Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Orlando, FL – 2025 Local Guide
When I was in my second year at UCF, I discovered Orlando had a surprisingly large Vietnamese community and even a dedicated “Viet Town” along Colonial Drive. Just five years ago the Mills 50 District had only a handful of Asian restaurants, but today it has grown into one of the city’s most vibrant dining hubs with everything from pho shops to dessert stalls. You can now find Vietnamese restaurants in Orlando FL across nearly every part of the metro area, but some of my favorites are still in Viet Town where the community first took root.
Pho Bar
One of the newer Vietnamese restaurants in Orlando FL is Pho Bar, which actually arrived by way of South Florida. They focus on Southern-style pho that leans sweeter and more herbaceous, compared to the more rustic and savory Northern style.
The short rib pho is probably their most Instagram-friendly dish, but I find the giant beef bone trend a little over the top. The short rib itself can be a bit dry, so I usually stick with the house special pho. That’s my go-to order at any pho shop because it gives you a sample of all the meats and a more balanced broth.
What really sets Pho Bar apart is that they make their noodles in-house, something most restaurants skip in favor of dry packaged rice noodles. I also recommend trying their “hangover cure,” a side of broth served with bone marrow and a poached egg. It is rich, flavorful, and brightened up nicely by fresh green onions.
Pho Huong Lan
Pho Huong Lan is a true staple of the Mills 50 District and feels like the unofficial hangout spot for local Vietnamese uncles. You will often see middle-aged guys posted up at dinner, enjoying a steaming bowl of noodles.
This restaurant serves Northern-style pho, which is more savory and beef-forward compared to the sweeter Southern-style broth at Pho Bar. The menu here is refreshingly simple. They focus only on a few noodle soups: beef pho, chicken pho, and bun bo hue, which is the spicy, more umami-packed cousin of pho. You pick your size and your preferred cuts of meat, and that is the whole experience.
It is straightforward, no-frills dining, and that is what makes it great. Oddly, their website shows stock photos of fried rice and summer rolls, but you will not find those here. This is all about soup and nothing else.
Vietnam Cuisine Restaurant
The name says it all: this spot serves Vietnamese cuisine with a wide range of classics, from pho and summer rolls to rice plates and banh cuon. While I think other restaurants in Orlando are better options for pho, the rice plates here are my favorite of any Vietnamese restaurant in the city.
The portions are massive, easily enough for two meals. My go-to is the pork chop plate, where the meat comes thin, slightly sweet, salty, and perfectly charred at the edges for a touch of bitterness. I like to drench the whole thing in the seasoned fish sauce they provide. The egg meatloaf that comes on the platter is also excellent.
Beyond rice plates, their banh cuon (rice rolls) are solid, and for something harder to find in Orlando, try the banh canh tom cua. It is a thick noodle soup made with tapioca starch and seafood, comforting even if Florida weather rarely cooperates.
Banh Mi Cali
My favorite spot for banh mi in Orlando is not in the Mills 50 District, which I often call Viet Town, but instead inside the Chinatown Plaza. Back in 2020 you could get a sandwich here for around five dollars, and even with inflation today you can still enjoy a filling banh mi for under ten.
I always order the combo special banh mi because I like the mix of Vietnamese cold cuts, but every option on the menu delivers. The bread is baked fresh daily, and the Vietnamese aunties behind the counter move fast, running the line like a well-oiled machine.
A great banh mi is one of my favorite sandwiches in the world, and this place nails it. The baguette is toasted yet soft enough not to scrape your mouth, and the balance of pate, Maggi, mayo, cilantro, jalapeños, and pickled daikon-carrot mix is unbeatable. I would honestly eat one every day if I could.
I know it might seem unusual to end this list with just four restaurants, but I would rather highlight a smaller number of spots that I truly believe in than pad the list with inconsistent choices. These are the Vietnamese restaurants in Orlando FL that I come back to time and again, and as the local dining scene keeps growing, I will update this guide when I find more that meet the same standard.
