Best Vietnamese Food in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina — updated August 21, 2026
Five Vietnamese restaurants in Raleigh, ranked by how convincingly the reviews back them up, from a 1,200-review pho counter near Brier Creek to a small downtown kitchen still building its record.
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Raleigh's Vietnamese restaurants are scattered rather than clustered: one on Capital Boulevard, one off Glenwood Avenue downtown, one out by Alexander Place near Brier Creek, one on Spring Forest Road and one on South Blount Street. Most of them keep the same shape of day, opening at 11am and closing at 9pm, which makes a late lunch the easiest time to go. Below, the places with the deepest review records come first, with the newer and smaller kitchens noted for what they are.
1. Pho Xpress
The most thoroughly tested Vietnamese restaurant on this list: 4.5 stars across more than 1,200 reviews, which is a rating that has had plenty of chances to slip and has not. It sits in a retail strip at Alexander Promenade Place near Brier Creek, and it runs the simplest schedule of anyone here, 11am to 9pm every day of the week, including Sunday. Beyond the noodle soup, there is a full drinks list worth a look: Vietnamese coffee, Thai milk tea, taro milk tea, oolong peach and a blossom lychee. Useful for a weeknight dinner on the northwest side when downtown is not worth the drive.
2. Pho Far East
Nearly the same weight of evidence as the leader, with 4.5 stars from more than 1,100 reviews, gathered at a Capital Boulevard address that draws steady traffic rather than a destination crowd. The one thing to plan around: it is closed Mondays. The rest of the week, Tuesday through Sunday, it opens at 11am and runs to 9pm, so Sunday lunch is on the table here when other kitchens have shut. The menu has been updated recently and is posted online, which is worth checking before you go rather than relying on older listings.
3. Anise Pho
The downtown option, at 222 Glenwood Avenue, and the only one here with prices published plainly: pho at $13.99, a banh mi at $8.49, and rice platters and salad noodle bowls at $14.99 each. That makes it the easiest of the five to budget for before you walk in. It holds 4.5 stars from 761 reviews, a shorter record than the two above it but still a settled one. Weekday hours start at 11am and run to 9pm. Reservations are taken through the restaurant's own site, which is unusual for a pho counter and handy if you are feeding a group before something on Glenwood South.
4. Uptown Pho
The highest-rated of the well-known set, at 4.8 stars, though from 159 reviews rather than the four figures behind the first two entries. Call it promising rather than proven. It is on Spring Forest Road next to Jason's Deli, in a suite that is easy to drive past. The critical detail is the closing day: Uptown Pho is shut on Tuesdays, and open 11am to 9pm the rest of the week. Listings also show a shorter Monday window in some places, so a quick call before a Monday evening trip is sensible.
5. Saigon Kitchen
A small downtown kitchen at 321 South Blount Street with the thinnest record here: 4.8 stars from 38 reviews. That is a strong score on a sample too small to lean on, so treat it as a place to try rather than a sure thing. The kitchen describes itself as home-style Vietnamese, with slow-simmered pho alongside small plates and larger mains, and a drinks list on the same menu. Hours run from 11am to 9pm early in the week. Its location on the east side of downtown puts it within walking distance of a good deal of Blount Street.