"Not visible from the street." That is how the Los Angeles Times gave directions to 8894 Bolsa Ave. in October 1987. The restaurant there was Grand Garden, and the paper's critic called it "by far the grandest Vietnamese restaurant" in Little Saigon.
Thirty-nine years later, the same address belongs to Phở 79. The restaurant cooked for more than four decades in a Garden Grove strip mall at 9941 Hazard Ave. The family announced in May that it would move to Westminster, and by late September it was serving from the former Grand Garden space. Most coverage treats the move as a beloved restaurant finding a bigger room. Westminster has a longer story to tell. Phở 79 took over a dining room that was once the showpiece of Bolsa Avenue, and it kept almost exactly the week that room ran on in 1987. With the move, both pho shops the Michelin Guide recognizes in Little Saigon now have Westminster addresses.
The Room Was Already Famous Once
In 1987 the Times counted "at least 60 Vietnamese eateries" in Little Saigon and described most of them as "simple mom-and-pop diners." Grand Garden was the one the critic picked out as the exception. This is how the review described walking in:
A narrow courtyard graced by a stone waterfall and bonsai trees gives way to a spacious room full of light and bright with flowers. The mural on the far wall depicts a characteristic Vietnamese landscape of lush tropical farmland.
The Los Angeles Times review went on to praise dishes that are less common on a pho shop menu: eel, goat and squab, bun cha, chao tom made with shrimp paste wrapped around sugar cane, and huge crab claws coated in shrimp paste. The critic also recommended "bo 7 mon," the seven-course beef dinner, and wrote that "everybody ought to have seven-course beef at least once." Even with its fancier look, entrees cost $3.95 to $14, which the review called the usual Vietnamese price range.
So Grand Garden was a destination restaurant hidden inside a shopping plaza. Phở 79 is now a destination restaurant at the same address.
Same Address, Nearly the Same Week
Put the 1987 listing next to Phở 79's current hours and the two line up closely.
| Grand Garden, 1987 | Phở 79, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 8894 Bolsa Ave., Westminster | 8894 Bolsa Ave., Westminster |
| Days open | Wednesday through Monday | Wednesday through Monday |
| Closed | Tuesday | Tuesday |
| Phone listed | 893-1200 | (714) 893-1200 and (714) 531-2490 |
| Hours | Lunch and dinner | 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Payment, 1987 | Cash or check only | Not covered in current listings |
The 1987 details come from the Times review's info box. The 2026 hours and both phone numbers come from Bolsa Bridge's report on the move, which cites the restaurant's own website. The MICHELIN Guide listing shows the same schedule, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and closed Tuesdays.
The phone number is the oddest match. The number the Times printed for Grand Garden in 1987 has the same seven digits as one of the two numbers Phở 79 lists today. The sources say nothing about how that happened.
The Tuesday closure matters most day to day. For a stretch of Bolsa that has kept a Tuesday-off routine at this address for nearly four decades, the closed day is the one thing worth remembering before you drive over.
What Came Over From Hazard Avenue
The new space is about twice the size of the old one. The Orange County Business Journal reported in May that the restaurant was leaving a 3,000-square-foot spot on Hazard for 6,450 square feet on Bolsa. According to Bolsa Bridge, the Hazard Avenue location is now closed.
Thọ Trần and Liễu Trần opened the restaurant in 1982. OCBJ reported that they named it after Vietnam's most popular dish and the year 1979, when most of their family arrived in the U.S. from Saigon. Bolsa Bridge adds an earlier chapter it credits to LAist reporting. Before the restaurant, grandmother Nguyễn Thị Dao sold homemade Vietnamese food out of a VW bus in a church parking lot.
The awards came decades later. In 2019 the James Beard Foundation named Phở 79 one of America's Classics. Michelin has also given it a Bib Gourmand, the guide's recognition for high-quality food at a good value. Bolsa Bridge, citing LAist, reports that the James Beard honor was the first James Beard award for any Orange County restaurant. It also retells how John Nguyen, a family member who manages the restaurant, told LAist he reacted to the call: "James Beard, we didn't know him."
Michelin's write-up, now posted under the Bolsa address, calls Phở 79 "an institution." It describes a "spartan but clean" room with "a bright yellow wall adorned with numerous accolades" and a clipboard by the front door for the waitlist. Its menu advice is short. "You'll never go wrong with oxtail—it's the most popular with good reason." That is a long way from the waterfall courtyard the 1987 critic walked through at the same address, so a regular from the Hazard days and a diner who remembers Grand Garden may each walk in expecting a different room.
Westminster Now Holds Both of Michelin's Little Saigon Pho Shops
Michelin's Westminster page now lists two restaurants in the city, both budget-priced and both Vietnamese.
- Phở 79, 8894 Bolsa Ave., is a Bib Gourmand. The inspectors point to the oxtail.
- Phởholic, 14932 Bushard St., is a MICHELIN Guide selection. The guide's write-up calls it "this Westminster original" and singles out its beef-focused pho and the "Holic menu," with a warning to "prepare to leave stuffed beyond expectation."
Garden Grove's Michelin page still shows both shops among its nearby results, but it labels them Westminster. Its only listing with a Garden Grove address is Taira Sushi & Sake, a Japanese restaurant at 8851 Garden Grove Blvd.
Michelin itself has not fully caught up. Its May 28, 2026 article on California's most affordable restaurants still files Phở 79 under "Garden Grove" in its city list. The same article named seven new Bib Gourmands statewide, bringing California's total to 117. The new picks are in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and none is in Little Saigon. Westminster's second Michelin listing came from a 44-year-old restaurant moving a few minutes up the road into a building the neighborhood already knew.
Bolsa Bridge described the move as one where "an institution moved down the street, not away." It stayed inside Little Saigon and landed on Bolsa Avenue, which the outlet calls the community's main artery.
Before You Go
- Address: 8894 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, CA 92683. The 1987 note that it is "not visible from the street" is worth keeping in mind as you pull in.
- Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Monday. Closed Tuesdays.
- Phone: (714) 531-2490 or (714) 893-1200.
- Website: pho79.com has the current address and hours.
- The old spot: 9941 Hazard Ave. in Garden Grove is closed, so update any saved map pins.
- Ordering: Michelin's inspectors recommend the oxtail pho. Other options include egg noodle soups, goi cuon, appetizers and desserts.
- A second stop: Phởholic at 14932 Bushard St. is the other Michelin-recognized pho shop in Westminster, if guests want to compare.
At BeachPointe Properties, we keep track of how Westminster's addresses change hands, whether that's a family home or a dining room on Bolsa Avenue that has served Little Saigon twice. If you're wondering what your own Westminster address is worth these days, our instant home valuation is a good place to start, and a principal is always available to talk it through.
