5 Pho Restaurants in Buford, GA

What the Data Shows

Some quick facts pulled straight from these listings' Google Business Profiles: 4 of 5 have a website on file, 5 offer delivery, 5 offer takeout, and 4 list vegetarian or vegan options.

5 Pho Restaurants in Buford

Every pin below opens a full profile: verified hours, the amenities the restaurant actually lists on Google, a complete star-by-star rating breakdown, and driving directions. Nothing is invented — it’s all pulled from each restaurant’s own business profile, the same way every listing works on this site.

About Mama's Pho — Mama's Pho

Mama's Pho is a vietnamese restaurant in Buford, GA, located at 1950 Buford Mill Dr Ste b. It holds a 4.5-star rating on Google across 477 reviews, a large enough sample to be a genuinely reliable signal.

Google describes it this way: “Vietnamese eatery with a menu featuring pho and other classic dishes, like beef skewers and bun bo hue.” That summary is short, so the rest of this page fills in what the listing data actually shows — the hours, the service options, the accessibility details, and how diners have rated it over time.

This listing is verified on Google, meaning the business itself has claimed and confirmed the profile. In practice that makes the hours and contact details more trustworthy than an unclaimed listing, though it is still worth calling ahead before a long drive.

What the Ratings Actually Show — Mama's Pho

A star average hides more than it reveals, so here is the actual distribution behind Mama's Pho’s score. Of 477 rated reviews, 378 are 5-star (79%), 41 are 4-star (9%), 13 are 3-star (3%), 10 are 2-star (2%), and 35 are 1-star (7%).

That puts 88% of reviews in the top two buckets, with 9% at one or two stars. That is a healthy spread for a working restaurant — most people leave happy, and the minority of low scores is worth a skim to see whether the complaints are about food or about service and wait times, which are very different problems.

You can read the full review history on Google and judge for yourself — I always skim the most recent ten or fifteen rather than relying on the lifetime average, because a restaurant's kitchen can change substantially in a year.

Hours and When to Go — Mama's Pho

Mama's Pho is open 6 days a week and closed on Monday. That is the single most common reason for a wasted trip, so it is worth checking before you drive out — especially if you are planning around a weekend.

Across the week the kitchen runs from about 11 AM at the earliest to 9 PM at the latest, totaling roughly 60 service hours. Service starts at lunch rather than breakfast, which is typical for Vietnamese restaurants operating in the US.

The kitchen closes before 9 PM, so plan on an earlier dinner. Arriving within the last half hour of service is a gamble at any restaurant that simmers its broth in daily batches, since the best cuts and the freshest garnishes tend to go first.

It is open both Saturday and Sunday. Full day-by-day hours are listed above, pulled from the restaurant's Google Business Profile.

Atmosphere and Who It Suits — Mama's Pho

Diners describe the room as casual, cozy, quiet, and trendy. A quiet room is worth noting — it makes this a realistic option for a conversation or for eating alone with a book, which is not true of every busy noodle shop.

Google’s listing data flags it as good for solo diners, groups, and families with kids. High chairs are available, which is the practical detail that actually matters when you are deciding where to take a toddler.

Fast service is called out as a highlight on the listing — consistent with pho's format, where the broth is already made and the bowl is assembled to order.

Accessibility, Parking, and Payment — Mama's Pho

On accessibility, Mama's Pho lists a wheelchair accessible entrance, a wheelchair accessible restroom, and wheelchair accessible parking. That is a full set of accessibility features, which is worth knowing in advance rather than discovering at the door.

Parking: a free parking lot and free street parking are available.

Payment: credit cards, debit cards, and NFC mobile payments accepted.

Dietary options: the listing flags vegetarian options, vegan options, and healthy options. Worth a specific question when you order, though — traditional pho broth is beef-based, so a vegetarian bowl needs to be built on a separate vegetable stock rather than simply served without meat. Any kitchen that takes it seriously will make that distinction clearly.

About Golden Phoenix — Golden Phoenix

Golden Phoenix is a vietnamese restaurant in Buford, GA, located at 4850 Golden Pkwy #3c. It holds a 4.4-star rating on Google across 303 reviews, a large enough sample to be a genuinely reliable signal.

