Really enjoyed the food here! Super flavorful and great service! Will definitely be back
N K.
We came here when they first opened - collective thoughts: Food - We were a party of 7. We all had pho, which came with a nice portion size. Our only suggestion would be to change the broth -- it wasn't that flavorful compared to the former place or others in the area. We would come again to try other things on the menu which looked tasty but for now, we are still in search of a new pho place. Service - Despite being busy, they were very attentive, and we appreciated that. The staff was very polite. Ambiance - The new decorations and overall redesign are nice and the place was very clean too.
Patrick Min
This establishment is located in a former Pho restaurant, and I am pleased to dine here because it offers both Vietnamese pho and dim sum. I believe that these dishes cannot go wrong. Additionally, I am very satisfied with the service, and the cleanliness of the place is impeccable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ox Tail Pho, Extra Tripe Lá Sách, Steamed Pork and Shrimp Shumai 4, Green Basil Pho and Pork Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce
Tom Nghĩa Nguyễn
Green Basil really knocked my socks off with their Vietnamese food game in Fairfax. It’s got this cool, young vibe that’s perfect if you’re down for a fresh spin on Vietnamese eats. It's the go-to spot for digging into both traditional Vietnamese dishes and some legit dim sum. You can tell everything's whipped up fresh and definitely not just pulled from a freezer. My top picks are the chive dumplings, crab meatballs, crab claw, and don’t even get me started on the pan-fried phở noodles. Seriously, those noodles are a game changer.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salt and Pepper Tofu, Fried Noodles, Crab Meatballs, Steamed Pork and Shrimp Shumai 4
Amber C.
I'm super impressed and grateful for the servers for being quick with my food. Their patience towards my migraine fog induced stupidity combined with forgetting to do things like eat food and drink water will not be forgotten. The place itself is super warm and gives off an intimate vibe between the brickwork and dark paneling on the walls. I'm a dork when it comes to "older" music, so the super retro music over the speakers enhanced my enjoyment. And I'm talking old school as in 40s, 50s, 60s. The pho was super reasonably priced, had excellent portions, and was so delicious I almost cried. Exactly what I needed in my time of need. The create your own pho bowl had a lot of meat options, and was just $15 dollars. Highly recommend- I got flank steak and well done brisket as my two options, but you could choose three different meats if you like. The pork and shrimp dumplings are also amazing, I just wouldn't recommend shoving a whole dumpling in your mouth. Way too big, but I was committed, so I put a hand over my mouth to chew with my mouth open so I didn't burn my tongue. I'm not a quitter, but don't be like me.
ChowNut ..
Came for some pho and dim sum. Suffered for about 18 hours afterwards. I think the tofu wrapped pork rolls did me in. When I ate it at the restaurant I thought at the time that it wasn't served hot. The gravy was a bit warm and the rolls were room temperature. I noticed other reviews flagged soft shrimp paste for other dishes meaning undercooked. Be aware next time to ensure your dish is piping hot.
RA Kelly
My first time having the vermicelli bowl with pork and fish sauce. It was outstanding.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
John F.
2/16/24 Edited and Reposted 3/5/24 Yesterday around 5pm, my wife and I took a trip to visit Green Basil Dumsum& Pho. This place has undergone a new transformation and even changed the name of the business from just Pho. The staff now wear green polo shirts witht the name of the business. The staff also wear tight black pants for all staff members. The wall on the left is all brick, but design in a unique pattern. The wall on the right (which we sat) was designed better than the left side. I took pictures of both sides of the walls so the viewer(s) can see what I am talking about. The room is divided in two sections, with walk-throughs should you need to get to your destination. The tables all brand new and give off black marble appearance and connect with dividers too. Once seated, we got the chance to look at the menus. I went with the the Starters called Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce. I also ordered the Chef Special called Tom Rang Muoi (Salt and Pepper Shrimp). I took photos of the menus; as well, for people to look at for more details. My wife went with her favorite Pho Soup. A mixture of tofu and vegetables that she loves to eat. My wife did try some of the shrimp I ordered when I came back from inspecting the bathroom. The bathrooms have been redone from flooring to a new sink and toilet. The floors have black and white tiles while the walls and ceiling are all white. The celing does not have any stains on it, but notced the ceiling fan needs cleaning. Bright lights are shown in the bathroom so you can't miss a thing out of place. I did noticed both bathrooms aren't unisex, but there is a hand sanitizer machine just outside the bathroom hallway. I say this because I saw a guy walk out of the women's bathroom when I was leaving to go back to my table. Unisex Bathrooms are the way to go since these single use bathrooms per person. My wife loved her Pho Soup and it was as it should be. However, I can not say the same thing for my