giant bowl of phở. They do not skimp on the portions here
— The broth was very flavorful. Plenty of rice noodles
— beef in my rare beef phở tasted good. Wasn’t chewy and gristly
The cons:
–They didn’t bring me any of the usual phở condiments (basil, sprouts, jalapenos, lime). I guess they just forgot, but the waitress never stopped by after taking my order, and I was in a hurry so I just went with what I had (+ sriracha sauce).
–The space and décor is not befitting a Viet restaurant. As others mentioned this used to be an Andy’s (50’s retro style diner) and the new owners didn’t exactly do a whole lot of renovating.
Over-​all a mediocre experience. I wouldn’t consider Phở 919 to be one of the better phở restaurants in the area.

«They serve phở here?!?» is usually a reaction most have looking at Phở 919 in the Morrisville Market shopping center at the corner of Davis and Morrisville-​Carpenter. It used to house a Hwy 55/Andy’s burger place, and it has the same interior look of the 50’s diner it had before. Don’t let that throw you off, go on and have a sit, look at their menu.
Phở 919 has a pretty good selection of apps, phở, noodle dishes, etc. They even have a surprising array of beverages including bubble tea and slush drinks. I like the latter, with such flavors as green apple or mango or piña colada to choose from for a slushie beverage. You can even get tapioca pearls in the slushie drink as an extra if you like. On the apps side, I have tried the beef rolls. They are very light and fresh, a delightful change from something heavy and greasy. I do wish there was a bit more beef in them but they are good overall (I did snap a pic of mine if you want to check it out). On the phở side, I’ve had both the rare steak and the chicken types here. My favorite is the chicken, so very flavorful and hearty. I’m no phở guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I like what I like and this chicken phở is good stuff. You do get a basket of bean sprouts, jalapenos, etc. to garnish with as well. There is a very large portion of phở given, LOTS of noodles and a decent amount of meat in a huge bowl (I personally like to get double chicken though, gotta keep the protein intake up!). The price does reflect the larger portions, so be aware of that. But it’s worth it, a great tasting meal and lots of it to enjoy. The staff has always been nice, helpful, and interactive. They will give recommendations, also ask what your personal likes are and help from there.
Bottom line: Pretty tasty stuff, and great portions! I am partial to the chicken phở here as my favorite. I like the variety of beverages offered as well. Pleasant and helpful staff. Don’t let the interior throw you off, they are a pretty good option in Morrisville.

I have no idea what preceded Phở 919 but it sure looks like it started out as a diner or a Five Guys.
Whatever the case may be-don’t let the spotless and sparse interior fool you. This place is serving some pretty good Phở.
The Phở broth flavor (before you add the dollop of Hoisin and Sriracha) is really tasty. Slightly salty with a good amount of beef flavor. Phở 919 is probably the most expensive bowl that I have found of Phở in the triangle. A couple dollars more than both Phở 9n9’s medium (standard) bowl and Taste’s offering. However the size is larger than both Taste’s and 9n9’s and there’s a ton more items in the bowl. Easily twice the amount of meat and noodles than you get elsewhere.
Service is pretty good, and their bubble tea is spot on.
I’ll definitely be back with family in tow.