Vietnamese beef noodle soup with rice noodles in clear broth scented with star anise and clove, served with rare beef, herbs, lime and chillies on the side. Self-built at the table.

Houston's pho tradition arrived with the post-Vietnam-War refugee wave that began in 1975 when Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Galveston-Houston resettled thousands of Vietnamese families along the Gulf Coast. The Bellaire Boulevard corridor west of Beechnut crystallised into the country's most concentrated Vietnamese food strip through the 1980s and 90s. Pho Binh opened in 1983 and remains the standard-bearer for southern-style (clear, sweeter) pho across multiple locations. Northern-style (cloudier, peppery) is rarer but available. The Houston pho self-assembly ritual (Thai basil, bean sprouts, jalapeño, lime, sriracha, hoisin) is now the American norm.

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Pho Binh (Bellaire) ★ 4.0

$VietnameseBellaire Asiatown

Pho Binh on Bellaire Boulevard is the original 1983 Houston pho counter from the Le family, with clean broth, rare-beef pho tai and an Asiatown family legacy.

OrderPho tai (rare beef) or pho dac biet (combination). A Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk.

TipCash strongly preferred. Bellaire location is the original; the four other branches (Westheimer, Heights, Sharpstown, Katy) are family-run.

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