order. The Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce was nice and hot, but very bland. I thought there would be some flavor to the shrimp without the sauce, but I was sadly mistaken. The first warning sign was the very first shrimp of the Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce. The shrimp seem to be very soft like it was rotten, hunger overlooked this problem, but I could not overlook the next shrimp I found that was like this..., even though the shrimp was deep fried. I informed my wife about this and luckily, she did not eat any spoiled shrimp. I am still feeling the effects of last night, but we will get to this later on. We both had The Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce removed from our bill. The waiter named Van apologized for the inconvenience. While I was eating the Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce, I was also eating The Chef Special called Tom Rang Muoi (Salt and Pepper Shrimp). This was delicious, because of the seasonings of stir-fried onions, black peppers, salt and garlic. I ate all of these with the exception of a few my wife ate while waiting for her meal to arrive. Again, as luck would have it, my wife did not eat any of the bad shrimp of The Chef Special called Tom Rang Muoi (Salt and Pepper Shrimp). The total price came to $48 including tip for Mr. Van. The place got very busy and water refills did not happen till it close for us to leave. While waiting to pay the check, a detestable smell arouse from the kitichen area and into the dinning area. I hope this occurrence doesn't happen again or customer will start taking immediate umbrage and stop coming here. I saw people leaving and couldn't helping, but notice the amount of women wearing sweat pants. I this look better than jeans. Upon getting home and heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed, I ended up checking Total Battle on my phone. While talking to Hannah and Lioness aka Your Grace, a wave of sickness washed over me and I started puking uncontrollably. I finished up with my nightly duti
Anna P.
Food was really good. I came up around the area for a quick visit and was looking for a place to eat at. The only thing I did not like is that THEY DONOT HAVE OR SERVE ANY DIM SUM.
Stephanie M.
Green Basil is DELICIOUS. Just for starters, they have the absolute Thai tea in town, but their shaky beef is a must-eat. Tender filet, sliced into chunks, marinated and grilled to perfection - even the smell as it comes to the table is fantastic. Their summer rolls are BIG and generous, with four shrimp and plenty of crunchy vegetables. Our last visit, we got the shaky beef (obviously), the beef bún, and the ribs (Thịt Sườn Kho), as well as summer rolls and sesame balls. Everything was perfect.
Oh naur, I really wanted to like this place but was really disappointed. The food is ok... It feels like they took cost cutting measures but the prices were not very cheap. For example, for the dishes that had grilled protein like the vermicelli or rice dishes, the protein was thin sliced like what I would imagine is used for a Philly cheesesteak sandwich lol the dishes were also lacking in the fresh veggies I expect with Vietnamese dishes. Anything that I would expect to have lettuce, didn't have lettuce and maybe a couple pieces of chopped cucumber. Also their menu says that the cha gio (fried egg rolls) use rice paper..but they don't. Cha gio made with rice paper is really crispy and I prefer it more. We asked to be sure that it's made with rice paper and they seemed hesitant to admit that they don't use rice paper and use the regular flour one instead. We placed 1 order just to give it a try, and I expected some lettuce provided with this appetizer as well and it came with none of the expected veggies (pickled veggies or lettuce). To be fair the portion sizes are decent, but the quality of the meat and the lack of veggies just made the dish feel cheap without it actually being cheap (they charge $16 for the pork vermicelli dish when competitors in what would prob be a more expensive city charge $13 for the same dish and have more substantial ingredients). The service wasn't bad but they had charged us for the wrong food and trying to get that corrected seemed like a hassle. So definitely check the receipt before you run your card! When we paid we were just shown the total and didn't see the breakdown until after we paid since we asked for a receipt. If we didn't check the receipt, we would have definitely left overpaying! Overall, I can get over the service mishap..but that, coupled with what feels like cheap shortcuts for the food (with not so cheap prices), I don't think I'll be going out of my way to come back.
Michelle Butler
Took the family here today. The food was excellent. They were out of a lot of dim sum options, but what we were able to order was superb. Service was rocky, but I think it's bc they are still working through some kinks. They didn't have their liquor license, so we had to stick to water/tea/pop. The iced tea is not black tea; it's very light in color and has hardly any flavor. I would skip that. We ordered Shrimp Dumplings, Shumai, Dimsum Beef Tripe, Chive Dumplings, Bean curd and pork, House Broken Rice with chicken, Broken Rice with Chicken, Pho Ox Tail, and Pho Seafood.Everything was piping hot and delicious.Here's to hoping you have your liquor license when we come back. Lol
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Ox Tail Pho, Shrimp Dumplings Fried Crab Dim Sum, Dumpling, Extra Tripe Lá Sách
Hailey L.
