# Pho is soup but what is the number? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140 "2016-05-31T01:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/21 "2016-05-31T19:36:31Z")
In Saigon (Ho Chi Mihn City), we ate at Pho24 multiple times. So it is not just a US naming convention. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/22 "2016-05-31T21:00:09Z")
Huh. The pho place in Missoula is called Vietnam Noodle. Definitely run by Vietnamese, and they serve bowls big enough to drown in. Good food, too, but the only numbers are the prices. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/23 "2016-06-01T00:00:50Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I asked a Vietnamese co-worker about this and his English wasn’t great, but apparently the numbers correspond to the school or style of school where the chef learned to prepare pho. By the same token, many New York pizza chefs studied in the school of Ray, or the school of Original Ray, or the school of Famous Ray, etc. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/24 "2016-06-01T01:34:55Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Huh. The pho place in Missoula is called Vietnam Noodle. Definitely run by Vietnamese, and they serve bowls big enough to drown in. Good food, too, but the only numbers are the prices. Yup, same here. We have Saigon Cafe, Rice & Noodles (which used to be Pho Tau Bay in New Orleans before Katrina…the family moved up here and opened the new restaurant), Sprout (a “spinoff” of Rice & Noodles downtown), and Pho Billiards, which is a combination pho place and billiard parlor. No numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/25 "2016-06-01T01:42:43Z")
According to my in-house Vietnamese source, sometimes they’re lucky numbers, sometimes they’re significant dates, sometimes they’re the street number either there or back in a favorite pho place in Vietnam. And sometimes they’re a play on words, homonyms in Vietnamese. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/26 "2016-06-01T02:01:44Z")
We do have a Pho 38th here (on 38th street). That’s the only one I’ve noticed with a number. There’s a Good Pho You in the Seattle area. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/27 "2016-06-01T02:14:31Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Or they could just pick a letter, like Pho Q. I really, really want to have a local restaurant named that. I would eat there, even though… I’ve never cared for Vietnamese food. I’ve been taken to the local place filled with natives enjoying the heck out of their meals, but it was pretty bleh. Love Chinese, Japanese and Thai. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/28 "2016-06-01T05:19:12Z")
If I ever open a Vietnamese restaurant, I’m going to call it Psycho Killer Qu’est-ce Que C’est. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/29 "2016-06-01T05:27:36Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (Very yummy! If you have any liking for Chinese and Japanese food, Vietnamese cuisine will likely please you.) I used to work near a place with an all-you-can-eat lunch that offered a Chinese & Vietnamese menu. Loved their lemongrass chicken. The owner retired after 25 years and closed the place. That year was the only time I’ve seen a $5 buffet with lobster. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140/30 "2016-06-22T00:20:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I dunno; I’ve always found Vietnamese cooking to be kind of boring, compared to Chinese (or for that matter, compared to Thai or Cambodian). The cuisine differs widely within the country. The best is generally considered to be Hue cuisine, in the central part, and I agree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pho-is-soup-but-what-is-the-number/756140.md?page=1)