Pho 97 Oriental Restaurant

Pictured above is a medium bowl of pho and a large bowl of bun bo hue and a lot of meat below, I've tried quite a few Vietnamese pho restaurants in tampa and st pete after stopping at my favorite pho and bun bo hue I always have to drive 25 minutes from tampa on weekends to come here and enjoy them, the space is not modern because it's been old but in return it is quite clean and the pho and bun bo hue are delicious

Had the #15 on their menu and it had good amount of meat cuts. My fav was the spring rolls and the peanut sauce. The meat cuts are not the best but the fatty parts gave it flavor. I would give it another go.

I've have tried a lot of Pho restaurant before, but this is the worst experience that I ever have in a Vietnamese restaurant. I’m not a local, went there because my friend recommended for me. I came in and ordered a combination Pho, asked for extra veggies. And they charged me 1$ extra without letting me abt it. Then I asked the waitress for an “electronic receipt” then she gave me a handwritten paper : I told her that was not what I meant about a receipt. I used to work in a restaurant industry, i knew that there were so many tricks to scam customer but all I need is just a receipt. She gave me an attitude, and even other employees gave me attitude too. Yell at me even though that I did nothing wrong, just asked for an receipt. Then another young man explained to me that they couldn’t give me the electronic receipt because they don’t have it. Wow, that’s so weird. But he handle the situation very well and polite too. I would gave him a praise for the professional. Customer service is so important, after all I explained one more time to the old lady in the front that “Pls don’t give me that attitude because all I need is a receipt” Then she didn’t listen to me and walked away. That was so annoyed. I ended up leave the store and never come back again.

The food here was fresh and delicious. The atmosphere was calm and quiet. The service was okay but could have been friendlier.Food: 5/5

TL;DR: Pho has overpowering clove flavor and low-quality meat. High points: The banh mi was insanely good. Absolutely one of the best I’ve had in Pinellas. Fried egg rolls were also decent. Low points: Pretty much everything else. They were mopping with a very powerful-smelling chemical when we came in around 6, and that was off putting. We would have left but had already been to two other restaurants that evening with poor results. So we dealt with it. Spring Rolls were whatever, but not great. The worst was the pho itself. Noodles were old and broke easily. Meat chicken and beef combination was super low quality even for a pho. And the broth was overloaded with cloves to the point that it made our lips tingly. If you’ve ever smoked a clove cigarette you know exactly what I’m talking about. After we discovered some tiny bones in the chicken we gave up and called it a night. Overall, that banh mi was so good it’s very disappointing that nothing even came close and some was just not good. Wouldn’t recommend overall but would suggest you stop by and pick up a banh mi with, as they said, the “real pork.”

Our troops & whole staff at our unit went to Pho 97 for lunch. We enjoyed the wonderful selection of food & will be coming back again next weekRecommended dishesPho Tai

I was here many years ago and I wasn't impressed as inside was outdated. This time, looks like it got remodeled and it is comparable to others in the area. The menu is simple, but the price is significantly lower than their competitions. Overall, the food quality is good except for the rainbow ice, that is way below par, blend, cheap on ingredients, the ice is not even crushed. Also, this is the only place in the area offers beef stew. I saw the hours is opened at 7 am for breakfast, I probably will try it one day as I wonder what is Vietnamese breakfast. Update - The second visit wasn't as good. Took away two stars. This time, the ingredients are very little also not much Pho noodle in the bowl. The portion is small even for a small eater. Update - This time gain another star back as the food has decent portion. I was here for breakfast and little that I know, same menu as lunch and dinner.....however, my congee is decent. Update - Gain another star as the pho and stew are very good. Update - Back to four stars.

My first time having Vietnamese food. It was excellent I will definitely be back again and again. The sandwich I had was fantastic everyone should try this place it is wonderfulFood: 5/5

Pho was really nasty. The broth was not good. The worst thing was the ca phe sua da it was so bad. The worst i ever had. Bun cha gio thit nung was ok the meat was over cooked and dried up. Not good.Food: 1/5

I drove out of my way to try this pho that I've heard so much about. My waitress was short and to the point, to be honest, I love that! I hate that I often have to add flavor to the broth, I didn't have to here... It tasted like they have the recipe that everybody is looking for.Food: 5/5