ALERT ‼ they only have dimsum cart on weekend lunch. If you go during the week, only limited options are available! I agree with some of the other reviews that say it is at par restaurant with elite price. Their pho was on average $18, but with very hard meats. I have no idea what is wrong with the meats they put in the pho, but it is like chewing the horse. Too tense that you can't even leave your teeth mark. Also raw meats actually rather looked overcooked. I also find it interesting that they put carrots instead of roe eggs on pork shumai. Not sure if that's okay since I don't know the original, but I mean we are essentially paying the same price...so you know... However I actually find the restaurant & food quite clean compared to other Chinese restaurant I've been to. It could be because it just opened. Food almost felt like homemade food in terms of sanitation. They also give out pretty big portion for pho if you have a big appetite.
Gilbert G.
I stopped by for a lunch visit on a chilly Friday afternoon at 2:00pm in mid-February 2024. Green Basil Dim Sum & Pho is easy to find in a mini-strip mall at the corner of Route 29 and Jermantown Road (across from Lowes). It's on the north side of Route 29 (going westbound) on the far side of the highway from Walmart. The interior of the restaurant is pleasant and feels new with a cozy ambience. I had no difficulty being seated at off-peak hours, but there were 6 other parties being served (a good sign!). Based on past Yelp reviews, I decided to try 3 dim-sum dishes at $6 each and ordered a pot of hot jasmine tea (ideal for a chilly February afternoon). The shrimp shumai was very good (one of their best-sellers), but the highlight was the tripe with scallions and ginger. This dish was truly delightful. I ordered the spareribs, which were good but not great. Overall, I think this restaurant is nice for dim sum, but perhaps overpriced for the pho. In any event, one downside is that some dishes are pricey (which will be upsetting for some diners, but after more than a year of rapid price inflation in 2022, I was not surprised to see high prices). That said, if you have a dim sum craving, this is a nice place to visit in Fairfax!
Thuy V.
Pretty good with brisk lunch business. Pho was good. Need to try more dim sum items. I was eating meatless and the tofu fried rice just needed a little more flavor. Their chili flakes hot sauce was so good.
Really enjoyed the food here! Super flavorful and great service! Will definitely be back
We came here when they first opened - collective thoughts: Food - We were a party of 7. We all had pho, which came with a nice portion size. Our only suggestion would be to change the broth -- it wasn't that flavorful compared to the former place or others in the area. We would come again to try other things on the menu which looked tasty but for now, we are still in search of a new pho place. Service - Despite being busy, they were very attentive, and we appreciated that. The staff was very polite. Ambiance - The new decorations and overall redesign are nice and the place was very clean too.
This establishment is located in a former Pho restaurant, and I am pleased to dine here because it offers both Vietnamese pho and dim sum. I believe that these dishes cannot go wrong. Additionally, I am very satisfied with the service, and the cleanliness of the place is impeccable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ox Tail Pho, Extra Tripe Lá Sách, Steamed Pork and Shrimp Shumai 4, Green Basil Pho and Pork Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce
Green Basil really knocked my socks off with their Vietnamese food game in Fairfax. It’s got this cool, young vibe that’s perfect if you’re down for a fresh spin on Vietnamese eats. It's the go-to spot for digging into both traditional Vietnamese dishes and some legit dim sum. You can tell everything's whipped up fresh and definitely not just pulled from a freezer. My top picks are the chive dumplings, crab meatballs, crab claw, and don’t even get me started on the pan-fried phở noodles. Seriously, those noodles are a game changer.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salt and Pepper Tofu, Fried Noodles, Crab Meatballs, Steamed Pork and Shrimp Shumai 4
I'm super impressed and grateful for the servers for being quick with my food. Their patience towards my migraine fog induced stupidity combined with forgetting to do things like eat food and drink water will not be forgotten. The place itself is super warm and gives off an intimate vibe between the brickwork and dark paneling on the walls. I'm a dork when it comes to "older" music, so the super retro music over the speakers enhanced my enjoyment. And I'm talking old school as in 40s, 50s, 60s. The pho was super reasonably priced, had excellent portions, and was so delicious I almost cried. Exactly what I needed in my time of need. The create your own pho bowl had a lot of meat options, and was just $15 dollars. Highly recommend- I got flank steak and well done brisket as my two options, but you could choose three different meats if you like. The pork and shrimp dumplings are also amazing, I just wouldn't recommend shoving a whole dumpling in your mouth. Way too big, but I was committed, so I put a hand over my mouth to chew with my mouth open so I didn't burn my tongue. I'm not a quitter, but don't be like me.
