Top-rated Toronto pho restaurant replacing shuttered board game cafe

One of the best pho restaurants in Toronto is gearing up to open a new location at a major intersection in the heart of the city.

No matter where you live in Toronto, you don't have to look far to find a spectacular bowl of pho, and that's especially true in the case of Pho Anh Vu, which is largely heralded as being among the best Vietnamese spots in the city — even if it hasn't gotten a major celebrity endorsement like its competitor, Pho Ngoc Yen.

Originating in 2019 with an itty-bitty location in North York, the business quickly attracted attention thanks to its oversized bowls of beef rice noodle soup and menu brimming with a broad selection of other Vietnamese favourites, from Com Tam to Bun. Let's be real, though; it's all about the pho at the end of the day.

In the years that followed, the chain has since expanded to 13 locations across Canada, the majority of which are in Ontario, though locations in Montreal and Vancouver have popped up, too, and more are on the way.

It seems people just can't get enough of Pho Anh Vu, and we can't blame them. As a matter of fact, we are them.

Now, the chain is moving into new digs at Yonge and Eglinton, one of Toronto's busiest (albeit, most headache-inducing) intersections, and it's taking over a space formerly held by a long line of significant businesses.

Pho Anh Vu's new Eglinton location (Supplied).

After seven years holding court at the intersection of Eglinton and Holly Street, Snakes and Lattes' Yonge and Eglinton location suddenly shuttered in late 2024 after reaching the end of its lease, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Before its tenure as Snakes and Lattes, the restaurant was a location for a once fruitful pan-Asian chain, Spring Rolls, and, even before that, was a location of the long-forgotten Lime Rickey's chain of retro-themed diners, which disappeared from the Toronto landscape around the mid-to-late '90s.

All of this to say, the restaurant space at 45 Eglinton Ave. E. has a significant track record of housing businesses that find major success there, and, knowing Pho Anh Vu, it's about to get yet another.

At the time of publication, there's no word on when Pho Anh Vu's Eglinton location will be opening for business, but signage posted in the windows promises that it's "coming soon," so, for the sake of Yonge and Eglinton residents, we hope that's actually the case.

On the bright side, while you wait, you can visit any of Pho Anh Vu's other four Toronto locations, seven elsewhere in Ontario, and one in both Montreal and Vancouver. Trust us, you want to get a bowl as soon as possible.

Pho Anh Vu will be located at 45 Eglinton Ave. E.