Pho 79 — Restaurant in Minneapolis

After an art show in the area, we decided to go to a pho place on Eat Street and settled with Pho 79 around 7:30 p.m. It was everyone's and my first time there since we rarely go to Minneapolis.

We got seated quickly, but were near a loud family of four or five at the front corner seated on a circular table - trust me, having placed the circled table on the corner and our long rectangular tables were quite annoying because it's where people went in and out behind us. It would be nice if they redesigned the table space just a tad...

Anyways, we got our waters soon and ordered: sesame wings, pho 79, chicken pad thai, grilled pork and egg roll rice noodle salad, and catfish cooked in a claypot with white rice (not pictured as I forgot to take it).

SESAME WINGS The sesame wings came out first, being super hot and crispy, which was great; the wing size was a bit small though. The sauce stuck to the chicken well, but I wasn't a big fan of it being so sweet. My boyfriend raved about it, while my sister and brother were neutral.

CHICKEN PAD THAI The dish was alright; chicken and noodles were tender, the flavor was there but lacked something "Thai." I know it's a Vietnamese restaurant's attempt, but I've had my share of pad thai dishes and this was okay.

PHO 79 From my brother's prospective, he's had and can make better pho. He noted that the broth was warm, not hot, and the flavor could be better. It may be restaurant preference, but we prefer piping hot pho broth - there is no other way to have it.

GRILLED PORK AND EGG ROLL RICE NOODLE SALAD The salad was good with the dressing. I believe the only things missing were mint and cilantro - again, personal preference. I had to tear some basil leaves from the pho toppings small plate to give it more freshness, as it came with lettuce, pickled carrots and green onions only.

CATFISH COOKED IN CLAYPOT WITH WHITE RICE The photo looked good, but the dish came out better. The fish was tender and the rice was perfect. My boyfriend only wished that it didn't come with so many bones as you really have to pick at it to eat it carefully. I was thinking nice filets of the fish would be in the dish, but it's actually small catfish steaks. I get this method as bones can add flavor/moisture to many dishes.

Service was alright. You really have to flag your server for beverage refills - I had to ask twice. During our time there, it was busy when we entered, but died down throughout our meal so I felt my water request could have been addressed faster. My brother noticed that the other side of the restaurant had nicer/better seating, so request that if you're there next time.

Overall, portions were appropriate to price and service was alright. Our total came to be $61. Unfortunately, we will not be returning to this restaurant as we don't go to...

DO NOT GO! We've been here over the years and witnessed its decline. First of all, it was never the best place, at its prime it was only an OK place. And now it's a bad place.

The service is super bad. Understaffed is the normal state. They never have enough staffs and usually they will never check back with you after they give you the food. You will have to try hard to get their attention if you need anything. The attitudes that the staffs show are indifferent, pugnacious and passive aggressive. They seem neither happy nor sad as you are there. They simply want you to eat and go, and next. Often they will be aggressive and tell you NOs to whatever request you have.

The quality of the food is bad and inconsistent. I've tried their signature dish (pho 79) quite some times, and in many cases it didn't taste the same as the last time. They usually have tripe and beef in it, and there was one time, for the entire bowl I only got fat instead of meat. I guess they didn't wanna waste it, so the customers better suck it.

They would charge you without telling you. If you ask for extra sauce or sides, they would not tell you it's gonna cost you. But you will be charged at the end. And they will also add tips without telling you either. Many people pay tips twice without realizing.

Overall, this place is bad. Mediocre food with inconsistency and super bad...

YOU BETTER ASK FOR A BILL BEFORE YOU EAT. I used to eat here all the time until the place got careless, noodles break apart easily now and even found hair in my rice. THEY USED TO GIVE YOU A BILL NOW THEY SAY THEY DON’T GIVE YOU A BILL. They do this to charge you a nonexistent $15 fee. I wanna know damn well what kind of service I’m getting? All they do is bring out a bowl. Pho Hoa wait was longer than here so I decided to give this place another chance. Dumb waitress COMPLAINED about my tip. FIRST OF ALL she didn’t do anything to deserve a tip and food wasn’t good. Idk why she complained about my tip because it looks like she needs it to fix her hair anyways her music made me cringe to high heavens. I politely called the place to get her name to file a complaint and they’re all rude. Even the manager/owner called me stupid and told me to shut up. Lmao there is so many things wrong with this place do yourself a favor and walk over to pho hoa it’s worth the wait. —— OTHER EXPIERENCES; I ordered pho tai & bo vien they gave me pho tai only and then I asked where my bo vien was and they charged me an extra $2 ????? Excuse me???? You shoulda had the order right in the...