Came for some pho and dim sum. Suffered for about 18 hours afterwards. I think the tofu wrapped pork rolls did me in. When I ate it at the restaurant I thought at the time that it wasn't served hot. The gravy was a bit warm and the rolls were room temperature. I noticed other reviews flagged soft shrimp paste for other dishes meaning undercooked. Be aware next time to ensure your dish is piping hot.
My first time having the vermicelli bowl with pork and fish sauce. It was outstanding.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
2/16/24 Edited and Reposted 3/5/24 Yesterday around 5pm, my wife and I took a trip to visit Green Basil Dumsum& Pho. This place has undergone a new transformation and even changed the name of the business from just Pho. The staff now wear green polo shirts witht the name of the business. The staff also wear tight black pants for all staff members. The wall on the left is all brick, but design in a unique pattern. The wall on the right (which we sat) was designed better than the left side. I took pictures of both sides of the walls so the viewer(s) can see what I am talking about. The room is divided in two sections, with walk-throughs should you need to get to your destination. The tables all brand new and give off black marble appearance and connect with dividers too. Once seated, we got the chance to look at the menus. I went with the the Starters called Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce. I also ordered the Chef Special called Tom Rang Muoi (Salt and Pepper Shrimp). I took photos of the menus; as well, for people to look at for more details. My wife went with her favorite Pho Soup. A mixture of tofu and vegetables that she loves to eat. My wife did try some of the shrimp I ordered when I came back from inspecting the bathroom. The bathrooms have been redone from flooring to a new sink and toilet. The floors have black and white tiles while the walls and ceiling are all white. The celing does not have any stains on it, but notced the ceiling fan needs cleaning. Bright lights are shown in the bathroom so you can't miss a thing out of place. I did noticed both bathrooms aren't unisex, but there is a hand sanitizer machine just outside the bathroom hallway. I say this because I saw a guy walk out of the women's bathroom when I was leaving to go back to my table. Unisex Bathrooms are the way to go since these single use bathrooms per person. My wife loved her Pho Soup and it was as it should be. However, I can not say the same thing for my order. The Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce was nice and hot, but very bland. I thought there would be some flavor to the shrimp without the sauce, but I was sadly mistaken. The first warning sign was the very first shrimp of the Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce. The shrimp seem to be very soft like it was rotten, hunger overlooked this problem, but I could not overlook the next shrimp I found that was like this..., even though the shrimp was deep fried. I informed my wife about this and luckily, she did not eat any spoiled shrimp. I am still feeling the effects of last night, but we will get to this later on. We both had The Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce removed from our bill. The waiter named Van apologized for the inconvenience. While I was eating the Tom Chien Gion (Chrispy Fried Shrimp) without the sauce, I was also eating The Chef Special called Tom Rang Muoi (Salt and Pepper Shrimp). This was delicious, because of the seasonings of stir-fried onions, black peppers, salt and garlic. I ate all of these with the exception of a few my wife ate while waiting for her meal to arrive. Again, as luck would have it, my wife did not eat any of the bad shrimp of The Chef Special called Tom Rang Muoi (Salt and Pepper Shrimp). The total price came to $48 including tip for Mr. Van. The place got very busy and water refills did not happen till it close for us to leave. While waiting to pay the check, a detestable smell arouse from the kitichen area and into the dinning area. I hope this occurrence doesn't happen again or customer will start taking immediate umbrage and stop coming here. I saw people leaving and couldn't helping, but notice the amount of women wearing sweat pants. I this look better than jeans. Upon getting home and heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed, I ended up checking Total Battle on my phone. While talking to Hannah and Lioness aka Your Grace, a wave of sickness washed over me and I started puking uncontrollably. I finished up with my nightly duti
Food was really good. I came up around the area for a quick visit and was looking for a place to eat at. The only thing I did not like is that THEY DONOT HAVE OR SERVE ANY DIM SUM.
Green Basil is DELICIOUS. Just for starters, they have the absolute Thai tea in town, but their shaky beef is a must-eat. Tender filet, sliced into chunks, marinated and grilled to perfection - even the smell as it comes to the table is fantastic. Their summer rolls are BIG and generous, with four shrimp and plenty of crunchy vegetables. Our last visit, we got the shaky beef (obviously), the beef bún, and the ribs (Thịt Sườn Kho), as well as summer rolls and sesame balls. Everything was perfect.
