Pho is American comfort food.

Yes, the bowl of rich, nourishing noodle soup comes by way of Vietnamese immigrants who followed a similar path as my own parents following the Vietnam War. It is the most identifiable dish for diners, perhaps only rivaled by banh mi, of a varied cuisine.

For more than two months this winter, I craved pho, particularly as temperatures dipped to nearly-zero — and even as they concerningly spiked to the mid-80s this past week. I slurped up bowls at a dozen Vietnamese restaurants across Montgomery County, looking for standouts to share.

Along the way, I rubbed elbows with immigrants from Central and Latin America, other Asian American ethnic groups and communities of all different stripes who have subtly left their fingerprints on the growth of this humble yet elegant dish.

A clash of cultural forces created pho. Food writer Andrea Nguyen in “The Pho Cookbook” explains that pho was invented by necessity around the beginning of the 20^th century.

French colonialists in Hanoi hungered for beef, an uncommon sight on the Vietnamese dinner table at the time because cows were primarily used for their labor. Chinese traders and workers brought their own regional traditions of noodle soups. The mixture formed a base for pho.

American pho

Pho’s popularity eventually spread from Vietnam’s northern reaches to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) where it evolved according to locals’ fondness for sweetness with the addition of ingredients like rock sugar.

That’s where Americans come in. What you’re likely to find at most Vietnamese restaurants in the U.S. is a version of Southern Vietnamese-style pho. The original, Northern style has a clearer, lighter broth and wouldn’t typically be accompanied by accoutrements such as mung bean sprouts and Thai basil.

The South Vietnamese refugees who fled their homes because of the war, which ended in 1975, brought their recipes stateside and made practical and consumer demand-based adjustments.

Shops in Montgomery County sit at an interesting inflection point where the first wave of immigrants is getting older and looking to younger generations to carry on traditions.

In one restaurant, it’s happening daily.

Tuan Vo, owner of PhoWheels in Burtonsville, said his mother stops by each morning to check on the quality of every ingredient and to ensure that the chefs properly execute her recipe for the shop’s oxtail pho broth.

Vo, who has operated PhoWheels as a food truck, opened the brick-and-mortar location in April as a tribute to his father, Be, who took at least 24 hours to make the pho Vo ate as a child. He died in 2023.

“He would always use oxtail bones. That was his specialty,” Vo, 36, said. “This is what we grew up on, this is what we’re going to eat. So, we’re going to introduce this to everybody.”

I was impressed by Vo’s creation and how much he’s eager to blend his own heritage and nostalgic sensibilities with other cuisines he seeks out. See the oxtail tacos and cheesesteaks on the rest of the PhoWheels menu as proof — “I’m Vietnamese American,” Vo emphasized.

It’s stories like Vo’s that make me excited about the future of pho in Montgomery County and beyond. But I must admit, I wasn’t consistently wowed by the county’s offerings as I had first anticipated — my one honorable mention will go to Gaithersburg’s Pho Nam, which was on this list until nearly the end.

Here are four of my favorite bowls that had me eager for more, from traditional recipes to the next generation of Vietnamese chefs making American comfort food.

Braised oxtail pho at PhoWheels

15707 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville

Every pho here comes swimming in an oxtail bone broth. But order the braised oxtail pho for the boldest punch of the fall-off-the-bone meat.

Vo said his kitchen will run through 200 pounds of oxtail bones and 150 pounds of other beef bones a week to build the stock.

The oxtail pho is served up (or handed-passed through a drive-thru window at the former Starbucks location) in a unique yet familiar manner. The pho noodles mingle in a shallow dish with traditional fragrant fixings, including cilantro and scallions, but no meat. Instead, a handful of oxtail bones with tender meat intact is served in a smaller bowl, floating in its own juices. Add it to the noodles or use your hands to alternate gnawing and slurping noodles.

This is like how it would be served up on my own family’s table, so I’m biased, but this is the one I couldn’t stop thinking about.

Chicken pho at Muoi Tieu

7006 Carroll Ave., Suite A, Takoma Park

I didn’t enter this project thinking that a chicken pho would make the list, but I’m thrilled to be proven so wrong.

Chef Thuy-Tu Tran’s riffs on Vietnamese home cooking shine in this cozy spot in Takoma Park, which opened in January 2024. Here, slices of dark meat infuse a delicate yet rich broth that I wish I could keep on hand for a sick or rainy day.

As a bonus, if any vegans or vegetarians are searching for a shop that devotes time to concocting a robust, earthy pho, head here for the vegan pho with or without vegan beef.

Tai nam gan at Pho Real

13876 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring

In the pho shops I typically enjoy, service is efficient and, well, sometimes brusque. I welcome a change of pace within the gentle pink walls of Pho Real, which has been open since 2005.

Here, you may be presented with a couple of options on doneness. Would you like your bean sprouts served fresh on the side or already in the broth to get a quick parboil? And most importantly: would you like the tai meat piled atop the bowl to maintain its rare, red color? Yes, please.

Hoang and Ann Nguyen have formulated a bowl that barely requires any additional toppings, such as the handy bottles of hoisin sauce and Sriracha found at most pho shops. This bowl is dense with noodles and meat but light on its feet with a broth that reveals new flavors by the spoonful.

Tai nam gan at Pho 75

771 Hungerford Drive, Rockville

This local chain, which began in Northern Virginia in 1985, is still the gold standard across the region.

“You’re including Pho 75, right?” Vo, PhoWheels’s owner, asked me when I told him about my effort.

How could I not? When I’m back home with my family in Virginia and pho is suggested for a meal, we don’t even have to ask which spot. But Pho 75’s inclusion here is not clouded by nostalgia. Recent visits to the Rockville outpost showcased a rich, balanced broth with near-perfectly cooked cuts of beef. One of the chain’s owners told Northern Virginia magazine in 2024 that customer input plays a direct role in tweaking the recipe.

Classics, my pho journey shows, can always evolve.