Pho 79 (Viet Bistro in Hilltop) — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

What happened? Did upper management change? Something happened, and it’s not good. Service was terrible. The Pho tasted different. -sat down, waited approx. 10minutes to get someone at our table. In that time we saw two tables get sat down, drink order/food order placed. Mind you this is after we hav long sat down. -finally a waiter came brought water and glasses and menus. Then left. -a different came and asked “so what can I get you all to eat so I can put the order in.”🤨 we dismissed the tone, left it for open interpretation. -ordered crab Rangoon. The guy that brought the water brought the crab Rangoon and stated “oh by the way, we are out of sweet and sour sauce because restaurant depot didn’t have any.” Didn’t bother to offer any other alternative, just left.🤷🏻‍♂️ -a third person came and dropped off the pho. Went back and grabbed the sprouts/lime/basil/cilantro -the food. The rangoons were flavorless. I never thought that would be possible. It was bland. Could taste the old oil, I guess that’s the season/flavoring. The pho was “ok”. Definitely not up to it’s standards of past various visits. Flavor was off and the noodles were cold in the middle of “noddle ball” so I let the broth warm it up a bit I guess, I don’t think that’s standard. -So after the pho was served that was the last interaction we had with the staff. They never came back and checked like other venues have. However the table behind us was checked on 2-3 times. The table behind my side at least once, but they had to get up and go to the bar for refills. Even the lady said to her guy “this section must be invisible” I chuckled.

So….after this experience, for the money…..I will gladly take my money to the usual fast grab and go Chinese joint like Mei Zhen or Jade Garden. At least I know service will be fast and food will have flavor. Whoever is running this joint, is definitely running it into the ground. Very sad, it was a great thing when we found out that “Pho 79” was going to open at Hilltop years ago, and it was very good while it lasted.

Not recommended. Take your hard earned...

Mediocre place for Pho and other Vietnamese dishes. Our party ordered the pork Banh Mi, Bun Bo Hue, Hu Tieu, caramalized fish in clay pot, grilled pork over broken rice. The Banh Mi was OK nothing that will wow you. Pork was cooked well, but small for the price. You do get a chicken broth type soup with some fish chips with the dish. Bun Bo Hue lacked a little bit of that extra spice and flavor. Tasted more like instant Bun Bo Hue tbh. There was plenty of meat in the soup. And they gave me a lot of veggies which is what I love. The Hu Tieu dish was probably the highlight of the evening. Everything was spot on. Flavor was on point and you get plenty of sliced pork. The fish was delicious. Well seasoned and nice flavor from the BBQ like sauce. Grilled pork rice dish was also very good. Pork was not dry and you get a lot of meat on those 2 skewers.

Pricing at this location is about 15-25% more than what it should be. They do offer Belly rewards here. A check in gives you 2 summer rolls. The staff members do need some training on dishes and table plating. Some components of the dishes would be missing or come out at the wrong time. We found the skewer stick in our Banh Mi. Not sure why it was there. We ate our summer rolls with no plates. Chopsticks and utensils came way after all our dishes arrived at our table. Jalapeno peppers came out for the wrong dish. The amount of rice given for each dish was a joke.

Overall food here is alright. Service needs some work. If your in the area for some good Vietnamese food and don't want to drive further you might have to settle for this location. They have many other locations in the area that maybe better. The service and pricing here may...

Ive been going here for years and its been a staple for me but todays experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I called to order pickup when I was heading home. The woman that answered asked to put me on hold, which I said sure too. But she didn’t really put me on hold, she just set the receiver down and walked away. I could hear her take an order then walk away. After waiting for 5 mins on hold, I hung up and tried to call back but since she just forgot I was “on hold” the line was busy for at least 5 more minutes. When it finally started ringing again she never answered and it went to voicemail. So in the 15+ mins it took to get there I still couldn’t call my order in. I was annoyed but I’m not feeling well and this was the only thing I felt comfortable eating. I decided to go in to order take out, hoping it was busy and that’s why. When I walked in there was 3 tables (7 ppl), 1 dirty table, and one guy waiting on take out so not busy at all. She didn’t acknowledge me for awhile. When she did, she said I’ll be with you in a minute and disappeared to the back. Another 5ish mins she comes out, talks to a table while holding the take out for another 5+ minutes. At this point I walked out because I’d been trying to place an order for about 30 minutes and still wasn’t able to. It’s the worst service I’ve ever had there. Typically I can call ahead and it’s ready in 15...