Restaurantji Recommends
Oh naur, I really wanted to like this place but was really disappointed. The food is ok... It feels like they took cost cutting measures but the prices were not very cheap. For example, for the dishes that had grilled protein like the vermicelli or rice dishes, the protein was thin sliced like what I would imagine is used for a Philly cheesesteak sandwich lol the dishes were also lacking in the fresh veggies I expect with Vietnamese dishes. Anything that I would expect to have lettuce, didn't have lettuce and maybe a couple pieces of chopped cucumber. Also their menu says that the cha gio (fried egg rolls) use rice paper..but they don't. Cha gio made with rice paper is really crispy and I prefer it more. We asked to be sure that it's made with rice paper and they seemed hesitant to admit that they don't use rice paper and use the regular flour one instead. We placed 1 order just to give it a try, and I expected some lettuce provided with this appetizer as well and it came with none of the expected veggies (pickled veggies or lettuce). To be fair the portion sizes are decent, but the quality of the meat and the lack of veggies just made the dish feel cheap without it actually being cheap (they charge $16 for the pork vermicelli dish when competitors in what would prob be a more expensive city charge $13 for the same dish and have more substantial ingredients). The service wasn't bad but they had charged us for the wrong food and trying to get that corrected seemed like a hassle. So definitely check the receipt before you run your card! When we paid we were just shown the total and didn't see the breakdown until after we paid since we asked for a receipt. If we didn't check the receipt, we would have definitely left overpaying! Overall, I can get over the service mishap..but that, coupled with what feels like cheap shortcuts for the food (with not so cheap prices), I don't think I'll be going out of my way to come back.
Took the family here today. The food was excellent. They were out of a lot of dim sum options, but what we were able to order was superb. Service was rocky, but I think it's bc they are still working through some kinks. They didn't have their liquor license, so we had to stick to water/tea/pop. The iced tea is not black tea; it's very light in color and has hardly any flavor. I would skip that. We ordered Shrimp Dumplings, Shumai, Dimsum Beef Tripe, Chive Dumplings, Bean curd and pork, House Broken Rice with chicken, Broken Rice with Chicken, Pho Ox Tail, and Pho Seafood.Everything was piping hot and delicious.Here's to hoping you have your liquor license when we come back. Lol
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Ox Tail Pho, Shrimp Dumplings Fried Crab Dim Sum, Dumpling, Extra Tripe Lá Sách
ALERT ‼ they only have dimsum cart on weekend lunch. If you go during the week, only limited options are available! I agree with some of the other reviews that say it is at par restaurant with elite price. Their pho was on average $18, but with very hard meats. I have no idea what is wrong with the meats they put in the pho, but it is like chewing the horse. Too tense that you can't even leave your teeth mark. Also raw meats actually rather looked overcooked. I also find it interesting that they put carrots instead of roe eggs on pork shumai. Not sure if that's okay since I don't know the original, but I mean we are essentially paying the same price...so you know... However I actually find the restaurant & food quite clean compared to other Chinese restaurant I've been to. It could be because it just opened. Food almost felt like homemade food in terms of sanitation. They also give out pretty big portion for pho if you have a big appetite.
I stopped by for a lunch visit on a chilly Friday afternoon at 2:00pm in mid-February 2024. Green Basil Dim Sum & Pho is easy to find in a mini-strip mall at the corner of Route 29 and Jermantown Road (across from Lowes). It's on the north side of Route 29 (going westbound) on the far side of the highway from Walmart. The interior of the restaurant is pleasant and feels new with a cozy ambience. I had no difficulty being seated at off-peak hours, but there were 6 other parties being served (a good sign!). Based on past Yelp reviews, I decided to try 3 dim-sum dishes at $6 each and ordered a pot of hot jasmine tea (ideal for a chilly February afternoon). The shrimp shumai was very good (one of their best-sellers), but the highlight was the tripe with scallions and ginger. This dish was truly delightful. I ordered the spareribs, which were good but not great. Overall, I think this restaurant is nice for dim sum, but perhaps overpriced for the pho. In any event, one downside is that some dishes are pricey (which will be upsetting for some diners, but after more than a year of rapid price inflation in 2022, I was not surprised to see high prices). That said, if you have a dim sum craving, this is a nice place to visit in Fairfax!
Pretty good with brisk lunch business. Pho was good. Need to try more dim sum items. I was eating meatless and the tofu fried rice just needed a little more flavor. Their chili flakes hot sauce was so good.