Google describes it this way: “Casual, Asian, Chinese eatery for Thai dishes and pho and other Vietnamese faves.” That summary is short, so the rest of this page fills in what the listing data actually shows — the hours, the service options, the accessibility details, and how diners have rated it over time.

This listing is verified on Google, meaning the business itself has claimed and confirmed the profile. In practice that makes the hours and contact details more trustworthy than an unclaimed listing, though it is still worth calling ahead before a long drive.

Google categorizes Golden Phoenix under vietnamese restaurant, chinese restaurant, and thai restaurant. Multiple categories usually mean the menu runs broader than a single-dish shop — worth scanning the full menu rather than assuming pho is the only thing worth ordering.

What the Ratings Actually Show — Golden Phoenix

A star average hides more than it reveals, so here is the actual distribution behind Golden Phoenix’s score. Of 303 rated reviews, 235 are 5-star (78%), 20 are 4-star (7%), 15 are 3-star (5%), 10 are 2-star (3%), and 23 are 1-star (8%).

That puts 84% of reviews in the top two buckets, with 11% at one or two stars. That is a healthy spread for a working restaurant — most people leave happy, and the minority of low scores is worth a skim to see whether the complaints are about food or about service and wait times, which are very different problems.

You can read the full review history on Google and judge for yourself — I always skim the most recent ten or fifteen rather than relying on the lifetime average, because a restaurant's kitchen can change substantially in a year.

What to Order

If you’re new to pho, the broth is what separates a serious kitchen from an average one: beef bones (often with oxtail or brisket) simmered for hours with charred onion and ginger, then seasoned with star anise, cinnamon, clove, coriander, and fennel. It should read clear and deeply aromatic rather than cloudy or simply salty — a cloudy, flat broth is usually the tell that a kitchen is working from a concentrate rather than a real simmer.

On most menus you’ll see pho bo (beef) and pho ga (chicken). Within beef pho, the cuts matter: tai is rare steak that finishes cooking in the hot broth, chin is well-done brisket, nam is flank, gau is fatty brisket, gan is tendon, and sach is tripe. A “special” or “dac biet” bowl combines several, which is the usual first-visit recommendation so you can find the cut you actually like before committing to it on a return visit.

The herb plate — Thai basil, bean sprouts, lime, chili, sometimes culantro — is meant to be added gradually rather than all at once, since herbs wilt fast and lime shifts the whole balance of the broth once it's in. Hoisin and sriracha work best as a dip for the meat on the side rather than stirred straight into the broth, which mutes a stock the kitchen spent hours building.

A quick note on ordering for a group in Buford: pho scales well for a table because everyone can order a different cut or size without the kitchen needing to coordinate a shared dish, and the garnish plate lets each person season their own bowl to taste rather than negotiating one spice level for the whole table.

Pho vs. Ramen

Since this is primarily a ramen directory, it’s worth being upfront about the difference. Pho uses flat rice noodles in a clear, aromatic beef or chicken broth finished by the diner with fresh herbs and lime. Ramen uses wheat-and-kansui alkaline noodles in a broth that’s usually richer and arrives already composed. Pho generally runs lighter; ramen’s richer styles, especially tonkotsu, carry more fat. If pho is your baseline, shio and shoyu ramen are the closest in weight — see the full four-style comparison.

For the deeper nutrition comparison, I cover it in is ramen healthier than pasta and the healthiest noodles you can eat. If you want ramen in Buford specifically, browse the ramen restaurants in Buford, GA search map — pho and ramen often cluster in the same neighborhoods, since both cuisines tend to open where there's already foot traffic for Asian food generally.

If you like one, the other is worth trying on a different visit rather than treating them as competitors for the same meal. A shio or shoyu ramen and a beef pho solve slightly different cravings even though they look similar on a menu photo — one leans toward miso and tare-driven umami, the other toward star anise and charred aromatics.

More Pho Nearby

Looking beyond Buford? Georgia also has pho in Atlanta (29), Duluth (18), Norcross (13), Doraville (6), Savannah (6), Pooler (5), Lawrenceville (5), and Athens (5).

You can also browse every pho restaurant we track on the national pho map, or the full partners directory.